<p>My D is in her third year at MIT majoring in Course 6. (You’ll soon come to know that that means!)</p>
<p>She had great credentials that we thought would get her in via EA but she was deferred and then made it in RD.</p>
<p>Her credentials included 2300 on the combined SAT I and 760 or better on all SAT II’s.
3 Years of Science Research with a co-authorship on a technical paper in a major journal.
Rank in class 3 out of 200.
Average (weighted) 101.5.
Significant community service.
National Merit Scholar (not just a finalist - a winner!)</p>
<p>So in analyzing why she did not get in EA we talked to a lot of people, read a lot of blogs and formed our own conclusions.</p>
<p>There are a lot of factors that the Admissions Team takes into consideration when a candidate applies EA. Sometimes a really strong candidate will get deferred because the admissions team actually feels that the candidate will be a real competitor in the RA pool.</p>
<p>At first this doesn’t seem to make sense but you have to look at what the Admissions Goals are for the school. Each year the school has admission goals by geography (domestic vs. international, regions of the world & regions of the country), “diversity” goals and “Legacy” applicants just to mention a few.</p>
<p>If a school’s admissions team feels that the goals will be hard to achieve then they will use the EA process to preferentially take candidates that fall into “Targeted Areas” for their goals. A candidate who meets a targeted demographic might be accepted EA and a well qualified candidate might be deferred. The idea is that the accepted targeted EA candidate will increase the likelihood of achieving the “Admissions Goals” and a “deferred good candidate” still has a “Good Chance” in RD.</p>
<p>My D was heart broken when she didn’t get in EA but she didn’t lose hope. She felt all along that she was right for MIT and MIT was right for her and she did get in RD. Now after 2 and half years I can say that she was correct. MIT is an excellent fit for her. She loves it there and is having the time of her life. She has stayed on campus each January for “IAP” and has been lucky enough to find summer “UROPs” each year. She lives and breathes MIT.</p>
<p>BTW, my daughter is caucasion.</p>