<p>A friend of mine was looking into cheerleading.. she said she visited the MIT cheerleading website and stuff but she asked me to create a thread here. Have any of you (or your kids) been on the squad at MIT or know much about it?</p>
<p>How is the squad viewed by other MIT students? Is it a major time commitment? Do you compete or is it just for school spirit/support? How hard is it to make the team?</p>
<p>Any other info not pertaining to the questions above are appreciated too :) Thanks.</p>
<p>I was on the squad! I was the captain my junior year, actually, and I've returned from retirement this year and last year to participate in a routine for an MIT-wide show.</p>
<p>I don't know how the squad is viewed by other students -- I mean, we're just another club sport at MIT.</p>
<p>Practices are held three times per week for two hours per practice, plus home football games during the fall and home basketball games during the winter.</p>
<p>It is not hard to make the team, intentionally. Every year, the squad holds "tryouts", but the stated purpose of the tryout is to give people a chance to learn stunts and cheers and meet current cheerleaders so they can make a choice as to whether they'd like to participate. Nobody has ever been cut after tryouts.</p>
<p>There's a variety of previous experience represented on the squad. Some members were members of competitive squads in high school, and some (like me) had never cheered before coming to MIT. We're also a home for former gymnasts who aren't interested in doing a varsity sport in college.</p>
<p>My sophomore and junior years (2004 and 2005), the squad did compete in a few competitions around New England. It was fun, but it was a pretty big time and money sink, so the squad has not competed for the past two years.</p>
<p>I really enjoyed being on the squad. I was glad that it sort of forced me to stay in shape, and I also was glad to have six hours per week when I didn't have to think about science. The people on the squad, both when I was in college and now, are fun to be around.</p>