<p>I was wondering if most kids are accompanied by their parents/friends or come alone to MIT CPW. Also how is the transportation in the area? </p>
<p>Thanks.</p>
<p>There’s a mix of both, although I highly, highly recommend to NOT stay with your parents if you’re coming to CPW - it’s much more fun and you get the “best experience” if you stay with a current student, and you’ll have a lot more mobility and freedom in what you want to do (true to the MIT adage, we do our best work in the dark : D). And trust me, you wouldn’t want to be with your parents at the end of the weekend ; )</p>
<p>But at the same time, if your parents are coming along there’s things for them to do too. There are panels and financial aid workshops and other activities that are geared towards parents, so it’s also a great time for parents to ask questions and explore the campus for themselves. You can always arrange to spend the weekend separately and then meet up at the end before going home - there’s going to be plenty of activities on both sides to keep you all engaged.</p>
<p>Also, just generally, don’t worry too much about being alone. You’ll be with over a thousand other prefrosh similarly in your shoes, and you’ll make friends pretty quickly. There’s always guaranteed to be multiple prefrosh in the same hall/entry/floor that you’ll be living in, anyway, so it’s not like you’ll be left out of the buzz.</p>
<p>As for transportation, I’m not sure where you will traveling during CPW, but if you need to go to Boston for some reason the No. 1 bus in front of 77 directly connects to Boston downtown. Kendall Square and Central Square T (both accessible by walking) takes you to Harvard and also downtown Boston. But assuming you don’t leave the campus, you won’t actually need transportation. There will be MIT shuttles ferrying you to and back from the airport, and Logan is also very accessible via the T or taxi. Subway fares are $1.70 with a CharlieCard (available for free at the subway stops). Buses are $1.25 with card.</p>
<p>My dad and sister came with me to CPW, but they didn’t do the planned activities - my dad, who used to live in Boston, took my sister to various attractions in Boston while I did CPW.</p>
<p>I would say, it’s fine for parents to come to CPW, but they should be having a totally separate experience from you. You can compare notes later if that’s what you want to do. I’ve been on CPW panels that were specified as prefrosh-only (while a parents’ event on the same topic went on across campus), where staff had to throw parents - several parents, who were very reluctant to leave - out of the prefrosh-only event.</p>
<p>As a parent, I completely agree with the advice here. Set your son or daughter free to experience a day or more of MIT undergraduate life independently, and find other things to do while you’re there.</p>