Not everyone will (or should) thrive here...
Written: Aug 28 '07 (Updated Dec 05 '09)
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Pros: Reputation for rigorous teaching helps open doors.
Cons: Failure to develop social/emotional skills closes those same doors.
The Bottom Line: Not everyone will, or should thrive in MIT's lopsided environment. You should visit before deciding to attend, to see if its peculiar culture is right for you.
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| tcchou71's Full Review: Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
This page is based on my experience at MIT at the undergraduate school, as opposed to the graduate school, which is a very different environment. In particular, undergraduates often arrive needing both social and intellectual development, whereas graduate students more often want a productive working environment. As one might expect, MIT is much better at providing the latter than the former.
The broad overview
When I was a high school senior, over a decade ago, I was excited to get my acceptance letter to MIT. My other choices were also eminent schools, but I already had decided on MIT. In retrospect, I should have visited these schools, but couldn't afford the airfare, and thought the visits were unnecessary anyway. I felt fantastically fortunate just to be admitted - MIT was one of the best schools in the country - what could possibly go wrong?
When I got to MIT, things went very well at first. My freshman year was everything I'd hoped - fun, eventful, even educational. I met smart, creative, and funny people, did well academically, and picked a major (computer science). In my sophomore year, some problems appeared: I started to lose interest in computer science, and started to pull away socially from the overwhelming preponderence of science/math/engineering majors around me. I didn't recognize these warning signs for a while because my increasing social isolation seemed normal relative to the many social phobics around me, and also because my grades were quite good despite my lack of interest. Only later would I realize that my troubles were tied to the fact that my interests were beginning to expand beyond equations and computers. Despite my puzzlement about what was lacking in my life, I instinctively knew I wasn't in the right place, so as graduation neared, I hunkered down, finished my coursework, and got out. The day I left MIT was one of the most exhilarating of my life, and to this day, I deeply regret the fact that as a high school senior, I did not visit the schools that accepted me, and did not seriously think about my life priorities and whether MIT's narrow focus was the best way to fulfill them. Although a lot of my Star-Trek obsessed classmates thrived on MIT's uniquely oddball culture, I did not turn out to be one of them. I also underestimated the degree to which my interests would expand from age 18 to age 22.
Academics
Aspiring humanities majors aren't likely to consider MIT, so I'm aiming this review at people like myself with a lifelong interest in science, for whom MIT may seem an attractive college choice. I've always liked science, and in fact am a practicing scientist now, in behavioral neuroscience. But at the same time, I've also always been interested in topics outside my specialty, like history, sociology, psychology, politics, and philosophy. I've also always enjoyed interacting with a wide range of people, not necessarily those in my field. In retrospect, I realized that I was missing a diversity of experience, both academically and socially. As others have noted, MIT is a difficult place to acquire and develop broad interests. I knew that humanities would get secondary priority at MIT, but what I didn't expect was that MIT's culture actively disparages humanistic studies. I was astonished to see how much MIT students and faculty love to bash that proudly diverse (and humanistic) school up the street called Harvard. It's a bit of a blood sport.
The net result is that very few MIT students major in humanities, or even take them seriously. I didn't realize how strange it was that MIT has only one humanities department (with some very eminent faculty, I should add), into whose sub-departments are stuffed all available humanities, such as music, philosophy, literature, etc. To add insult to injury, this one overburdened department, like all others at MIT, is mainly referred to on campus by its catalog number, "21". Of the hundreds of people I knew as an undergraduate, only 4 were outright humanities majors, though many more did choose to minor in these subjects. Nonetheless, whole areas of academic life or either missing or severely atrophied at MIT. For instance, I never met anyone studying sociology, anthropology, journalism, social work, public policy, or myriad other subjects that undergrads elsewhere may pick. In some cases, the majors exist, but are tiny, while in other cases, they are entirely missing. For instance, MIT doesn't offer a psychology major. (Instead, they offer "cognitive science", which is a very good major, but a totally different topic.)
I want to be very clear that all these shortcomings aren't due to any deception on MIT's part: the school is exactly what it says it is, a science and technology school, with all else taking a back seat. The main culprit in my decision to attend MIT was that I did not understand my own interests, and how they would change as I got older. My motivation in writing this review is not to blame MIT or anyone else, but to warn aspiring applicants about the dangers of narrowing ones horizons too fast, too soon.
My point boils down to this: not only should young aspiring humanities scholars avoid MIT, even aspiring scientists need to ask whether they want to be immersed so quickly in an environment that downplays non-technological aspects of the world. If you have interests in art, politics, public service, social science, etc, you should consider schools other than MIT. More critically, if you don't have those interests, but think you might someday, you also should also question whether MIT is appropriate. MIT won't stop you from pursuing these interests, but you may have to swim against the tide, and chart your own course with few role models to guide your way. Such pathways do exist, but they require extra energy. In my case, I started to cross-register at other Boston-area schools - getting to class was harder and inconvenient, but better than the alternative. I also did some very meaningful volunteer work - again, not the norm but still very rewarding.
