<p>Have you interviewed with the coaches of the sports you’re interested in? Because I believe they do rank their recruits when they send in that list, and you might get a better idea of how much they want you. If they have two academically eligible student athletes and one does his sport in his local area and another has won a highly competitive national junior championship, you know the latter will be at the top of their list. </p>
<p>I was told, for example, that 50 kids a year try to present themselves as recruits in my son’s sport. They usually find about 30 as qualified by their academic and sport stats. Looking at MIT’s roster in my son’s sport, I can see maybe 2 kids getting in a year who really have an outstanding athletic record, and guess what, they have excellent academic and science bios as well. </p>
<p>If you are a junior and the coaches like you, they will ask you to do an overnight at MIT in the fall of your senior year. Through out the season, the coaches will contact you about your sporting stats, and they will ask to look over your application and advise you on it. Then it’s all up to Admissions, like they say. </p>
<p>The OP in “Cruel Process” makes it clear that like everyone else, you are taking a chance at getting into MIT, and any recommendations from MIT faculty or coaches just ups that chance by an unknowable degree or two. The coaches we spoke with at MIT never led us to believe otherwise.</p>