Decisions, Decisions

Decisions, Decisions In yesterdays entry, I wrote, With 5 days [now 4 days] until the May 2 postmark deadline, is anyone still making a decision? If so, what are your remaining questions? What factors are you considering? I got a couple responses, including from estelphoenix, who wrote: I have five questions: On a scale of 1-10, with 10 being the highest and 1 being the lowest How happy are students? How stressed out do students feel? How well do students cope with stress? What is the general mental health of students? In addition, does MITs tough grading system hurt students when they apply to med school or law school? Thank you very much! Also, a comment from struggling, who wrote: yes i am still undecided. i am leaning towards MIT but am also choosing from brown, harvard and stanford. I want to do engineering, so MIT seems obvious. however, i dont want only a hardcore engineering education and want to be able to have a little fun and explore some other courses. Also, i am worried about the MIT workload. Im sure I could get it done, but would it be at the expense of my social life/sanity? Also, how much do students tend to go out in boston? A lot of things about MIT seem really cool but also a bit intimidating. oh yeah i forgot to addno offense intended but I am from california, go to a public school, and generally hang out with a wide variety of people many of which arent really serious about academics like I am. thus, i dont really think I will fit in to a nerd culture (again no offense, that is just not how I am). what are peoples opinions on the types of people at MIT I know there are a lot of different things going on but it would be cool to hear peoples thoughts about the personalities of the students. thanks for any help anyone can give. estelphoenix and struggling have basically enumerated concerns (stereotypes?) voiced by generations of students trying to decide whether or not to attend MIT. These, interestingly, were also my concerns. Ill summarize the concerns, at least as I saw them back in the spring of 1996: Will I have a good college social experience? Is MIT so difficult that I will be constantly stressed out, perhaps to the point of depression? Will I like the people at MIT, or will they be the antisocial nerd stereotype? I had these same fears, until I finally visited the campus (more on that in a few paragraphs). I think that visiting the schools youre considering is a crucial step. For many students, CPW is the first time they experienced campus. Of course, CPW isnt completely representative of the MIT experience, but I believe that it does give you a drink-from-the-firehose look at MIT life. After CPW, I asked what students thought of it, and got some potentially helpful responses. Jim Elephunk wrote, MIT was way better than I expected. I have a lot of options for college (harvard, brown, stanford, tufts, etc) but CPW definitely put MIT up on top of my list. I always knew MIT had the best academics, but after CPW I can see that the social scene is awesome too. Everyone was really nice and only about 10% of the people I met fit the classic MIT nerd stereotype. Most people were amazingly fun and outgoing, just way smarter than the average person haha. And Pia wrote, I really feel much better about MIT now because before the ambiguity was kind of making me eh-ish about it. I was actually considering staying in CA and going to berkeley or something (silly, misguided Pia)I also really loved the people at the place I stayed (Random) so it made it even better for me because I never actually stopped having fun. I also felt better because I realized that MIT was really a very good fit for me..it has a lot of opportunities that I very much wanted in a college. Also, in my most recent entrys comments, Anonymous wrote, Im someone who was also worried about the social environment at MIT, but after attending CPW and checking out the parties and people there, I realized that there wasnt anything to worry about. There were tons of social people who love to party, etc. They were all really nice and im sure that they have more than enough fun to compensate for having to do rigorous psets. yep. so i just sent in my reply form to mit and i hope to see you guys there. In the same comments section, Fiona wrote: Struggling I dont know if you attended CPW, but there I discovered that there are all kinds of people at MIT, even those that you would never expect to find there. For example, while hanging out with some random people I heard one say I HATE math and science. I am just terrible at them, I am so glad I finished the core, etc. Also, I went into Boston twice (well, one of the times I just walked across the bridge and looked around, it doesnt really count) in the three days I was there. Since the Harvard Bridge is so close, and many people actually live in Boston (ie frats, independent living groups, people in apartments), people visit frequently. This is just my theory, I dont really have much experience at MIT, but it seems to me that you can find pretty much every type of person there. You have jocks, musicians, cheerleaders, nerds, political