So we all know what tomorrow is, and we're all excited about it. Honestly pi day is pretty awesome, but that other thing that's going on will be occupying many of your minds, and so I'd like to offer some brief thoughts having been there. Take them, leave them, this:
1. Not everyone wants to come here.
I know, I know, right? It's true though. I know if I were you and someone said that to me, I'd probably have ignored them and said something like "yeah maybe YOU don't, but I definitely do!" But hopefully you're not like me, and will be willing to give it some thought. I only truly realized that some people would honestly be miserable here after I started last semester. Don't get me wrong, I absolutely love this place, it's perfect for me, but I definitely understand how people can be miserable here. If it's not for you, it doesn't make you any less of a person, or limit the things you can do. You owe it to yourself to find the place that makes you happiest. After all, it's YOUR college experience, no one else. Not your parents, not your friends, yours. Go where you think you'll be happiest.
2.In one year, a lot will be different
I can pretty much promise you that. Those who aren't offered admission won't be upset, those who were won't be overwhelmed with joy, it'll be a part of your life that you accept and move on with. Getting into college is a big deal, but it's not the goal. It's the beginning. Enjoy the last few months of high school as much as you can, a ton of stuff is going to happen in the next few months, and you'll want to remember it fondly. Life moves fast around this time. I can hardly believe how much has changed in just one short year.
I've also got some quotes that I pulled up and read before I looked at my decision, in order to prepare me for the statistically favorable. Maybe you'll find them as inspiring and soothing as I did:
"Experience is not what happens to you; it is what you do with what happens to you."
~ Aldous Huxley
"It is said an Eastern monarch once charged his wise men to invent him a sentence to be ever in view, and which should be true and appropriate in all times and situations. They presented him the words: "And this, too, shall pass away.""
~ Abraham Lincoln
"When you feel like giving up, remember why you held on for so long in the first place."
~ Unknown
"Instead of giving myself reasons why I can't, I give myself reasons why I can."
~ Unknown
"When one door closes another door opens; but we so often look so long and so regretfully upon the closed door, that we do not see the ones which open for us."
~ Alexander Graham Bell
"When you come to the end of your rope, tie a knot and hang on. "
~ Franklin D. Roosevelt
"If you have made mistakes, there is always another chance for you. You may have a fresh start any moment you choose, for this thing we call 'failure' is not the falling down, but the staying down. "
~ Mary Pickford
"What the caterpillar calls the end of the world, the master calls a butterfly."
~ Richard Bach
"Fall seven times, stand up eight."
~Japanese Proverb
"If one dream should fall and break into a thousand pieces, never be afraid to pick one of those pieces up and begin again. "
~ Flavia Weedn
"The world is round and the place which may seem like the end may also be only the beginning. "
~ Ivy Baker Priest
"One has to remember that every failure can be a stepping stone to something better."
~ Col. Harland Sanders
I know that tomorrow is a big day for all of you. Enjoy it, if you have questions or need someone to talk to, feel free to shoot me an email.
I wish you all the best. Wake up tomorrow and chase your dreams.
Comments (Closed after 30 days to reduce spam)
Posted by: Anonymous on March 13, 2009
Posted by: Elena on March 13, 2009
Posted by: Shahla on March 13, 2009
Posted by: Shahla on March 13, 2009
Posted by: Brett '13? on March 13, 2009
admission- yay! obviously
deferred- i'm flattered that mit thinks i could come, if others dont. thanks
rejected- finally, lets just get this sucker over with so i can enjoy my break and throw myself full-heartedly into my other acceptances.
thanks so much to everybody. you guys are awesome!
Posted by: Elena on March 13, 2009
if i get in woooooooooooo
if i don't i'm still using OCW lectures. so helpful!
buena suerte a todos
Posted by: anonymous on March 13, 2009
if i get in woooooooooooo
if i don't i'm still using OCW lectures. so helpful!
buena suerte a todos
lovely quotes. calms me a bit, but still so excited!
