<p>Since MIT is a technical school, I am sure that the percentage of students are oriented towards science and math at MIT, but I was wondering. Do most, if not all, MIT students have technical minds? Are they all more interested in building some kind of efficient carburetor, or are there students who can relate to others through more than their mathematical education?</p>
<p>I am basically wondering if MIT is a college full of engineer-type people, not that there is anything wrong with that (Seinfeld).</p>
<p>I don’t think those two options are mutually exclusive. The majority of students are science and engineering majors, and most would probably describe their interests as oriented first toward science or engineering, but that doesn’t mean that students are uninterested in or incapable of appreciating art or music or feeling empathy for fellow humans.</p>
<p>To echo what Mollie said, I read somewhere that 50% of MIT students “minor” in music-related fields. My son has made friends through MITSO (the Symphony), an a cappella group, and his fraternity. He told me he might be able to earn a “Pirate patch” by graduation (includes classes in, I believe, sailing, pistol, and fencing). Of course, you need a very strong foundation in the sciences to be accepted, and to be successful, at MIT, but it’s not all just science, all the time.</p>
<p>Really? I’m pretty sure that 50% of students don’t minor in music. Do you mean that they minor in humanities/arts/social sciences? Or that they are in music-related clubs like MITSO, an a cappella group, or the Musical Theater Guild?</p>
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<p>Yeah, me either. Why would they be?</p>
<p>Being devoted to science and/or engineering, or being a geek in general, doesn’t stop people from loving and participating in sports, politics, art, music, theater, writing, service, and so on. There’s a reason that there’s so many student groups at MIT (and when you combine the intramural, club, and varsity levels, it has one of the highest rates of sports participation of any college in the country).</p>
<p>Actually, I thought that one of the great things about MIT was that by taking away people’s intellectual “specialness” (the vast majority of MIT students can’t maintain an identity of “the super-smart kid” once they’re being judged by MIT standards), it forces them to develop and/or cultivate identities outside of that, which leads to people developing all kinds of interesting skills and hobbies, or improving the ones that they have. People who were pretty much just math/science geeks in high school become writers, activists, martial artists, hackers, actors, crewbies, jewelry designers, metalworkers, cheerleaders, etc.</p>
<p>There is also a very heavy population of of entrepreneurship-, business-, and economic-minded students here. Courses 14 and 15 (economics and management, respectfully) are two popular double-majors and/or minors that people choose to pursue. Our nationally acclaimed Sloan School of Management is also very well staffed and loved by its undergrads and grads alike. There are probably two or three arts events happening every night, from chamber chorus to Indian dance to glass-blowing to our musical theatre guild’s latest whacky performance. There is definitely a good balance between the technical sciences and the humanities here, but the passion we students harbour for both areas of study are just as strong =)</p>