activists, lazy people, quiet people, whatever you can think of. But, they are some of the smartest people in whatever category they happen to fall into (or if they refuse to be categorized). Of course, these are just my impressionsand luckily you are choosing between 4 awesome schools. Anyways, good luck! For some more really good perspectives on MIT student life, I highly recommend Mitras blog. Her posts very well represent the MIT I experienced (I sometimes get a little verklempt reading it). If you want a wider range of MIT perspectives, maybe you could also check out the Xanga MIT blogring. As for me, when I was deciding where to go to college, I figured I was likely to choose one of the Ivy League schools, as I considered myself a social, well-rounded person. I spent most of the month of April thinking about these Ivy League schools. But ultimately, I realized that I hadnt found the right fit for me. Enter MIT. I recognized that I had to visit MIT, to see whether or not all those preconceived notions I had about the place were true. So with only a few days remaining until May 1 (perhaps 9 years ago today?), my parents and I got in the car to check out MIT. The first thing I remember doing was checking out the dormitories. I first stopped at McCormick Hall, though I quickly left as I was informed that it was an all-female dorm. Next was Baker House, which several months later would become my home of 4 years. Finally, I made it to Burton-Conner (Mitras dorm), another place I really liked. Along the way, I chatted with the students. People really seemed to care about who I was as a person, not about my IQ, or the clothes I wore, or my country club status, or whatever other silly and irrelevant stuff. I remember being impressed that it was the first place where no one asked my SAT score. I took a serious look at the course catalog and realized that there were more great non-science/engineering courses than I could ever hope to take. I loved the quirky, unique culture, which was very different than the standard culture I experienced at other colleges. And ultimately, I liked the energy and enthusiasm I sensed from MIT, that it seemed like something exciting was happening, that the campus was always abuzz with activity, and that the students were really passionate. I had a great four years at MIT. I made many great friends, and had some amazing and inspirational professors (Lander, Rota, Ketterle, Billey, Krugman, Hubbard, Prelec, Wernerfelt, Rogers, Dussart, Tapscott). I ultimately received a very liberal education from MIT, in the sense that I took by choice courses in many different areas, including architecture, engineering, social sciences, science, math, management and humanities. And when I needed help with those difficult problem sets, I found my professors, TAs, and especially the upperclassmen and my classmates very willing to lend a hand (or a brain?). Ultimately, youll have to make the decision for yourself as to whether MIT or some other school is the right match for you. Im very glad that in MIT I found my right match. Another admitted/undecided student, Just Curious, wrote, Where can I find MIT alums average starting salaries by major? I was just wondering how many years it would take to pay my parents back the $200,000 that Ill owe them after I graduate! Id really like to compare the return with Harvard and Stanfords. Before I directly answer the question, some brief discussion/advice. I would not recommend basing your choice of major on potential starting salary. You should choose a major that you will enjoy and that will fulfill you intellectually. Also, you may want to talk to your parents about a pay it forward strategy, which is what I have with my parents, and many of my friends have the same. That is, my parents paid the EFC for me, and in turn the expectation is that I will pay for my childrens education when that time comes. To answer your question about salary: MIT provides this information at the Careers Office website. Specifically, you probably want to look at the 2004 graduating student survey [pdf]. For those of you who dont want to open a PDF, heres a quick summary of what youd read: the survey, taken during graduation week, received a 74% response rate. At that time, future plans of the 2004 graduates were: 52% would attend grad school immediately after MIT, 43% would work, and 5% were undecided. Of those 43% who were entering the workforce, $62,862 was the average starting salary. Remember that this number is just an average (I dont know the distribution, though you can get a sense of it from the survey), and includes everyone from teachers (who, in my opinion, are underpaid in this country) to those ridiculously well-paid software engineers. Decisions, decisions Congratulations! You have finally been accepted to college! 