Massachusetts Institute of Technology Top Questions

MIT is a good size. There are enough people for you to get to know your classmates but not be surrounded by the same people all the time, like college. When I tell people I go to MIT, they're shocked. Either, they've never heard of it before or they're surpised a black female is going to such a prestigious school. Yes, I do study, but when I'm not, I spend time around the dorm, at my sorority house, or along the Charles no matter the whether - the icy river is pretty in the winter and the trees and the esplanade in general look beautiful in the spring and summer. MITs administration is OK. I wish they took more effort to meet the students as a whole not a few important people here and there meet a select few of the student body. There is a lot of school pride - Nerd Bride, Love your Beaver. Most often, students complain about the work, but who wouldn't? MIT has hackers which are people that know they're way around campus and mysteriously post things along the buildings. For example, you might wake up to a huge red sox sign outside your dorm or along the tallest building in Cambridge.

I don't really like MIT as much as I thought I would, but it's okay. If I would change something I would change the weather--it's way too cold for me in Boston. I know that sounds a bit pathetic, but it really bugs me. I need warmth and sunlight to be happy, I think. Cold is okay, but it's not okay for 6 months when you have to walk outside all the time because your dorm is pretty far away, and it's always snowing and icing and it's extremely windy. MIT is about the right size, I think. It's not too small or not too large, for me (although maybe bordering on too large, because there is no way I could meet all of the people in my class--but I think it's a good thing, because people have much more diverse interests that way, because the student body is big enough). If I could change something, I would change the quality and quantity of the humanities classes offered, and students' opinions about them (students tend to hate humanities -- not all of them, some of them really love them, just a lot of them hate them and don't see the reason for their existence. This irritates me. I do like the science here, as it is really amazing and challenging. I like my drumming group a lot, and the people I meet in it. In general I don't feel that I really click with the people here at all, although that might just be because I'm really introverted. I mean, I have great friends here, and I really love them, but it's just not the same as the friends I had in my home. I never quite clicked with MIT people, I'm not sure why. I wish I were home a lot.

The best thing about MIT is its diversity and location. Located in Cambridge, MA right on the Charles river and just a few minutes walk from Boston's back bay, the students at MIT enjoy beautiful views, a fun and young city, and many other colleges and students to connect with. As far as diversity goes, I've never been to a place where so many languages are spoken and where people literally come from everywhere. Undergraduates and graduates alike come from an enormous array of backgrounds and its really cool to have the opportunity to meet so many people that are different from you.

The best part of MIT are the students. My classmates are the most amazing people doing incredible things at MIT and will go on to do even more incredible things next year. I really enjoy our class size (approximately 1000 per class). We do work a lot, but I, along with my friends, have a great social life. We work hard to earn our weekends, but then play hard on the weekends. MIT's location is one of its biggest strengths as we have a great campus, but it is right on the Charles River so you can walk to Boston in minutes. One of MIT's biggest downsides is a lack of school pride. Many people can't manage their time properly and blame MIT for this.

A couple years ago I was deciding between MIT, Caltech, and Stanford. Caltech was cheaper and closer to home. Stanford was also in California, and they were giving me money. MIT is out in the middle of the coldest place on earth, it's expensive, it's far from home, and it's hard as hell. And I've never regretted my decision. That's the weird thing about this place, and I didn't even think about it when I chose to come here. The stuff that's done here isn't done anywhere else in the world. Period. Regardless of what Yale and Harvard students may say about their classes (some of which I've sit in on), they don't even begin to compare. They teach sciences as liberal arts. Now I'll be quite honest with you: Caltech is also a pretty good school, probably of the same quality in the hard sciences. But MIT also has top-notch programs in economics, management, and engineering (in addition to the core sciences). And it's right next to a city that seems to be designed for college students. And the students at Caltech are a little more weird than the ones here; at MIT, you can always find a group to fly with.

So I'm sitting here with four problem sets this week hanging over my head, planning on pulling an all-nighter to plan a protest against the administration's plans to eliminate an important aspect of student life (dorm rush), in desperate need of caffeine, and I haven't had decent food in a week. Yet I can't imagine anywhere else I'd rather be. This place is absolutely amazing. Don't come here if you want to be coddled and have grade-inflation and administrators holding your hand all the time. Come here if you want to make your own decisions and work harder than you ever have in your life. Because if you put in the work, this place will give back more to you than you could ever imagine.

It's hard to say what the best thing about MIT is. I'd say that the environment that the students and staff create is definitely up there. Everyone knows that MIT is tough, so students really pull together to help each other out; it's not nearly as competitive as most people probably think it is. Another cool thing about MIT is that there are humanities requirements for every major, even though it's a technical institute, so everyone has to leave with at least some communication skills. That said, economics will fulfill the humanities requirement, which is kind of stupid since it's *mostly* math -- I'd change it so it wouldn't fulfill the humanities requirement. The school is a very nice size -- large enough that there are distinct extracurricular activities, groups, and friends, but small enough that you don't feel alone and lost. You can easily get to know your professors and TAs. It feels nice to tell people that you go to MIT because most people are very impressed. I spend a lot of time in my dorm because that's where a lot of my friends are, but I also enjoy going to the student center for free swing dancing on Wednesdays and in general going around campus to free lectures and free food! It's also fun to explore Boston; there are two T stops (subway stations) very near MIT's campus (one on the north side and the other on the south) so it's easy to go to different farmer's markets, restaurants, conventions, etc. There are also lots of other colleges around, especially Harvard and Boston University, so you can go to fun things they host as well, such as dances and theater showings. MIT's administration often does kind of shady, behind-the-scenes work without student input, which is definitely a let-down. Recently there was a controversy because a small, tight-knit-community graduate dorm was closed by the administration without much, if any, student input. That being said, there is a lot of school pride, and most people are very happy to be attending MIT. There are several unusual things about MIT that help to contribute to its kind of quirky culture. One of the biggest things is that all the majors and all the classes are number-coded, so students don't talk about being, e.g., a mechanical engineering major but a Course 2 major, and they don't take Intro. to Mech. Eng., they take 2.01. Something I'll always remember is taking my first 8.012 test (roughly Advanced Mechanical Physics w/Calculus), but it's not a good memory -- the classes and especially tests are very, very hard! This is a very frequent student complaint, along with complaints about the Tech, our school newspaper which is, politely, rather a waste of paper.

