<p>DS just committed to MIT. He had to select from some great choices: Harvard, Caltech, Columbia, WUSTL, and Duke among others. I feel that he made a great choice. Very happy that he is joining the class of 2017!</p>
<p>@UMTYMP Thanks so much for your reply. It’s a really tough decision. All the best to you.</p>
<p>I heard that some students tend to overload themselves with 6-7 courses per semester and then they become so stressful that they either start to hate MIT and/or themselves. Some even went into mental meltdowns. Is that true? How often do mental meltdowns occur? </p>
<p>On the other hand, if students just take 4-5 courses, will they be at a disadvantage when applying for graduate schools? </p>
<p>Will MIT graduate school accept its own students (like EECS)?</p>
<p>angelak,</p>
<p>My son had a lot of friends at MIT and that was a major factor in his decision to go there. He does not regret that at all! Not only does he have all those friends but he’s made dozens more friends. It made his transition very smooth, for sure. (A little too smooth if you ask his mom who’s missing him…sigh.)</p>
<p>Also, I don’t think students “need” to take 6-7 classes (that seems insane to me) and I don’t think students who take 4-5 are at a disadvantage. (But that is only my uniformed opinion)</p>
<p>Re. Princeton vs. MIT: My son has just declared a math major (he’s a freshman). While he liked Princeton, it was still his third choice behind Harvey Mudd and MIT. He thought he would fit in there but in the end, he wanted a STEM school.</p>
<p>Re. Caltech and MIT-totally different feel and culture. My son did <em>not</em> like Caltech at all. His (admittedly biased) opinion was that it was too small and the students were more “coarse” than he liked. </p>
<p>Caltech was quite a good deal more generous than MIT, for sure. At the time, dh and I wished he had chosen Caltech (so much closer, too!) but I see that MIT is the right school for him.</p>
<p>bublubu,</p>
<p>Yay!! Congratulations!! Stay in touch, ok? :-)</p>
<p>sbjdorlo, thanks for your quick reply!</p>
<p>I heard that there’s a mentor program that each student can choose an upperclassman as his/her mentor. I wonder if there’s anything similar to that but they will get alumni as mentors. If so, how many mentors they will be assigned to and what kind of contact/help those mentors would provide?</p>
<p>It’s pretty rare to take 6-7 courses, and even rarer to take that many courses for several semesters in a row. MIT majors are generally designed to be completed with exactly eight semesters of four classes each, and many students go without ever taking a five-class semester, let alone more than that.</p>
<p>I took some pretty heavy courseloads for several semesters as an undergrad (because I was a double-major, and doubling used to require taking a set number of units outside the General Institute Requirements, which is no longer required), and I never got the impression that this was either useful or harmful in graduate admissions. It’s certainly not standard practice for people to overload on classes in order to make themselves attractive candidates for grad school – MIT students are pretty attractive grad school candidates without having to resort to extreme measures.</p>
<p>Re: alumni mentorship, there is a formal alumni career advice program ([ICAN](<a href=“http://alum.mit.edu/benefits/CareerGuidance/ICAN?destination=node/16899]ICAN[/url]”>http://alum.mit.edu/benefits/CareerGuidance/ICAN?destination=node/16899)</a>), but I don’t know anything about it.</p>
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<p>If I were looking for a used Toyota, I could probably find one at the Chevy Dealer’s used car shop. But, I could probably find more at the Toyota Dealer’s used car shop.</p>
<p>I’m not saying that no west coast companies recruit at MIT, nor that no east coast companies recruit at Caltech. I am saying that proximity will be a factor. Let’s say that there is a start-up company on the west coast. Most likely they will start looking for kids from nearby schools. Also, if kid is motivated to network, it is much easier to network locally.</p>
<p>I would bet that if you looked at companies that recruit at MIT and companies that recruit at Caltech, MIT will have MORE east coast companies than Caltech, and Caltech will have MORE west coast companies that MIT.</p>
<p>If the kid is otherwise indifferent between MIT and Caltech, for me a significant cost difference would be a major deciding point. If that were close, then other factors that give the MOST (not exclusive) future options, such as, where the kid would eventually want to live, would be worth considering.</p>
<p>Regarding taking 6-7 (or very rarely even more) classes in a semester I don’t think it’s ever required but it can be helpful if a student has lots of different interests. There have been cases where people have taken like 8 classes of which 7 were math classes but I don’t think that is a particularly good idea. MIT also has an extremely late drop date which makes taking a huge number of classes much less risky as you. can drop down to a normal course load without penalty until the 11th or 12th week. The sophomore exploratory option is similarly helpful in this regard.</p>
<p>@OperaDad, skibum4, lidusha, sbjdorlo: thanks for input.
D committed to MIT last night, we are happy for her and hope she will have happy experience there. Couple of easy questions:
After graduation: for ChemE, which one is more popular: get a job or go to graduate school?
Bike: D wants to have a bike in MIT campus, is bike popular in MIT? is it safe to ride within campus?
