MIT (2024-2025)

[coarse parrot]

like i saw the timer in the corner and was like oh shit

[fresh mirage]

no i meant the whole interview

as in if u had the interview preplanned

[coarse parrot]

oh i have been talking with the interviewer for like a week

[fresh mirage]

ahh

ok

[coarse parrot]

i submitted mit earlioer

she said i was her first assignment

[fresh mirage]

kk

[fresh mirage]

im doing MIT RD bc i cant manage time lmaoo

[coarse parrot]

damn

earliest rd submission on god

[fresh mirage]

lol

mit doesnt really give a boost EA iirc, but i wanna make sure i get an interview

prolly will submit it before winter break starts

[long spruce]

Yeah they don't

I just want to know in December rather than waste my entire senior year being delusional haha

[vivid tulip]

Delulu is the solulu fr fr fr

[coarse parrot]

did you do an interview

delulu = solulu

[half star]

delulu was not the solulu

why are you pouring salt in my wounds

[odd spade]

^same still

[vivid tulip]

The wound of attending Harvard fr

[half star]

i didnt say it was an unrewarding wound

[coarse parrot]

you can always cross register

[half star]

nah

not really worth it

[coarse parrot]

wait so how does that work

like is it easy

[half star]

wdym

[coarse parrot]

im curious

[half star]

to cross register? yes

[coarse parrot]

do you just say i want mit class

[half star]

i could register for an mit class rn for spring

[coarse parrot]

does it make any sense

[half star]

for CS maybe

i could put it on relevant coursework on my resume/linkedin

[coarse parrot]

are you planning on?

[half star]

idk maybe just to try it out, but realistically harvard cs is just as good lol

i mean maybe not ranking wise but like for all that really matters

[coarse parrot]

should i apply to harvard too

foor cs

[half star]

if you want to

[coarse parrot]

whats the vibe

[half star]

its cool

its not an engineering school though

cs isn't even a SB here

[coarse parrot]

sb?

[half star]

bachelor of science

[coarse parrot]

what is it

ba?

[half star]

the actual latin is flipped, since harvard predates "bachelor of science" and "bachelor of arts" lol

[coarse parrot]

does it matter?

that its not a bs

or sb

[half star]

No not for getting jobs or the field or anything

[coarse parrot]

phd?

[half star]

But I mean for your general education requirements

Like you'll be taking humanities classes

and a language requirement

[coarse parrot]

sounds neat

[half star]

Whereas at MIT, you'd take like Chemistry/Physics as your "geneds"

I mean I enjoy it, because personally I do enjoy humanities based courses for their.. intellectual curiosity kidn of

I feel like CS is very concrete, which I like WAY more than humanities, but I still enjoy thinking outside the box which is also in CS but less-so in theory-based like Harvard

Oh yeah; another thing, Harvard CS is heavily theory-based

MIT CS is very applied

[coarse parrot]

oh i like hands on

so maybe not for me

[half star]

I mean you do some coding, but mostly theory

Harvard CS is one of the first cs programs, so it was born out of math

[keen girder]

cs theory 😻

[hidden axle]

Ur not even guaranteed an interview as is

[wise glacier]

I want one :/

[unborn ice]

😭i hope i don’t have one

[normal stag]

It's really informal and chill

I'm sure you would represent yourself well

[wise glacier]

Have you already gotten yours?

[normal stag]

Yea

But I submitted my app like 3 weeks ago

Afaik whether you get an interview, and how long it takes before you get notified, is only based on how available interviewers are and not how good the app is

[wise glacier]

Yeah I know that but I thought submitting on Tuesday in Florida would be early enough

😔 I hope I get one soon

[normal stag]

They still have a while to interview you. Even if you don't get one immediately you will probably get one eventually

[wise glacier]

🙏

What types of questions did they ask? Would I need to prepare or just wing it?

[normal stag]

So probably every interviewer is different, but mined started with asking me if I had any questions for the interviewer. After that, he only had a few stereotypical interview questions, most of it was follow-up discussion. The questions my interviewee asked were "why MIT," "what do you do in your free time," "tell me about a time you faced a challenge"

[wise glacier]

Oh so the essay questions 💀

[normal stag]

I prepared a little by looking online at questions other people were asked and brainstorm answers, but you shouldn't need to prep

[normal stag]

Yeah lol

It was so chill

I think we lowkey spent like 20 mina discussing advances in AI

[wise glacier]

Oh what course are you doing?

I prob wanna do course 6-7

[normal stag]

I'm interested in 6-14

But maybe I just do applied math idk

[wise glacier]

Ooh yeah that looks cool

I like how MIT makes you undeclared for the first year

[normal stag]

Yeah same

Idk I'm trying not to dream about MIT too much because realistically I'm probably getting rejected

[long spruce]

Same

It's hard sometimes

[full lynx]

Wym

We're all locked trust

Already admitted they just want us to wait

[long spruce]

True 🙏

[coarse parrot]

they have like 1-2 weeks

[coarse parrot]

mine literally said to brag about myself

i was like okk???

[long spruce]

I just really need them to schedule one soon if I'm going to have one

The last two weeks of November I'm literally not going to have any free time 💀

Unless they want to meet at 9pm on a Thursday

[coarse parrot]

they wont give you one that late

only like first 2 weeks max

she said they want within first week

[long spruce]

Ah ok

Well that's both good and also doesn't bode well haha

Might just be there's not an ec in my area ig

The only one I'm friends with is a neurosurgeon who works far too many hours to be healthy

[molten mauve]

Did you just say the same thing as your essay?

[long spruce]

MIT has available practice rooms (with pianos) right?

