Get the inside scoop on jobs and careers with Vault career guides. Massachusetts Institute of Technology Buzz Book is your complete resource to jobs, careers, interviews and recruiting.
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Massachusetts Institute of Technology Buzz Book Get the inside scoop on jobs and careers with Vault career guides. Massachusetts Institute of Technology Buzz Book is your complete resource to jobs, careers, interviews and recruiting. |
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Massachusetts Institute of Technology Buzz Book Welcome to the first edition of Vault's Massachusetts Institute of Technology Buzz Book. In this new and unique guide, we publish extended excerpts and sample admissions essays from surveys of students and alumni from MIT to bring you the inside scoop on its undergraduate program. The survey comments cover the following areas:
The guide is intended to serve as a complement to other references to colleges and universities currently available that utilize school-reported data. Unlike those guides, Vault's Buzz Books (which also include the College Buzz Book, Business School Buzz Book and Law School Buzz Book) are composed almost entirely of information provided directly to Vault from students and alumni. (We asked MIT to comment on the surveys after they were collected.)
We received comments from MIT, which we have included comments next to appropriate survey sections, offset with a different font and indented to be easily recognizable as school-provided comments. Corrections within the body of the comments are enclosed in brackets. MIT also provided separate narratives that have included them at the end of each chapter, under the heading "The School Says." |
Status: Current student, full-time
Dates of Enrollment: 9/2004-Submit Date
Survey Submitted: January 2007
The admissions process is fairly straightforward. While, traditionally, they have emphasized SAT Math and SAT Subject Test scores in science and math, the committee has become much more focused on looking for well-rounded individuals with an exceptional capacity to manage time efficiently. They seek go-getters beaming with intellectual curiosity and extremely sharp analytical skills. Many first-year students bring with them meaningful high school work experiences or independent research experience that reflect their commitment to math, science or engineering. Mechanics of the essay certainly come ancillary to the voice of the student. MIT students have character, enthusiasm, energy and are usually willing to try anything out of curiosity. The committee also seeks demonstrated maturity, as they know the first year is a lot to handle and adjust to; an experience that can hardly be prepared for.
Academics: Students Speak
Status: Current student, full-time
Dates of Enrollment: 9/2002-Submit Date
Survey Submitted: September 2005
The academics are topnotch and difficult at MIT. All the stories of students staying up night after night doing work are true. The philosophy of MIT is that other schools teach you 100 things and expect you to remember 80 percent, while MIT teaches you 1,000 things and expects you to remember 20 percent. If the previous statement didnt make sense to you, MIT is not the place for you. Classes tend to give lots of work, and grade inflation is not prevalent. The business school tends to give more As, on average, than the science and engineering schools, and youll probably see more Cs and Ds than at any other top-tier school. Despite the stressful academic environment, though, students always feel like they genuinely learned and nearly always feel a solid sense of accomplishment after a solid all-nighter. Popular classes are generally easy to get into. Ive never heard of anyone wanting to take a class that he/she could not take. Professors are known for being especially accessible, even the well-known ones. While inevitably, there are a few professors more interested in furthering their own research than in teaching undergraduates, the majority are eager teachers of the next generation.
Employment Prospects: Students Speak
Status: Alumnus/a, full-time
Dates of Enrollment: 9/1997-6/2002
Survey Submitted: December 2003
MIT has an organized Careers Office for summer internships and full-time jobs. The most frequent employers at MIT are large engineering firms, banks and consulting firms. Getting a job at the most coveted companies is difficult because you are competing against a large number of your academic peers and these companies usually only reserve a few spots for MIT students. The exception seems to be large software companies, who hire in larger numbers.
In addition to summer internships and full-time positions, MIT has a January externship program. Since students have the month of January to use at their discretion, alumni companies offer positions to undergraduates for that month. The work for these externships compares to summer internships, except that the projects are usually less demanding (due to the short time span of the program).
Additionally, many students find employment within MIT doing academic research with professors. There is a very large undergraduate research program called UROP that places students laboratories and research groups. The program runs all year, so students who do not find a summer internship often do a UROP.
Quality of Life: Students Speak
Status: Current student, full-time
Dates of Enrollment: 9/2001-Submit Date
Survey Submitted: February 2005
Housing is decent, although there tends to be crowding in the most popular West Campus dorms. The dorms are generally quite safe, although there are numerous instances of theft every semesterbe sure to lock your doors, youre not in Dubuque anymore. The Z-center (athletics center) built last year is the greatest athletic facility of its kind in all of New England (!); student center is great, and this is the greatest time for rapidly evolving (though unnecessary, I think) architecture, including Simmons Hall and the Stata Center. This campus is like no other youll ever see.
Social Life: Students Speak
Status: Current student, full-time
Dates of Enrollment: 9/2000-Submit Date
Survey Submitted: October 2005
You will be surprised when you come here and see all the different types of people who are here. While half the students are the stereotypical dorks you would imagine when you hear the name MIT, the other half are just regular, down-to-earth folks who just happen to be smart. It is in the Boston area, so you have all the nightlife of Boston. Parties happen all the time, and there are so many restaurants around. There are around 30 frats at MIT, so if you are looking at joining the Greek system, there is bound to be a house in which you fit. Also, you can find clubs/teams/organizations in which to do any activity you might be interested in. Ive seen people who put on full armor (metal and everything) and hit each other with swords every once in a while. Ive seen martial arts practicing in the fields. Theres a ton of varsity sports here and a myriad of club sports. You can play intramural sports, as well. Also, there are an incredible number of academic societies and groups (though I do not know what they do, since I never joined one). MIT is a place that can be tough and where you have to work hard, but if you go looking for something, you are bound to find it because people here also play hard. You can definitely have a lot of fun, but you have to go looking for it, unlike other places, it is not going to come to you. But once you do find it, it is intense.
