It's hard to remember a time during my senior year of high school when I wasn't totally jazzed about MIT. I got accepted, and that was pretty much it for me. I was going to MIT. I never really entertained any possibility that there might be some cons to the pros - to me, MIT was perfect.
This is a bad attitude to have in all regards, because while it's great to be excited, you forget that there's no such thing as perfect. My friends at Stanford write me long, tormented emails about their food's likeness to recycled cardboard; a girl I know at Berkeley calls me to complain about how her hall's TV only plays in Spanish. I myself found MIT's imperfections when I moved into Next House (not to mention that you can't switch out of Next if you move here in your first year - but that's a story for another time). We may not have fire alarms going off every month, but anyone living at Next House will tell you horror stories about our terrible, TERRIBLE showers. They have absolutely no pressure, so the water dribbles on you like it's from a crack in the ceiling. Not only that, but the Next residents seem to lose all realization that they share the sanitation station with ten or so others the minute they get wet, and think it's okay to leave the entire contents of their shower onto the part of the floor without a drain. At Next, you must swim before you shower.
Often times the aforementioned residents also think it's okay to leave enough hair pooled around the drain to make you think they'd shaved a small cow.
Perhaps worst of all, we receive emails about every month telling us they'll be shutting down all the hot water yet again to fix some eternally elusive water problem. Guys on my hall make arrangements to stay at their fraternities these nights; others (probably the people who leave puddles) think it's not too much a price to pay to stay stinky for the day, at everyone else's expense. Sometimes we don't even get warning about hot water being shut off. The morning finals began, specifically on the morning of my 8.01 final that I was certain I would fail, I stepped into the shower to be greeted by water of temperatures like that of the San Francisco bay. Not a great way to start off a three-hour exam.
But don't listen to me. Zach Ozer (Zozer) '07, chairman of The Tech, can probably tell you about it better than I can. Here's an email he sent out to Next Forum, our mailing list, about a week ago:
"Does anyone remember how, when the
elevator broke at BC, everyone affected got a refund of $25 in
TechCash from LarryBen's Cookie Fund (http://www-tech.mit.edu/V125/PDF/N16.pdf)?
Since I've been here, I can't even count the number of water shutdowns.
But I almost can :)
Here are my records… anyone with more complete records, please, by all
means fill in the blanks.
Total Shutdowns (Hot, cold, or both):
May 13, 2005
August 17, 2005
September 23, 2005
October 27, 2005
January 4, 2005
July 25th, 2006
August 23-24, 2006
September 13, 2006
October 17, 2006
December 8th, 2006
January 10, 2007
January 30, 2007
Partial (1+ bathroom afftected)
April 11th, 2005
September 9-26, 2005
Nov. 8th, 2005
Dec 6, 2006
Jan 11, 2006
If you read this as I do, we're averaging 5 complete shutdowns per
year and 2.5 partial shutdowns. If your car broke down for a day 5
times in a year and wasn't performing right 2.5 times per year, you'd
be able to return it under a lemon law.
Can we return Next House?
No. But someone from NextExec should raise hell about this."
Now, I'm not saying that there might be some reason to why that guy I had to stand next to in chorus always smelled like old yogurt. MIT does have excellent showers in its other dorms (some of which have their own bathroom per room) and especially at the Z Center (they have great pressure!). But as someone who likes to enjoy a hot shower every morning, I'm almost definitely moving to another dorm next year. So to sum up, don't get tunnel vision; your dream school most certainly isn't going to be flawless. I'm here to share the wisdom I gain from college with you, so here it is: don't be shocked when you get there to find everything's not always puppies and rainbows. And pressurized hot showers.
Comments (Closed after 30 days to reduce spam)
When college students call to ask me if I have any questions about their college, I usually tell them to convince me 'not' to go to their college. Usually it brings up a few things you wouldn't otherwise hear!
Oh, and apparently EC has radiators that clang and prevent you from sleeping.
