<p>
</p>
<p>All of the above, and much more, form better memories than most college parties I’ve been to :P</p>
<p>^I’d note that even some of my non-sexual relationships at MIT rose to the standard of being better than most college parties. 
(There was this one party where I made out with a super-cute curly-haired freshman, and now he’s my husband. So that party was pretty good. But most of them weren’t life-changing experiences.)</p>
<p>Re: hosed olympics. I understand, and agree, that it can be taken to a pathological extreme. But do you (you Piper, and also you anybody else who would like to chime in) feel that it’s always that way, even among your closest friends? </p>
<p>I guess I’m coming from a perspective where, on the all-too-rare occasions that I get to hang out with my college friends (who mostly now live on the west coast), we immediately start complaining about how busy and stress-filled our lives are. My two best friends from MIT are now a lawyer and a postdoc at a national lab, and when we get together, it’s all work work work work blah blah blah. But I don’t feel, and I didn’t feel when we were in school, that there’s a competitive edge to it – it’s just that what we do professionally is very important to all three of us, and nobody else gets it. </p>
<p>So I would characterize myself as a big participant in the hosing game, but only with people whom I already know to be the same kind of ridiculous masochist. I can’t say that I feel like humblebragging is a big driver of my behavior.</p>
<p>Regarding the hosing olympics, I feel like it’s something many of us (applicants) have probably seen. My high school is public and everything, but we still have a handful of over-achievers who balance work, ECs, school, and life, and it gets pretty hose-y. I’ve played the hosed game it a few times, although generally speaking I play against people who I don’t get along with anyway ;)</p>
<p>Overloading yourself is your call. I did it this year (oh god I did it so much), because there was a lot I still wanted to do in high school, and because I knew it’d help prepare me for college. It worked out okay since I got into my dream school and all, but I’m tired and working all the time. So I don’t think I’ll do the same thing at MIT…at least, not RIGHT away :)</p>
<p>I frequently talk/complain about work with my friends but it rarely/never descends to into a competition. I think you will generally be able to spend enough time on what’s actually important to you if prioritize but you won’t be able to do everything.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Oh, definitely not among my closest friends. But it does happen a lot within my dorm and within clubs I’m part of.</p>