<p>So I've been on CC for a while and I just really started looking at where I'll be applying this fall. After reading through several threads in each school's forumn, I feel like I can almost sense the community at the school. Do you guys think it's wise to take this sense into account when deciding where to apply? (especially early?) Is the CC group representative? Has anyone else done this?</p>
<p>I think it's fair to take it into account, but not to focus on it. Really, you'll get the best idea of a school by visiting (if that's at all possible).</p>
<p>When it comes to choosing between where you get in, I think it's worth visiting the different schools before you decide =D</p>
<p>I just visited, but they weren't like.. admitted students days in that I only got to spend a day at each school and didn't really get an idea of campus life because.. I did the info session, tour, and sit-in on classes route and stuck with my parents the entire time. I have to admit that MIT was one of my dream schools before the visit but the um. campus aesthetics turned me off a bit. However, the class visit and the infinite corrider were awesome. :) I don't really know much about the "feel" of each school other than what I could gather at lunch (which I ate at that building near the athletic facilities) and during class. My big deal is deciding where to apply early, as if I can get in somewhere that I love early, I'll seriously scream/jump/cry for joy.</p>
<p>And in April if I do get a choice between schools, I'm definately planning to attend the weekends, because I hear they're awesome. :)</p>
<p>The nice thing about MIT (at least this year) was that it was EA, and not single-choice. So, basically, as long as you're not applying to a single-choice EA school (Stanford, Yale etc.), you can apply to MIT EA even if you're applying somewhere else ED, and if you get into your other school, you just have to pull your MIT application.</p>
<p>If you know that MIT is a place that you'd like to apply, there really isn't any reason to wait to apply RA if you can get everything together in time to apply EA.</p>
<p>As far as MIT initally turning you off, it totally turned me off at first too. I wouldn't let first impressions completely dominate your thinking - by the end of CPW, there wasn't anywhere else that I was going to go to college besides MIT :)</p>
<p>You'd be amazed about how the aesthetics grow on you. I visited MIT after visiting Notre Dame - Notre Dame is absolutely gorgeous, tons of grass, lakes, etc - but now I'd pick MIT. The buildings, Killian Court, a gorgeous river lined with trees - it's a beautiful place if you give it time =).</p>
<p>I would ask the schools you're interested in to provide a student host for a weekend (I know MIT does this, and I'm sure other students do too). I think that would be a good way to get a feel for the place, 'cause you're right, information sessions don't give too much a feel.</p>
<p>No, no, no, no, no.</p>
<p>Please don't do that. I can't speak for other colleges, but at least for the MIT board- well, despite the fact that I post here all the time, I really wish this website did not exist. Seriously. Visit the schools, talk to current students. Half of the information on this website is a horrendous lie.</p>
<p>^^ I think what you encounter here are the opinions of current students, of parents of current students, of alumni, and of others. They don't always agree, and even if they did -- their opinions can never substitute for your own first-hand experience of a college. </p>
<p>When I took my daughter to visit MIT as a junior, her first impression was pretty negative. We walked into the Infinite Corridor, and she looked around at the bulletin boards on either side and said something like, "This looks like a high school." We had visited Yale the previous day, so that probably influenced this impression. However, we dropped her off with a student host and didn't see her for another 30 hours. She did an overnight, visited 2 classes and met and talked with students and professors. When we next saw her, that first impression was totally forgotten. She thought MIT was "totally awesome" and no other college or university after that really matched up.</p>
<p>I don't think reading posts here can really convey what it would be like for you or any other individual at MIT. This board is useful for getting some specific answers to some specific questions, like: "How much could I earn as a student at MIT?" or "How hard is it to get a UROP?" As far as getting answers goes, I think this board is fairly useful.</p>
<p>CC is probably not the best way to get a feel for a college.
