<p>but i visited MIT and fell in love with the overall vibe/ atmosphere. im seriously considering the architecture/ design or media programs there. </p>
<p>is there really a visible art scene? to give some perspective, ive visited some schools and brown, chicago, and wesleyan are at the top of my list in terms of social life</p>
<p>edit- i dont want to seem anti-nerd or anything...no, not at all! in fact i would yearn to join the pantheons of super-intelligent math/ science kids, its just that y'all are way over my head :)</p>
<p>MIT’s Media Arts and Sciences Center had several displays on the top floor of New York’s Museum of Modern Art when we visited last year. So yes, there’s a viable art scene, but bear in mind, at MIT there’s no divided camp with artists on one side and “math and science nerds” on the other. The artists at MIT are definitely interested in math, science, and engineering.</p>
<p>the walker arts center is awesome. i visited and the subject matter happened to be exactly what i was studying at the time.</p>
<p>how hard would you say are the required science courses? i enjoy math and would take it regardless, but i tolerate bio/ physics and absolutely detest chem. however, i figure i can get through at least AP-level classes and possible a level beyond that.</p>
<p>I responded to your question because my daughter’s an artist/physics major at MIT. You should have some responses from MIT students before long, but right now, they’ve just finished packing up their dorm rooms and have flown to the ends of the earth. My personal opinion though is that to really enjoy MIT, you need to like and appreciate science and math. If you detest chemistry and only tolerate biology and physics, I think you’d be pretty miserable there.
Just my two cents.</p>
<p>well, i figure hating one class- chem, and feeling indifference towards two of my classes freshmen year is a small price to pay for three years in an unparalleled (or close to it) institution for architecture/ media. however, if im not really into the scene socially then ill reconsider my position- then maybe it wont be worth it.</p>
<p>I have no personal experience with the Archiecture or Comparative Media Studies (CMS) departments at MIT, but CMS looks really cool and architecture, as you said, is top in the nation. I’d say if you get in to MIT, that’s a good indicator you’ll be able to deal with the GIRs just fine.</p>
<p>Plus, if you keep an open mind about bio, physics, and chem, I doubt you’d be miserable. Part of what is nice about the GIRs is that it exposes scientists to fields they would never have exposure to if they only stuck with what they were interested in. You never know where you might have a latent interest and you never know how the concepts of one field might apply to your own. In my opinion, if you go to MIT and say “I stand to learn nothing useful by studying physics, bio, or chemistry because it’s unrelated to architecture and design,” or “my high school class in chemistry was uninteresting therefore I hate chemistry,” you’re doing it wrong.</p>