The Undecideds, Episode 4 A New Hope

The Undecideds, Episode 4 A New Hope The fourth in a series With a week until the May 1st postmark deadline for your college decision, I figure now is as good a time as any to the students who are still undecided: How can we help you make your decision? What more would you like to know about MIT? What are your lingering concerns? Etc. Look out this ones going to be lengthy, and Im not even going to get to every question today. Amy wrote, I saw people carrying boxes of Chinese food during CPW. Is there a place on campus to get this food and where? The boxes you saw came from one of the campus food trucks. I get the plurality of my campus lunches from the Chinese food truck in front of Lobby 7; its cheap and convenient, and really hits the spot. Theres another Asian food truck near the Biology Building (68) called Goosebearys; its also quite popular. Within a short walk from MIT are Chinese restaurants Mary Chungs, Royal East, and Pu Pu Hot Pot, and 3 subway stops away youll find Chinatown, including my personal favorite, Taiwan Cafe. Anonymous wrote, On food: Im impressed on the variety of meal options, and especially by the fact that its possible to cook by myself sometimes. Im just curious about the fact is it possible to find food, that is healthy, not genetically modified? Im from another country, and have a kind of stereotype about such products in US. So thats what I worry about. On the same note, Jwal (98% decided on coming) writes: I would like to second the food question by Anonymous. I have a slight gluten alergy and cannot eat wheat-containing food all the time or Ill crash. Also, Ive recently been horrified by the GMO (Genetically Modified Organisms) problem with the food in our country and would like to be able to keep finding non-GMO diets while at MIT. Ive got a call into the campus dining manager, and when I hear back from him, Ill post more information. In the meantime, my buddy Dave 06 writes, As far as healthy food goes if you shop for yourself, Cambridge is full of high quality (if sometimes pricey) markets, as well as your more ordinary supermarkets. I eat most of my meals at my ILG (pika) which also tries for healthy and tasty. As far as eating official Campus Dining food that is healthy well, I very rarely eat at the dining halls or whatever, but the Steam Cafe and Building 4 serve pretty natural food, and I think some of the Lobdell vendors (like the middle eastern one) might be good for that, though Ive only eaten at Lobdell once or twice in the four years Ive been here. I have at least one friend with a gluten allergy. He is still alive. another mom writes, Can you explain the meal allowance charge? Dont parents need to put money in an account for food or join the dining service for a fee and then receive a 50% dicount on food purchases? Im confused. The official explanation is here, and let me try to help too. MIT dining works on a declining balance (or debit) system the parent and/or student puts money onto their meal card, and the charge for each meal is deducted from the card at the time of purchase. The meal card activity and balance can be managed entirely online, too. To answer the second part of your question, there is a program called preferred dining. For $250, the student gets 50% off all purchases at 6 residential dining locations. The plan is mandatory for residents of certain dorms, and optional for residents of others. Whether or not this program makes sense for your son or daughter depends on their dining habits and preferences. You dont have to make this decision now; in fact, this might be a decision best made during Orientation, after housing assignments. I might also add that MITs debit meal card system isnt a use it or lose it type system like at many other schools, where you pay for meals and if theyre not eaten (or eaten off campus), then *poof* the money is gone. AT MIT, if meal money goes unused for whatever reason, it goes back to the student/parent. I really appreciate the flexibility of this system. Moving off of the topic of food, Jenny wrote, Im concerned that everyone is going to be so engrossed in engineering and science they wont care as much about literature or the arts. I recently got back from Yale, where I think I could get more of a literature-based, Dead Poets Society type experience, but at the expense of an extremely solid grounding in the sciences and engineering. Also, the people at Yale seem less stressed out and a lot more laid-back that the MIT folks. Dont get me wrong, I love MIT, but Im still concerned about these points I think it is entirely reasonable to be concerned about these points. I had many of these same concerns 10 years ago as I was looking at MIT. I should start by acknowledging that if the most important thing to you is a literature-based, Dead Poets Society type experience, then MIT probably isnt the right choice. Our rockin Dean of Admissions Marilee Jones truly believes that schools should be up front about their pluses and their minuses (instead of trying to appear to be all things to all people just to entice more students to attend), and in that spirit, I must say that MIT is not a place based in the idea of reading and discussing great works of literature (though there are other great colleges that do, like Chicago and St. Johns). All that being said, you will absolutely find people at MIT who truly love the humanities and arts. I like to say (because I believe it to be true) that the typical MIT student is one who has a passion in science/technology, but also a very strong interest in some aspect of the humanities, arts, and social sciences. Every student must take at least a course a term in these areas, and most will take more. Also, you should definitely check out all of the opportunities listed on some of these web sites: The Arts at MIT Humanities, Arts Social Sciences Freshman Arts Student Arts Scholars Literature at MIT Music Theater Arts Writing Humanistic Studies (et cetera) Also, while I would imagine this is lower than the number at Yale (I dont need to use Google to know that