<p>Lost- your advisor can give you the institute statistics on how many freshmen fail a course (or fail a particular course) and still go on to do well at MIT. </p>
<p>I have no doubt that you did what you thought you should be doing in order to pass physics. But there are resources far beyond office hours and those are the things and the people that you need to be accessing for yourself. There are world class professors (who win teaching awards with great regularity) in music, political science, urban studies, etc. so if you're finding the humanities lackluster you ended up in the wrong class.</p>
<p>This is not to criticize-- but just to mobilize you. I find it difficult to believe that you "can't do physics". There are physics PhD candidates at MIT who flunked freshman physics-- so you need to see your failure as a huge opportunity for yourself, and not a big stigma which ought to derail you.</p>
<p>Agree with the poster who said that you've got to know when to fold 'em..... but I'd give the new semester a couple of weeks before I decided it was time to throw in the towel. Heck, she doesn't even know if she likes Management yet... so why transfer and possibly replicate the same experience some place else once she starts taking courses in her major????</p>
<p>My husband took quite a few Sloan classes while at MIT, even though he was a mech. eng. major. He considered the Sloan classes to be some of the easier classes he took at MIT (even the graduate level classes), because, while they might be more quantitative than business classes at other schools (I don't know....), they were much less quantitative than the classes in his major. So, while physics may be presenting the OP with some difficulties right now, there's a good chance that the Sloan classes, which seem to be what she is interested in anyway, may prove to be a pleasant surprise.</p>
<p>-I don't have passion for technology, math, and science, and so I struggled in all my classes 1st semester- I hated being forced to take math, chem, and physics. OP.</p>
<p>In today's technology-intergrated world, one can't just go it alone and be a "humanity" person for you to have any career at management. You think you can just managed by pushing papers ?</p>
<p>Physics professor here, though not at MIT.... I have had lots of experience teaching both physics majors and students who take physics only because their post-college plans require it. The lecture/firehose format works fine for physics majors, but many other students need a different approach. Apparently the MIT faculty has developed an alternative introductory physics course, as described in this New York Times article.</p>
<p>I hope that lostatMIT can enroll in one of these small interactive sections.</p>
<p>As for sticking it out at MIT versus transferring, I am torn. lostatMIT's remark that she has no "passion for technology, math, and science" suggests that MIT is a bad fit for her. On the other hand, MIT has a huge variety of opportunities, including some in the arts and the social sciences, so she may be able to find her niche at MIT.</p>
<p>Fortunately lostatMIT does not have to make the big decision right away. This semester she should make her best effort to make MIT work for her. Lots of the advice from the MIT alums and parents is excellent.</p>
<p>She also should investigate her opportunities at other colleges. Several posters have mentioned Wellesley, which has a special cross-registration relationship with MIT. Wellesley is a fabulous college with small classes and great teaching. I urge lostatMIT to jump on a bus to Wellesley sometime this week and go look around. This visit should help her decide if she wants to put in some transfer applications. Come May when she has transfer acceptances in hand, she can make a more informed decision about whether or not to stay at MIT.</p>
<p>I don't think cross-registering with Wellesley is a good idea. It'd make OP even more disconnected from MIT and therefore isolated. I suspect MIT allows very limited number of courses anyway. Also, isn't Wellesley pretty far? That whole commute is gonna make OP's schedule even more hectic especially when she's already falling behind (don't forget there could be group assignments which would require even more travelling and make the schedule even more complicated). I always think the cross-registration thing is just PR and in practice few people ever do it and those that do it don't really do it extensively. </p>
<p>Either try to fit in or let it grow on you somehow or transfer.</p>
<p>Transferring does have one objective advantage in this case: your GPA won't carry over. Grad school/prof schools may recalculate your GPA but I still think there's a difference. You can ignore those grades from MIT when you write your GPA on your resume. </p>
<p>Northwestern may still be a reach considering the bad grades but it's the most transfer friendly with just very small drop in prestige. Some may think MIT would take you further even with lower GPA but consider this: med school admit rate (%) for MIT is in the 70s range while it's 84% for Northwestern (that's just med school; I can't say much about other sectors).</p>
<p>Can't you cross register for classes at Harvard. I agree that Wellesley is a bit far and would take up more time just commuting back and forth. However, Harvard is just down the street. It's been a while, but as I recall, it's just two subway stops on the red line!</p>
<p>A friend of my d's who's a student at Wellesley took a class at MIT last semester and found that travel time was huge, and not very productive for studying. If you are trying to make a decision whether to stay at MIT or leave, I think that you would be better served by taking classes at MIT rather than going off-campus. I would also enourage you to talk to someone one on one - an advisor, a therapist... </p>
<p>Here's something to muse on. Clearly the admissions team saw something in your application that made them think that you would not just handle the workload at MIT but that you would thrive in that environment. With a 12% admit rate they could have admitted lots of people who have as good or better grades/test scores, but they chose you. Why? Think about what it is about you that they thought was a fit and explore that aspect of your personality, abilities, or interests. </p>
<p>What has amazed me about MIT since the first time I visited it is how much there is to do, and how much variety there is. The walls of the Infinite are plastered with notices for plays, singing groups, juggling groups, athletics, political groups, community service, etc. What did you do in hs that you really loved? Try to seek out a group that does that same thing and get involved. My college life (not at MIT) really improved when I re-involved myself in musical theater because it gave me a group of like-minded people and something to do that was just intrinsically fun.</p>
<p>This bus is free to MIT students and Wellesley students. It would offer lostatMIT an easy way to check out an excellent liberal arts college to see if she is interested in transferring to a different kind of college than MIT. I agree that the commute would make cross-registering for a course difficult, but it is very reasonable for an afternoon visit to see what a liberal arts college is like.</p>
I don't think staying at MIT, even if one isn't interested in a tech/math/science career, necessitates four years of misery. I had a number of friends who came to MIT interested in majoring in management at Sloan, or who switched to management or economics after a semester or two of technical classes that they didn't enjoy. There are departments at MIT outside of engineering and science, and many of them are outstanding. Nobody's saying the OP should suck it up and major in electrical engineering, just that she should take some classes in her intended major before deciding she wants out of MIT.</p>
<p>Feeling overwhelmed by MIT is not uncommon for a freshman, and first semester is often the toughest. Like the OP, I got straight C's in my technical classes first semester (and passed the class OP failed by only 3.5 points), and felt overwhelmed and very, very stupid at times. My life got easier second semester, because I figured out how I learned and how to budget my time. I graduated from MIT with a 4.5/5.0 GPA (because first semester grades are not factored into an MIT GPA), and I wouldn't have gone anywhere else. That first semester was really tough, though.</p>
<p>I think that transferring is a reasonable decision if the OP is still unhappy after a semester of trying to make things work (more humanities classes, talking with upperclassmen, perhaps switching dorms and finding an enjoyable extracurricular), but there are a lot of intra-MIT options to exhaust before transferring becomes the #1 option, IMO.</p>
<p>
[quote]
I always think the cross-registration thing is just PR and in practice few people ever do it and those that do it don't really do it extensively.