[half star]

Is that really a huge priority lol

[long spruce]

No but I don't want to stop playing piano in college lol

And my state flagship doesn't have available practice rooms so I was curious about MIT

[odd spade]

wait if so should i email mit interview since its been almost two weeks since i submitted and i havent been contacted yet

[long spruce]

No

They will contact you if they're able to offer an interview

[vivid tulip]

There are a ton yeah

Each dorm usually has a practice room, (some have multiple pianos), there are some scattered across campus, also some in the student center

I've heard ppl play Megalovania in the practice rooms before

[long spruce]

Ooh that's sick

Living in a dorm with a piano would be amazing

[vivid tulip]

This is true

On the floor above mine there's a dude who's just incredible at piano

And so every once in a while you'll just hear some majestic ahh music ring down the staircase while you're eating or reading or smth

[long spruce]

I love that so much

[long spruce]

Ngl I still think one of the things I would be hyped for at MIT is sailing

I've always wanted access to be on the water and it sounds so fun

[full lynx]

Ima be rowing

So maybe we’ll see each other on the Charles

[long spruce]

Heyyy nice

I could definitely be convinced to give rowing a shot

[onyx atlas]

MIT just saved me

The application page broke when I tried to submit Early Action on Friday (it wouldn't let me submit despite me filling out all the sections, giving me a "missing application security" error) and they've given me a grace period till the end of the day while they fix the problem

[fresh mirage]

i forgor to change my thing to RD now they think i meant to apply EA 😭

[left palm]

LMAO

i mean thats fine (?)

[fresh mirage]

i hope

im just scared they'll be like "oh this kid forgot to do EA har har har"

by the name of petey all will be fine

[left palm]

one of my friends at mit has petey as their advisor

LOL

chill guy

[fresh mirage]

yeah he's on here as well

was a bit more active last year

[long spruce]

Having Petey as your advisor would be crazy

The idea of meeting someone who actually read my application is a terrifying thought

[left palm]

lmfaoo i met my ao

at preview

he was like oh i remember you alright

😭

[hidden axle]

He usually comes around closer to decisions I feel

[long spruce]

That's terrifying 😭

[left palm]

he was lowk laughing too

maybe he felt i was a bit of an absurd person😭

but he argued for me sooo

[hybrid dawn]

i got an interview email is that notable?

also do they factor in interviews for admission llike harvard or is it more just for u like upenn

[long spruce]

Interviews are purely based on availability

[long spruce]

They don't matter a ton (see above)

[stark fox]

i think it factors in but i had a terrible interview and still got in

[half star]

they matter way less than harvard

[long spruce]

I'm at least praying that don't matter a ton because I don't think I'm getting one 💀

[half star]

for MIT?

[long spruce]

Yeah

[wanton osprey]

Is there like a public list of mit grads from each class? Just wondering…

[full lynx]

Lol fr

[long spruce]

I think you can only access the directory if you have an alumni account

[fresh mirage]

how you get in evewrywhere 😭

[stark fox]

silly girl power

also i didnt bag (or apply to) any ivies

[wise glacier]

did u go

[stark fox]

committed '29

[wise glacier]

wait how

[stark fox]

you can defer enrollment after getting in

[wise glacier]

oh you're on a gap year

ig ill see you

[stark fox]

yo !?

[wise glacier]

im getting in fr 🙏

[stark fox]

oh fr

see u there

[long spruce]

Fr we're all getting in

[full lynx]

Yo

See you there

🙏

[stark fox]

see you fr

[long spruce]

I've never been happier to get an interview email let's go 🗣️

[odd spade]

woah nice

there might still be hope for me

[half star]

MIT are only based on availability—and they don’t hold much weight.

[half star]

Is he from ur area or virtual?

[icy stirrup]

I get so scared every time i get a new email

[long spruce]

From my area, they're a professor at my state flagship

[full lynx]

I got a columbia professor 😭

I live downtown so I'm meeting him on campus

[molten mauve]

Still waiting 🙏

what does the email even look like

[coarse parrot]

it just says mit interview

and like hello

[long spruce]

Yeah

Nothing crazy

[wanton osprey]

I didnt even get an email they js straight up called me 😭

[long spruce]

That's what I was afraid of lmao

Since I always reject phone numbers I don't recognize

[icy stirrup]

oh wow

[long spruce]

Apparently my interviewer has a 1.4 on rmp and all the reviews say that she is constantly talking about stanford instead of teaching

So this will be interesting I guess 💀

[icy stirrup]

LOL

[full lynx]

Idk why but I feel like it might not be the best idea to talk ab stanford on the mit interview

Even if ur interviewer glazes them

[long spruce]

Oh for sure I won't

I'm just concerned she won't have the best personality with the 1.4 💀

But I have faith

[icy stirrup]

I got an interview

Lowkey was hoping i wouldnt but oh well

[long spruce]

You'll rock it

[molten mauve]

Still waiting… ⏳

Submitted the 21st

Wisconsin moment

[icy stirrup]

Ty

[icy stirrup]

is an in-person interview preferred?

[icy stirrup]

ok ykw i think im gonna do online

[long spruce]

I don't think it'll mark for or against you

Just whatever you're most comfortable with

[icy stirrup]

Alright

[sharp sedge]

did any int'ls get interview requests?
I'm assuming they would most likely be virtual right

[icy stirrup]

I got one!

The alumnus that contacted me lives nearby so i couldve done inperson but i chose online

[wise glacier]

I'm international but I live in the US

So idk if that's relevant but I got an in person one

[half star]

@vivid tulip did I just see u

[vivid tulip]

[stark fox]

oat

[molten mauve]

Finally got an interview 🙏

[coarse parrot]

congrats

[long spruce]

Am I supposed to bring a resume to the interview

[wise glacier]

No

[long spruce]

Cool cool

[keen girder]

If i have a paid internship, do I put it both on the activities list and jobs sections?

and the summer jobs section as well if it was also during the summer (and going into the school year)?

