<p>Well…</p>
<p>I am satisfied with my deferral because MIT didn’t just take my silver medal or whatever as a hook and straight away admit me. If International Olympiad medal winners would have been admitted solely on their medals, guess what will happen of other applicants who didn’t have the chance to even participate.</p>
<p>I love MIT for their admissions process being unbiased and am satisfied with my deferral.</p>
<p>DataBox, </p>
<p>I think admissions is trying to give a chance to everyone … They don’t want an entire class of geniuses. Maybe they’re not lying when they say they’re trying to build a class. It’s a tough job.</p>
<p>Anywho, good luck to everyone who applies to MIT!! (And shoot myself for posting on a thread where there are international medalists when I can’t even get into the AIME much less the national division of the Chem Olympiad … maybe this year …)</p>
<p>Synchroton 
so nice, amiable (can’t think of a better word right now), i really hope you get into MIT, you deserve to.</p>
<p>^ yeah agreed!</p>
<p>sorry guys i’ve been winning international olympiads since i was like 12 (yes, every subject, so bow down).so i hate to break it to you, but with my 10 gold medals, no one stands a chance.</p>
<p>so don’t bother applying. XD.</p>
<p>but ab2013 is right, they are trying to build a class with not only people who have developed their talents already but also normal folks like me who are stilling growing and on the path to greatness. well, maybe…or i hope. lol.</p>
<p>So all these people won the medals in Junior year??</p>
<p>No, I think the 1500 number is the total number of medalists in all Olympiads per year. So these include people in all grades, including seniors who might not be able to list them on their application, and those that participated in more than one Olympiad.</p>
<p>As Educational Counselors (fancy term for applicant interviewers) we were told that last year around 20% of admitted students were “academic superstars”. The definition of an “academic superstar” is somewhat fluid but it would typically include USAMO or IMO medalists, Siemens or Intel winners and winners or finalists at prestigious international competitions. </p>
<p>MIT has always had a fondness for math competitions (MIT likes to field strong teams at the Putnam) and a high score on the AIME (8 or above) is a strong plus. Scoring 2400 on the SAT on the other hand would not have the same effect. </p>
<p>Even if academic superstars are actively recruited, they still need to pass the “MIT fit” test before they are admitted. </p>
<p>The good news is that the remaining 80% of admitted students are not among the above groups. This does not mean that may not be just as accomplished. They just didn’t participate in any major competitions but showed in other ways they deserved to be admitted. They may have done some unique research, invented or published something, or overcame some major difficulty. In most cases, they stood out because of something they did or who they are. MIT likes to recruit the creative types even if what they have achieved has not been recognized in some official way. So don’t worry too much if you don’t have a bunch of awards on your wall. Just focus on making the case why you should be admitted.</p>