A couple weeks ago someone asked what I did to pass the time while I was waiting for early action decisions. I know there's no real way you can get it off your mind completely; after all, you're on the MIT admissions site right now reading about MIT students' lives. But there are a few things I can think of..
Things To Do While Waiting For College Admissions Decisions
1. Dream about getting into colleges that don't exist. (Direct quote from a friend last year - "I had a dream that I got into 'Belle and Sebastian University.' I was like, 'Belle and Sebastian! Awesome, I got into my back-up school!!'")2. Have long talks with your friends about your future. Then write a song about it. Preferably in the style of '80s hair metal. ("Next year I'm going to college, and there we will gain lots of knowledge...")
3. Think hard about not being one of those people who lists all the colleges they got into in their AIM profile. (As much fun as it is being pompous and loathed by everybody, just don't do it. Nobody likes that guy. You don't want to be that guy, do you?)
4. Learn to cook a new dish. (Like those spam recipes you get in the advertisements on your spam folder page in Gmail.)
5. Write thank-you letters to your teachers who wrote your recommendations and read your essays, your guidance counselors, even your teachers who didn't do anything specifically towards your applications but you like talking to, or whatever. It doesn't matter whether or not they directly helped you get in; these people helped shape who you are today. (Write one to your mother, while you're at it. She's a good lady.)
6. Make ublec. One part cornstarch, one part water. Enjoy! (Even if you're not waiting for college decisions, this is something you should do. Even if you're the one writing college recommendation letters. Seriously, Ms. Schutz, I highly recommend it.)
7. Go to class and keep those grades up. Avoid unhealthy things like doing drugs, going to jail, or eating trans fats. (It's all fun and games until someone gets coronary heart disease.)
8. Check out the schools you applied to or are planning to apply to, if you can. (Seriously, nothing excites us more than hosting prefrosh. And Grey's Anatomy. But mostly prefrosh.)
9. Pass your last physics exam by epic proportions. NO WAIT, THAT WAS ME. HAHAHA! I RULE. I mean.. who said that?
10. Not think about it. (College? Your mom goes to college.)
So there you have it. Plenty of options to get you through the next 6-ish days! Hope your Thanksgivings were full of food and family and laughter - mine (as well as the recent discovery that my guy friends on the fourth floor have Guitar Hero II) was part of the reason this entry is so overdue, as I slacked way too much and didn't even think about the chemistry test I had this Wednesday (my bad). I guess I don't regret it too much since I was having so much crazy fun with my family, especially when my cousin Kerrie and I got matching haircuts. But that's a story for another time.. anyway, family togetherness is always welcome. Well.. almost always.
Kerrie: Hey, if you're American in the living room, what're you in the bathroom?
Elsa: What?
Kerrie: European!
Elsa: Hey, Sunmi, if you're American in -
Me: I'M IN THE SHOWER! GET OUT!
Comments (Closed after 30 days to reduce spam)
Though of the above suggestions, #5 sounds okay. We owe those people so much.
Posted by: busybody on December 2, 2006
http://whitehatdesign.com/forum
Posted by: Dan Beard on December 2, 2006
Posted by: Jeff H on December 2, 2006
Hi, Jess! On behalf of neglected moms everywhere, THANK YOU! I so enjoy reading your entries--you somehow manage to combine informative with brilliantly insightful, hysterically funny, and all done in a very casual, subtle, effortlessly entertaining way! If your parents would like to switch kids, they can have my '09 East Campus son and I will gladly adopt you!
Now I hope your folks will know I'm just kidding about the adoption so we won't have another "falling leaf" crisis here!
Posted by: '09 mom on December 2, 2006
This is why we have www.collegeconfidential.com =) (though it is a TAD bit unhealthy...)
Posted by: Chris on December 2, 2006
I can run around singing "I Don't Love Anyone" ALL DAY LONG. It will be amazing.
And Jeff H can have people singing softly to him at Kings of Convenience University. (Speaking of, there's a great band for you. WHY MUST I MAKE EVERYTHING ABOUT THE MUSIC?!)
Posted by: Keri on December 2, 2006
And #2 is a very good suggestion. Long talks in the form of '80s-esque songs relieves much anxiety.
Posted by: Austin on December 2, 2006
'09 mom, you are very sweet. That custody battle would be very ugly, though, 'cause my mother is a fierce woman (I have to get it from somewhere!)
Austin - is it too late to transfer to SSIT, do you know?