[wise glacier]

Only put it in 1 section

[wanton osprey]

byeeee mit after that interview i aint ever seein cambridge again 😢

[coarse parrot]

i'm sure you did great

[desert oak]

FR

just had mine too 😔

[icy stirrup]

what happened 😭

[full lynx]

interview was interesting

[coarse parrot]

good or bad

[full lynx]

good i guess

we just talked ab random stuff

[coarse parrot]

nice

[long spruce]

Yeah mine was about the same haha

[half star]

alas that is not enough i fear

but it's a good indicator 🙂

it, at the very least, saved me from an early rejection

[full lynx]

fr

[pale quarry]

🧏‍♂️

[full lynx]

thats crazy tho nerd i know u from two completely different places

n u in harvard

high k proud of u mane

[half star]

what

[full lynx]

check our mds

dms

[half star]

ah hell nah

[full lynx]

😭

lmaooooo

[half star]

let's calm it down here

https://tenor.com/view/chill-out-relax-be-calm-easy-take-it-easy-gif-15820228

[long spruce]

💀

[long spruce]

Ngl being rejected EA would hurt way more than RD

Considering their deferral rate

[woven wave]

yeah

i imagine its just

those are people the ao's can in no way see at mit

shitty fit or some other reason

[wise glacier]

They prob don't reject EA on fit lol

They prob do it on your academic profile

[coarse parrot]

no they do fit as well

when they came to my school i asked

you can also get denied from my understanding if you seem like an obnoxious person, or your interview is horrible, or if you dont fit any of mit's stuff very well

those are the main criteria

[half star]

Yeah they do lol

If they do not think you are meant for MIT's campus and will not further their community, they will reject you on the spot.

They are trying to make the best possible makeup of their admitted class every year and the same criterion is applied for determination in both rounds. The only difference is that in EA, you can get deferred (which basically just means you aren't quite there to be accepted in context of the EA applicants, but before rejecting you they want to see you in context of the entire applicant pool in the RD round.

[wise glacier]

Oh I didn't know that

I assumed they filtered out people who can't survive academically at MIT and only accepted the most insane ppl

[left palm]

😭

lmfao...

rip my mit waitlist

thrown into the ether

[icy stirrup]

Interview today 🙏

[full lynx]

Wym we're already in

They just have to look at everyone else's before they can tell us

[long spruce]

🔥

Get it twisted, delusion is the solution

[full lynx]

Idk wat those words mean but fr

[normal stag]

Gl!

[icy stirrup]

tyy

[icy stirrup]

Its in 30min 😭 im so nervous

[onyx jacinth]

i was nervous as fuck right before mine but it really did end up being a chill convo. hopefully you get the same

[icy stirrup]

Ok mine was like

Actually interview ish

I was hoping for the convo

But its ok

Hopefully i did good 😭 i was stumbling over my words so many times

He asked so many questions bro

His kids came into the room during the interview and he was like “go take a bath” and pushed them out LMAO

[molten mauve]

What kinds of things did he ask 😭

I hear about like why mit and major and what you want to do at mit

But what other things 😭 I’m so Bergius

Nervous

[icy stirrup]

They were the most basic questions ever like stuff you could find if you searched “university interview questions” (whom do you admire, what do you like to do in your free time, tell me about a day in your life, etc)

But it really depends on your interviewer i think

[onyx jacinth]

for mine it was introduce yourself, why mit, do you have any concerns about mit, do you have any questions for me, what kind of problems do you want to solve, what was your biggest accomplishment, if you had infinite time/resources what would you do, what question do you wish i had asked you/what more would you want the admissions people to know about you, and a lot of follow up

[long spruce]

Mine just asked me "Why MIT" and what a normal week looked like for me

After that we just yapped a lot

[coarse parrot]

mine asked why and then 45min ya[

[full lynx]

I think they wanna know why we wanna go

[icy stirrup]

I wanted to just yap too 😭😭😭😭

[stark fox]

🤷‍♀️ i had a crap interview with my mit interviewer

[stark fox]

i like ur bio

[onyx jacinth]

tyty

put a lot of thought into it

[stark fox]

w linux and lisp user

[stark fox]

ironic

[wise glacier]

Wait there's 3 of us here now? (My neovim config is written in Fennel)

[onyx jacinth]

YOOOO

nvim my daily driver

[stark fox]

i don't actually write any lisp i'm sorry

i don't have any use case right now

[wise glacier]

Same

But ngl

[stark fox]

i just write rust, go, and c for work

[wise glacier]

My nvim config is basically vscode

💀

[stark fox]

i'm unfortunately a kakoune/helix fan

[wise glacier]

But less polished

[wise glacier]

I've heard of helix but haven't tried it yet

[stark fox]

it's good

[wise glacier]

Yeah it's hard nowadays; clojure is prob the most used one but even that's rare

[wise glacier]

I've spent way too much time with neovim to forsake it 😔😔

[onyx jacinth]

i've always wanted to try kakoune but i can't bring myself to go through another learning curve while dealing with school lol

[stark fox]

yeah i'd clojure if i had a use case

[wise glacier]

Exactly bro

[stark fox]

lol

[wise glacier]

I mean, doesn't it replace java for all intents and purposes?

[coarse parrot]

damn such modern

[stark fox]

ehhh kinda i think? it's jvm but idt the java interop is as good as kotlin

[stark fox]

it's a startup

[coarse parrot]

ahh'

no .net for you lmao

[onyx jacinth]

sounds fun

[coarse parrot]

i mostly do rust and python for work

[wise glacier]

Yeah, and it's also functional which people seem to hate

I love functional programming

[coarse parrot]

go is fancy tho

[stark fox]

it is!

[wise glacier]

I use Haskell 🤓 🧔‍♂️

[stark fox]

we write macos containerization software

[stark fox]

based

[stark fox]

SAME

[coarse parrot]

good usecase for that

[wise glacier]

I wonder what would happen if we started someone out with functional programming

[onyx jacinth]

bro i have to write kotlin for my robotics team so i end up using intellij stuff way too much

[wise glacier]

Because when I learned it, it felt like relearning programming

[onyx jacinth]

but other lsps for kotlin just aren't the same

[onyx jacinth]

i tried to do a bookclub with a couple rookie programmers using the sicp

did not go well

[wise glacier]

I have a copy of sicp

Waiting for me

I need to finish it at some point

I love the way it's written though

[onyx jacinth]

i felt so enlightened when i tried going through it

[wise glacier]

Fr

[onyx jacinth]

ever use xmonad?

[wise glacier]

Especially the math

[wise glacier]

No, I used to use qtile

I heard xmonad wasn't as featured so never tried it

[onyx jacinth]

oof

[long spruce]

That's actually my dream haha

I'm so tired of writing Java

[onyx jacinth]

how are people getting coding jobs as highschoolers

[long spruce]

Not really for proper job haha

I just use a lot of java for my internship and robotics team

[onyx jacinth]

frc?

ftc?