Ironically, MIT's curriculum does make conscious efforts to integrate science and humanities (e.g. their "Science Technology and Society" program), and there are many individuals who bridge the gap successfully. But in the end, that's not what MIT is about - it's technical school for technically minded students; other outlooks are lacking or diminished, despite everyone's best intentions. Although this all seems obvious now, it wasn't clear when I was a high school senior: at that time, I had never met an MIT graduate, nor did I appreciate how much people can change as they mature.
Social life
Unfortunately, a lot of MIT undergraduates are more comfortable around equations than people. At most colleges, people like that are counterbalanced by those with the opposite bias, otherwise known as "normal". At MIT, this counterweight is greatly reduced. Although you will find plenty of social interaction at MIT, a lot of it revolves around role-playing games, science fiction TV shows, or drinking at the various fraternities. If those are your hobbies, you'll feel right at home. If not, you may feel out of place.
When I was there, the ratio of men to women was about 2 to 1, making the dating scene a bit slow. Fortunately, the men/women ratio is almost equal now, but the lopsided range of interests and personalities is still a problem.
MIT attracts a lot of unusually introverted students. Although mostly friendly, many people prefer to keep to themselves, or are extremely awkward. Of course, there are people like this everywhere, but at other schools, they are balanced out by people with the opposite orientation. At MIT, there are enough eggheads and social phobics to create a self-perpetuating deficit in social sensibilities. And with the benefit of hindsight, it's sadly apparent that these deficits cause problems for years after leaving school. Many of the socially awkward undergraduates I knew are, years later, missing out on career, personal, and romantic opportunities. Of course people eventually can and do learn social skills, but the echo-chamber of like-minded people makes it slower and harder.
The net result of this environment is that by my senior year, I became seriously depressed for the only time in my life. Nonetheless, I managed to finish my classes, and even interviewed for jobs in my chosen major (software). Needless to say, the jobs weren't a good match. Even with the dot-com boom taking off, and potentially lucrative offers before me, I couldn't not stay the course. After about a year of re-orientation, I gradually developed some alternate plans for my life.
Looking back
In retrospect, there were many good things about MIT. A lot of my classmates had senses of humor that kept me sane. One of them became my significant other, against all odds. I managed to do some volunteer work that was highly meaningful to me. My MIT bachelor's degree also got me into graduate school. Overall, I think I channeled my distress into a desire to learn more about what is really important in life. These are good things.
But I also believe very strongly that MIT's narrow focus delayed my development as a complete human being. I also think my bout of depression would have been avoided, or handled better, in a more balanced environment. If there was one thing I would have done differently, I would have visited all the other colleges that accepted me. Doing so might have opened my eyes to the different environments and educational philosophies at different schools. I didn't have the money, but in retrospect, I could have borrowed it.
MIT's high suicide rate
I would like to make one last point: that MIT's single-minded focus is more than just a inconvenient nuisance.
About a decade ago, the Boston Globe examined MIT's suicide rate using historical data going back to the 1960s. MIT's undergraduate suicide rate turned out to be about 20 per 100,000 people per year, triple the rate of other undergraduate universities (which has been estimated at 7.5 suicides per 100,000 per year), and 38% higher than its nearest neighbor, Harvard. The MIT administration subsequently denied this, citing a lower rate of around 10 per 100,000 per year. While technically correct, this number is obtained by including MIT graduate students, whose suicide rate was unusually low. If we compare only undergraduates, MIT's rate clearly outpaced other universities. (For the record, the persistent rumors that Cornell has a high suicide rate aren't accurate - its rate is a very low 4.3 per 100,000 students per year.)
I have not been able to find more recent statistics, though MIT has improved their psychiatric services, in response to some widely publicized suicides. So things might have gotten better in that regard since I left. Regardless, you should visit the school in person to judge its environment for yourself, and you should borrow the money if you don't have it - it's that important.
The bottom line
As I mentioned above, there are those who thrive on MIT's unique culture. If you are obsessed with role playing games, Star Trek, or computer operating systems, MIT will be heaven like nowhere else. But if, for lack of a better expression, you're more like a normal human being, you may feel out of place. One way out is to cross-register with other Boston schools, like Harvard and Wellesley, but most of your contacts will still be the people you live with or near. Getting exposure to a broader range of ideas and opinions will be difficult.
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By the way, Epinions has the wrong logo for MIT. The boat-like logo on this page is for the Massachusetts Maritime Academy, not MIT. I'm sure you were wondering all about that.
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Epinions.com ID:
tcchou71
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Member: Elephant Seal
Location: Baltimore, MD
Reviews written: 53
Trusted by: 3 members
About Me:
I'm a behavioral neuroscientist/psychologist. The giant animal in the photo is an elephant seal.
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