Now.. I know that you say that "there's no such thing as perfect"... But Random Hall seems perfect to me, even if there were a combination of cold showers, clangy radiators, and people trying to send you messages while you use the bathroom.
Posted by: Adam S. on February 3, 2007
Posted by: milena on February 3, 2007
i miss clean bathrooms... jess you didn't even mention the toilets... not that anyone deserves hearing the grotesque details
Posted by: nehalita on February 3, 2007
Posted by: Jan on February 3, 2007
...yeah.
New House has bathtubs. I'd never take baths in them, though - come on, New House is a college undergrad dormitory too. Enough said.
Posted by: Keri on February 3, 2007
Posted by: Sarab on February 3, 2007
Posted by: reddy on February 4, 2007
Dude. Next house isn't that bad though!
Posted by: Shan on February 4, 2007
I think that the worst part of it is that I do not know if I am accepted or not. I do not know if my worry about this possible future is going to be all for naught because, well, I did not get in. There is always the temptation to just stop thinking about it, but then what if I do get in, and am then completely unprepared for the implications that acceptance is going to bring? I do not know what is coming, and it is completely out of my hands from this point on. Frustration!
Anyway, thank you for reminding me that MIT is not fluffy clouds and rainbows. It makes it a lot easier to deal with the possibility of rejection.
I’ll get off of my soapbox now.
Posted by: Aviendha on February 4, 2007
That said, which dorm has the best bathrooms? Because bathrooms are important, possibly even more so than decent food. (Of course, in order for this actually to be an issue, I'd have to get IN first...)
Anyway, thanks once more for the continually edifying blog.
Posted by: Meara on February 4, 2007
Posted by: 0 on February 4, 2007
but MIT still sounds pretty decent. enough said.
Posted by: jenny on February 4, 2007
Simmons has bathrooms for each room, I'm pretty sure.
Posted by: Anthony on February 4, 2007
Posted by: Solomon on February 4, 2007
Posted by: Solomon on February 4, 2007
Thanx for resoure
Posted by: Gomodrilcheg on February 4, 2007
Since you're moving to another dorm next year, which one did you have in mind?
Posted by: Bianca on February 4, 2007
@Adam.S:I'm under the impression that you're the most active here and you know more about this school than most applicants. How long have you been finding out about MIT^^?
Posted by: bbllp on February 4, 2007
The only thing I care about is being at MIT and that's it.
I can skip showers for around 2 days a week.Now that shud smell you bad.Who cares~~~~~~
The only thing I would ever care is get the best rank in my class and be the best or may be try to.
I never gave a thought to what MIT's dors are gonna be like and things like that - the only thing I care is to be at MIT. And be the best amongst the best.
Posted by: Utkarsh on February 4, 2007
Posted by: Sean Liu on February 4, 2007
Posted by: Solomon on February 4, 2007
Posted by: Solomon on February 4, 2007
Posted by: Josh V on February 4, 2007
Posted by: 0 on February 4, 2007
Camille
Posted by: Camille on February 4, 2007
"@Adam.S:I'm under the impression that you're the most active here and you know more about this school than most applicants. How long have you been finding out about MIT^^?"
I guess it could be said that I'm semi-obsessed with MIT. I've been reading the blogs since early last summer, so I've gathered a lot of good information over that time.
On that note, good luck to all deferred applicants! Selection committee will start in about a week. Scary, eh?
Oh, and thanks for the info about EC radiators, Anthony!
-Adam S.
Posted by: Adam S. on February 4, 2007
What were the things you wished you did during your senior year to prepare for college? I am trying to get ready for college and perhaps trying to see if i could challege myself in some way. Any advice?
Posted by: andie on February 4, 2007
And it probably differs based on location; I've found our bathroom (5th farthest west) better than the others I've occasionally used. I have been able to take scalding hot showers (before the winter fell). And Derric said, around when zozer e-mailed, that his shower remained hot.
Josh V: Next and McCormick (as well as Chocolate City and Spanish House, two cultural sub-dorms of New House, but they're supposed to be different) have a system called Residence-Based Advising. Your advisor is assigned to your dorm and generally teaches a 6-credit (half a normal class) seminar, although I didn't take that option. You can't move out during REX because you've committed to RBA and to that advising seminar / advisor.