[long spruce]

FRC yeah

[onyx jacinth]

i do a bit of frc as well but mostly ftc

[stark fox]

they do this often, scheme is a common teaching language

[stark fox]

jetbrains is good

[stark fox]

idk i got hired by a guy i met at stanford admit weekend

[full lynx]

MIT

[long spruce]

How did that even happen haha

Like you were just talking and they offered you a position

[fresh mirage]

sicp is meh honestly

types and programming languages way better imo

[left palm]

all connections kid

people trust people they know

[normal stag]

No way a fellow Haskell enjoyer

[wise glacier]

We should make a group chat with the other two Haskell enjoyers

(all other Haskell enjoyers have a PhD, are 67 years old, and dwell on IRC)

[normal stag]

Lol

Crazy

To be fair I'm kinda a Haskell amateur. I really enjoy it but it's not my go-to if there's a task I meed to get done

[wise glacier]

Same

[normal stag]

Realll

Are you applying for CS?

[fresh mirage]

used to be a big haskell guy got more into rust and idris

then i wrote my own PL but its still kinda bad

[normal stag]

How/why do you know so many languages lol

I just know java, python, Haskell

And learning Shakespearelang for the memes

[fresh mirage]

honestly when you know one language its not that hard to learn others

after i leanred haskell it just became really hard for me to use weakly typed PLs outside of basic scripting stuff

i dont code much anymore tho

[wise glacier]

well, computational biology for mit

[wise glacier]

im also writing my own PL

[normal stag]

Okay nice

[normal stag]

That's honestly so cool

[wise glacier]

im writing the interpreter in haskell 🙂

[wise glacier]

you do know MIT doesn't admit by major...right?

[normal stag]

Yeah ofc. And it doesn't really matter because don't declare major until sophomore year

Just curious what you want to study

[wise glacier]

oh ok

hard to glean tone online

so i thought you were saying "Okay nice" like "less competition" 💀

[normal stag]

💀💀 valid

[normal stag]

I'm not even applying CS either though lol. I was split between math, econ, and CS so I put 6-14 as my major

But I applied math everywhere else

[wise glacier]

I like the interdisciplinary majors

Yeah I wanna do 6-7

[normal stag]

Yeah

Like I'm not even really interested in urban design or architecture but 11-6 sounds fire

[fresh mirage]

i wrote my lexer/parser in haskell

im writing the LLVM backend in rust

[fresh mirage]

W

ngl im probably leaning towards Course 18C but i'm also interested in ling/phil, urban design, and physics

i shoulda EAd MIT but it doesnt matter

its also cool cuz i have projects in both ling and urban design as well

my yt feed is so cooked rn

[normal stag]

Yeah. Tbh I'm interested in a lot of fields (phil, stats, and poli sci are interests in addition to math, econ, and cs), but I can't major in everything ¯_(ツ)_/¯ That's why I kinda like that you don't have to declare major at MIT until sophmore year

[desert oak]

i put course 20 as my major but i highkey had an existential crisis and now i want to do 6-3 w 15-2 or smth

im interested in ling/phil too 😭

[normal stag]

But I might be cooked anyways bc if I just start by taking like group theory and stuff but then relize I don't want to do pure math it doesn't matter that I hadn't declared my major yet

[fresh mirage]

abstract algebra is my favorite part of math

it relates directly into CS too

via type theory, constructive logic, categories, etc

[normal stag]

type theory is fire

[fresh mirage]

iirc the 18.701-702 sequence is usefull for a lot of majors at MIT

sorry igot my numbers confused

[normal stag]

Idk what type of math I like, which sounds like cursed. I've really enjoyed every "pure" math course I've taken, like set theory and the the breif overview of topology I got in my multi class, but I also really enjoyed everything else so ¯_(ツ)_/¯
There's a perpetual trend where when I learn a little bit about a branch of math (think "pop-math" or 3b1b style overview) I think it sounds fire but then when I try to actually learn it I just get frustrated. I'm currently really interested in modeling and numerical analysis, as wel as game theory, but we'll see how long that lasts

[fresh mirage]

i relate to that

but ngl i just lose motivation quickly

[normal stag]

yeah

[fresh mirage]

or im missing fundamentals

[normal stag]

oh yeah fore sure

[fresh mirage]

so like i had a while where i was super interested in category theory, so i started watching hella stuff but then i realized "oh shit i need a lot of algebra for this" so i had to go thru dummit&foote

or even stuff like idk diff geo/diff forms need a lot more linear algebra than i was comfortable with

so i went thru axler

and by then i get a little bored

[normal stag]

I tried to learn homotopy type theory summer between sophomore and junior years without prior exposure to topology, category theory set theory, formal logic, or anything like that, but I was too stubbord to relize that I didn't have the fundementals so I spend countless hours sarting at papers and wikipedia pages being really confused

[fresh mirage]

i did the same thing but i found a few yt videos that explained it really well

iirc hott is just extending types to topological areas

[normal stag]

yeah pretty much

but I didn't/don't know a lot about normal type theory or topology

lol

[fresh mirage]

yeah you'll want a clear footing

[normal stag]

yeah

so now my apporach is more like take it slow and definetly pay attention to prereqs so I don't regret my life choices

I'm trying to learn stochastic calculus rn and that is going fairly okay

as in much better than all my other attempts to learn advanced math

[fresh mirage]

ngl i hate analysis

[normal stag]

rip

[fresh mirage]

maybe not hate it but i think analysis is by nature very very anal and pedantic

[normal stag]

valid ig. I don't know much about analysis besides epsilon/delta stuff and what I'm learning rn about sotchastic calc

[fresh mirage]

i dont think i have trouble with it though anymore than having trouble with being committed to something at all

[normal stag]

yeah thats fair

idk the best way to to get me motivated is always having a problem to solve. As soon as I have a problem I get hyperfocused on trying to solve it, but otherwise it is easy for me to lose motivation

[long spruce]

Based

I like it but it's def not my favorite

All the math classes I want to take are locked behind it though so I gotta do it next sem

