May 19 2012

Tim Is So Beautiful

Posted in: Miscellaneous

Earlier this month we launched one of our new admissions videos called MIT Imagination. 

A lot of work went into that video. Elizabeth and I began writing the script in July 2011. We started filming in September. We recorded the music in March. We premiered in in April. That's nine months. That's like a human baby. And like a human baby, this big, drooly, adorable video is something that we love and are very proud of. 

The credits in the video say simply "created with love by many people at MIT." And, as the full credits in the post show, it was indeed many people. 

But there's one person I'd like to thank specifically. 

Michael Rodrigo is an MIT senior. He worked in the same office as me for a summer or two. We played rock band in 10-100 together (enough to get rock band taken away). 

But Rodrigo is also something even more awesome: he's Tim. Or at least one of the rotating cast of characters who played Tim. 

Now as you know, Tim was featured extensively in MIT... read the post »

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May 1 2012

MIT Imagination

Posted in: Miscellaneous

We've just launched a new MITAdmissions video. It's called "MIT Imagination." You can watch it here: 

Professor Woodie Flowers once told me that "MIT can be either a steamroller or a candy store: it depends entirely on how you look at it." We wanted to make a video that showed the candy store side of things. 

Soon I'll post up more on the making of MIT Imagination, along with some b-roll and a montage of mascot pain. In the meantime, I'd like to thank everyone who made this video possible over the last six months, since it was, as the credits said, a labor of love by many people at MIT. 

CREDITS:

Written and directed by:

• Chris Peterson
• Elizabeth Choe '13

Starring:

• Shanasia Sylman '15
• Estefania Avila '15
• Kayla Esquivel '15
• Delian Asparouhov '15
• Chris Mills '12
• Michael Rodrigo '12 (as Tim)

Featuring: 

• Connie Huang '15
• Ana Vazquez '15
• Kenton Williams S.M. '12 
• Stephan Boyer ‘13
• Nexie, TOFU, and the... read the post »

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Apr 11 2012

Caine’s Arcade

Posted in: Miscellaneous

Caine is a 9 year old boy from East LA. His dad, George, runs a used auto parts store. It doesn't get much foot traffic anymore - what business they do is done through eBay - and so their storefront is mostly abandoned. 

Caine loves arcades. So last summer, while home on break, he began making arcade games out of cardboard. He made claw games and soccer games and all sorts of different games, rummaging for raw materials in the junk yard and the trash and in school recycling bins. But he never got any customers. 

One day, independent filmmaker Nirvan Mullick of Interconnected.is chanced to stop by the store to buy a handle for his old Corolla.  He started playing Caine's games. Then he made a movie about him. 

Fair warning: wherever you happen to be, it will get real dusty real quick once you hit play. 

I thought about writing something kitschy and sappy here about doing whatever you want with your imagination, following your dreams, being creative, etc. But something... read the post »

Discussion

Apr 6 2012

The Minerva Delusion

Posted in: Miscellaneous

This week the tech and educational press has been buzzing about the launch of Minerva University. According to its founder, Internet entrepreneur Ben Nelson, Minerva is intended to "tap into the demand for an elite American education from the developing world’s rising middle class." His proposition is simple and compelling: there are more smart students in the world than there are seats in Ivy League schools, and the elastic enrollment afforded by Minerva's online format will provide an elite electronic education for those huddles masses yearning to learn.

In support of his subversive educational enterprise Nelson has mustered both heavy artillery and covering fire. The former comes from Benchmark Capital, the VC behemoth which has invested $25 million dollars to found Minerva. The latter comes from the long list of luminaries Nelson has recruited to form his advisory board, including such superstars as Larry Summers (former President of Harvard), Senator Bob Kerrey (former head... read the post »

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Apr 3 2012

Transfer Decisions Released Today

Posted in: Miscellaneous

An update for our transfer applicants:

Emily Sheldon, who coordinates transfer admissions for our office, will be emailing all applicants with their decisions this afternoon, so you should expect to hear from her directly.

During this transfer admissions cycle we had 517 applicants. After several rounds of an extremely rigorous transfer committee process, we eventually were able to offer admission to 25 of them.

Transfer students are some of the very best MIT has to offer. I highly recommend reading the profile of transfer student Ian McKay featured on the MIT homepage last fall. It's pretty wild stuff.

As always, thank you to all of our transfer applicants, and congratulations to those we were able to admit!
 

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