No. Really. Finals week starts tomorrow, and my 8.01 final is in ten hours, but I've been studying quite a bit this weekend. Stalling=blog post! Woo hoo!

With that said, here are a few of the things I've seen while running around campus, finding places to sit and study physics.

Yesterday, on my way to the Student Lounge off the Infinite, I saw that this hack 4.301 final project (after reading the comments, I checked things out - it is for a class) had been moved to the East Campus courtyard.

Apparently, this has something to do with some expensive and less-than-attractive (in some people's opinions) art pieces located around campus. Don't look at me. I didn't do it.

Speaking of EC, this evening when I was walking home from studying at the student center, these had been strung from the windows of 5th West:

Oh, the holiday spirit.

This one may require a bit of explaining:

Or you can just watch this, a video of an interesting phone call made during my 18.02 class last week Friday during our review for the final.

And that's all from me. Sleep! Finally!

Well, two hours on the radio first. Then sleep. I leave you with a picture of A-Control of WMBR, MIT's campus radio station.

(That's Hanna '10, who does the show with me, hiding in the corner.)

Comments (Closed after 30 days to reduce spam)

Wow. Glorious.

Good luck on your final!

Posted by: Meara on December 18, 2006

good luck!!

and that youtube thing was awesome :D

Posted by: Jenny Li on December 18, 2006

Gotta love physics! It's one of my favorite topics. Good luck on your final!!!

BTW, what exactly is a "hack"? I've heard the term before, but I'm not quite sure what it means in MIT terms.

Posted by: Alyssa on December 18, 2006

It's not a hack, I don't think. I believe it's actually someone's art project that the Tech thought was a hack.

Posted by: Cordelia on December 18, 2006

Hey, Cordelia.

I'm pretty sure you're right - I think it was a project for 4.301, and the Tech was just wrong.

Posted by: Evan '10 on December 18, 2006

The red dollar sign was Vinayak's 4.301 final project. Such final projects are public art installations done in imitation of hacks, but approved of by the authorities and in less sketchy places.

In my opinion, it ain't a hack unless you risk being caught doing something illegal/unapproved-of. There are some borderline cases, like the V-O before M-I-T in front of Stata (which was perfectly accessible on the ground, and I assume legal?). I think what distinguished that as a hack was that it was very much not approved of by the authorities, and promptly removed.

Oh, and for Alyssa: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MIT_hack

Posted by: Josh on December 18, 2006

Physics is awesome! Good luck on your 8.01 final!

Anyway, the phone call was an excellent hack! Seems that there have been quite a few this year already. Quite an awesome tradition.. Its nice that the faculty actually seems to approve of students hacking.

Thanks for keeping me updated on the hacks, I enjoy reading about them!

-Adam

Posted by: Adam S. on December 18, 2006

I really love ur blog, i hope it isn't a crime, that i'm not a student in ur school. i just love MIT. wish i could make it there.

i'm a programmer from Nigeria

Uka

Posted by: Uka on December 18, 2006

Well.. You must be finished with your final now. How did it go?

Oh wow.. I just remembered. IAP is coming! Can't wait to hear what all of you bloggers are going to be doing!

-Adam

Posted by: Adam S. on December 18, 2006

Keri - I was wondering if they offered AP Calculus at your high school. I am attending a high school where both AB and BC AP courses are held and I have wanted to go to MIT since I was little. I don't think that I would be accepted, however, if I don't take the opportunity to complete the BC course at my high school. Is this reasonable?

Posted by: Meg on December 18, 2006

Meg -
Students arrive at MIT with a whole spectrum of calculus credits. Here are some of the more common possibilities:

Students arrive with multivariable calculus credit through some university or applies their knowledge of the topic to test out of 18.02 (multivar)

Students arrive with AP Calculus BC credit and receive credit for 18.01 (single variable calculus). They almost always go into 18.02 their first semester.

Students arrive with AP Calculus AB credit. They receive no college credit, but they generally take 18.01a and 18.02a (accellerated courses - 18.02a begins about 2/3 of the way into the fall semester and continues through IAP)

Students arrive with no AP Calculus credit or feel uncomfortable with the background they have. These students take 18.01 their first semester. There are lots of people in this situation.

The admissions office prefers if you have some sort of calculus experience, but it's by no means a necessity for getting in.

Posted by: Evan '10 on December 18, 2006

I FRELLING LOVE AUROUX. Had I only been there.

Annnnnd if students think *our* artwork sucks, they should check out the campus contributions of the trustees at Carnegie Mellon. I'm just sayin', the Cut was a lot nicer before the thing with the pole and the people walking up (weirds me out every time I see it).

Posted by: Nina on December 18, 2006

Regarding the 18.02 hack, I'm assuming the phone call piped in over the speaker system or something -- is this correct? Or did the students just laugh at the prof's strange expressions when talking on the phone

Posted by: 0 on December 18, 2006

What do you think I should take after I take AP calc AB and BC, I am a sophomore right now in AP calc AB, and am not sure if I should take AP Stats as a senior, or some other math course. I go to a small private school so not many students are in my situation, so my school doesn't offer a lot of APs

Posted by: blizz on December 18, 2006

Blizz-

My only recommendation is that you do what you want to do, not neccesarily what is expected of you. I enjoyed Calc AB last year, so I took Calc BC this year. I would have probably tried something different had I not been interested. Therefore, are you interested in statistics? If not, I'd highly recommend trying to get yourself into a math course at a local college. Talk to your counselor. Chances are, (s)he'll be able to arrange something.

Finally, make sure that when you apply to MIT, you let them know about your limited opportunities. Make sure that they can see that you've made the most out of what you've had to work with.

-Adam

Posted by: Adam S. on December 18, 2006

hahah. that lit up my day. =)

Posted by: Deb on December 18, 2006

Adam -

I just emailed Blizz with a similar answer. ^_^

Also, I checked it out, and the dollar sign is definitely a part of 4.301's final project. The post is edited to fix my error.

Posted by: Keri on December 18, 2006

that video was so funny. I wish I had a working telephone in my math classroom...

Posted by: Alex on December 19, 2006

Ah, 5th West traditions...

By the way, did you know that WMBR's broadcasting signal makes all the TVs in EC have really bad reception? Caught your show a couple times, though. It was good!

Posted by: Daniel W on December 19, 2006

Hey Meg-

Don't worry about it. I never took a chemistry class or a physics class and my calculus class was a joke. I got a 3 on my IB HL Math test. The key is doing a lot of things well, not being a calculus wiz. Perhaps instead of spending decades a week in AP calc you should take what you like, and do super well in it. I'm not a genius by far, they look for people who work a lot and like it. I'm a frosh, but I've learned that in a lot of ways MIT isn't really about learning freshman year, its about working 20 hours a week on P-sets and living lol. Anyhoo, hope that helped. Oh, if you want to take BC, make sure you're going to get an A in it, thats why I never took chem or physics. Whoo 18.01 and 8.01L!

Keri, wassup!

Peace

Posted by: Jake on December 21, 2006

omG, Keri is famous! Look at how many people reply to her posts!

You're awesome Keri, and I know you know it

Posted by: Omar '10 on December 21, 2006

OMG more radio show publicity. *squeeyay*

Posted by: Hanna on January 2, 2007

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