[wise glacier]

Oh mine is just interpreted so way easier

[wise glacier]

SAME

[long spruce]

What actually is abstract algebra

That's one field I don't know much about

[fresh mirage]

i think the best way to describe it is

the study of mathematical structures

[wise glacier]

Idk I only know the napkin overview

[wise glacier]

Yeah seems legit

[fresh mirage]

honestly i wouldnt even describe it as a field

more like a lens

abstract algebra is a way of looking at mathematical systems that emphasizes generality, structure, isomorphism, and relation

while analysis is a way of looking at mathematical systems by emphasizing their breaking points, edges, etc.

or i guess more generally, algebra is about similarity, analysis is about difference

[long spruce]

Yeah I just read the Wikipedia page it actually seems sick

I keep going back and forth on if I would want to do a double major with math

Because there's genuinely so many cool topics but idt it would really serve me for a job

[fresh mirage]

that’s kinda what turned me off from math self study in the last few months

so many people telling me how hard and sucky math phd programs are

and how elitist academia is despite being relatively underpaid compared to similarly educated roles

[long spruce]

Yeah, in the past few years I've really been turned from academia

Just from how my professors have talked about it and even my interviewer

[normal stag]

yeah same

I thought I would go into acedmia for so long but I've been really turned off of it from what I have heard from a few trusted people

[full lynx]

Use your stem degrees for something useful n cool

Like the military industrial complex

[coarse parrot]

When does the checklist like release

[icy stirrup]

Soon I’m guessing

Cause they said two weeks after the deadline

[long spruce]

I was wondering the same thing haha

Should be today I hope

[molten mauve]

It released

Also what kinds of questions should I ask my EC 😭

I have some ones down but idk ones that are more related specifically to engineering

[coarse parrot]

my thing is out

[long spruce]

Your thing?

[coarse parrot]

the checklist

[long spruce]

Oh yeah, same

[keen girder]

what checklist

[long spruce]

Just shows if they got all your lors/transcript

[keen girder]

oh

[normal stag]

I can't tell if this is a joke or not. Genuinely some military research is super interesting I just can't morally get behind it

[keen girder]

the military industrial complex does more than military research stuff

lockheed also does a lot of science/research shit

[normal stag]

idk. I get iffy in that whole area of research. My goal is to have the largest positive impact possible. I am currently interested in working in non-profit sector. Military just doesn't jive with that to me. I don't mean to condemn anyone who wants to/does work in that area, just probably not for me.

[keen girder]

like i do solar astrophysics rn

[full lynx]

Not joking

Love that shit

[fresh mirage]

i judge them subconsciously ngl but bread is bread

my goal would be either content creation, startup, or academia

idk i cant stand taking orders from others

[keen girder]

imma be honest this is basically pure academia

it's also with partnership with local universities and their research/academia programs

being a tenured professor would be really sick tbh

[normal stag]

Valid. A few people in my friend group joke about arms dealing in a "if I get rejected from college at lest I have a career path" kind of way, but serious interest is valid

[long spruce]

It's not my favorite, but if I have to do it for four years so the military pays for my college I'm alright with it haha

[normal stag]

Right

[coarse parrot]

all of those require taking orders from either deans or investors

[fresh mirage]

for sure, its just that i'll have more autonomy doing it

academia is terribly constrained by grant money though

[coarse parrot]

thats fair, but its still not as much as you would think

[fresh mirage]

i mean either way if i get a position at a company that allows me to do R&D projects or if i get past the VC stage for a start-up, i'll be fine enough

academia is its own thing and i dont want to do it as a career

[molten mauve]

Finally done with interview 🙏

[coarse parrot]

yay

[molten mauve]

Now we just wait

I was so worried cuz mine was in person and everything

[stoic vortex]

should i send an email update if my paper (also submitted as research supplement) has been accepted for publication

[coarse parrot]

ya

[long spruce]

Lol I love it

Very mit

[coarse parrot]

damn that email is fire

[stark fox]

ikr

[full lynx]

hey that's funny I got that same email in two months

or when does it come out

one month

?

december

[coarse parrot]

man is manifesting too hard

chill

but gl

[full lynx]

Wym manifesting

[long spruce]

Tbh I would rather them not send an email so I can check the portal on my own time

Since I know if I don't get one I didn't get in 💀

But I also understand why they do it, and it's pretty great, so I'll allow it

[frank lance]

oh my god this is so adorable

[stray plume]

How soon after your decision date did they send this email? Just curious 😗

[icy stirrup]

Omg that is cute

[onyx glen]

day after decision release for me

[stark fox]

day after

[long spruce]

Yikes

[normal stag]

Guys on Dec 15 we all set our server username to be manifesting MIT '29

incredibly based

[icy stirrup]

Does it come out on 15th

[onyx jacinth]

usually it's a saturday so i would expect either 14th or 21st, but i don't think they've officially said anything yet

[icy stirrup]

oh ok

they just say mid december so i waswondering

[molten mauve]

I’m guessing it’s 12/14 on 12:14 est

Based on the last few years

[barren forge]

https://news.mit.edu/2024/mit-tuition-undergraduates-family-income-1120

we up!

[long spruce]

Wait really???

This is actually so huge

[icy stirrup]

Lets gooo

[onyx atlas]

oh my god this is amazing

[wise glacier]

bro im right over

joever

😭

but prob much reduced coa

[long spruce]

Now I just have to get in

[cloud axle]

LMAO 😭 same

[keen girder]

bro they did this right after my dad started to make a lot of money 💀

[fresh mirage]

man id be happy to even get into mit

even as a full pay

[long spruce]

I'd be happy to get in

I just wouldn't be able to go lol

[fresh mirage]

id try to find a way ngl

[stark fox]

adMITted

[normal stag]

I thought I read 16th somewhere but I could be wrong

[normal stag]

Crazyyyyy let's go

[normal stag]

Same

[icy stirrup]

Ok mixed opinions ig 😭

[normal stag]

Okay so I double checked and found nothing official for 2024 besides mid December. It was Dec 16 last year, but that is no guarantee it will be the same this year.