Yale is an amazing school), MIT does have 3 Pulitzer Prize winners on staff, and 3 of our 13 MacArthur Genius Grant Fellows are humanities, arts social science faculty. The message is: the humanities are here, and world class. Youll still have amazing faculty and brilliant peers in classes. What remains now is how you want to balance the culture and opportunities at these two schools. You cant go wrong with your choice! To help, Ive asked one of my favorite humanities professors to be in touch with you. Hopefully youll hear from him in the next few days. Dave 06 adds: Its true, there are many people at MIT who are very focused and not excited about literature or the arts. But there are many many many people who are just the other way music is very popular here, and it is very easy to get caught up in all sorts of performing and visual arts groups. I did a cool freshman advising program called FASAP and its upperclassmen sister program Arts Scholars, where essentially the MIT Office of the Arts pays for you to go to all sorts of awesome arts events in the Boston area and on campus and discuss over dinner at great restaurants totally amazing. So yeah MIT is a very diverse place, so while you might find a fair amount of one-track mind scientists, you can also find some of the most creative and exciting people I know. Jenny also had a second part of her question about stress and being laid back; at this time Im also going to add Nicks questions (similar to Jennys), edited for length: Right now, Im trying to decide between MIT and Stanford, leaning toward Stanford. Im concerned that people at MIT dont know how to relax and take things into perspective. Im afraid that Ill be in an environment where Ill be pressured into spending obscene amounts of time competing against other kids with 800 SATs studying just to earn an A. Since Im almost positive that I want to study Computer Science, I am worried because course 6 especially attracts these sorts of people. With close to a quarter of undergrads in course 6, Im also worrried that Ill have to push and shove to get an interesting UROP. Also, I feel that the MIT culture looks down upon people who are unable or unwilling to dedicate most of their time to study. If youre not in EECS, ChemE, or Physics, youre looked down upon. I also enjoy the humanities, a nd it seems that the MIT culture frowns upon them because they are not hardcore enough. I really like MIT, but its the rather lopsided and closed-minded hard engineering culture that is bothering me. Does this mean that its just not the right place for me, or am I missing something? So to answer Jenny and Nick about stress, being laid back, and studying a lot: the MIT culture respects hard work and real accomplishments. My take on the MIT culture is that students seem stressed because they genuinely want to work hard and do their best, not because theyre forced into stress. Something I really appreciate about MIT is that people who come here are serious about academics and research. Also, despite my fears from the rumor mill, I found that MITs culture really does emphasize cooperation over competition. People work together, help each other, and learn from each other. I know you were both here for CPW, and I hope that you experienced these aspects of MITs culture: cooperative, collaborative, doing serious work while still having balance, and having a good time. Again, Nick, like Jenny, a choice between Stanford and MIT is a no-lose proposition. I understand MIT has been your dream school, so I appreciate that youre being diligent about researching your final choice. Dave 06 adds: Ive written too long already, but I dont particularly agree with that impression. One thing I like about this place is that there is a high emphasis on collaboration against competition. Ive never thought of myself as competing against my fellow students (hell, even when I was in a robot competition we spent a lot of time swapping tips with other teams). And as I said enough, while there are certainly lame people here who dont care about humanities, you can avoid them pretty easily. :) On the other end of the spectrum from Jenny Nick, Josh writes, I am going to do EE, and I was thinking, 8 HASS subjects seems a lot. Do most take about 1 a term? That would mean taking HASS even in the upper level years, and if one squezes it in the early years, that wouldnt leave much room for classes in your major (math and science classes, is the the reason why I really like MIT, afterall)? HASS doesnt seem very fun to me; I would like to take some humanity classes, but 8 just seems a bit much, when I could be taking more classes in the science that I find really interesting, from the plethora of awesome science classes that MIT offers. How do people not majoring in the Humanities or Arts feel about this? How do you guys who are Engineers/Electrical Engineers feel about this? Frankly, Josh, the HASS requirement is a really good thing about MIT. Having balance in your life is really important, as is having very strong communications skills. Tens of thousands of students have completed MIT without HASS classes causing problems with taking classes in their major. Also remember that after freshman year, MIT does not limit the number of classes you can take, so feel free to be one of those MIT students (and they do exist) who take 8+ classes a term, so as to allow you to derive the maximum scientific learning from MIT. But I assure you that the HASS requirement makes for a better education, and is something that you will come to appreciate. Its for this reason that I took more than the required number of HASS classes at MIT they were really great. Drew asked about Financial Aid; Im looking into it. shar asked, ive taken two math classes at a local college this year. will my credits transfer over next fall or will these classes only be used for placement purposes? Transfer credit at MIT is handled by the individual departments. What youll do is send the course syllabi (or syllabuses, if you prefer) and transcript to the Academic Resource Center (the first year office at