<p>I'm going to be a freshman in the fall, and I was wondering if it is worth doing an FPOP. My original plan was to spend some extra days at home with my friends and family, but now, I'm not sure. I guess I'm worried that people who do FPOPs will already have a group of friends, so it will be hard for me to make friends if I don't do a FPOP. What do you guys think? Thanks!</p>
<p>It won’t be hard to make friends if you don’t do an FPOP. However, you should do it! I stayed home for as long as I could but I wonder years later what it would have been like to do an FPOP. Everyone who does it seems to have a very good time. And I believe it is free.</p>
<p>Yes, you should do an FPOP! You’ll still be able to find a group of friends if you don’t (I don’t think most people’s main group of friends remains their FPOP group), but you’ll meet awesome people and explore something new that might end up helping you find your interests.</p>
<p>My closest friends definitely aren’t people I met in my FPOP, but I’m still friendly with a lot of the people I met there. I really enjoyed mine, and because of that I got involved in a related club, and because of that I eventually-but-not-too-late realized that I had picked the wrong major. It’s definitely worth the extra 4 days away from home.</p>
<p>There is a $30/day housing fee for <em>all</em> FPOPs in addition to a small cost ($20-80) for some FPOPs.</p>
<p>You have all summer to be with your family and friends.</p>
<p>This is your one shot at MIT.</p>
<p>The prices for FPOPS run in the range of free to over $500 (for the Outward Bound Programs) and lots of prices in between.</p>
<p>Personally, I’m planning on doing DBE (Discover Bioengineering), but I’m not 100% decided yet. I’m losing some of the summer to vacations/late schoolyear end (weather stuff), and I might want that extra week to work and spend time with friends and family.</p>
<p>Don’t do an FPOP if you don’t want to do one. You won’t be behind on friends, I promise 
You’ll have plenty of opportunity to meet friends through your living group and any clubs you join.</p>
<p>I did an FPOP, but I didn’t hang out with anyone from my FPOP after that. It wasn’t that impactful. I enjoyed it - spending a week running around Boston can be pretty fun - but you’ll have plenty of time for that over the next four years, so don’t feel that you have to rush it if you don’t want to :)</p>
<p>That’s actually relieving to hear. I can’t wait to get to MIT and all that, but I don’t know if I want to give up a week with my friends and family, since I’m spending the next 4 years at MIT and I may never live at home again :(</p>