[icy stirrup]

Okok

[keen panther]

go watch university wars

[untold cape]

Does this mean ppl in 200-250k bracket qualify for some financial aid?

[stiff dirge]

yeah

essentially at like 199k, ur just paying housing/board and fees

[glass basin]

hi

[stray plume]

They consider noncustodial parent income even tho my dad wont be contributing so Im screwed out of aid :’)

[fresh mirage]

HYPM + brown the only colleges where i aint screwed outta aid

[long spruce]

Yep same

Really nervous about not getting into one of my top choices and then not getting a very large scholarship to my state flagship

Cause at that point I'm probably not going to college

[molten mauve]

It should be mid December Saturday on est of that date

Based on the past few years

[vivid tulip]

https://youtu.be/dmNlRj1QRDY?si=9aOiCQQ22Iy5Slhn&t=60

[long spruce]

Manifesting that I'm singing with them next year

[stark fox]

go get it

[analog tinsel]

does anyone speak toki pona

[frank lance]

yess me (not at mit though

[analog tinsel]

a toki a :D

toki pona li pona mute tawa mi (taso mi ken sona e lili taso)

[frank lance]

a a ni li pona mute!!
mit la jan Emi kin li sona e toki pona :)

[analog tinsel]

pona a!! jan Bucketfish o, pona tawa sina :D

[frank lance]

a a sina pona

toki pona li pona mute 🔥

[analog tinsel]

ni li lon!

sina kama sona e toki pona lon tenpo seme?

[stray plume]

Oh shit idk

[long spruce]

It didn't show up for me

But they sent me a message saying they got it so

[limpid solstice]

hello my skibbidy sibgmas

[crude flare]

https://tenor.com/view/horse-spinning-water-water-hose-horsey-gif-5575530196590168122

[stark fox]

mi sona e toki pona

[frank lance]

tenpo pi toki pona ‼️‼️

[stark fox]

!!!

tokiii

[frank lance]

tokiii !!

[stark fox]

toki :3

[frank lance]

me when we take over the mit thread

:3

[stark fox]

YESS

ur coming to mit right

[frank lance]

bet

if they will accept me

[stark fox]

lesgo

[frank lance]

toki pona club

🫡

[stark fox]

🙏

[analog tinsel]

toki a!!!!!!! mi jan Sejun :D

[normal stag]

Happy thanksgiving!

[tropic blaze]

toki a jan pi toki pona

[analog tinsel]

toki a jan Ooof

[stiff dirge]

ur all nerds

[stark fox]

toki!

[stark fox]

tokiiii aaa

[stark fox]

ofc

i like how all the toki pona speakers are showing up

[quick tiger]

hi yall

[full lynx]

hello fellow mittens

[stark fox]

that's a cute name

[full lynx]

yep

🙏

[coarse parrot]

its probs 14th right?

for decision

[long spruce]

I love it haha

[long spruce]

14th or 21st is the prediction

Anyone here thinking about double majoring

[full lynx]

i hope it's the 21st

i get an important decision that could help that week low key

i want them to delay EA

[coarse parrot]

NI

NOOOO

@full lynx i want the decision earlier so i dont have to finish my rd essays

[full lynx]

bruhhh

[long spruce]

I want the decision earlier so I have the motivation and time to finish my rs essays lol

[coarse parrot]

well if we get in why even do more essay\

[long spruce]

True true

I'm just not very confident lol

[wise glacier]

I think I'd only do Princeton maybe

[cloud axle]

i really hope it's the 14th

[long spruce]

Yeah if I got in I'd still do Duke

But only because I already have the essays done

[wise glacier]

i said princeton cuz only they offer good enough aid to be considerable compared to mit

[long spruce]

Really?

It's funny because MIT would be basically free but Princeton would be really expensive for me

But I do know they're known for their fin aid

[wise glacier]

i think they're similar factoring in living costs for me

[long spruce]

That's sick!

Yeah I think for me it's just since they don't use the CSS profile and base it on different information

I do really like the Princeton math department

[rigid walrus]

Pton math is goated

[long spruce]

Ikr

I would probably get horrible imposter syndrome though lol

[icy stirrup]

I dont regret apply ea cause i genuinely liked the essays i wrote but after writing a whole bunch this month i feel like i couldve written the mit ones so much better 😭

[long spruce]

That's fair

I think my essays were decent but I've also resolved to never look at them again so I don't go paranoid

[forest perch]

ur chillinggg dw

[misty badge]

that's why i chickened out of submitting ea lowk

[long spruce]

Nah you're cracked

Could still request to be RD lol

[stark fox]

ur cracked tho

[icy stirrup]

Lmaoo real
I had to go back so i could reuse some of the ideas

[wise glacier]

Bro idek if my profile is good or not

And lowk I don't want to find out

[long spruce]

Same 😭

Ngl I hate knowing that someone has probably already read my app and suggested something

[coarse parrot]

i said i helped raise like 15k for robotics but now we are up to 20k

dont bother updating right?

[long spruce]

I wouldn't

It's probably appropriate in the FUN though

[coarse parrot]

optimism

delusion

[long spruce]

It's all I have left

[wise glacier]

Bros praying on his downfall 😭

[long spruce]

You still do a FUN if you get in lol

At least I thought so, might be mistaken

[wise glacier]

Why tho?

[long spruce]

I think just so they see your first semester grades

https://mitadmissions.org/help/faq/february-update-notes-form-fun/

[wise glacier]

Ohh ok

[full lynx]

Where would we update

[long spruce]

You would have to email them

[normal stag]

Everywhere else, yes. At MIT, uncertain. Hopefully.