What I did was that I made of list of college I might be interested. I visited their websites talked to people and narrowed down to about 8 school based on what programs they have and the overall feel I get from the information(the number depends on how many you want to apply to really, I only looked at the good engineering schools+ UCs, I made sure I got a few reaches, matches, and likely). After college decisions came out, I went to the prefrosh weekends for two of my favorite/most selective colleges and picked one after my visit. If you like MIT, just apply! Nothing is restricted. You can always pick which college to attend later.</p>
<p>Also, MIT is just EA, so you can always apply to another school early. I applied to both MIT and Caltech EA. What is good is that, they defer a lot of people, so you really don't get anything to lose by applying early.</p>
<p>CC is NOT a good way to get a feel for a college. MIT, however, has a really awesome way for you to do that: the blogs. Read them. Read old ones. They rock. =P</p>
<p>When I visited MIT November of junior year, I hated it. No one looked happy, and I had just come from Harvard so the campus looked dreary and ugly. However, MIT had EA so I figured I'd apply anyway (since I didn't want to apply anywhere ED but was impatient and wanted to get in SOMEWHERE in December). So, I submitted my application, and in November I started reading blogs and... fell in love with the school. In a few weeks it jumped from only being sort-of considered to one of my top choices. I did an overnight in late November and that really cemented my love for MIT. (I ended up being deferred EA and getting in RD. =D You cannot imagine how ecstatic I was on March 15.)</p>
<p>So, moral of the story: CC is not a good way to get the feel of colleges, but campus visits are not infallible either. You really need to talk to students or hear their perspective on things to fully decide of a school is right for you.</p>
<p>I want to second that the blogs are the best way to know what this place is about =D</p>
<p>Egh, I dont like hearing about people claiming to have "fallen in love" with schools...sounds too romantic, very contra to what I'm about I guess.</p>
<p>And yeah don't listen to CC on general things...I've been to both MIT and Harvard's campuses (campi?) and with the exception of one harvard student (who actually used to frequent this site), all the people there are far from what you might have heard.</p>
<p>@piccolojunior, aren't you also going to Harvard?</p>
<p>Yeah, but I visited MIT last fall before they said no for the second and third times (first being RSI) :D</p>
<p>When I say I "fell in love with MIT", I meant that I fell in love with the place, the culture, the people, the way of life, etc... all things that I think it's perfectly valid to fall in love with =D</p>
<p>I'll put it as simply as: I don't, lol.</p>
<p>Probably because of the people who start treating colleges as potential spouses rather than places where you learn for a few years and then graduate from. Maybe the analogy is there, but I'd rather not acknowledge and/or buy into it.</p>
<p>Hmm, I see. Well, I don't think that MIT is the only place I could ever be happy (then again, I don't believe in a "one true love" either) - but I definitely think it's the place I'll be happiest and most me =) And that's a good feeling...</p>
<p>Thought I would replay snippets from two posts for the sheer entertainment value.</p>
<p>
[quote]
piccolojunior wrote</p>
<p>Egh, I dont like hearing about people claiming to have "fallen in love" with schools...sounds too romantic, very contra to what I'm about I guess.</p>
<p>and</p>
<p>Probably because of the people who start treating colleges as potential spouses rather than places where you learn for a few years and then graduate from. Maybe the analogy is there, but I'd rather not acknowledge and/or buy into it.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>I PLEA the FIF</p>
<p>la montagne, I sort of had the same situation (but totally different) as you. I never intended to go to MIT because I figured that I had a LONGLONGLONG shot of getting in. I applied anyway because it's the best of the best (of engineering schools), so why not? I was set on going to the local state college (which is one of the top 3 engineering schools, so good deal) because I had a pretty good chance of getting in. But then came the MIT interview. I didn't know anything about the culture and what the school was all about, so on the night before, I began a three-hour marathon of frantically reading as much of the admissions blogs as I could. As I read about cool things like Charm School, IAP, and first semester pass/no-record, I pointed them out to my sister, but I didn't let myself fall totally in love with the school so that I wouldn't be heartbroken when decisions rolled around.</p>
<p>Lo and behold, I GOT IN! But I was still set on going to the local state college because I forced myself to like the school. But my sister reminded me of all the cool things that I pointed out on the night before the interview and that's what made me want to go to the school.</p>
<p>Yeah. So the blogs are definitely the way to go.</p>
<p>I would say you can choose where to APPLY based on this. But when you ultimately make your decision, definitely visit all the places you are choosing from. When I got into MIT and Harvard I thought it would be a hard choice, then I actually visited Harvard during the preview weekend...</p>