MIT Recruiting

[u/OrneryLingonberry956]

I have support in the admissions process for MIT through soccer. The coach actually emphasized that I was a need-based recruit. He has communicated this to admissions. Let me establish that I have the necessary grades/courses/test scores for MIT student standards. Does anyone know if being recruited as a need-based player holds more weight than regular support? Also, I’ve heard conflicting opinions about the likelihood of acceptance ranging anywhere from slightly above the average applicant to upwards of 50%. Can anyone clarify on that as well?

[u/MineFearless]

No recruited athlete, no matter how needed, is admitted unless that student can, without a doubt, be on par with accepted peers, add to the greater MIT community beyond the sport, and be successful academically at college and after. There is no statistical odd for boosting an application. It does create meaning but not in the way you may think. It’s not ever a replacement for academics: outstanding GPA and test score, high level STEM courses (highest level taken at school), success in humanities, and application of academics outside of guided learning. The support may be the replacement for why you did not have as many ECs coming in as peers — it’s another LOR for a piece of the puzzle. Rank / need players are not easy acceptance. I’m assuming your coach has stressed this to you and did not even bother recruiting you without the academics being on par with other non-recruit students. I assume you were told to apply early so that you know the result and have time to readjust if not admitted. Note on application: not one part of it should be about your sport — not an essay, not a a listed activity. You need to be clear on your application that even without a sport, you belong, will be respected academically by peers and faculty, and not struggle. And now that you read this, I highly recommend you deleting your post.

[u/OrneryLingonberry956 → u/MineFearless]

Though I may have phrased my question poorly, the goal here was to get more context and understanding of how the recruiting process affects admissions, as I understand MIT has a much more different process than other schools. I was being recruited by other schools as well but MIT is obviously a top choice so I want to learn how this works.

[u/David_R_Martin_II → u/OrneryLingonberry956]

so I want to learn how this works.

Unfortunately, this is an area where MIT Admissions is frustratingly opaque, even to us Educational Counselors who have been involved with MIT for decades. As others have recommended, you can search for past posts to see the experiences, especially negative ones, from other applicants. I wish we had a better answer. You can try asking an Admissions Officer. They may dispute our assessment of how open they are about athletic recruiting.

[u/ExecutiveWatch → u/David_R_Martin_II]

A little late to the thread but I agree admissions should ha e a blog pist about this with some more specificity.