<p>Hi guys,</p>
<p>I might be an athletic recruit at MIT. Coach has offered to vouch for me. </p>
<p>My question is this: Is MIT so tough that I won't get a chance to train regularly for say, about 2/3 hours? Coach is one of the best guys in his sport in the world, so I's also like a chance to be a pro player sometime/take part in pro events.</p>
<p>Please, this question is really important to me so I'd be grateful for alumnus responses.</p>
<p>If it’s a priority for you and you pace your coursework, then yes, you can train for 2-3 hours a day, and even have free time left over after studying. It all depends on what you prioritize and what you choose spend your time on. You have the power to choose not to be hosed by taking fewer classes.</p>
<p>I think you first have to decide what you are interested in majoring in and if that school is the right place for that. I noticed on some of your other threads that you said you are definitely going to be an economics major and were interested in making lot of money and in another you said you were going to be a biology major.</p>
<p>@connect1234 My interest is biology. But I’m not sure about the potential as a bio major…I don’t know what you think about this, but I basically don’t want to spend my life in a lab. Henceforth, the discussion of econ/bucks. </p>
<p>An undergrad major in bio doesn’t mean you have to spend your life in a lab. Quantitative majors are more desired typically by consulting firms and by Wall Street, but it’s far more important that you get a good GPA than your choice of major. Especially at MIT, you need to choose something which holds your interest, because there will be a LOT of it. So major in bio if that’s where your interest lies at the moment.</p>
<p>@Squashie, you may very well find that Amherst will provide you with a better big-picture opportunity than MIT. Both are great schools and have economics and plenty of science too, but it sounds as though you want a more liberal-arts education.</p>
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Not always. Not if you’re course 6. :p</p>
<p>I wouldn’t toss out MIT just because you want a rounded education. I came to MIT in part to study writing. Everything at MIT is great. We have an absolutely fantastic econ program.</p>
<p>Money is such an interesting question. It feels so good to say that money isn’t important, but for many people, that’s the same thing as saying that your future children’s education isn’t important, that paying your parents back for college is important, that safety isn’t important, that your younger siblings aren’t important, that travel isn’t important. Wanting to make money isn’t a selfish thing.</p>
<p>Be prepared for your interests changing dramatically once you get to college. Unfortunately most people don’t get much real exposure to math, science, and engineering (and econ) in high school, and the thing that you think you might want to study might actually be an entirely different subject.</p>
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No, but it’s tough enough that you’ll have to plan carefully and exercise discipline to do it. </p>
<p>About 20% of the student body plays a varsity-level sport (and another hefty chunk plays IM- or club-level), so balancing schoolwork with athletics isn’t foreign to a large percentage of the student body. But the balance isn’t easy.</p>
<p>In short, I agree completely with lidusha.</p>
<p>Right, great responses guys, thanks a lot.</p>
<p>I’m not sure if many of the other posters were on varsity athletic teams at MIT. If you are on one you will HAVE to devote 2+ hours to your sport at least 6 days a week. Once you get into the season, extra practices will pile on and you’ll be training 15-20 hours a week. Kids on my team were in all different courses, with the most popular being Aero/Astro. Nuclear Engineering, too, was <em>way</em> over represented among the older girls on my team. </p>
<p>I’d think the answer also depends on how strong you are academically. Getting As in hs isn’t really very telling when it comes to predicting how quickly things will come to you at MIT. But there are no gut majors at MIT. There’s no gut anything at MIT.</p>
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<p>Sure, but I meant that GPA was more important than major if you are vying for finance or consulting jobs, which is what it looks the OP is aiming for.</p>