MIT Other Major

that we're super smart and know everything, that everyone is Asian, that we have no communication skills or that we're not personable at all, all we do is study and work, that there are no parties at all, that we all don't shower and wear glasses

in some people yes definitely, but for 85% of the mit community - NOT AT ALL. MIT students are generally pretty out going and very helpful with everything. Most people are really smart, yes, but most are not going to rub it in anyone's face. Yes there are a lot of Asians on campus, but being a white female i have friends of all races. I came from a very normal high school where I fit in just fine, so I feel that I have fine communication skills and know many people who are just as personable as anyone else in other colleges. Yes we study and work a lot but it's MIT, you wouldn't do well if you didn't work a lot, but there are PLENTY of parties and even if that's not your thing, people hang out and chill all the time. If someone didn't shower, someone else would make them shower

The best thing about MIT is the people. Every one is SO motivated to go out and change the world - literally. There are so many people doing such AMAZING things, but no one acts higher than you at all. Everyone is willing to help everyone else excel. One thing I'd change would be the pressure. It's almost like if you don't do 50 million activities and UROPs, you're completely behind. I like the size a lot. Well to be honest, when I told people from my hometown that i was going to MIT, they'd look at me and be like "you mean ITT?" or they'd ask "whats that - michigan institute of technology?" I got used to figuring out if people were actually educated about the world around them by their reactions to me saying I'm going to MIT. If people actually asked what it stood for, I'd know they had NO CLUE what MIT was or what it meant to get in. If people were just like "o that's cool," I'd know that they didn't know what it was but were trying to pretend like they did. Then you had the people who actually know what MIT was whose response would be like "OMG nice job - thats so cool." Umm on campus, I'm either in my friends' dorms, in the student center or in class. Completely college town - boston and cambridge has like 40 schools in the surrounding area I think so it's really cool to collaborate with other schools. There are definitely other people though besides college students because I mean it is Boston- a huge city. I don't really have a problem with the administration. I guess some people do because of hacking rules, but for the most part it doesn't bug me. I really like how the administration is a very open administration. I hope things stay that way. Biggest recent controversy was the passing away of a DU brother. There is school pride in the "we're awesome" kind of way especially when we get compared to caltech and harvard, but not so much with sports. MIT is just a really unusual college in general. I think we get a lot more freedom that other colleges which I think is really great. Also something that's really cool is that all of our dorms are co-year so you can live in the same dorm freshman through senior year, which a lot of people do unless they move to their frat or sorority houses. Most people continue to live on campus. One experience I'll always remember was my Freshman Pre-Orientation Program called the Freshman Urban Program. We did community service projects for about a week and bonded with freshman and upperclassmen a week before orientation. The dining halls here suck, a lot.

Yes and no - Most of the large freshman lecture classes - not at all, but any humanities class or even as you get higher up in your classes - yes. Um my least favorite class last semester was my writing class - it was taught really well but I just hating writing papers. So far my favorite class has been 3.091 - Chemistry because the professor was really cool and it was pretty easy. Students study every single night. you have to do A LOT of work here to survive, but it's definitely doable. Class participation is common in smaller classes like humanities or higher level classes - not so much in large lecture classes. All conversations almost always revert to something to do with physics or politics or math or something - its MIT what do you expect? Students always strive to do their best, but everyone will help everyone out to excel and no one tries to put someone else down for their own gain. And if they do, they don't have a lot of friends. 3.091 was pretty unique just because the professor was crazy and so cool. I have no clue what major I want to be yet which is a little scary. Professors are really willing to help you outside of class if you want to and also if you take the initiative. I mean students and professors don't really talk outside of class about normal things unless it's a professor from a higher level class that doesn't have a lot of people in it. But there are a lot of like "meet the professors dinners" where you can talk to your professors on a more informal level. MIT's academic requirements are pretty rough but definitely doable. Some majors are lighter than others, but all could definitely be done. You can finish every single major by taking exactly 4 classes a term which is the normal load. For the most part education is geared towards learning for its own sake.

