Conflicted about whether to apply

anon89723960
Sat, 25 Sep 2010 21:08:35 +0000

There are two camps of people here as far as I can tell, the ones who go “OMG i got a 790 should i retake??” the ones who are like “scores don’t matter unless you FAIL.” Well, neither is correct. It’s a mix of the two. AKA “hollistic” system.



I would fall into neither camp.

Eventually you have to make a decision whether a certain score indicates that a student is academically qualified, or else you’d be evaluating each score on an individual basis.



You are evaluated on an individual basis. This is part of the holistic process. You guys focus way too much on taking one single number (or two numbers, I suppose), when that is but the tiniest part of an application. There are activities, essays, recommendations - heck, there are even other numbers.



Also, admissions officers are HUMAN. Of COURSE they’re going to be more impressed by the 2400 than the 2100, because it’s not like they can “unsee” the scores once they’ve determined “qualified.”



Are they? You’re getting this packet trying to express an entire human being. Their hopes, their dreams, their trials, their interests, their families. A 2400, frankly, isn’t interesting. No one ever claimed Admissions can “unsee” scores, but if they know the person is likely to be able to handle the rigorous academics at MIT, they’re going to focus on bringing someone who fits the Match in. If Admissions’ goal was to bring in the people who could do the best on a standardized test, I’d understand your point completely. But that is not what Admissions is trying to do.