MIT Campus Feel? Is MIT a place for social people?

Colleges and Universities A-Z Massachusetts Institute of Technology
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<p>I am not able to visit MIT, but I wonder the following questions. What do MIT students do in their free time besides working on a research project or solving a math problem? Is diversity highly valued in MIT as in other Ivies? Other than interests and passions in math, science and engineering, does MIT admissions also look for music talents, for example? I have a diverse background, and I am extremely social. I wonder if MIT students have a social life. If I apply to MIT, do I have to make myself look more science and math "specialized" and "nerdy"?</p>

<p>Any insights are welcome! Thank you guys very much in advance!</p>

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<p>This varies widely depending on the student. For the obsessive few, it will be… working on a research project or solving a math problem. For others, it’s sports or music. I’ll give you myself as an example, though, with only things I’ve done so far this semester - chainmailling, movie marathons with friends, coffee with a friend, going to Sport Tae Tkwon Do, checking out the airplane they brought to campus (google “Terrafugia”), learning to glassblow, seeing the circus for the first time, apple picking, watching Star Wars for the first time, reciting poetry or songs with a group of friends, playing a role-playing game that involves shooting people with dart guns a lot.</p>

<p>This is a taste of my life (though disproportional - I hang out with friends a lot more than I go to the circus, for example :D). Really, there’s so much at MIT and around Boston that you can vary it as much as you like.</p>

<p>Future immediate plans - see Macbeth with my boyfriend and some friends tonight.</p>

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<p>Gods yes. Look at Chris’s more recent entries to the Admissions website. Note, this is a lot more than racial diversity - there’s a huge diversity in interests and attitudes here at MIT. “Just look at our 400+ clubs.”</p>

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<p>This question is complicated. Because you will be required to do at least a year of calc and physics, along with chem and bio, Admissions wants to know that you’ll get through the requirements and not be miserable doing so. But beyond that, Admissions doesn’t have one particular thing they look for. They’re looking for a variety of people – I guess some common threads are interesting, or talented, people who can bring new things to the table. Music is one in many, many ways to do so. It’ll certainly be an asset to your application that you’re not only academically qualified, but found fit to pursue something interesting above and beyond what you had to do.</p>

<p>Don’t try to nerdify your application. But fair warning - if you come here, you might get nerdier. I don’t mean in social ability, but in interests. (My social ability in the outside world has not suffered here, but now that I’ve been here, I’ve seen Star Wars and played D&D and found these things enjoyable.)</p>

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If you haven’t already, check out the student blogs on the admissions office website – they’re written by a selection of real students, and you’ll see immediately that students at MIT do indeed have rich social lives of various types. </p>

<p>You have to understand that this perception is fairly offensive to most MIT students. I mean, MIT is tough, and people are very smart and work very hard. But fundamentally, MIT is a college, and it’s full of 18- to 22-year-olds who are interested in romance and parties and having fun with friends in addition to being interested in math and science. </p>

<p>If you are admitted to MIT, you will have the opportunity to come to Campus Preview Weekend, where admitted students come to campus and meet their fellow admits as well as current students, and are introduced to the various living groups, extracurricular activities, and social events that characterize the MIT experience. If you are afraid that MIT is not a place where you can have an active social life, CPW will disabuse you of that idea pretty quickly.</p>

<p>Speaking for myself, although I did undergraduate research for a substantial chunk of my non-class time, I also found time at MIT to be on the cheerleading squad, work with my dorm government, meet a great guy (and, later, marry him), and have a lot of fun with my friends.</p>