<p>Below are some of the questions I’ve been meaning to ask (in no meaningful order). I’d greatly appreciate any help you guys can provide. Thanks! </p>
<li><p>Do most of the science classes come with a practical or a lab component? I know most classes have a recitation and a lecture, but labs arent often mentioned. </p></li>
<li><p>I watch one television program every week (Monk), is there a common room for television in the dorms, or does one have to purchase a TV and get a cable line?</p></li>
<li><p>How secure and safe from vandalism is MITs parking garage? What about Cambridge in general? I ask because my dad had a car custom painted for me for a graduation/birthday present and am wondering whether to sell it and purchase a cheaper one or to drive it around.</p></li>
<li><p>Im definitely going to get a UROP, but Im wondering if we can still pursue our own ideas at an MIT lab. If I have a really compelling research project, how easy or difficult is it for me to gain the necessary approval/venture capital to pursue my idea?</p></li>
<li><p>Ive heard lots of stories about the many excellent summer internship opportunities MIT can provide, can someone elaborate? Are these expense-paid internships (if we went to another country), or does MIT just introduce the students to the internships?</p></li>
<li><p>How does one pay for books, supplies, and food without relying on ones parents? In addition to a UROP, how easy is it to get a loan? On what terms?</p></li>
<li><p>Is there a lot of memorization in your classes? I know this is vague, but general perceptions will greatly help me. </p></li>
<li><p>Unfortunately, since Im currently living in India, my parents wont let me take two trips to the US. Thus, I wont be able to attend CPW, go to any of the dorm exploration sessions, or take an overnight visit (I think they only offer these in April, now). What will I miss? What time would be best to come so as to have time to scope out dorms, get to meet new people, etc. Hopefully this question can also help international accepted students. </p></li>
<li><p>I know this might sound naïve, but Im wondering what you do in the summer. That is, are students allowed to stay in their dorm? What do most students do?</p></li>
<li><p>Ive been searching online, but I cant really gauge the culture of each of the dorms. So far, Ive taken a liking to EC, but Im not sure whether it will really fit my needs. Can anyone provide a general description of the dorm culture at the various dorms? </p></li>
<li><p>Hows the food situation? I heard a new food center was recently built, and there are all sorts of restaurants (in addition to Campusfoods.com), but Im wondering what people eat on a normal basis. Eventually, the costs start adding up. Is dorm food affordable? Does one usually eat at the cafeteria? Whats common?</p></li>
<li><p>Ive heard (I think in a blog) that we can get lots of cool technological junk left by labs (used/outdated equipment, scraps, etc.). Is this true!?!???</p></li>
<li><p>How secure are dorms? Are we allowed to bring friends in, family members to visit? On the housing website it seems to give one the impression that only dorm members are allowed in. Are they very strict in enforcing these rules?</p></li>
<li><p>How hygienic are the dorm restrooms? Does this vary by the dorm, or are they all generally clean? </p></li>
<li><p>When are the finalized course schedules and course lists released? I heard from students that you can pick up a handbook now, but I thought I read somewhere that the actual schedules wont be out till a month or two before classes start.</p></li>
<li><p>How much reading do you have to do, on average, per science and math course? Is it more problem crunching and thinking or more reading from a textbook?</p></li>
</ol>
<p>I skipped the hard questions that are more amenable to discussion among big groups of people and focused on the more fact-based ones. :)</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Depends on the department. In science classes, there are usually separate lecture classes and lab classes (ie in biology, intro bio is 7.012, intro lab is 7.02; totally separate). Engineering classes tend to integrate labs with the lecture. In the course catalogue, there's a number for the units -- x-y-z (ie 5-0-7). First number is the number of hours of lecture per week, second number is the number of hours of lab, third number is the number of hours of outside work required per week.</p></li>
<li><p>Some of the dorms have common rooms, some have fewer. In Macgregor there's one every three floors. Anybody else want to chime in from somewhere else?</p></li>
<li><p>If you're an undergrad, you're not going to be parking in a parking garage. Street parking only. :(</p></li>
<li><p>I pay for books and supplies through my UROP wages. Freshman year, before I had a UROP, I worked at the foreign language library. If you need/want a job, you'll probably be able to find one.</p></li>
<li><p>There's almost no memorization in my classes.</p></li>
<li><p>You can stay in your dorm room for the summer if you pay for summer housing, which is about the same as what it costs to live there for a term (the price doesn't go up or anything). Sometimes they make you move to a different room in the dorm, depending on what your dorm's policies are and what parts are open for students to live in.</p></li>
<li><p>The bloggers are gearing up to do a virtual tour of the dorms in the blogs sometime in the next few weeks, so look for that. You'll also get a booklet and a video CD (called I3, interactive introduction to the Institute) in the mail sometime soon.</p></li>
<li><p>What you eat regularly for food depends on where you live. In dorms with kitchens, a lot of people cook for themselves. In dorms with dining halls, a lot of people eat in the dining halls. I like cooking for myself -- it's cheaper!</p></li>