[long spruce]

Nice nice

Yeah I don't want to do anything crazy like aero/astro + chemE, but I think eecs + math would be fun

But yeah MIT is also the school for me where I'm more uncertain on that

I would want to run the math on the credits required if I actually got in

[normal stag]

Yeah. I would probably either do math+6-14, but when I ran the math on credits, it seemed like it would require taking very very few electives outside of two majors so idk

[full lynx]

If they let me minor in Naval Science

[vivid tulip]

As fas as I know there isn't a Naval Science minor, but we have a few ocean engineering classes

Ocean Engineering used to be its own department, but then they got folded into the Mechanical Engineering department, and Ocean Engineering is now Course 2-OE

So you can minor in ocean engineering (i.e. take Course 2-OE classes) but they'll call it a minor in MechE

[full lynx]

some colleges let you minor in your rotc, so military science / naval science / aerospace science

I guess you MIT doesnt have that, thanks

[vivid tulip]

We do have the courses but they only count for PE credit https://catalog.mit.edu/subjects/ns/

[full lynx]

Ye

Its chill

[coarse parrot]

when will they announce decision date

[keen girder]

whys everyone so desparate lol

sometime during 2nd week of december

[coarse parrot]

lowkey down bad

down bad mit

[keen girder]

nerds

[long spruce]

Same ngl

Other colleges just don't hit the same

[coarse parrot]

https://ivyhub.org/rejection-simulators/mit/

[stray plume]

😭

[icy stirrup]

gonna use this to train for if i get rejected

[vivid tulip]

💀

[long spruce]

Fr I've been using this

[long spruce]

True

[vivid tulip]

My econ prof really done did call us out 😔

bruh

There's exactly one person on my floor that doesn't have an absolutely fucked sleep schedule

I.e. he sleeps at 10 PM and wakes up at 6:30 AM

Multiple people have tried following in his footsteps

They've all invariably failed

[long spruce]

Lmao that's crazy

Hoping I can carry my schedule into college but probably won't happen

[long spruce]

Is this like a transcript from lecture

[vivid tulip]

Yeah

Each class has its own policies with lecture videos

Some classes just put the whole darn thing online to watch

One of my classes literally just straight up stopped posting lecture videos because people kept abusing them to cram right before exams

Meanwhile this class literally just stopped having regular lectures and just took the lecture videos from past years and just made us watch those 💀

The only lectures we do have in class are special lectures from like guest speakers

goofy ahh class

The opposite

Sleeps 6:30 AM, wakes up 10 PM 💀

That happens sometimes

It doesn't get that bad most of the time but I do know some people (including myself) who have cooked their own sleep schedules that badly

Nah this has absolutely nothing to do with my workload

I got kinda lucky this semester and my workload is light af

I just doomscroll and read manhwa past midnight and fuck up my sleep

💀

I think the main thing is that college classes are very inconsistent with the workloads, at least for classes that aren't like gen eds

Some weeks you can get swamped

other weeks you're just kinda chilling

oh hell naw not the Villainess Manhwa/Manga trend

I've seen so many of those come out over the past few years

Same with murim stuff

Mood

[errant turret]

how is mit for social sciences

specifically economics

[fresh mirage]

mit econ is pretty good

mit ling is ighttt but it was better when they had noam chomsky

unfortunately noam chomsky is kinda on his last legs so rip to a goat 🙏

tho tbh a lot of people don’t like chomskys ling work

[vivid tulip]

(Two of the professors in the Econ dept. just won the nobel prize for Economics)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daron_Acemoglu and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simon_Johnson_(economist)

The economics department is pretty great, it is comparatively small though

Like, there are a total of 70 econ majors, and of those, only 20 pure econ majors (the rest are CS + Econ)

Meanwhile Harvard unironically has like, 1000 econ majors

Since the major is small though you do get a lot more individualized attention

+It makes it easy enough to take grad-level econ classes if you want to

The economics department is right next to the business school (like, the two buildings are directly connected) and sometimes ngl I can't tell where the econ dept. ends and the business school begins

The profs in the two departments work together all the time

[vivid tulip]

e.g. the two profs here are from the Dept. of Economics and the Sloan School of Management respectively

TL;DR the econ department here is very much business adjacent (literally)

It's also not that hard to petition to take grad level courses in the business school

You could take MBA classes if you really wanted to

But just generally the social sciences here are still a lot like the rest of MIT

e.g. they're a lot more mathematical than most econ departments

They're also a lot more scientific and empirical (i.e. they do experiments, a lot of research, work with lots of data, etc.) than purely theory based

(There's also more CS because ofc 💀)

[long spruce]

Nice lol

Yeah economics is pretty sick, wish I could take more classes on it rn

[long spruce]

Ngl the fact that QB comes out today makes the fact that EA is coming out in two weeks feel so much more real

[idle pumice]

good luck everyone

[idle pumice]

https://old.reddit.com/r/QuestBridge/comments/1h5548y/matched_to_mit/

[stark fox]

hey is there gonna be an official server this year?

[idle pumice]

I don’t think so

we don’t have the bandwidth to organize and moderate one with the intensity and focus and care that having a good official server demands

maybe in the spring we will find some spoons or else next year

[fresh mirage]

inspiring me to start my MIT app 🙏

feeling very hopepilled today

after i submit ucs

[jagged jasper]

fr

been looking at these essays for 3 hrs

[fresh mirage]

100/2627 is wild

still approximately 3.8% percent but thats not adjusting for people who ranked other colleges higher, etc.

also making it to QB finalist

[jagged jasper]

i wonder what the match distribution for schools are

[fresh mirage]

honestly its actually not that surprising but apparently its the highest # of QB matches to MIT historically

[jagged jasper]

i bet the nonivies take a ton more maybe

[fresh mirage]

yeah

[long spruce]

Where do you see the stats for QB?