What's the best thing about MIT? My favorite thing about MIT is that students enjoy learning and work hard. Name one thing you'd change. One of the downsides is that professors are generally much more focused on research than teaching. But if you're an independent learner you can get what you need from books, TAs, and other students. Is your school too large, too small, or just right? I think MIT is a good size-- I don't have trouble getting into the classes I want, but it's big enough that there are enough academic and social opportunities. How do people react when you tell them you go to MIT? Actually, people usually freak out, say that it must be super-hard. Where do you spend most of your time on campus? During the day, I split my time between class and lab. College town, or "what college town?" Boston is right across the river from MIT (10 minute walk) and many students hang out there or in Cambridge (more college-town) on the weekends. Boston is a great place to be a college student: lots of other colleges, restaurants, night life, great public transportation (don't bring your car here!). What's your opinion of MIT's administration? I don't think I have any strong feelings about MIT's administration. Some aspects of student life are ignored here-- particuarly dining. The dining halls are only open for dinner, and only 5 days a week, and they're expensive. I don't think any students are satisfied with the dining opportunities. But there are parts of the administration that are very supportive. MIT Medical offers great physical and mental care for all students, and Student Support Services vouches for students who have illness or personal emergencies that affect their coursework. What was the biggest recent controversy on campus? Probably when an MIT student wore a tshirt with a circuit on it into Logan airport, and the administration told the media her behavior was reckless-- before the details of the story were confirmed. Is there a lot of school pride? There's definitely school pride here. Students feel like their in the most challenging technical environment in the world. Is there anything unusual about MIT? Lots of things are unusual about MIT-- the architecture of the buildings on campus, the required hard-core science classes for all students, the fact that (almost) everyone here is a scientist or engineer. What's one experience you'll always remember? What are the most frequent student complaints? Students here love to complain about their workloads. A typical MIT student conversation goes something like this: student 1- "I have 2 psets (problem sets) and an exam tomorrow" student 2- "well I have 3 psets and a paper for tomorrow" student 3- "I'm even more hosed, I have 3 psets and a paper and 2 exams next week" I don't particularly think it's healthy but that's the culture.

The most recent big controversy was the Star Simpson thing. She made a small oversight before she left for the airport, and we were annoyed that MIT didn't correct the fact that the press made it sound like she was intentionally pretending to be a terrorist. After talking to my cousin, who goes to BU, and hearing about other schools, I've realized that MIT is unique in how much freedom it gives its students. We don't have RAs who report us to the police for the slightest underage drinking, we just have awesome GRTs who try to keep us from going overboard to the point of passing out. We aren't required to pack up and leave for Thanksgiving, between Fall and Spring terms, or during Spring break, which is really nice. Even though I've never been around at those times, it's really nice that I don't need to pack up my whole room. Also MIT doesn't have real dining halls where everyone pays a flat rate for all-you-can-eat meals all term. We have "preferred dining" where you can pay a few hundred dollars up-front to get half-off each thing your buy, but everyone I know thinks that's a major rip-off. I live in a dorm with awesome big kitchens, and I prepare my own meals, which is fun and saves money. It can even save time--when I have five minutes to eat before class, I just pop some oatmeal into the microwave or grab some leftovers from the fridge. I'd never have time to go to the dining hall in that situation. The only bad thing is that our kitchen is common to 35-40 people, who don't always take responsibility for what they make dirty. Dishes pile up in the sinks, and it can get really gross. Since we have a lot of shared dishes, there's no way to know who made the mess and therefore whom to nag to clean it up. So I end up cleaning up after others a lot just to keep the place sanitary. To me having a kitchen to use is well worth the rotting mess it sometimes becomes, but I could see this bothering some people. I spend most of my time in the library, in my dorm room or kitchen, or in class/rehearsal.

A lot of people seem to be intimidated when I tell them I go to MIT. They always say things like "wow! You must be really smart!" which is always aggravating because it downplays the fact that I worked my ass off to be and stay where I am. MIT is just the right size. The best thing about MIT is looking back at the end of every semester and realizing how much you've learned. I spend most of my time in my dorm. Boston is the best college town there is. There is a lot of school pride, and there's also a lot of school hatred. If you're at MIT, you love it and hate it at the same time. IHTFP. MIT's administration is too big. I don't know what on earth an "associate vice provost" does but I'm pretty sure it's not completely necessary. I kind of wish they would go back to the "all tech men wear batteries" policy, too. Everything is unusual about MIT. Complaints: psets.