esrosedotblog

B+ OR A-

I got my grades today for the MIT interviews I did last fall.

Yes. It is MIT. We are never, ever done with grades.

The people who read the essays that I write for each applicant get to give me a 1-5 grade on how I did.

These essays are fucking hard to do.

I go see the kid for up to an hour. I come home, I write them up in the next hour or two and that is it.

I have only rescinded a writeup one time. You go to the office and they erase the whole report and I redo it top to bottom.

It is labor intensive.

I have learned that what they want is an original piece. A plug in kind of job will not do. It is apparent when I read back over them what a plug in is. Generalities, clichés, pro forma rundowns.

They want juice. Excitement. You can get by with a dull write up but it will get a 3. I have never gotten less.

So here is how it went this year. It is the best year I have had. I average out at a 4.6 out of 5.

One 3. And I know why. I want to blame the applicant but I can't do that.

I read the report I did and I could see that it was bland and filling in the blanks. I remember the interview. The person was very smart and spoke three languages and I kind of got caught up in that and didn't explore much beyond it.

Being MIT, there is also reward mention if I get a perfect 5.0. I forget what it is. Some chart somewhere. Eternal light on the web.

I am pleased with the results and pleased that I am pleased, if you get my drift. Another sign of life.

Labels: MIT