Posted by: anonymous on March 13, 2009
Posted by: 0 on March 13, 2009
Posted by: 0 on March 13, 2009
Good luck to everyone, especially to all the EA applicants who have waited so long.
Today is the day! :D
Posted by: Kristina '13? on March 13, 2009
~ Unknown
I like that one the best.
Posted by: Ksl on March 14, 2009
I worked hard, there's nothing i could or would change if i had the opportunity. What happens happens and either way, i know my life will be different by tomorrow. I hope i get it so badly. Good luck to all!
And by the way it is OFFICIALLY PI DAY! Woo hoo! *throws on her awesome pi shirt* yeah! That's what i made last night when i was thinking about this and couldn't sleep!
Posted by: Elizabeth Hall on March 14, 2009
Posted by: Varun on March 14, 2009
Posted by: Vikash Patel on March 14, 2009
@Chris: Great post!
The wait is actually getting on my nerves! I need to do something to calm down. Perhaps relaxing music
Posted by: aidan on March 14, 2009
Posted by: Vale on March 14, 2009
Posted by: mynameiscabbage on March 14, 2009
Posted by: 0 on March 14, 2009
I agree completely.
Posted by: Elizabeth Hall on March 14, 2009
Can't wait for tomorrow!!!!!
*so sosososososooooOOOOOOOOOoooooooooooooo anxious.*
Posted by: darkblue303 on March 14, 2009
Posted by: Danny '12 on March 14, 2009
Thanks for the encouragment/advice/words of wisdom (I'm not entirely sure what to call it). Tomorrow will be tough, but whatever happens will happen.
Posted by: Kiwi on March 14, 2009
Posted by: deng on March 14, 2009
Posted by: Thamine on March 14, 2009
(12 hrs to go)
Posted by: Lora on March 14, 2009
Posted by: 0 on March 14, 2009
I love this one:
"When you feel like giving up, remember why you held on for so long in the first place."
~ Unknown
Posted by: Tree on March 14, 2009
Posted by: Joey on March 14, 2009
Posted by: 0 on March 14, 2009
Thanks for the motivation, Chris!
Posted by: Ahana on March 14, 2009
Posted by: akhila on March 14, 2009
Posted by: anonymous on March 14, 2009
Posted by: 0 on March 14, 2009
I suppose you'll find out soon enough...Good luck!
Posted by: 0 on March 14, 2009
~ Alexander Graham Bell"
I LOVE that one. It makes a lot of sense.
Posted by: Manya on March 14, 2009
Where are you from?
Posted by: 0 on March 14, 2009
Posted by: Sean'14? on March 14, 2009
Posted by: '13 Hopeful on March 14, 2009
Posted by: 0 on March 14, 2009
Posted by: 0 on March 14, 2009
I remember myself on this website a year ago... feeling exactly the way you guys are feeling right now. Really, time flies.
Posted by: Tanmay '12 on March 14, 2009
Posted by: 0 on March 14, 2009
Posted by: 0 on March 14, 2009
Whatever happens today - it is a start not a finish.
Posted by: Ron on March 14, 2009
Posted by: Victor on March 14, 2009
Posted by: OutofAfrica on March 14, 2009
Posted by: Yomna on March 14, 2009
best wishes.....
Posted by: shemi on March 14, 2009
sigggghhhhh, might as well study, much more enjoyable than this XD
Posted by: erik on March 14, 2009
Posted by: comboy on March 14, 2009
here's my bullet:
there's v in love, love is all v, vv are all in love
Massachvsetts Institvte of Technology
Posted by: comboy on March 14, 2009
Posted by: Sara on March 14, 2009
Right, Today is like any other day, we are all very intelligent students and we are all MIT students. The only reason that MIT will not accept us is because they do not have enough chairs for us, but it does not mean that we are not MIT students.
Even if we go to other colleges, we will still be the same people, therefore we will still be MIT
students.
Remember guys, remember the reason that we all want to go to MIT is to benefit the world. It is to do as much good as we possible can in our little life times and this will never change.