Um I love all the different groups on campus. I'm white, yet I'm a part of AAA and ATS and SAAS (Asian American Association, Association of Taiwanese Students, and South Asian Association of Students). While I am a little more on the outgoing side, all people are really accepting of different cultures and people. Some people won't make other people of different races their best friends, but no one has any prejudices against anyone else. There are a lot of religious groups on campus if you want to get into that. For the most part no one really talks about religion because some people are very very against it. We've had some spam wars that really ragged on people who believe in God. But I'm Catholic, I have no problem expressing my faith. If you are part of the LGBT community, there is definitely a place for you here as well. Most people who live on west campus aren't really so open about it, but there are the "you are welcome here" signs EVERYWHERE. East campus and senior house are a lot more open with the LGBT community. Umm I think the only student who would feel out of place is someone who is very set in their ways and not willing at all to change or try anything new. Most students wear jeans. I've gone in sweats before and have been fine. Most people don't dress up unless they have an interview or something. All types of students interact. Most people will be willing to meet anyone. I guess tables at the dining hall would be separated between like a sorority/frat, a sports team, east campus people, and the working people who eat and work at the same time. But the only reason for these separations if they even exist is that they've just gotten together to eat, there is tons of overlap and you'd be welcomed anywhere. Most students are from Massachusetts, California, or Florida. I feel most people are a little well-off, not crazy rich, but most are not struggling. Most people are somewhat informed about politics but I say somewhat in a sort of generous term. People for the most part are really really liberal here. No one talks about salary later in life.

Sororities and Fraternities are really popular. There isn't really one group that EVERYONE is a part of but like everyone has their niche. A cappella groups are really popular too. I'm involved mainly with my sorority, the Global Poverty Initiative, and Society of Women Engineers, all which are really fun and really cool. Open-door policy depends on which dorm you live in and then even what floor of the dorm you live on. My dorm generally is known as being the quite dorm, but my friend's floor is super loud whereas mine is one of the quieter ones. Athletic events are not really that popular unless you have a friend in something. The volleyball team draws somewhat large crowds. Guest speakers are really popular but it kinda depends on who exactly is speaking. Theater draws a pretty good crowd but again it depends on what is showing. Like we just had the Vagina Monologues on campus and those went sold out for all three nights as did Pippin earlier, but not so much with the smaller plays. Dating is hard here - lots of people have bf or gf but there really isn't a lot of time. I met my closest friends through the pre-orientation program i did (i highly, highly recommend it). 2am on a Tuesday - you're working on psets or studying for a test. umm one of the best traditions is that the upperclassmen shower the freshman before the first 8.01 (physics) test, but I guess that's getting labeled as "hazing" now which sucks cause it's totally not. Another event is the sodium drop at the beginning of the year right after orientation where they drop a chunk of sodium in the Charles River and it goes boom. Another "secret" tradition is east campus leads orange tours during orientation and tangerine tours during CPW that lead you around the roofs and tunnels of mit - you actually get to go on top of the big dome. If you want, you can find a party whenever you want. Most frats have pub nights one day during the week and then there are always parties on the weeks - either at frats or at dorms. Most people don't usually go during the week though unless they have ties with the frat. Frats and sororities aren't that important - if you choose to be in one, great - if not, no worries. You need to find some kind of community somewhere - it doesn't matter where. A lot of dorms are really tight, some student groups are really bonded, sports teams, etc. Last weekend was an anomaly for me because usually I don't do this but the week was really hard. On Friday I went to a fun dance party at a frat. On Saturday I volunteered at this event held at MIT, then I had a meeting for GPI, then I went to my friend's surprise birthday party, then I went to this charity talent show held by one frat, then i went back to my room to get ready for a East Campus party. The party was called article 2 party where you could only wear 2 articles of clothes or less - it was a very interesting party and very fun (that shows you a little bit about what east campus is like). Then I went back and changed and headed over to a frat where I got really drunk and don't remember a lot from the night. Most saturday nights I don't drink at all. People either work, watch movies, go out to dinner in boston, go to different events on campus, hang out, play games - don't worry if you don't drink - there is A LOT of people here that don't. Normally people go off campus to eat.