You can switch dorms between the two terms and before the new year, however.
I was kinda mad about RBA 'cause I think they put me in Next when I filled out the RBA application (and I wasn't even taking a seminar), and Next wasn't my first choice. I wanted to try to move to Simmons. Around the deadline for dorm moving, I decided I liked Next a lot better. Now I'm not sure if I really like Next the best and I'm thinking of possibly moving elsewhere next year (not 'cause of the showers, just 'cause I might fit better elsewhere).
Posted by: geofft '10 on February 5, 2007
Funnily enough, I have to take a shower now but I don't want to because I live in a dorm that is NOT Burton-Conner, and our showers suck.
Posted by: Anonymous on February 5, 2007
The thing about WILG is that we have clean showers with great water pressure. And you can take baths without worry of grossness.
Live with me?!?!
Posted by: peach on February 5, 2007
Posted by: Monica on February 5, 2007
Unrelated question: You've had a Macbook for a few months, right? How well has that worked out for you? I mean, I think I will end up getting one but I just want to make sure I'm not going to have major problems or incompatibility issues with required programs and stuff before I throw $2,000 into one lol.
Posted by: Ritchie on February 5, 2007
Posted by: Solomon on February 6, 2007
This entry does not put any damper on my MIT dreams....
Posted by: Meagan on February 6, 2007
I know exactly how you feel! The last few weeks especially I have been mentally wrestling with the different acceptance outcomes that I could face in the spring. I love MIT sooo much, and even more so after visiting the website so often and becomming a, (dare I say it), avid blogger. (Ok, so Adam S. wins for the most blogs from a prospective student, but hey). Too bad life isn't a bed of roses and we have to all face rejection in some way, shape, or form. Hopefully not too soon? Meh. Who really knows, anyway.
To everyone - enjoy your Senior year!
Posted by: Alyssa on February 6, 2007
Posted by: S. Zhu - Next Exec member on February 10, 2007
I never said anything about Next House not having a great community. I've made so many fantastic relationships here with people I would never had met had it not been for wing events, etc; I've written entries about how the formal was almost definitive of my first semester at MIT and how I loved bonding with 3rd East at our service bbq and retreat. This doesn't mean, however, that Next House is perfect - and yes, no dorm is perfect; I am well aware of this. But I've had many bad experiences with multiple showers within Next, not just the one in 3rd East by the bathrooms, and I'm not the only one. My wing constantly passes around emails yelling at people to close the shower curtain to prevent the questionable puddles left on the shower floor or stop leaving mountains of hair pooled around the drain. And don't you think it's at least a little bit ridiculous how often we get water shutdowns - sometimes without previous warning? I don't know anything about dorm maintenance, but if these shutdowns have been occurring frequently for two years as Zozer said, I should think something could be done to possibly expedite their eradication. These problems certainly have nothing to do with the great community of friends.
Part of my job is to share my college experience with prefrosh, and the main point of the post was that I don't think it's fair to perpetuate an image that everything at your dream school is perfect. I wasn't being completely facetious when I wrote about believing everything at MIT would be flawless - an ideal that a lot of other freshmen have told me they used to follow naively - and I feel that a lot of prefrosh, especially the ones who read the admissions blogs, have the same image. To gloss over these flaws would not only be ignorant but also do a disservice to the next generation of MIT students, Next residents or not.
I'm sorry that you felt attacked, especially as a member of NextExec. I fully recognize and acknowledge that these issues are no one person's fault. The post was not intended to be personal at all, because like I said I've met some amazing people at Next, and I don't regret living here. I just don't think it's where I'd like to spend the rest of my MIT career.
Thanks for reading, and I hope you continue to do so. Please write back if you have any questions.
Jess
Posted by: Jess on February 11, 2007
Posted by: Solomon on February 11, 2007
Posted by: grace on February 16, 2007
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