If I am rejected I will take that as a sign that University of Southampton (UK) is the right place for me.
If I am accepted then MIT (obviously) is the right place for me.
This decision will not change anything, it will simply point me to the path I need to take to change the world.
And it will do the same to all of you.
Hopefully I haven't bored you, and good luck to you all!
Posted by: fouadalnoor on March 14, 2009
on-campus dorm
physics and math department are both in art and science
art and science department is not very big and it's close
i am going to wear my clothes
Posted by: comboy on March 14, 2009
I think most people wear their clothes!
deep breaths...over soon!!
Posted by: erik on March 14, 2009
I've been waiting since the end of December for this decision and I've let it consume me quite a bit. At this point, while I am tired of waiting, you are completely right-there is always going to be somewhere for me to go where I can get a wonderful education.
My fingers are crossed for acceptance, but if not...MIT will always be around :D
Posted by: Jessica G on March 14, 2009
this really stinks i cant even fall asleep.
good luck
and thanks for the quotes and let destiny take its course, you can always re apply and if you are like me, i will be moving to Boston anyway so i will be right around the corner and Mendel knows that i will re apply if i dont get accepted this year.
i hope i didnt bother you with my personal frustration, but i hate waiting and i just want to be done with this
Posted by: shemi on March 14, 2009
Posted by: khaled moharam on March 14, 2009
first door closed, second door closed, third door near green wooden bench open
i knocked 6 doors closed, seven door was not the office in math or physics department it was office no 314 closed, then i knocked 313 (fall seven times, stand up eight) closed.
sunny day, wearing a sweater with a t-shirt under. so full of nobody the department was. i took out the sweater at 1:59. for 3 minutes and 14 seconds just t-shirt. i took the t-shirt off and wear the blue sweater again. now i'm back room sending this text via opensolaris
no one could see or hear me, while being half-naked (t-shirt should not melt in sweat) or making a phone call.
Posted by: comboy on March 14, 2009
Definitly MIT is the best place to be during your undergraduate years and I hope I will have the opportunity to be there in September
God be with us
Admitted God willing
Any one here from Egypt or Middle-East?
And happy Pi day to you all
Posted by: Abdallah ?13 on March 14, 2009
Posted by: 0 on March 14, 2009
inshallah you will be accepted! good luck!
Posted by: erik on March 14, 2009
COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Anonymous
EMAIL:
IP: 75.192.189.220
URL: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anonymity
DATE: 03/14/2009 09:43:02 AM
COMMENT_BODY:
4 hours and 17 minutes left.
It is amazing how there exist so many little moments that can change your life and the course of history.
Good luck to all applicants! My fingers are crossed!
Posted by: ShutUp on March 14, 2009
anyways, I see 2 doors in front of me. so, whatever will happen, I have an emergency exit, which is in both cases pretty amazing!
Posted by: 0 on March 14, 2009
Posted by: erik on March 14, 2009
Remember everything's OK in the end-If it's not okay, it's not the end.
Posted by: Anshul on March 14, 2009
-General Patton
Posted by: sarli on March 14, 2009
also i'm reading - in the end-if it's ok, it's not the end
Posted by: comboy on March 14, 2009
Posted by: khaled moharam on March 14, 2009
you will celebrate after pi minute in MIT because you're more than 5 hours behind GMT
you are in south america
you'll celebrate in atlantic ocean
you will celebrate next year
"Pi Minute is also sometimes celebrated on March 14 at 1:59 p.m"
above text is from wikipedia which you may access through today's MIT homepage spotlight, there's nothing about time zone in it, so pi minute in Cambridge doesn't mean is pi minute all over the place. please swim in atlantic right now, or you may have celebrated like me and called your sister who was 1 hour ahead of your time zone
Posted by: comboy on March 14, 2009
Posted by: 0 on March 14, 2009
before clicking on the link in wikipedia take a look at pies which were cooked and eaten (?) in MIT and also captured by a Nickon camera and downloaded and set as background in my opensolaris usable,stable,accessible gnome desktop environment since this morning. ahh, mit.edu is my homepage
july 22 is a Day, why they didn't eat the pies before "Date Taken: 2005:03:14 22:32:03" did they eat them after 10:32 pm?
