<p>Oh MIT why do you tempt me so much only to reject me? (well 90% chance of one :-D)</p>
<p>So I've decided MIT rightfully deserves the rank of best school ever. Discuss. LOL</p>
<p>true meritocracy</p>
<p>gorgeous campus that has a lot going on but it still feels like home.</p>
<p>also, laverde's (the overpriced but convenient convenience store in the student center) has EVERY flavor of vitaminwater imaginable. I nearly died of happiness when I saw it for the first time.</p>
<p>^They claim to have the best cold drink selection on the east coast, whether or not that's verifiable. :)</p>
<p>It's really impressive, no matter if it's the best or not.</p>
<p>their enormous selection of ben and jerry's also stunned me, probably because I'm from the west coast and had never seen so many flavors in my life!</p>
<br>
<blockquote> <p>gorgeous campus that has a lot going on but it still feels like home<<</p> </blockquote>
<br>
<p>Gorgeous campus? Hardly. It looks to me about as (un)attractive as most ordinary state schools. Not ugly but nothing special either.
Yale = stone.<br>
Harvard = brick.<br>
MIT = concrete.</p>
<p>No, the real beauty at MIT is not the buildings themselves but what goes on inside them. That's where MIT gets truly amazing.</p>
<p>yeah, most of the buildings aren't fantastic but the open spaces are nice, and the river is nice. I was spoiled by living in McCormick for a month with a river/Boston skyline view. It was so pretty that we never closed our blinds at night so we could see the city lights.</p>
<p>I've never been a fan of the homogeneous brick look...so to me Harvard is pretty ugly, in all honesty. However, I'm totally biased, which may have something to do with it.</p>
<p>That's like asking why the sky is blue.....or why pi is irrational....it just is ;)</p>
<p>
[quote]
Yale = stone.
Harvard = brick.
MIT = concrete.
[/quote]
Beautifully said.</p>
<p>I love the architecture. I love that MIT is a mishmash of many different types of buildings. Only MIT would build the sponge building or the student center.</p>
<p>Hacks. I think the student body at MIT is just so cool.</p>
<p>East campus (specifically tetazoo....) and hacks/hacking.</p>
<p>MIT has a LOT of drawbacks: pig ugly campus, a way harder workload than most other places, crappy (ie, nonexistant) dining system. It's the people and the things that happen there, though, that make it MORE than worth it.</p>
<p>well said, it's the people. campus is borderline ugly - no harmonious theme. river definitely adds to it. but there are way better campuses if beauty is a concern.</p>
<p>
[Quote]
true meritocracy
[/Quote]
Doesn't MIT practice affirmative action? Also, doesn't if give preference to athletes? I know MIT definitely gives preference to females. </p>
<p>Not very meritocratic practices if you ask me. I guess nothing is perfect? I wonder if there are any schools that are true meritocracies...I guess no school is perfect.</p>
<p>I think that ham meant a "true meritocracy" in the scope of the academic experience at MIT. You're talking about admissions, which in this case is ideally a true meritocracy, but that can be debated.</p>
<p>noam chomsky :P and his awesome debates with michel foucault (bless his soul)</p>
<p>Well, no school is perfectly meritocratic (funny word) in admissions, but I think MIT is a lot more fair than many other schools (I don't see kids who are dumb as dirt get into MIT for rowing, lacrosse, or because their parents are mega rich) but I have known/been acquainted with TONS of kids who get into Yale, Harvard, Brown, etc for reasons like that. And maybe they lie, but I believe them when they say that being an athlete is only a small advantage (unlike at other schools, where it can get you in). </p>
<p>No offense to minorities or anything, but I really do not agree with the whole concept of affirmative action. But every school does it and I just have to accept it. It IS good for society in the long run, I'm sure, but frustrating for me (a white male) when I hear that just because I'm white, I have an 8% chance of being accepted when, for example a black female has a way higher chance. I don't even think race should be on the application. Anyways this is getting off topic- yea they do practice aa but so does everyone. </p>
<p>But what I mostly mean is how burnitblue interpreted it- that you have to work your ass off there but it is so worth it. In my eyes, MIT is a way to showcase that you've got more freakin drive than practically anyone else on earth, and you can handle it, and you want to be challenged. That is one of the main reasons why I want to go to MIT.</p>
<p>The one thing I didn't like about MIT when I visited was that the main building reminded me of a highschool and I wish there were more academic buildings than the one very big one.</p>
<p>Yea I'm looking forward to getting a challenge like no where else if I get in. That's what makes it academically the best but just as good is the culture. Reading the blogs on the admissions site about life at MIT just makes want to go there that much more LOL.</p>
<p>(And the icing on the cake for EA: where else will you get a tube fill with confetti if you get in :-D)</p>
<p>Have to disagree with the negative comments about the architecture at MIT. Mit has the oldest school of architecure in the country and not surprisingly has a large number of architecturally significant structures. This started with the very first buildings on the Cambridge campus, the Maclaurin buildings, which include the Great Dome and the Barker Engineering Library. They are significant in part BECAUSE they were constructed from concrete, which was a new material at the time and had not previously been used for anything similar. Many of the subsequent buildings on campus are even more famous for lack of a better word, and are visited by architects and architecture students from all over the world. These include Baker House, the Chapel, Fank Gehry's Stata Center. Steven Holl's Simmons Hall, and numerous buildings by I M Pei (Class of 1940). MIT's campus is not derivative and uniform, like Stanford, Yale, Harvard and many others. It is eclectic and continues to display some of the best examples of "modern" architecture throughout its history. All you have to do is open your eyes and minds.</p>
<p>Famous</a> Architecture: Unique Buildings Echo MIT's Innovative Style - The Tech</p>
<p>I agree that the architecture is pretty cool, but see how it might not appeal to everyone. And I have to agree with balaylay- the culture is another reason "why MIT is so amazing"- innovation, hard work, etc. Really a perfect match for me I truly believe-- too bad I have an 88% chance of being rejected.</p>