MIT), and they will forward it on to the appropriate department, whose faculty will decide which courses get what credit and placement. Ploy wrote, My concern about MIT was that I didnt enjoy the CPWand other people definitely did. I guess it was because its my first overnight college visit away from home and seeing so many people was sort of overwhelming. I was nervous and anxious the entire time, but still I could tell what a great place MIT was. Its weird that MIT is the only college that I miss after the visit, though, and I visited many schools since. I wish I could turn back and start it all over again. Does that mean MIT is the school for me? Or does it mean I shouldnt go? Hmm tough to know. I can understand how MIT and CPW can be overwhelming. I, too, had a hard time adapting to MIT when I first got here. But it can be hard to know whether that anxiety is temporary (like mine was) or more than that. I dont know what the right answer is, but Ill have a thoughtful student be in touch with you to help think about things. Also, two parents also chimed in with some thoughts and advice. Someones Mother wrote, As a parent, I wanted to respond to Ploys comment from The Undecideds, Part 2. Ploy said he/she did not enjoy CPW. Ploy, I know that you are not the only one who did not enjoy CPW, and I hope that does not factor into your decision about whether to go to MIT. On each of the seven dorm tours I took, I saw at least one prefrosh, touring by himself or herself, who appeared uncomfortable. Sympathetic to them, I chatted with each and found that most just dont like big parties or the intensely social and superficial atmostphere of events like CPW. Most assumed that everyone else had made friends and was having a great time. I ended up wishing my child had met these prefrosh because she had a lot of common interests with them and might well become friends with them next year. Ploy, I suspect that most of life at MIT is not like CPW. Instead of attending many big parties and social events, you will spend most of your time in class, studying and socializing with a small er group of students you meet in your dorm, in your classes, and in extra-curricular activities. You will have something particular in common with these students and connect with them. In fact, I would guess that the type of housing MIT offers(students choose rather than are randomly placed) makes MIT less like a big party of strangers and more like a small social gathering of friends. In short, decide whether or not you liked MIT the academics, the activities, the housing, the life style rather than whether or not you liked CPW. AnotherMom wrote, Ploy Allow me to comment as well with a parental perspective. Your questions are valid and demonstrate that you taking your decision making process very seriously. To be sure, as Someones Mother mentioned above, you were not the only one who did not enjoy CPW. My daughter attended CPW alone. It was her first time away from home for more than a day and it was the first time she had been on a plane. Lots of adjustment for her. Having apprehension initially is to be expected. You are leaving your comfort zone for something new. It is exciting and frightening at the same time. For years, you have been at top of your class and so on. The fact that you have visited other schools since MITs CPW and MIT is the only one you miss speaks volumes to me. How did you feel about the academic enviroment, the campus, and housing? at MIT? What was the overall feel to you? If necessary, make a chart and jot down pros and cons for each of the schools. Be honest with yourself. I think that will help you tremendously. All the best in your decision making. Ploy also wrote, btw, does MIT have a pre-orientation program? Yes! We have some very cool pre-orientation programs, and a well-run orientation as well. Orientation Pre-Orientation Jwal wrote, Does MIT have a ballroom-dancing outlet? A class or club of some sort? Yes! Ballroom Dance Team Ballroom Dance Club Zi Wen wrote, What concerns me most is MITs low acceptance rate to medical school. While other top schools, such as Brown, have med school acceptance rates of 90 percent, MITs is only about 73 percent. Can you offer some insight as to why the percentage is so low? Are the grades at MIT grade-deflated or the courses so challenging that most students are unable to maintain a high gpa for medical school? And another anon wrote, Melis did an entry on being premed at mit and the non-grade-inflated gpa system. Do med schools take into consideration that an applicant is from mit? Mollie said elite grad schools take students w/ lower gpas from mit than those w/ perfect 4.0s from state schools because MIT students have such a strong research background. Is that the same for competitive med schools? Ah, the med school question. Well, maybe I just had super-smart friends, but I didnt know a single person at MIT who didnt get into a very good medical school. My friends are/were at Harvard, Harvard/MIT HST, Duke, Mount Sinai, Chicago, Pitt, Tufts, NYU, BU, Baylor, and Stanford for medical school. Some are doing MD/PhD, most doing straight MD. Remember that MIT allows anyone to be premed and apply for medical school (its not a school that only presents statistics of their pre-screened candidates; also, the statistics include grad school students and alums as well as undergrads). Also remember that while grades are very important, medical school admissions committees *DO* know what classes/schools are rigorous. Just like undergraduate admissions, medical school transcript evaluations arent done in a vacuum. Ive found MIT to be a pretty supportive place of premed students as well. Im told our premed advising is actually one of the best around, and the student premed group, AMSA, is active and produces a very helpful MIT Premed Guide. Anyway, as evidenced by this entry, yesterdays day trip went well, and the lobster did not kill me. I may post some photos in a future entry. Anyway, I will get to the questions I didnt answer today in tomorrows entry, in addition to the new questions that you all have.