4(+) years of hard work in the classroom, and months of filling out applications and studying for APs/SATs, have finally paid off. At Campus Preview Weekend (CPW), you will have the opportunity to experience what life at MIT is really like. You’ll get to stay in a college dorm, go to college classes, and (best of all?) go to college parties! You will roam the Infinite corridor with the satisfaction that you could return to the campus in 4 months as a real, live MIT student. As a high school senior, I was already pretty convinced that MIT was the place for me. I was assigned to Next House (I still run into my host, and I ended up living in Next for my first two years) and I tried to do as much as possible during my short 3-day stay. I already knew a bunch of people and hung out with them for most of the weekend. (Pictures are at the bottom of the entry…awww, we were so young!) I also still have the notes that I took when I followed a friend to attend a 2.006 (Thermal Fluids Engineering II) lecture. They’re pretty cute, since I had absolutely no idea what was going on, or even how to write the Greek letters that filled the board. Let’s say that you’re not completely sold on MIT yet. Perhaps a friend of a friend told you that MIT is filled with nerds who are ultra-competitive and just study all the time. Maybe your friends are all going to school X and want you to go there, too. Or maybe, you just don’t think you’re smart enough to survive at a place like MIT. I’ll try to resolves these common problems/misconceptions one by one: Misconception #1: MIT is filled with nerds (yuck!) To be fair, this depends on your definition of nerd. Everyone I have met at MIT is extremely passionate about something. If you think that makes a person nerdy, then, yes, we’re all a bunch of nerds. Don’t despair, you honestly do not have to go out and buy a “Nerd Kit” (pictured on the right) to fit in. The Admissions folks spend months crafting a class that is diverse in their interests and backgrounds. Yes, there are people who appear to fit the stereotypical definition of “nerd” because they own binary clocks and have memorized the first 100+ digits of pi. But, if you take a second or two to talk to them, you’ll find out that they have applied their knowledge to do awesome things like building a wooden roller coaster and designing nifty electrical circuits, and their hobbies include dropping pianos and pumpkins off of roofs. Best of all, they probably would be willing to teach you how to do those things, too. It’s a very collaborative environment with seemingly en dless opportunities. Just like any school, we have students who could fit into the classifications of jocks, geeks, fraternity boys, drama queens, etc… Misconception #2: Your best friend or boy/girlfriend or mom or dad or sister or brother or grandma want you to go to X University, so while you may think MIT is cool, you’ll go to X because it will make them happy. Ah, if I had a nickel for every time I’ve heard this happen, I could at least buy a candy bar. You are the person who will have to spend four years at X University, and if it’s not a good fit, those four years are going to be miserable! It’s absolutely possible to maintain relationships with friends who go to other universities. The magic of the Internet, cheap airfare, and school vacations make it possible. I also know plenty of people who are into their third or fourth year of MIT and they are still going out with their high school sweetheart who lives halfway across the country. Similarly, I know even more people who followed their significant other to a school, broke up after a few months, realized how much they hated the school, and transferred out. Bottom line is, don’t let other people make your college decision for you. It’s supposed to be the best four years of your life, and you deserve to be happy! Misconception #3: You got into MIT, but you don’t think you’re smart enough to actually survive here. Perhaps this ties to misconception #1. The MIT admissions process is incredibly competitive and you were accepted because the people in 3-108 (Admissions Office) thought that you would be a perfect fit. Your acceptance is not a mistake; do not doubt yourself! Everyone at MIT did not get a 1600 and 4.0 GPA. But, as I said before, everyone is talented in their own special way (am I starting to sound like Barney now?) Since you’re special, you have nothing to worry about. MIT is hard, but as long as you ask for help and work hard, you will graduate with an MIT diploma and the confidence that you have learned “how to think.” With that in mind, enjoy CPW! It’s in a week, hurray! Come with an open mind. Meet new people, soak up the MIT vibes, and ask us questions. If something is bugging you, ask a student for their opinion, and they’ll tell it like it is. Hopefully you will leave on Sunday head-over-heels in love. If not, thats ok too, but try to figure out what went wrong and maybe we could help you out (e.g. was the dorm that you were housed in totally incompatible with your preferences? did you not get along with your host?) Also, if you want to meet all the Bloggers, please come to the Meet the Bloggers event on Friday (the 13th!) from 8:30-10 pm in the Student Center’s Mezzanine Lounge. Without you guys, it’ll just be me and Mitra sulking awkwardly in the corner while the ice cream melts and Sam entertains everyone with funny anecdotes… There will be food, I think, and we would love to meet you all! Pictures