Student Profile
Chiara
- Class: Sophomore
- Major: Engineering
- Gender: F
- High School: Cambridge Rindge and Latin
- Transfer Student: N
Big Picture
I love that I can say something incredibly nerdy, but which perfectly describes a situation, and people understand me, rather than laughing at me or just looking confused. I feel like I've found my people here. MIT is often a bit of a vacuum--we don't pay a lot of attention to the news or the events in the surroundign areas--but it's a five-minute walk from campus to restaurants and stores in Central Square or the Back Bay. Getting away is always easy: a ten-minute stroll along the river, or a day trip to New York City. I like the variety of living and eating options here, and the huge degree of choice we have in our living situation. Since we're all so busy, the people we live with are the people who become our friends, who take care of us when we are sick, and who share with us the unforgettable experiences that keep life interesting and help us figure out who we are.
Academic Life
Professors are always available during weekly office hours, and they are always willing to clarify a point from lecture, discuss their research, or answer some questions about the problem set. That being said, I've been to office hours only once. I often find it hard to fit office hours into my schedule, and my questions are usually late at night right before a due date. Conversations around campus always begin Where do you live? and then What is your major? From there, they generally veer off into personal interests, current technology issues not immediately related to coursework, or a movie that someone saw recently. Oftentimes, we spend so much time with classmates, working on problem sets, that they become close friends, and remain a part of our lives in a non-academic setting.
Student Body
A student who dresses in designer clothes, carefully styles their hair each morning, and always has a manicure, tends to look a little out of place, but is always just as welcome in study groups, conversations or parties as any other student. For the most part, we are socially liberal, public school-educated intellectuals who judge each other on academic merit or social compatibility, not politics, religion, race or financial background. Discussion of future earnings is not uncommon, but it's almost always good-natured, self-deprecating, and entirely in a joking manner. The cliques which you might see in a high-school cafeteria or college dining hall don't exist here; we make friends where we choose, and usually on a one-to-one basis or as a living group, not as an exclusive social cluster.
The Best Things
your classmates
The Worst Things
having four tests and two reports in the week before spring break
