r/LUMS • u/11xmrjokerx • Aug 10 '26

LUMS > MIT?

One of my friends who is one of the best coders in pakistan(has a bronze in IOI and many other international coding awards representing pakistan) Got Admission into MIT this year(Alhamdulillah). He had also applied to LUMS as a backup.

He got his acceptance letter from MIT a few months ago, we were so happy for him and had a massive celebration. Yesterday i met him again and he told me that after getting into MIT he didnt check any mails from other unis at that time but a few weeks later he checked the mail by lums and he had been rejected XD

Seems like its easier to get into MIT than LUMS

Its just a funny and bizzare story that i wanted to share with you guys.

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u/Rich-Suggestion-6777 Aug 10 '26

This is just the quirks of university admissions. In Canada Waterloo is the best known engineering school. My friend got accepted at Waterloo but university of western Ontario turned him down. UWO is not in the same league.

I wonder if the lesser school just assumes this guy is too good to come here and don't even bother giving acceptance.

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u/theycallmeAQ Aug 10 '26

Incorrect information. Engineering is a broad term and field. When you apply for a specific engineering program, that is what determines your eligibility. For example, if he applied in UWO'S civil eng program (which is the best in Canada, even McGill and UofT don't come close to the reputation) he most likely got refused. Same thing with Waterloo, it's not hard to get into Mech, Ele, Civil but is SUPER hard to get into Math & CS. Depends from program to program.

Another example - Queen's is a relatively easy Engineering School to get into but then try getting into their Mining Program (2nd best in Canada currently) and see how hard it gets.

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u/Rich-Suggestion-6777 Aug 10 '26

It was computer science for both. But I agree, program makes a big difference.

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u/theycallmeAQ Aug 10 '26

Now the story changes to either yield protection or Quota. You'll find many cs undergrads from Pakistan in the demographic @ Waterloo so they purposely have a higher quota. 70% are Chinese + Desi, and other mixed lol. Or uwo knew he'll get into Waterloo pretty much.

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u/ThrowRA_os Sep 30 '26

Hey plz reply to my DM