Dorm: D wants a quiet dorm, but with some social life and no meal plan (maybe light cooking), which are popular choices in this category? can she change dorm later if she changes mind? what’s the thought on meal plan - I know it’s expensive choice?</p>
<p>I’m not entirely sure where to find the ChemE data you want but this survey may have related information you find useful <a href=“http://gecd.mit.edu/sites/default/files/graduation12.pdf[/url]”>http://gecd.mit.edu/sites/default/files/graduation12.pdf</a>. Bikes are both popular and safe at MIT. Burton Conner, Macgregor, and New House seem like good choices if you want fairly quiet and no meal plan although there is a lot of variance between sections of these dorms. It is easy to change dorms later both during orientation and during the school year. The general opinion is that the meal plan is overpriced for what it is.</p>
<p>Congratulations nerdyDad and welcome to the MIT community! Bikes are very popular on campus, but don’t bother with an expensive one, and make sure you get a U lock rather than a chain lock, as there are thefts. There are bike lanes throughout Cambridge, but accidents have happened, so very important to be careful when biking on the streets. </p>
<p>There’s tons of information about dorms and other things on the prospective MIT parents 2017 facebook group. In another month, this group will be brought into the main parents Facebook group. I find out so much useful information there, so you might want to check it out!</p>
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<p>During Orientation Week, there is an opportunity to submit for a dorm change. First Year Residence Exchange. After that, it is a little more difficult, but they will accommodate you if there is room.</p>
<p>[Incoming</a> First Year Students | MIT Housing](<a href=“Housing & Residential Services | Division of Student Life”>Housing & Residential Services | Division of Student Life)</p>
<p>D wasn’t thrilled with their food, and wants a dorm where she can cook on her own. With my son, we wanted him on the meal plan at his college so it is one less thing for him to figure out. D is a picky eater, so better let her figure it out herself. Since she doesn’t each much, she could probably eat out every day for less than the cost of the meal plan. For a teenage boy - unlimited food is the way to go.</p>
<p>Regarding bikes: I heard this at another college: Buy a $10 bike and a $50 lock.</p>
<p>Thanks for all advice.
@UMTYMP student: D did mentioned BC to me. She probably is going to apply for BC.
@skibum4: thanks for mentioning MIT parent group, it’s currently closed, I applied anyway.
@OperaDad: D is also a picky eater, I am convinced she can do it since your D could eat out with less cost than meal plan. Just concerns if she has time to do so in case of busy class schedule and the food places are close to the campus.
Is there anything -intern programs D can do or apply with MIT this summer?</p>
<p>@nerdyDad: Random Hall!</p>
<p>We don’t have a meal plan. We are a small dorm (the smallest). We have large kitchens on every floor (shared with at most 13 other people) and a grocery store less than a block away. We are very social, but not in a loud kind of way, and there are lots of places to retreat to (not just your room) if you want quiet.</p>
<p>There is also WILG, women’s independent living group. WILG is also small, about half the population of Random, I think. If I weren’t at Random I would be there. They also have large kitchens and they are also very close to the grocery store. WILG has homecooked dinner every day (the residents rotate who cooks, you get paid if you cook, and you don’t have to cook if you don’t want to) and a ton (EVERYTHING! so much!) of shared food. They also have a lot of wonderful quiet cozy spaces scattered throughout the building.</p>
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In addition to students being able to cook or go to restaurants on/near campus, there are also lots (and lots!) of restaurants that deliver to MIT dorms, many of which take orders online.</p>
<p>@nerdyDad – yes, the MIT parents facebook group is closed and will open up to 2017 parents probably in another monthI. But in the interim, there is an open Facebook group called “MIT Parents of the Class of 2017”. Let me know if you have trouble finding it.</p>
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In addition to the brick and mortar places, I hear that food carts are popular.</p>
<p>I have not heard of any MIT sponsored pre-matriculation internships lists.</p>
<p>Thank you all. I made note of everything you said.
@lidusha: D definitely will have a look at RH which sounds interesting from your description.
@molliebatmit: it does not have be restaurants:) Subway type of healthy fast food is enough.
@skibum4: they did let me in this “Invite by Email” group, super nice people there.
@OperaDad: same thanks here.</p>
<p>@nerdyDad: I’m an incoming freshman like your daughter with similar interests in dorms, and I’m currently favoring New House. It’s split up into 5 “houses” and those houses have different cultures, but overall I really liked the people I met there. They don’t have the meal plan, but there aren’t that many kitchens. But it seems like everyone has time to cook and multiple people can cook at once if they want. It’s a very relaxed, friendly atmosphere from my brief CPW experience. We should be getting i3 (the guide to the dorms) soon, so we’ll hear more soon!</p>
<p>I agree with Luisarose; New House is a very nice dorm. If I were to do it over again, I’d probably live there. </p>
<p>McCormick also seemed very nice, but is only for girls.</p>