Posted by: Jess on December 2, 2006
Posted by: Kelly on December 2, 2006
Posted by: Kelly on December 2, 2006
Also, your entries are amazing and I hate you. (Love, actually -- OH MAN LIKE THE MOVIE TITLE I'M CLEVER)
Posted by: Colin on December 2, 2006
Also, I applied to Miskatonic University. Check it out at:
http://www.miskatonic.net
Posted by: James Eastwood on December 2, 2006
Posted by: Guyomar on December 2, 2006
Posted by: Justin on December 2, 2006
XD
congrats on your triumphal ownage of the physics exam though.
Posted by: Willy on December 2, 2006
Posted by: Vu Truong on December 2, 2006
Posted by: Shawn on December 2, 2006
Posted by: Kristina on December 2, 2006
... and I saw a Frogger 3D game.
I now have something to do for the week.
=)
Posted by: Melissa H on December 2, 2006
Posted by: Jillian on December 2, 2006
Oh, man. Do not get me started on District Band. For the past two years, I've only seen the prepared piece the day of the audition. But not this year. I will pwnz0r. I can feel it!
Posted by: L on December 2, 2006
I just set up an Apache web server on my computer, and am hosting a piece of freeware chat software on it. I'll keep the server running at least until decisions, so if you'd like to talk to people about admissions, you can do it here!
No sign up or anything is required.
Unofficial MIT Admissions Chat Room
Please let me know if you have any problems at ASpanbauer@gmail.com
Enjoy!
-Adam
P.S. Please bookmark the page if you plan to come back. Unfortunately I don't own a domain name, so I'm stuck with giving you the IP address link.
Posted by: Adam Spanbauer on December 2, 2006
Posted by: Elizabeth on December 2, 2006
Posted by: Elizabeth on December 2, 2006
Posted by: Ashwani Gupta on December 2, 2006
Posted by: Elizabeth (the one in the chat room) on December 2, 2006
Posted by: Qichen on December 3, 2006
I am a hopeful future MIT applicant, like many others who read your blog, and I was wondering: is there an unofficial number of AP courses a student has to take to be accepted? The only reason I ask is because I'm signing up for senior classes next year pretty soon, and I have to choose between an elective art class that I'd love to take and AP US History (which sounds interesting, but I'd prefer art). Will MIT look at that and say, "Oh, this girl is slacking off because she chose a flimsy art class instead of AP?"
Thank you!
Posted by: Qichen on December 3, 2006
If your school offers 28 APs and you take only one, then it might not look too good, but in general, the difference that one more AP class will make is negligible compared to the regret you'll feel not taking a class you really want to take.
Posted by: Colin on December 3, 2006
The only AP's I did not take are art and english. It's odd because if you take AP calculus you cannot take AP English and vice versa. It never occurred to them that someone might want to take both...Not that I want to...just saying.
Posted by: Andrew on December 3, 2006
Surely this was an exxageration, but that's the main idea.
Posted by: crippy on December 3, 2006
Posted by: Shawn on December 3, 2006
I like the idea of sending a thank you letter to the teachers and guidance counselor I totally forgot! They were a big help, and instead of ublec maybe I'll try making some fudge for them.
Posted by: Brandy on December 3, 2006
heyheyHEYYY! PHYSICS! :D
Posted by: DCHEN on December 3, 2006
Anyway, I would totally get an A+ in "Your Cover's Blown" at Belle and Sebastian university
Posted by: Sam on December 3, 2006
But isn't is "oobleck"? Like the book?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bartholomew_and_the_Oobleck
Excellent piece of literature, that.
Posted by: KimJ on December 4, 2006
Congrats on the physics exam thing. I LOVE epic proportions. YOU MYTHOLOGICALLY FLAYED YOUR PHYSICS EXAM. Etc.
Posted by: Nina on December 4, 2006
Posted by: milena on December 4, 2006
Posted by: James Eastwood on December 4, 2006
Posted by: James Eastwood on December 4, 2006
OK, I am officially annoying now. I'll shut up.
Posted by: James Eastwood on December 4, 2006
I would post explanations of my 18.02 psets, but i barely understand them myself.
Also, everything else is just so much more awesome. Wait, this isn't what I should be talking about.