from my CPW: Decisions, decisions Yikes! Its been a month since I last wrote to you guys. In the intervening time, I have accumulated like 5 entries worth of photos and stories- which will be coming soon, I promise. But its silly to plow ahead with that when there are more pressing issues at hand- like the fact that decisions were just recently released. First of all, congratulations to all of you who were admitted! I remember getting my decision- the old fashioned way, like a letter showed up in my actual mailbox outside my house, if you can imagine- and how freaking awesome it was. Seriously guys, go celebrate, get that energy out. You deserve it. =) For waitlisted applicants, I know how frustrating that can be. (Funny story- NJ has about 5 or 6 summer programs called the Governors Schools, and theres one for each of a variety of different subjects. Because of the small size of my school, we were only allowed to send one applicant to each of the programs. My high school puts out a newsletter to the parents with all kinds of information about recent accomplishments by the students, and they had this section saying Congratulations to our Governors School Applicants! We had a great success rate this year: Jane Doe: accepted at the School of Science, John Smith: accepted at the School of Engineering, Someone Else: accepted at the School of International Studies, That OtherOne: accepted at the School of Math, and Laura Nicholson: waitlisted at the School of Public Policy. I was like wow, thanks guys, for announcing to the entire student body AND THEIR PARENTS that I was the only one not accepted. I was later rejected from the waitlist , and then called at home three days after the program started because someone dropped out unexpectedly. See? Happy ending!) Anyway, the best advice I have for you is to get really excited about your other options (because really, college is exciting no matter where you go) and to keep your eye on Matts and Bens blog for more info about the process from this point. For those of you who were rejected, I dont want to preach at you. I dont want to give some whole speech about how its not so bad getting rejected from your first choice school, because how the hell should I know? I got in to my first choice school, and Id be a huge, hypocritical, condescending jerk if I were to tell you about how its probably all for the best this way. That said, please try to keep in mind the excellent advice that has been popping up on these blogs. There have been some remarkable, mature, sincere comments from students who have managed to keep their perspective as well as their sanity depite their disappointments. Be inspired by them- getting into MIT (or not getting in) is not the defining moment of your life. Youre only 18 years old, I certainly hope this isnt the most important thing to ever happen to you. Trust me, as someone who is only 2 years removed from the time I opened my big envelope, there are many moments I cherish far more than that one. That said, I know you guys are really disappointed, and you have a right to be. Sometime life really sucks. So take a few days to sit on your couch eating ice cream straight out of the carton watching cheesy movies. (I was going to suggest chick flicks, but I suppose not many guys would relate to that, and as for me, I always watch horror movies when Im having a bad day. They cheer me right up. No, Im actually serious.) Then get back out there and get excited about all of the awesome things that are ahead of you. I know, easier said than done. Just like last year, Ive been really impressed with the level of maturity you have all managed to bring to the table despite your disappointment and frustration. Of course, there are always a few people who arent able to pull that off, and Ill refrain from commenting on them. However, there was one comment I noticed which I feel really needs a response. Rejectee said: Yeah Whatever. My credentials exceeded MITs average admissions statistics, and I got rejected. I guess its because my Dads not a billionaire or a rich aristocrat. If I learned anything, its that things are not what they seem, and you will be judged not by your merit, but by your background and ability to pay (why else would I get bullied in to sending in my parents tax forms). To sum it up, dont be too hard on yourselves. Chances are, you have what it takes, but just arent a part of the establishment. To get in, you must either be the next Newton, or filthy rich. Good luck to all of you who did not get accepted, and remember, MIT isnt the sole shining pillar of education it implies it is. Just another rich geek school. Rejectee: I know youre disappointed, but please know that the assumptions and conclusions you jumped to in this comment are completely, absolutely, 100% FALSE. I honestly cant off the top of my head think of a single person that I know here who I would categorize as filthy rich. And I would know- unfortunately, in high school I could rattle off a long list that fit that description. I went to a magnet high school which admitted students based on merit, but unlike MIT they didnt do context- so my class