Posted by: comboy on March 14, 2009
Thanks for that Chris. Much appreciated.
Posted by: Kaizad R. on March 14, 2009
Anonymous is a great, overwhelming, omnipresent, everlasting being. Being the only one of its type and of its level, it tends to get bored and thus starts talking to itself.
And to all of you worried about 1:59, this advice has worked for me:
Take it easy
Take it easy
Everybody's got something to hide, except for me and my monkey.
-John Lennon
Posted by: 0 on March 14, 2009
Posted by: waiting mom on March 14, 2009
I'm going to go buy some rejection-pie. Blueberry perhaps. And then bribe the Adcoms with it mwahaha!
Posted by: Kaizad R. on March 14, 2009
~ Alexander Graham Bell"
This door has "U of Minnesota Institute of Technology" wriiten on it!
Posted by: Unknown MIT Applicant on March 14, 2009
Posted by: Saku on March 14, 2009
Posted by: Saif on March 14, 2009
Everybody's got something to hide, except for me and my monkey.
-John Lennon
[/quoted and tagged by hand]
Don't swap them under the rug
- Donald Sadoway, well Ernest Rutherford
i don't really know was it Ernest talking to Joseph or Donald talking to 400+200 stewdents.
still no sound in solaris, i may read transcripts instead of watching videos. i just left windows a few days ago because IHTFW or IHTFBG or IHTFMS
Posted by: comboy on March 14, 2009
I go to the Emirates international school in jumeirah, do the IB programme there, how about you? good luck, hope to see you in september! :D
Posted by: 0 on March 14, 2009
Posted by: Hamza Sheikh on March 14, 2009
Posted by: Martin Marinov on March 14, 2009
I go to Dubai Gem Private School, a-levels (and one AP) haha.
Good luck to you too.
Posted by: Kaizad R. on March 14, 2009
how is a-levels?
Posted by: Erik on March 14, 2009
Posted by: Shirley Poon on March 14, 2009
I've heard IB is hell-esque?
Posted by: Kaizad R. on March 14, 2009
Posted by: Garion on March 14, 2009
Yep, going through IB right now and it sure is hell, thank God it is coming to an end...
Posted by: Jesse on March 14, 2009
Good preparation for the D - Day....I know that it does not matter from where you do your studies but how you do them...
Still, I want to roam the Infinite Corridor as an undergrad....
Best of Luck to all those who would be my classmates (!)
Posted by: Muhammad Khas '13 (hopefully) on March 14, 2009
Posted by: 0 on March 14, 2009
I just got informed that I have made it to the National Team for the upcoming 2009 International Physics Olympiad (IPhO).....
But my fate has already been written.....
It does not matter to the admissions comittee anymore whether I would be representing my country in the biggest and the most prestigious physics competition in the world....
Still 6000 seconds to go....
Posted by: Muhammad Khas '13 (hopefully) on March 14, 2009
Again everyone, good luck, and hopefully we can all meet at convocation! =D
Posted by: Brett '13? on March 14, 2009
Posted by: Kevin '12 on March 14, 2009
4920 seconds to go .... !
Posted by: Muhammad Khas '13 (hopefully) on March 14, 2009
Posted by: shemi on March 14, 2009
Good luck (I need lots of it)people!!
Posted by: Anonymous on March 14, 2009
Posted by: SRV on March 14, 2009
Posted by: SRV on March 14, 2009
Posted by: 0 on March 14, 2009
Posted by: 0 on March 14, 2009
Posted by: 0 on March 14, 2009
Posted by: Sayan on March 14, 2009
Posted by: 0 on March 14, 2009
Posted by: 0 on March 14, 2009
Say another 50 minutes...
Posted by: 0 on March 14, 2009
Good luck everyone!!
P.S.
