<p>Just wondering if folks here @ CC mind giving prefroshies some advice on stuffs you did that went wrong. I mean something you did and said "Ok, i guess I'm not doing this next time" or "Man, if I had known that ......., this would not happen" (something along those lines and what not)</p>
<p>I’m planning to eventually start some advice threads centered around specific points, but I don’t have time this morning.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, here are a couple of quick “don’ts”:</p>
<p>Don’t sleep-deprive yourself needlessly (e.g. by pulling an all-nighter when you could get the work done fine even if you slept) for the primary purpose of bragging about how little sleep you’ve had.</p>
<p>Don’t take excessive numbers of classes to boost your self-esteem by being “hardcore” (not that you can do this as a frosh anyway). If you take excessive numbers of classes because you can handle them and want to take them, fine. But taking them because you like to see people’s reactions when you tell them how many units you’re taking is a poor reason.</p>
<p>Don’t overdo it the first semester (or first year)</p>
<p>Do explore beyond your stated major - there’s a lot going on.</p>
<p>Take advantage of research opportunities (they’re available even to frosh)</p>
<p>Remember to take it seriously - it is possible to fail a pass/fail semester.</p>
<p>Remember every student is smart - most were at the top of their class - and don’t sweat it.</p>
<p>Remember - at MIT students don’t compete against each other. They collaborate and work on their person bests.</p>
<p>You earned the right to be there - enjoy it!</p>
<p>Don’t engage in relations of a carnal nature on your host’s bed during CPW.</p>
<p>Don’t be afraid to talk to professors. Or job/internship recruiters. Or really smart people whose work you admire. They’re just people like you and me, and it took me way too long to realize this.</p>
<p>Likewise, grad students are people too - and they’re not <em>that</em> old. You can be friends with them, it’s okay! Oh, and your TAs have lives outside of class - they don’t just materialize into thin air. Say hi to them in the hallways, they like that.</p>
<p>Don’t be afraid to speak up for yourself.
For example, if you sign up for a UROP hoping to get paid, you might want to ask if its a paid position instead of working for free for an entire semester and just hoping that they might magically one day offer to pay you. And definitely don’t be the first one in the lab in the mornings while doing said unpaid labor - sleep in while you can! Ah, I was a naive little froshling.</p>
<p>Don’t skip class. Even if it seems like everybody else is doing it. Skipping one class won’t hurt you, but it’s very easy to make it a habit.</p>
<p>Do take advantage of Pass/NR, but don’t go overboard. This means go to all your classes, study for all of your tests, but if it comes down to soccer at 11PM vs. getting a good night’s sleep before your 9.00 midterm… play ball! (Btw, I got a B on the midterm and an A in the class, and there is no record of either of these things anywhere.)</p>
<p>Don’t be afraid to try completely different activities than you did in high school.</p>
<p>Don’t be afraid of failure.</p>
<p>Don’t be afraid to ask for a second chance. My AI professor was telling his how one of his grad students-turned-researchers got a C in his intro AI class. Clearly that didn’t stop him from going on to do great work, nor did it prevent him from being able to work w/ my professor.</p>
<p>Do try to get an awesome summer job/UROP/internship. MIT has a wealth of opportunities/resources for this - take advantage of them.</p>
<p>And ditto what everyone else said.</p>
<p>thanks!!</p>
<p>how about double majoring and handling the coursework?</p>
<p>Uh, don’t wait until the last minute to start your assignments?</p>
<p>Double majoring is totally doable - well, depending on what you want to double in. If you pick two related subjects, it’s really not that bad - if you pick two completely unrelated engineering fields, that would probably be kind of ridiculous.</p>
<p>what make MIT students wait till last minute to do their assignments?</p>
<p>What makes you currently wait until the last minute to do your assignments? I bet the answers to these questions will be the same.</p>
<p>College should never be all about the academics. Some things to remember:</p>
<p>MIT’s sailing pavilion is just a few steps away from many of the dorms. You can learn to sail on the Charles River. You could join a sailing team after a year or so of lessons.</p>
<p>MIT’s sports are among the most accessible in the country. I remember being on the campus a couple of years ago and learning that the crew teams were recruiting “anyone interested in crew.” Do it! Beat Harvard!</p>
<p>Californians: You can take ice-skating lessons to fulfill one of your pe requirements.</p>
<p>During the winter, the Snow Riders group takes students up to the mountains for skiing and snowboarding at really reasonable rates. If you’ve never done it, college is definitely the time to try.</p>
<p>Never overload yourself to the extent that it becomes impossible for you to do any of the kinds of things listed above. And this list is hardly even 1/100th of the tip of the iceberg at MIT. Really.</p>