[/quote]
I was in the first Wellesley class that had this opportunity and I did, in fact, do it extensively. I took humanities courses at MIT (they were quirky and I liked them), I took Econ courses (my major) and I took Urban Studies classes (my intended graduate field). Yes, there is a bit of distance, but Wellesley is not that distant of a suburb; there are shuttle buses; there is decent public transportation and there are people with cars. Most humanities courses do not have group projects, and Wellesley girls would likely not mind coming to MIT to meet part of the time, if necessary. Many Wellesley students are in Cambridge/Boston quite frequently.</p>
<p>
[quote]
Transfer admission to the schools you listed is difficult for anyone, but since you were not admitted as a freshman to Harvard, Yale, Wharton or Princeton....the liklihood of being admitted as a transfer (to the schools that admit transfers) with poor first year grades at MIT is not good.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>While I wouldn't say not to apply, I have to agree with this evaluation as far as applying to reach schools at the same level as MIT. And although the grades will only be reported as pass/fail, there will also be the difficulty of getting good LORs from instructors where the OP earned a C in the class.</p>
<p>I don't think freshmen can cross-register..I checked the website.</p>
<p>hmm I actually feel like I can get good LORs because even though I didn't get A's, I tried very hard, and my TA's and physics professor seemed to like me.</p>
<p>but anyway, I think I am going to try out next semester. I have a quick question for anyone at MIT: is the Concourse program easier than mainstream? I might consider taking physics in Concourse if it's easier.</p>
<p>I believe 8.011 and 8.022 are the easiest physics classes. 8.011 is the only physics I class offered in the spring. The class sizes are vey small unlike the regular 8.01 and 8.02 physics classes.</p>
<p>LostatMIT... my experience with Concourse is ancient history, but it was founded to be a supportive small group for precisely the kind of reason you've run up against. My son took his freshman year through ESG, which was VERY supportive. You might check and see if they can take you.</p>
<p>Hi everyone,
Thank you for all your help. After some exploring, I actually ended up enrolling in an engineering major (who would have thought?!). I am still deciding whether or not I like it. I am also living off-campus now in an apartment, and I like the convenience and privacy. I am considering moving into a dorm next year though, to get more of the dorm experience.
I don’t think I am going to transfer anymore, but I am thinking about studying abroad. Being from the West Coast, I would actually really like to go somewhere warm And I think it’ll be a fun experience.
All in all…thank you again for your encouragement. After changing things up, I can’t say I like MIT, but it’s definitely more bearable.</p>
<p>Nearly took the words right out of my mouth. Although I don’t think the issue is so much that prestige should not be an important factor; it’s that “fit” should not be ignored.</p>
<p>There are posters on CC who do believe it can be ignored, as a matter of principle, and that you should simply choose the “best” college that accepts you. That may work in India or China. Here, education is not just about developing competence. It’s also about defining yourself as a person and how you engage with teams and communities of people.</p>
<p>But if the OP can make MIT work for herself, she may emerge well-prepared for a management role in IT or engineering. Plenty of good leaders in these fields are not technical geniuses; but, if you can play well with others in technical fields, you have an advantage over someone who has the management skills down but can’t speak geek.</p>
<p>I guess it doesn’t work for any white people. Is this another one of those back handed swipe against Asians (which seem to be acceptable), but would get everyone else on this board up in arms if this was a comment against other URMs?</p>
<p>No, I think it’s fairly obvious it was meant as a reflection on the current grinding, massive pressure of the two most populous nations in the world who’s economic growth combined with the massive oversupply of labor and huge competition bread of incredible populations demand that you attend the highest prestige university you can, regardless of whether you like it or not, in order to secure prosperity.</p>
<p>Stop trying to get people to be afraid of their own shadows and calm down. Last I checked, China and India were countries, and Chinese and Indian were races. </p>
And I think it’ll be a fun experience.