<p>I posted a very long reply to a long thread that will probably get lost on the MIT page. I know a lot of people are deciding between MIT and Olin and I don't know if what I wrote will help any of you make a decision. There are some references to other threads, but if any of it is opaque, just ask.</p>
<p>I go to Wellesley and we can cross register at both schools so I'm in the unique postion to know what each place is like, at least superficially.</p>
<p>Olin students are totally sold on their school. It's a small close-knit environment where people are excited about what they are doing. Because there are all of 70 odd Olin alums in the world and Olin is new, Olin students are stuck having to sell their school and themselves to almost everyone they meet. It's not a terribly hard sell when you have the excuse of being 6 years old and as selective as an ivy league university (and getting to say you turned down Harvard to go to Olin). Olin students (which include your share of engineering nerds that you would find at MIT, RPI, WPI or any such school) seem to be better speakers and presents than what I've seen at MIT (but my sample is limited).</p>
<p>In any event, Olin students are great at both selling the idea Olin and talking about what they are doing. In the world of science and engineering, this skill is almost as valuable as the work itself.</p>
<p>The summer camp analogy (made in the other thread)for Olin isn't too far off: you are in a contained environment where people know who you are and you have less choices about where to eat and live. That does not, however preclude the fact that you are an adult at any college you chose to attend. </p>
<p>You know Gill? (mentioned on the MIT vs Olin engineering thread which was linked on aother page) I've had a class with him. It's the "Gill and Brian show" and students and profs are on a universal first name basis. I know that Olin students work hard and are stressed, but there is not a "fire house" culture that I know of. They're having some fun.</p>
<p>With 300 people, Olin does not have a a depth and bredth of majors or choices or programs. You get some student unity because of that, but it also means that Olin might not have your other interests. I turned down a full tuition merit scholarship to a school that is neither Olin nor MIT because they did not offer French (and they didn't guarantee housing and I hated the food and loved Wellesley). Olin does have strong cross registration programs with Wellesley, Babson and Brandeis. Expect to spend a bunch of times at other schools. Over 70 Olin students are cross registered at Wellesley this semester. Yes I said 70. Granted Wellesley xreg is exteremely convenient. Olin has molded its schedule to be compatible with ours and there is a shuttle that goes to Wellesley every half hour (Olin is about 10 mins away). Wellesley has pretty much everything but engineering, so the combo works rather well (MIT students, don't fret, you can xreg here at Wellesley too!).</p>
<p>I know that earlier everyone wanted to start the club for their interest that would become the thing that all Olin students do forever and ever. People came up with a lot of great ideas, but it became a survivial of the fittest thing. However it seems the unicycling club is catching on.... Meetings are after midnight. Social dancing is a thing too. I know they do more at Olin, but those are the thing I end up hearing about at Wellesley. If you want to start something at that doesn't exist at any school, Olin's probably the place to do it. Olin students really believe that they are part of history, of a model school that will change engineering and the world.</p>
<p>MIT is huge. While it exists for the grad students, there is a romance (sadistic and twisted as it is) of being an MIT undergrad: the hacks, piano drop, people making robotic dorm rooms, calling buildings by numbesr, nerd paradise, being hosed but mangaging to somehow do it all. You're in a loud bustling city, but you are completely connected to Boston's public transportation. Boston is just over the bridge and as long as you don't want for forests and dark skies, you won't want for too much. While Olin students feel like they are making history, MIT students feel that they are part of Something Big. </p>
<p>Like Olin, there are classes at MIT that ALL THE FRESHMAN have to take, but doing it at MIT puts you in a group of a couple hundred (with smaller recitations). Take it or leave it. It ranks you up with everyone in a bizarre depressing sort of way and you will be a small fish in a big pond. At Olin, you might not be the smartest in your class because, like MIT, everyone is smart, but you will not be ignored at Olin. Or lost.</p>
<p>I never applied to MIT. The fact that the school had the reputation for making people miserable didn't appeal to me, despite all of the "look at the amazing stuff we do here" hype. Even though I do a ton of work at Wellesley and probably put an equal amount of my time into academics as I would have had I gone to MIT.</p>
<p>MIT has its fair share of negative stereotypes: a nerd school, miserable students, bad social skills. They wouldn't exist if they didn't apply to some people. Now that I take a class there, I would say it was a mistake to fear the school. Wellesley had a student suicide during its open campus while I was choosing the school and I almost didn't matriculate. I had heard how some students hate the school because of a lack of social life or stress, and that being from Wellesley would be a socially awkward thing in Boston, because people assume you are desperate or a slut or a lesbian. I went to Wellesley with an attitude that my happiness was to come first and I was to be myself. Because I knew these additudes were possible, I never actually felt overwhelmed by any of those things as a Wellesley student because they weren't a suprise.</p>
<p>Like I said before, MIT is big. Because it is so big it can be so specialized. MIT has an ice rink, a museum two barber shops, its own medical facility(I've heard good things about MIT medical), a sailing pavillion, SCUBA PE classes, theater groups with amazing resources, so many options of where to live. The only thing you couldn't find is a fashion club. ;-) At MIT you have choices because you have enough oddball people field the obscure activites and things seem to happen there. At the same time I imagine that you may be stuck with "200 channels and nothing on TV" syndrome. Or stuck wondering where people have time to get anything done. </p>
<p>You will be able to find intimacy in specialization. Living groups and courses have identities and there are departments where everyone knows your name.</p>
<p>The professor at Wellesley with whom I have the best out-of-class/we-chat-about-the most-random-things relationship is an MIT alum and lifer (BS, MS,PhD). He reminsces about the activities and traditions and the way things are done there like it's something amazing. It sure makes me feel like MIT is a great place (even though I don't go there except for this one class I'm taking this semester). But you can get the same impression about Wellesley. We have traditions, like Lake Day, Hoop Rolling, Senior decorating, spring week, and stepsinging. I've gone on great research opportunties and done things that I would not be able to do at any other institution. This professor is not as entranced with Wellesley as most people are, but he has told me how some MIT depts (courses) can be hostile towards undergraduates (it really depends on the situation) and has noted that MIT students/graduates who think they are pretty smart because they are at MIT are not always open to learning how to do things by baby-steps or will take on jobs that are far too big for them and screw up royally. The outside world puts the Institute on a pedestal; I've found people from MIT to be smart, oh yes, but pretty mortal (but I am used to intense people). Rejecting so many smart people just makes the lucky ones seem smarter than they actually are. (applies to Olin too) This same prof has an insane amount of pride in the school and respect for anyone who graduates from it. It's an alum thing that applies to every school. Traditions and nostalgia are what you make of them.</p>
<p>You can bet Olin will have it too. Someday. </p>
<p>I was with a bunch of MIT students far far away from Cambridge in January. They were actually worried that they would have to explain their school, and mentioned using "Good Will Hunting" as a barometer (be grateful it's not "Mona Lisa Smile").</p>
<p>This was really long and rambly (and I'm getting tired and making no sense and I apologize), but the point is that if you recognize what you are getting into for what it is, then it will not be an issue. Both places will be stressful, prestigous, and fun. Don't pick a school because of what others will think: Olin will give you the skills to overcome any setbacks its obscurity could bring. MIT has a lot of resources available.</p>
<p>Oh and reply to clarify if I make no sense.</p>