<p>So I'll add in the congrats for MIT.</p>
<p>Now, on your questions about MIT, my $.02:
-Greek Life: So you shouldn't worry about this. I'm not too much into traditional partying or anything like this, so I...don't. The Greek life exists and is healthy, but if you want to avoid it, you can. Most of the frats are not on campus, so this is not an issue. That said, if you come to MIT, you may reconsider your views on frats. I was very strongly anti-frat in my college search, and almost ended up pledging this term.</p>
<p>-Stress Level: I sleep more at MIT than I ever did in HS. I'm not kidding. I usually sleep at least 6 hours a night during the week and much more on the weekend. I'm usually well-rested and happy. MIT has much less raw work than HS (non of the repetetive grunt work that dominates HS). If you for example leave all your work until Thursday night, yup, you're not going to sleep and you're going to be insanely stressed and hate your life. If, by contrast, you start working your psets early, you'll get them done well in time, get lots of sleep, and still have time for fun througout the week. I am taking 5 classes and 3 seminars this term and am fairly involved in stuff on campus, and I still have enough time to post on this board without feeling stressed.</p>
<p>-Freshman Class Size: One of the things that amazed me was how customizable MIT was. If you like large lectures, you can find those. I prefer smaller classes, so I joined one of MIT's alternative freshman programs. There are four of them: Terrascope, which has an environmental/complex systems focus, Media Arts and Sciences program (exactly what it sounds like), Concourse (smaller classes, integrated material, community), ESG (tiny classes, lots of FREE FOOD!, community (w/ hammock and beanbag), very informal). In case you couldn't tell, I joined ESG and really loved it. My physics class has like 4 people in it, the professor is AMAZING, and it is a really good group of people to hang out with. Other classes are similar. We always call our professors by first name, they take us out for food and invite us on hiking trips, and it's generally very cozy and fun. I also took half my classes mainstream (more this term), and even there it was pretty good. My professors and TA's were always very accessible and put a lot into helping me, and if I ever started doing poorly they would absolutely not "replace" me; they would fight tooth and nail to pull me back up. For a few people I know, they did. </p>
<p>Size of class after freshman year is something I was concerned about, since I learn best from lecture and interaction with teachers. But I am not concerned about that as I move into sophomore year. I've asked around, and if you're into your classes, you go to office hours, and especially if you do a UROP, you will easily get the attention you need. However, as in all things you will need to put in some effort to be guaranteed a result. There are professors who will do the effort for you and reach out to you on your own; these are awesome. The rest, though, you will need to reach out to, to varying degrees. If you do this, I feel pretty sure that you will get the kind of attention you want.</p>
<p>More information about the learning communities mentioned above can be found at: <a href="http://www.mitadmissions.org/topics/learning/freshmen_learning_communities/index.shtml%5B/url%5D">http://www.mitadmissions.org/topics/learning/freshmen_learning_communities/index.shtml</a></p>