<p>I don’ t think this is an MIT specific issue; this is common to many city dwellings. BC always had roaches and mice in the late 70s and early 80s when I was there. I doubt anything has changed. Learning to keep food sealed and the kitchen wiped up helps to minimize the problem in a suite; it probably encourages the wee beasties to move to a messier suite. The (rather cute) mice come out at night and helped keep me company when I was plugging away at 3 am at a particularly tedious problem set. They are not attack mice (unlike the roaches, …sigh), and usually won’t get to food sealed in heavy plastic.</p>
<p>What doesn’t kill you will only make you stronger, and I have never heard of an MIT student being killed by a roach or a mouse, as disgusting as that probably sounds. It is definitely motivating to study harder so that you can afford to live in a nicer place.</p>