<li><p>Yep, join the reuse list when you get an email ID. :) First come, first serve! You can join lists either on Athena or by visiting web.mit.edu/moira (once you have a Kerberos ID and certificates -- which you can get probably late May or early Juneish).</p></li>
<li><p>You can bring people in, but they can't just come in without you, you know what I mean? If you have guests, you should come down to the front door and let them in yourself. My dorm has a short guest list that you turn in; people on your guest list can be admitted without you coming downstairs. People can stay with you as long as you want, so long as your roommate(s) are ok with it.</p></li>
<li><p>Probably varies by dorm, but they are all cleaned regularly by Housing staff.</p></li>
<li><p>The schedule for next term will be up probably mid-April. Definitely soon after Drop Date. New freshmen don't need to worry about registering for classes until you come for Orientation in August.</p></li>
<li><p>I usually have a chapter or two of reading from a textbook (or a paper or two from the scientific literature) per week per class. But problem sets consume more of my time than reading.</p></li>
</ol>
<ol>
<li><p>A great way to get a UROP is by contacting a professor who does research in a field you're interested in. If you want to pursue your own ideas, you'd have to discuss details with the professor you're working with. It should be easier with professors who have their own lab than with a prof with a joint lab.</p></li>
<li><p>Usually the details of internships are arranged with the company/individual offering it. MIT has a wide alumni base and the alumni association helps students get externships over IAP that may potentially lead to summer internships. Many students get internships through MonsterTRAK or by attending career fairs on the MIT campus. The companies that attend these fairs often are headed by MIT alumni who are looking for the quality of students found at MIT or by large reputable companies who frequently recruit at MIT for the same reason.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>Out of country: There is a European Career Fair every year where you can meet with representatives from European companies. The details of the internship are generally arranged with the company, but the ones my friends have had were expenses (transportation, housing) paid plus stipend.</p>
<ol>
<li>Before May 18.</li>
</ol>
<p>I hope you find this information helpful. If anybody else has additional comments please post!</p>
<p>I guess I could keep it, I'd just have to find some place to park it. Since my family is now overseas, and the car is being stored in CA, I could have it transported to Cambridge and park it in some sort of parking garage. I just can't keep it in CA, since the people who are garaging it are charging me a monthly fee.</p>
<p>You will have to pay a fee to garage it in Cambridge also, unless you know people who live in the area who are willing to garage it for you at their home.</p>
<p>You'll get a paper letter sometime in late May or early June which has your MIT ID number and some sort of numerical key which will allow you to log into an MIT site and generate an MIT userid. (An MIT userid is also called an Athena or Kerberos ID/login).</p>
<p>You can pick any name you want for your username, so long as it's not already used. You only get one username, but if you want multiple mit dot edu email addresses, you can set up multiple lists on Athena which forward mail to your username. Pick your username carefully -- it's a) the email that professors and future employers will probably see, and b) often a source of lasting MIT nicknames. (Or CC usernames, as the case may be.) :)</p>
<h1>12 My son has gotten, free of charge, several computers, a wonderful desk chair (much better than anyting at our house), a refrigerator, an air-conditioner, a desk, a sofa and a bunch of electronic parts of something or other.</h1>
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My son has gotten, free of charge, several computers, a wonderful desk chair (much better than anyting at our house), a refrigerator, an air-conditioner, a desk, a sofa and a bunch of electronic parts of something or other.
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<p>Wow, you can get that much! I guess you just have to be quick.</p>
<p>zking - some of that stuff is just hanging around in the dorm - in the hall, in the basement, coming out of someone's room. Reuse is great, especially at the end of the year when seniors are leaving town. He also says if people know you're looking for something they'll let you know if it shows up on reuse (or in the hall). </p>
<p>I don't know any of the details, but a few times a year there's some kind of giant garage sale somewhere (I don't know if it's connected to MIT or whether it's just in Boston or Cambridge or well . . . obviously I don't know much about it). Anyway, he's gotten a lot of stuff there, such as really cheap electronics and computers. Maybe an MIT person knows what I'm talking about.</p>
<p>No, that's not the only software. Matlab is available, but only for use on campus (you don't actually download the software, you access it through the MIT server). Various departments hand out other free software as well -- course 2, for example, gives out Maple.</p>
<p>I called the MIT Finaid Dept. because they are missing some tax forms and they were able to pull up an MIT ID number. Is this the ID # you were referring to? I guess I'd still need to wait till I get the pin number to be able to get a certificate, right?</p>
In addition to a UROP, how easy is it to get a loan? On what terms?</p></li>