<p>I was recently accepted to a few elite schools (not harvard), but I'm having a tough time deciding if I should go to one of them.
Everyone knows that these elite schools are stressful, but just how stressful are they? I want to be very careful about selecting a school so that I don't end up having to do all-nighters all the time. Is going to such a high pressure school worth it?
Some people have told me that these schools are great, and the pressure is not too bad. However, I'm still not sure.
For anyone that is already attending these schools, can you describe the school in general? Is there ample time in the day to relax and become more well rounded (doing things other than academics)?</p>
<p>Stop beating around the bush and say the actual schools? "These schools" could mean community college, some people find community college hard.</p>
<p>Hey Calculus!? How Is Princeton.</p>
<p>Yeah, it's a little hard to describe these schools or determine how pressurising they are if we don't know which schools you're talking about.</p>
<p>"the actual schools" = MIT and such</p>
<p>LousantAce,</p>
<p>I'm currently a freshman at Harvard, and I would say that it's stressful enough. I know a few people at MIT, who say it is really intense and stressful, but that may vary major to major, person to person.</p>
<p>hotpiece</p>
<p>Yeah, it's MIT and Caltech I'm talking about.</p>
<p>Hmm. Let's see. 4 years at MIT? 4 mother-****ing years at MIT? If you wimp out now you suck.</p>
<p>Wow epsilon, what a kind reply.
I understand what you're worried about drunner. One of my close friends has an older sister at Harvard and she had an incredibly difficult time her freshman year from the pressure to excel. She spread herself way too thin in terms of classwork and activities she was involved in and ended up having to come home for a while because of a stress-related health problem.</p>
<p>Now, though, she is absolutely happy at Harvard and adores it. I think that the transition time is probably difficult at a high-pressure school, but once you settle into your niche it is probably worth it.</p>
<p>Students find Harvard stressful because a large percentage of them have type A personalities. My daughter is a freshman and busts her but on everything but then again she has incredible drive and loves to study even on vacations like now.</p>
<p>hold on a second. editing</p>
<p>Hmm. Let's see. 4 years at MIT? 4 mother-****ing years at MIT? If you wimp out now you suck.</p>
<p>**** you. you probably don't know how to work hard.
some people are actually concerned about their health and don't blindly follow the name or prestige of a school.
and its 8 years buddy. never heard of a phd?</p>
<p>A bachelor's degree + a PhD will take longer than 8 years, alas. :)</p>
<p>I went to MIT and am now a grad student at Harvard. I think I pulled a grand total of two all-nighters during my undergrad years (and neither of them was actually related to the need to do schoolwork all night). Getting through MIT, or Harvard, or another high-profile school, is about developing time-management skills and learning to do the work you need to do.</p>
<p>I managed to work about 15-20 hours a week in a lab in addition to being the captain of the cheerleading squad while double-majoring at MIT. I also had plenty of time to hang out with my friends. :) It really is all about time management.</p>
<p>What major mollie? Cuz I heard that aerospace gets double the problem sets or something...</p>
<p>Mollie is a bio g33k.
[quote=<a href="http://www.mitadmissions.org/Mollie.shtml%5DMy">http://www.mitadmissions.org/Mollie.shtml]
My</a> name is Mollie, and I just graduated from MIT in June with degrees in brain and cognitive sciences and biology.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>That I am. :)</p>
<p>My fiance is an aero/astro major, and he's worked pretty hard, but again, he's happy and fulfilled and has time to work at his research job ~15 hours a week. He's also a competitive freestyle skiier. The aero/astro department at MIT is really difficult sophomore year (they take in two semesters what most aero/astro students take in two years), but the whole class does problem sets together and everybody helps everybody else through it.</p>
<p>The thing about MIT students (and, as I understand it, Harvard students too) is that they like to complain about the amount of work they have to do, but they totally do it to themselves.</p>
<p>wow thanks for the reassurance. i see that you're a biology major. do you think it would be the same for a math/physics major?</p>