was mostly filled with the richest kids whose professional parents lived in the nicest towns with best schools and who knew how to prepare their children for high school applications, nevermind college. Im happy to report that MIT is nothing like that. Some of my closest friends are first generation citizens whose parents came to this country with next to nothing. Some of the brightest kids I know here are from the MiddleofNowhere, USA and had never heard of the science olympiads. And here is an important fact that I feel the need to clarify: MIT Admissions is 100% need-blind. This means that your application is considered without any information about your financial situation- so that your ability to pay for college in no way affects your admission decision. (Although, just to be clear, while I am not sure if this applies to international applicants, it certainly applies to domestic applicants.) Were grateful to have a lot of successful alumni who donate money to help current students afford the privelege of going here. There are some fascinating statistics on the Financial Aid website, and one of the most impressive is this: 58% of MIT undergraduates are awarded a need-based MIT scholarship that doesn’t have to be repaid, and the average award is $23,300. Seriously, thats a lot of financial aid. I know several people from less advantaged backgrounds whose financial aid package is so good, they are paying next to nothing to go here. Thats not to say that everyone gets a lot of financial aid, or that there are no rich kids at MIT. What I am trying to say is that MIT is all about opportunity- and were very proud of the fact that admissions is need-blind. The Institutes attitude towards first generation college students, students from less advantaged backgrounds, and the accessibility of education are all very progessive, and were extremely proud of that. So please, dont assume otherwise. And if you did, I hope Ive managed to convince you that your assumptions were wrong. Also, to those of you who seem to be utterly convinced that MIT plays some elaborate game with your hopes and dreams to maximize profit or diversity or public opinion and that these blogs are some big sham to make us only look like nice people who care, youre also dead wrong. Im just an undergrad here- all I do for admissions is take ridiculous pictures of myself and post them on the Internet. Its Matt and Ben and some of the other guest bloggers you might have read about who do all the hard work of deciding which small percentage of the huge number of incredible people get to come here. I know those guys pretty well, and let me tell you- they really, really care. When they say they read your applications with care, they mean it. When they say it breaks their hearts to put your application into the larger pile, they mean it. I had the privelege of sitting with Macgregor (one of the admissions counselors) at the CPW help desk for a few hours last year, and I was honestly blown away ab out the obvious level of care and concern he had for the students whose applications he had read. I have no idea how, but its like he remembers every single application he read, cover to cover. Every few minutes a student would come by to introduce themselves and say hi (because he had been in touch with them via email previously and wanted to meet). And as soon as the student walked away, he would turn to me and tell me 3 different awesome things that student had accomplished, or 3 staggering obstacles he or she had overcome, and how thrilled he was that they were able to afford to come here despite their financial situation, etc etc etc. Now if MIT is all about promoting some elitist society of rich kids and admitting an appropriately diverse class, how can you explain that behavior? And if its all about the appearance of concern, how can you explain the compassion that I saw that admissions counselor express behind closed doors? I know Im just giving you an anecdote, and Im sure some of you are closed-minded enough to completely disregard it. But if youre willing to take my word for it, trust me. I know these guys. In real life. They say they care. And they really do. (And if youre one of those who still thinks that Im saying this just for the sake of appearances, then you need a serious reality check.) One last thing. Mandah said: I dont exactly live in the Philippines. However, my mother and sister were both born in Manila. :) I am a born and bred Jersey girl. And no, I dont say Joisey. Hahahahaha. Amen. NO ONE from Jersey calls it that. Ever. (This is actually the very first claim I ever made on this blog.) Go Jersey. =) On that note, to the admitted students: please, take a minute to leave a note introducing yourselves! That way when I meet you at CPW I can be all oh yes, Ryan, from Kansas, I remember you! and make you feel all warm and fuzzy inside (like Ben did to me when I said, Hi Im Laura and he said, wait, the Laura? No joke, just ask him) instead of being like ummhuh? No, seriously, we love getting to know you guys. Im totally good friends with blog commentors in the Class of 2010. So dont be shy, introduce yourselves!