Massachusetts Institute of Technology Visit Report by flalaw97

Visit Activities:

Information Session: Yes - For those who registered ahead, you received a personalized info sheet before you walked in. Son's had info about rowing, environmental engineering, and earth and atmospheric sciences. Helpful s

Campus Tour: Yes - S said it was like an introduction to hacking and while it showed the enormous lecture halls, guide noted that most classes are smaller and large lectures are followed up by small recitations.

Classroom Visit: Yes - Empty lecture hall for large classes (500) and looked into smaller classrooms (30) - older but with high tech amenities (stacked whiteboards that slide up and down, video, etc).

---

Campus:

---

Tour guides were very enthusiastic and had good sense of humor, in a nerdy way. Met with a recent grad who was applying to law schools and he answered many questions that S had.

---

Admissions officer was straightforward and gave the best presentation in terms of useful information, like don't retake SAT if you already have a 2300 unless 2400 is your life's dream, tell

---

It is a mishmash of really old buildings strung together with infinite corridor and connected by underground tunnels. There are a few new buildings too but you won't be wowed by the architecture

---

Corridors and grounds were clean, nice courtyard where students were playing frisbee but mostly an urban setting.

---

Toured a fraternity house in Cambridge. Nice rooms all personalized (one we looked at had a bar and a loft bed). Industrial kitchen and wood floor dining room and awesome TV room with tiered seats.

---

---

Not as nice as Cornell but not as urban as Drexel. Some green areas, interspersed amongst older buildings. Nice athletic facilities including hockey rink and pool.

---

Off-Campus:

---

Boston Rocks. Cambridge, not so much but Harvard square is fun to visit. All cultural things are just a T ride away and the river is beautiful.

Campus Visit Notes for Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Visit Description:

Took son to Alma Mater for visit and just walked along trying not to say anything. Before info session they had a slide show which was much better than other schools. No repeated slides and each slide had a different MIT activity or group or information bit and all were funny, in a geeky way. S got some jokes that I didn't (EEM?) but they were all like: Glassblowing club - the most fun you can have with superheated sand. Each had a website address if you wanted to look up more info.
Info session was also better than most. Admissions officer talked about process, said that grades and SAT/ACT matter only to the point that they need to know if you can handle the work. After that they want to know if you will be a good fit and bring some interesting things to the community. Stated that the interview, if available, is very important - do it! Admitted that MIT SUCKS when it comes to giving AP Credit. Biology professor says he covers all of the AP Bio material in first three weeks so no credit for you. Same with Chemistry. Talked about Pass/No Grade policy for first year.
Talked about the culture - fun while doing really challenging work. Lots of info about "hacking" - not computer hacking but playing pranks like painting a big yellow smile face on dome, installing phone booth on roof, etc. Also talked about many Undergraduate Research opportunities.
We visited boathouse - gentleman let us in and we were able to see the rowing tank, boats, docks, workout spaces and the river. A nice setup if you would like to learn to row - most rowers are new to the sport (did not do it in high school). It is also the only Division I sport at MIT.

Dining/Restaurant Recommendations or Comments:

If you like icecream go to Toscanini's and if you like chocolate get the Belgian chocolate.