<p>but people definitely work hard. it's not like you can coast by and do nothing.</p>
<p>
[quote]
Scott compares free time at MIT to the ideal gas law: the things you want to do will expand to fill all the available space you have for them.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>LOL!</p>
<p>(10 character limit)</p>
<p>when yall say free time, is this the time each week you have for sleep? ahh</p>
<p>Hahahaha no.</p>
<p>I get an average of about 7 hours of sleep on schooldays. Sadly, I know this for a fact because I keep really detailed sleep</a> statistics. (The pdf I linked to is a little out of date... need to update with senior year stats.) Generally speaking, people get less sleep as freshmen/sophomores because they're not time management ninjas like the juniors and seniors.</p>
<p>In your opinion/experience, what is an average GPA that can be reasonably expected at MIT? I know it's a strange question, but I've always heard that kids who get straight A's in high school in all AP classes can still get B or C averages at MIT (even maintaining a high effort level). And if so, how much do you think grad schools will value lower GPAs at MIT in comparison to higher ones at less harshly graded schools?</p>
<p>classes are usually centered around B or B-, depending on the department.</p>
<p>Yeah, I'd say the "average" person at MIT has a B average.</p>
<p>People definitely get into grad school from MIT with lower GPAs than people from other schools. In biology, for example, which is somewhat grade-inflated relative to other departments at MIT, I had a 3.4 average (/4.0) when applying to grad schools. I got into the top schools in biology, beating out countless people from state schools with 3.9s or 4.0s. The reality is that for graduate school admissions, your research experience and recommendations are a far more important factor in admissions than your GPA, so long as you come from a school like MIT.</p>
<p>People don't generally get perfect grades at MIT, but faculty members at other schools (who are the ones sitting on admissions committees!) are impressed by the rigor of our education, the amount of our research experience, and the glowingness of our faculty recommendations. Graduate school is about research anyway, it's not about doing well in a classroom setting.</p>
<p>I met President Hockfield last night at an admitted student/alumni gala thing in Denver, and now my mind's made up, in case it wasn't before. I'm coming. She's wonderful! I really liked what she had to say about MIT's place in the future, helping the world, etc. and now I'm even more excited for next year. (sorry, didn't really know which thread to post this in)</p>
<p>Hey Mollie! Do you think brain and cognitive science is easier or biology? And also, what is the average gpa for both majors? If I am quite fixed at being a doctor/neurosurgeon, should I just go with majoring in cognitive science or should I do biology for now and then switch later or double-major? And also, do you know if many MIT students get into med school? How is the psychology department like since I may also love to major or minor in psychology? I love the human mind way too much...</p>
<p>I think the general opinion around MIT is that BCS is easier than biology. Personally, I think I find biology a little easier, but maybe that's just because I like biology a little more? Certainly BCS has fewer requirements than biology, and the curriculum's a little more open-ended.</p>
<p>Strictly speaking, you have to start off as a single major -- you can't declare a second department until the end of your sophomore year. I think it's best, if you might be interested in doubling bio and BCS, to start off in BCS -- the major is smaller, and it's often a little more difficult to get the word on classes and scheduling if you're not an officially declared major. The biology department is bigger, so it's not such a mystery to schedule classes and such.</p>
<p>I started off as a single major in BCS and intended to minor in biology. At the beginning of sophomore year, I discovered that it would be somewhat feasible for me to double, but didn't have to change anything at that point -- the major/minor combo looks the same first semester sophomore year as the major/major combo. So if you start off planning on doing a major/minor, you'll give yourself some time to decide if you want to pull off a double or if you're happy just as a single major.</p>
<p>About 10% of MIT students consider themselves pre-med, and about 75% of undergrads who apply to medical school get in. (The data is here</a>.) If you decide you're interested in pre-med, you'll be assigned a pre-med advisor through the Career Office who will help you navigate course requirements and the application process.</p>
<p>The cognitive science part of the department is pretty good, although not, like, #1 in the world or anything. Considering MIT's strength in linguistics, the department's pretty strong in areas like childhood language acquisition. The McGovern Center for Brain Research and the Picower Institute for Learning and Memory are both within the department, and both centers are pretty awesome. All BCS majors are required to do a semester of UROP for credit, so if you major in BCS, there is a 100% certainty that you'll participate in undergraduate research. :D</p>
<p>And, for amyloplast -- Hockfield is wonderful! I really like her. She interacts with the students quite a bit more than her predecessor, and she seems really interested in hearing our opinions. And if there's one thing MIT students are, it's opinionated...</p>
<p>If a student had to chose between MIT and Caltech, why should he choose MIT?</p>
<p>I think to answer that question we'll have to dig up old "MIT vs. Caltech" posts... or start a new one with Ben Golub and Mollie? =P </p>
<p>but yea i have to make that decision too, and there's no "bad" choice =] good luck!</p>
<p>ps. definitely visit both for urself</p>
<p>i haven't been accepted to either yet, hopefully next year</p>
<p>but being required to make that choice would be great</p>
<p>it's called search, and it's your new friend. </p>
<p>Go on. Get acquainted.</p>
<p>it's called senioritis, and it's my new malignant disease.</p>
<p>:P j/k</p>
<p>Two quick questions</p>
<ol>
<li><p>I heard about these great trips before school. When do we learn about them? (Particularly the dates and costs.)</p></li>
<li><p>I read about special freshman learning communities, i.e. Media Arts and Sciences, Experimental Study Group, Terrascope. When will we get more information about them?</p></li>
</ol>
<h1>1. they're called fpops (freshman pre-orientation programs). You'll get a big folder sometime over the summer (after you've confirmed that you'll be attending MIT) with all this stuff in it (including #2) and more. I went to yellowstone for 8 days with DEAPS as a part of fpop. Highly highly recommended.</h1>
<p>what is it like for pre-meds at MIT?</p>
<p>How is the food at MIT? The dorms? What exactly are PSETS? Are they extremely difficult like most claim them to be? How often do you have to do PSETS? And what do students usually do during IAP?</p>
<p>PSETS = problem sets, and are not necessarily capitalized.</p>