[cypherpunks]

About one decade. I'm still an MIT affiliate. Admissions has not changed, in this regard, since. There have been a lot of other changes (the students now are better rounded and better looking than when I was a student), but this is not one of them.

MIT Admissions intentionally takes high risks. They admit a number of students at the extremes who may end up very bad or very good. The risks don't always pay off (we had a few real idiots), but the policy is actually quite sound. MIT's name comes from it's most famous graduates -- the Feynmans, Aldrins, Metcalfes, and Kurzweils -- the cost of having a number of bad or flaky graduates is rather low -- only the people who work with them ever hear about them.