Glad you were one of the guys who got to be a blogger, I always liked reading your blog when you posted about your beard and stuff haha
Posted by: Justin Powell on March 14, 2009
You do know you applied to the MASSACHUSETTS Institute of Technology Right? And we're not a university, we're an Institute. =)
@ Everyone else
Good luck, I know it's really easy to fall in love with MIT and think that it's the only place you'll love to go, but I promise you that if you look you will find a place for you that you love so much, you'll look back and won't like MIT as much as you did before. It's true, it's science! Check it out (it'll give you something to do while you wait) :
http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/dan_gilbert_asks_why_are_we_happy.html
Posted by: Chris M. on March 14, 2009
you need 3 higher levels and i chose to do 4 of the hardest
Posted by: erik on March 14, 2009
Nice quotes by the way.
Posted by: 0 on March 14, 2009
Posted by: Anonymus on March 14, 2009
Is anyone else eating pie to celebrate? (If I don't get in, at least I got to eat some pie!)
Posted by: 0 on March 14, 2009
Good luck to everyone. I hope so badly to be in the infinite corridor in seven months. If not, maybe our paths will cross in grad school.
Posted by: '13 Hopeful on March 14, 2009
Posted by: LT on March 14, 2009
Posted by: Saif on March 14, 2009
...and thank you for the wishes...
thanks for the blog... its really nice....
Happy PI day!!!!
Posted by: Gud Luck! on March 14, 2009
Posted by: 0 on March 14, 2009
Posted by: Deeni on March 14, 2009
Posted by: 0 on March 14, 2009
If I'm accepted, this will be THE happiest moment in my life.. if rejected, then I'll just presume that MIT wasn't for me and I would have maybe a not so great experience here. Whatever the case, I will always love MIT. Happy Pi day everyone! =D
Posted by: 0 on March 14, 2009
Posted by: 0 on March 14, 2009
I had thought that Imperial College London which is Overall world # 6 and Engineering world # 7 would lessen the tension.
I had thought that University College London which is Overall world # 7 would help me cope with the stress of MIT.
I had hoped that the acceptance that I have from Australian National University which is Overall (Can't remember the precise rank !) would calm me down.
I had thought McGill which is Overall world # 18 would act as a stress alleviation pill.
BUT
I WAS WRONG
NO MATTER HOW MANY ACCEPTANCES FROM HOW MANY TOP UNIVERSITIES YOU HAVE, YOUR HEART STILL STOPS WHEN IT COMES TO MIT DECISIONS.
I have all the acceptances but still, I feel that I would have a nervous breakdown if I don't get into the MIT.
GOOD LUCK TO ALL MY FUTURE CLASSMATES (!)....
Posted by: Muhammad Khas '13 (hopefully) on March 14, 2009
Posted by: 0 on March 14, 2009
Posted by: 0 on March 14, 2009
Posted by: 0 on March 14, 2009
Posted by: 0 on March 14, 2009
Posted by: aidan on March 14, 2009
Before the Decisions are released I just wanted to thank MIT's admission office for trying to make us comfortable regardless of their decision
Posted by: sultan on March 14, 2009
Posted by: 0 on March 14, 2009
Posted by: Saif on March 14, 2009
Posted by: 0 on March 14, 2009
Posted by: charles.abruzzo@verizon.net on March 14, 2009
Posted by: 0 on March 14, 2009
Posted by: charles.abruzzo@verizon.net on March 14, 2009
Posted by: Saif on March 14, 2009
O well.
Posted by: Will on March 14, 2009
Posted by: Bennett on March 14, 2009
What a breakup..
Congrats to those who got in
Posted by: Kaizad R. on March 14, 2009
Posted by: Asima S. on March 14, 2009
your quotes = : D
i LOVE quotes.
thank you.
Posted by: here on March 15, 2009
Posted by: mkimle on March 15, 2009
Posted by: jianlin-yang on March 16, 2009
thx and please, answer me
Melissa (Méx)
Posted by: Melissa on March 24, 2009
Posted by: Melissa on March 24, 2009
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