[coarse parrot]

it was on the reeddit thing

[idle pumice]

oh by a country mile

[hidden axle]

This was the overall https://www.questbridge.org/about/news/press-release-december-2-2024

But per school it’s on their acceptance letters

Some schools also offer their own public releases

I’ve seen a few on instagram or some that’ll put it in their general early admissions press releases

[untold cape]

Do we think it’s 12/14 or 12/21

[waxen cloak]

14th

[long spruce]

Hopefully 14th

21st and I'll go stir-crazy

[untold cape]

Fr 😭😭

Especially since my Ed school is releasing on the 18th it’s so latee

[left palm]

def not that

12/21 is like christmas

[wise glacier]

Guys our MIT decisions have probably already been made

We just don't know them

Nothing can change rn

[long spruce]

Yeah it's weird thinking that someone's already made a decision about my application

[icy stirrup]

Losing my confidence day by day bro

[waxen cloak]

Defer 💪

[wise glacier]

we are simultaneously accepted, deferred, and rejected rn

[waxen cloak]

I know I'm getting rejected

[long spruce]

Fr

I just keep reminding myself I'm going to be rejected so I can't be dissapointed

[icy stirrup]

Schrodingers cat 😭

[coarse parrot]

Schrodingers decision

[lusty jewel]

MIT or Penn for Premed

[stray plume]

60% chance we get deferred guys

35% chance of rejection

5% chance of acceptance

[coarse parrot]

@stray plume lowkey would you perfer 35% chance of defferal

[stray plume]

Yeah cause it would give me higher hopes to get in during regular

Id rather get in during early though 😆

[wise glacier]

bro i dont want to get deferred 😭

[long spruce]

Defer any day of the week for sure

[wise glacier]

they HATE deferred ppl i think

[long spruce]

What 💀

[wise glacier]

the stats

are insane

[long spruce]

That doesn't mean they hate them though lol

Also that's like 1/5 of the class

[wise glacier]

but thats lower than raw acceptance rate

[long spruce]

It's just because they want to reconsider some applicants in the context of rd applicants

[coarse parrot]

2.5% rip

[waxen cloak]

Is that higher than normal

Oh nah

Rip

We're fucked for Rd tho

Bc mit announced free tuitions

Shitload more apps

[coarse parrot]

remember its higher for like us citizens

[wise glacier]

im hoping i get in ea

[long spruce]

Yeah RD will be crazy

[wise glacier]

rip

[long spruce]

Oh yeah sansk you're international

[waxen cloak]

We're fucked

[coarse parrot]

rip

[long spruce]

Good luck 💀

[wise glacier]

how do you know

wait what

[coarse parrot]

your tag

[waxen cloak]

Btw does anyone wanna take a look at my makers portfolio

[long spruce]

Your role

[waxen cloak]

Or did anyone else do one

[wise glacier]

oh i forgot

[coarse parrot]

i did one

[long spruce]

I did a maker portfolio yeah

[wise glacier]

well im not that international

[waxen cloak]

On what if you don't mind sharing

[coarse parrot]

but like the acceptance rate for people who do maker portfolios is a lot higher

[wise glacier]

i live in the us

[wise glacier]

thats a lot of sample bias

[coarse parrot]

yea

but let me be delulu

[wise glacier]

bc from what ive seen, maker portfolio isnt really that major

like the AOs dont even see it

they just get a report of it

[coarse parrot]

they see it after the professors see it

[wise glacier]

but still it can only help you

[coarse parrot]

but with their notes

[waxen cloak]

Damn I got ignored :(

[long spruce]

That was my thinking haha

[wise glacier]

realistically they're not watching it lol

[coarse parrot]

one of the projects was a cannon

[wise glacier]

they're just reading the notes

[coarse parrot]

thats why u gotta make the video fun

[waxen cloak]

Oh damn impressive

[waxen cloak]

My vid isn't fun

[long spruce]

Mine was an emulator I built and then some hardware acceleration for cryptography/machine learning for FPGA projects I've done

[wise glacier]

i submitted a research portfolio am i cooked

[coarse parrot]

thats neat

[long spruce]

We're we supposed to do those kinds of vids 😭

[coarse parrot]

i did that too

[long spruce]

Why would it cook you (I did one as well so I hope not 💀)

[waxen cloak]

Yeah I'm cooked

[coarse parrot]

lowkey drowing in mit essays

[wise glacier]

my research has good impact but like

from a scientific perspective

not impressive at all

[stray plume]

They dont have deferred people

From regular decision, half are deferred people and half are people who applied regular

[wise glacier]

well i guess its also just like

if you weren't good enough to get in ea

[long spruce]

Idk I think the fact that you did any research and have enough to write about for a portfolio is a lot as a high schooler tbh

[wise glacier]

theres less of a chance for ra

[wise glacier]

true but compared to mit admits? nah

[stray plume]

Lowkey hope I get deferred cuz then I can do a portfolio

[coarse parrot]

bruh

not worth it

[waxen cloak]

Damn now my makers portfolio looks insignificant

[stray plume]

Arts portfolio

And Im a woman

[wise glacier]

thats why they have a research portfolio 💀

[stray plume]

🔥🔥🔥

[wise glacier]

like

why would they have that unless it wasnt kinda common

[waxen cloak]

I'm actually cooked for mit

[stray plume]

What was it something like 10% of all portfolios are from women

[coarse parrot]

yea

[waxen cloak]

Anyone wanna

[coarse parrot]

tiny

[waxen cloak]

Exchange mit essays

[coarse parrot]

after 14th

[wise glacier]

how does that matter 💀

[stray plume]

Women have a 7% chance to get in overall versus guys have like 3.5%

[waxen cloak]

And read each other's

[stray plume]

So I can submit a portfolio lol

[untold cape]

Mine were all written the day of they’re so ass 😭😭😭

[waxen cloak]

Does it really matter now?

[wise glacier]

but you can still do it for fun

[coarse parrot]

you never know

[wise glacier]

there's nothing stopping you

just get in

[waxen cloak]

Bruh

[wise glacier]

and then post on the admissions blog

🔥

[waxen cloak]

Aight kk

We share after 14th

[untold cape]

The admissions blog gives me life

[stray plume]

I mean for admissions to prolly help my chances

Ill share my essay if I get accepted

[long spruce]

Same lol

[stray plume]

Or if rejected, after college admissions are over

[untold cape]

I literally find out in the middle of class omfg

[wise glacier]

i aint sharing nun 💀

[stray plume]

cause I reuse a couple themes

[long spruce]

No but being a blogger would be so fun

[waxen cloak]

Not rlly?

[long spruce]

I'm fs applying if I get in

[stray plume]

??

[waxen cloak]

???

[stray plume]

Wdym not really

[waxen cloak]

College apps are hella random

[stray plume]

If I get rejected Id post it after admissions are done

[waxen cloak]

It might cook with another ao

[stray plume]

As in when results are in

Lol