The first decision reached me on Saturday 14th,at 18:57 CET. Although the University in question said that the decisions will probably be online at 18:59,I did the check earlier. Several times.
I set up a meeting for coffee with my two lady friends. I actually know few girls in general (probably because Math Gymnasium is a boys’school),and have even fewer great friends,and grabbing a cup of coffee and several hours of girl-talk meant so much to me. The thing is,I was really stressed out and miserable those several days before the first decision,I really needed cheering up. And it seemed as such a great idea:if I get admitted,the fact that we got the decision together will be epic. If not,we still have big delicious moccas in front of us.
To be honest,I thought that the University in question would reject me anyway. I was really convinced that they would. I though I would never fit into their community,even if they did admit me,by some wonder. Because of this,that University was never my real option,and I didn’t consider enrolling in it. I just sent the papers in because I wanted to know,for some reason,whether they would find me interesting. I wasn’t really thinking of it as what I would call a decision;at that time,it was more like pending on a verdict.
Why name this entry “The Icebreaker”? Well,that was the first institution that rejected me. At that exact moment,when I located the “we are unfortunately unable to offer you admission”sub-string in the text was when I think my heart skipped a beat. And,for several seconds,I really felt out-of-space. What I experienced then was closest to –relief. I got my first decision,and although it was not a desirable one,it contented me in a way. I made it through the admission,and that was important. I supposed that my academics were appropriate for the institution,so said –“Hey,it’s probably not up to me.”because international applicants get rejected for all (those wrong) reasons. I was confident enough to deem it possible that they simply decided to leave me out.
There are several speculations about how the applicants to selective colleges are graded and weighted,like the ones who have less than 20% admittance. Let’s say that a small selective college receives 2300 complete applications,but is equipped only for 200. So,what could they do to really collect the best from the applicant pool,when there are definitely more than 200 brilliant students in there? They can examine thoroughly those 2300 applications and determine which 900 people would surely be great students and would be perfect specifically for their college. Surely,they determine about 50 that must end up in their college for various reasons,kin relations or superbly high qualifications,but that is an advantage a non-American can’t count with,in my opinion.
They have to narrow the applicant pool down even further. Next is that they determine the statistics. Let’s say we want an equal number of boys and girls,precisely 6% international students and at least 60% of people who will pay for full or approximate tuition. Now you balance the criteria out,and by adding information like subject area preference,one gets an “ideal”Prospective Freshmen Generation,Year 2013.
Why the word “prospective”? Well,knowing that the college in question has 200 open spaces,and that some may reject (look below in Appendix) admission offer,they will opt for offering 250 admissions. Because of the randomness of the selection,you may be rejected not because you were not good enough,but because you were out of luck. So really,if you intend to apply to several of these colleges,my advice would be applying to as many as plausible. In some colleges,the process could serve to your advantage. And just to make it clear,the test results are important,they get you through the first elimination rounds;it might have sounded like testing wasn’t as important as luck. Of course,there are colleges who are highly selective but don’t employ such a rejection method.
If I get back to that institution that rejected me…you probably wonder why was I rejected,what was the specific reason. Well,the bad news is that they never tell. I could probably post the rejection letter,but it wouldn’t be any good –it has no important information except the fact that I’m rejected. And I would be really interested to know why. At least I know this decision was not based on my assessment:all of the applicants from Serbia were rejected,systematically. I mean,we were all from the Math High School,let’s say 6 or so of us,and every person was different and unique;and yet very accomplished in various fields of study or research. Any applicant profile they may have been looking for was definitely contained in at least one of us,and if they wanted to admit anyone from Serbia they would face an outstanding selection.
They did offer a waiting-list status to a girl,but she’s brilliant enough to get admitted elsewhere in a blink. And I doubt that enough people give up MIT for others to be admitted form a waiting list. And yes,MIT was the institution in question throughout the text.
Do not forget one other factor in the mix. MIT took 2 students from Serbia last year. This can always have an impact on the next year’s recruiting as these schools strive for diversity by representing as many countries as possible.
Yes,I somehow missed that one out while writing. It was probably the most important factor for MIT admissions this year…
Oh I need to blog about this myself. One thing that is very hard to explain is that schools do not just admit individuals,they build classes. A student really framed the argument best when he said,“So it is like they are making a little town.”Maybe there are a lot of chemists in the graduating class,thus they will be looking for students with a high level of interest in Chemistry. Another example is when new priorities appear. Colorado College just dedicated a new 51,000-square-foot Russell T. Tutt Science Center,a new “green” facility that provides labs and smart classrooms for the psychology/neuroscience,mathematics,environmental science,and geology departments. Naturally there will be an interest in students that are good in these areas. This is why diverse and strategic choices are so important in the application process. A school’s star saxophone player could be graduating;in that case,an applicant that is brilliant and also a saxophone player may be of great interest. I think the most important thing to understand about admissions is that the process is more art than science.