Posted by: Keri on December 4, 2006
=)
Posted by: Aneysi on December 4, 2006
Posted by: kerrie on December 4, 2006
Posted by: nehalita on December 5, 2006
Posted by: Anthony on December 7, 2006
Posted by: Karen on December 7, 2006
Posted by: kgold on December 7, 2006
My apologies to Jess, but I was seriously underwhelmed by this list of “Things to Do.” I think it would be more fitting for MIT to offer some suggestions with inherent geek appeal. Heaven forbid anyone mistake this blog as coming out of the admissions office of the liberal arts college up the street!
So, in support of the Institute’s distinctive reputation, here’s an alternative list with...
5 Shamelessly Geeky Things to Do While Waiting for MIT’s Admissions Decision
<ol><li>Read up on non-Newtonian fluids. (The Science Buddies site has a nice overview, while the Wikipedia entry has some sexy technical terminology—and a graph.)</li>
<li>Scope out the cutting-edge research underway at MIT’s Non-Newtonian Fluid Dynamics Research Group. (Think: potential UROP.)</li>
<li>Watch this awesome YouTube video of people running across the surface of a non-Newtonian pool.</li>
<li>Assume that the pool in #3 was filled with oobleck and calculate the approximate cost of the cornstarch required. (Warning: The correct ratio of cornstarch to water is NOT 1:1 as stated above.)</li>
<li>Get into the spirit of peer-reviewed research, and post the result of your calculation from #4. Include your supporting assumptions. Remember, you can submit posts here through December 31.</li></ol>
Bonus Suggestion:
When you get to MIT, enhance campus life by hosting an “oobleck pool party” at your living group. It’s a lot less technically intensive than a permanent installation like the First East Disco Dance Floor. And it’s probably even more fun. Just make sure that your oobleck is GREEN! You can source green food coloring over the internet quite economically in bulk quantities (e.g. a Durkee 16-ounce bottle for about $5).
A special note for hard-core geeks: If the order of magnitude calculation above isn’t sufficiently challenging for you, congratulations. Feel free to determine the second 10-digit prime in consecutive digits of e instead.
Posted by: Ellen Hietala ’01 on December 7, 2006
then just add water a sugar 0_o
(... it's like porridge! but not quite... or just flour tea....
it scared me the first time i saw it too..)
Posted by: Andrea on December 8, 2006
I'm glad that you read my post, and that you continue to support MIT by reading the blogs, even if you just saw the link on mit.edu! I hope you continue to do so.
I wrote the post intended for all seniors, not just those applying to MIT early action (or even at all). Obviously those who are on the site have an interest in MIT, towards whom your list is quite pertinent, but most, if not all, are intending to apply to other colleges, many of which do not offer such insights into their students' lives like MIT blogs do. If you'll notice, the title of the list is "Things To Do While Waiting For College Admissions Decisions", rather than "MIT Admissions Decisions" specifically. I do recognize that I am a representative of MIT, and as such should encourage high school seniors to cultivate their geeky sides as much as possible, but as a recent high school graduate and an MIT freshman who realizes life here is stressful enough (as well as one of eleven student bloggers, all of which celebrate their nerdiness regularly), I also want to get across the point that worrying too much (especially at this stage in the admissions process) is fruitless. I know several high school students well enough, and I feel like I know my readers well enough, to realize that if I posted a bunch of math problems for them to solve while waiting for decisions I would probably cause a lot of unnecessary stress. I've tried to keep the mood light by filling my writing with humor - still, I'm not really saying that writing a song in the style of '80s hair metal is the optimal way to get into MIT.
I honestly doubt that anyone reading my MIT admissions blog would mistake it as coming out of the admissions office of the "liberal arts college up the street"; however, I do believe MIT is stigmatized as the nerds-only work-yourself-to-death crazy-school (having received such questions as "All my buddies tell me MIT is for a bunch of nerds who have no life. Is that true? Can you have a stronger interest in your liberal art courses and still have a good chance of making it in MIT?"), and I've made it my personal goal to dispel this rumor. Having graduated from MIT very recently, you must remember the plethora of HASS classes and extracurricular activities (as I type this backstage waiting for our dance show to start) available to The Institute's multifaceted student body. Perhaps I overemphasize this side of MIT, but it is only in the interest of making it known, as the myriad opportunities continue to be unrecognized by high school students and their parents today.
That being said, I did enjoy your list and appreciate the effort you must have put into compiling it. Again, I am truly grateful that you continue to read this humble writer's efforts and hope to receive more of your comments in the future.
Posted by: Jess on December 8, 2006
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