Two exams down, one to go. Well, strictly speaking, 462 units down, 12 to go. That sounds a lot better.

Exam week is a busy time at MIT; a lot of living groups have free breakfast on exam mornings, then everybody walks to their exams together, buzzing and scheming and comparing last-minute answers. It's fashionable here to loudly announce your impending doom -- you know, it's bad luck to say good luck on opening night and all that. I heard a lot of conversations on my way to the final.

"How about you take his 16.05 exam and he can take your 2.005 one?"
"Okay, I'll fail his! [Pause] Actually, I'll fail mine too."

"I heard that freshman exams were the easiest ones."
"Let's hope so!"

"I could go in there, write my name on those tests, walk out, and still graduate. I'm still nervous."

That last one was me.

As I was walking toward Walker Memorial for my 7.28 final this morning, half of me was focused on the final and half of me was focused on the construction going on in Killian Court -- they're setting up the seats for the 140th commencement on June 9. After four years of pure joy and pure exhaustion, I will be marching in my black cap and black gown to receive two bachelors degrees -- one in biology and one in brain and cognitive sciences.

So as I walked to the exam and as I walked back from the exam two hours later, I thought about what we are at this crazy school on the Charles and what we're not.

We are fiercely independent, fiercely nonconformist, and just plain fierce. We have a fire somewhere way down in the very bottoms of our souls -- the kind of fire that can get you through a problem set and a project and a paper and a breakup and an exam and an all-nighter, all in the same week. The words "too many irons in the fire" don't mean much to us. We like being busy. It builds character.

We are unapologetic academic masochists. Jessie has observed that a greater number of us than one would expect were cross-country and track athletes in high school; we attack school the way some people attack a marathon. It hurts so much while you're in the middle of it, but it feels so good when you reach the goal. We are lean, mean problem-solving machines.

We are almost pathologically helpful. If someone has a problem, we can't stop ourselves from helping. There is no cutthroat behavior here -- after all, there's no point in being rude when there's a big problem set due the next day, and we need every last neuron we can get to help solve the problems. There's very much an "I'll scratch your 8.02 pset, you scratch my 18.03 pset" mentality. And the helpfulness doesn't extend only to MIT students -- if you come here on a visit, and you are wandering around lost, I will bet you five dollars you can stop any random undergrad in the hallway and say "Hi, I'm a prefrosh and I'm lost. Can you help me find [the Student Center, the Admissions Office, my mommy]?" and that random undergrad will point you in the correct direction. He might even walk with you to your destination. (This only works with undergrads. Grad students, like slightly rabid cats, are a little less compassionate.)

We want to change the world, but we know we can't do it alone. Everybody comes in freshman year thinking "I am the GREATEST, and I am going to continue to be the GREATEST", and then they fail their first 8.01 exam and realize that if they're going to change the world, they're going to need to enlist the collective brainpower of everybody else around them. And so that's what they do.

We respect brilliance, hard work, clever solutions, and technical prowess. We do not respect braggarts, grade-grubbers, or unearned wealth.

You can have a life at MIT, complete with any bacchanalian insanity your mind can even begin to imagine. There are all sorts of student life here, and everybody is free to pursue life as they wish. There are all kinds of people, all kinds of living groups, and all kinds of formulations of social among our 4000 undergrads.

But of course, when you come to MIT and have a wonderful, fulfilling, active social life, no one outside MIT will ever believe you. You have to get used to that.

I've had to get used to people saying in disbelief, "Wow, I didn't even know MIT had cheerleaders! Do you cheer for the chess team?" I've also had to perfect the sort of fake smile and forced giggle that people seem to expect when they say such breathtakingly witty things. Why is it funny that someone could be smart and sexy at the same time? I mean, you can be short and blonde at the same time. You can be nearsighted and blue-eyed at the same time. You can also be an MIT student and be perfectly outwardly normal at the same time -- although you don't have to be. What makes that so difficult to process? People are complex. MIT students are complex. This is a fact of life.

I've also had to get used to people saying, "Oh, I could never go to MIT. I heard it's really hard." Sure, it's hard here. This is a freakin' science and engineering school. Science and engineering are hard, whether you're an undergrad or a grad student or a tenured faculty member. You want easy, you're not going to find it in science and engineering, no matter where you are.

And no, you won't be the smartest person here. But if you're the kind of person who belongs here, that idea invigorates you. As you've probably figured out in high school, it's no fun being the smartest person in the vicinity -- there's nobody to talk to. When freshmen first get here, they usually spend their first few days staying up all night talking to people -- it's so exciting to finally find a big group of people who get you. Not being the smartest doesn't hurt us in the long run either; almost everybody does undergraduate research (that's what happens when you have 4000 undergrads and 1000 superstar faculty members), people get to be buddies with their favorite professors, and people go on to get into stellar graduate programs and competitive companies that pay more figures than you have fingers on your right hand (probably). More MIT undergrads get into stellar graduate programs than students from other schools; I suspect this is due to our small size, outstanding support networks, and the general inspiration that comes from being a student at a school that values greatness.

This is the best place in the world. And it's been worth every second.

Questions

1. Alas, I don't do chances. I don't know enough to evaluate applicants, which is why I'm a blogger and not an admissions officer. :)

2. Sean asked,

You mentioned Bank of America being close by, is there a Wells Fargo or convenient Wells Fargo ATM machines?

The Wells Fargo website seems to say that there are no ATMs or branches near Boston, and I can't say that I know the location of any in the surrounding cities.

3. Anonymous asked,

how bad can you do freshman year without getting asked/forced to take a year off?

The Committee on Academic Performance doesn't set strict minimum standards, and does evaluate every student individually. Generally speaking, they would like to see you complete at least 36 units with at least a C average each term, but one bad term by itself isn't cause to ask you to take a year off.

4. John Lempka asked,

Basically, I know that my parents will not pay for "family contribution" portion of my financial aid, and I am pretty sure that will be a significant amount. I know this because my sister (who just graduated from college) is $80,000 in debt with a BFA. So, basically, should I still not be discouraged?

I'm always an advocate of crossing bridges when one comes upon them -- I think it's worth it to apply and see the financial package MIT will offer you, then decide if you can or can't come. Lots of stuff between then and now. :)

Comments (Closed after 30 days to reduce spam)

<3

Posted by: Christina on May 23, 2006

Very nice entry.



And I just realized that my commencement, should I graduate in four years, will be the 144th, which is a very nice number.

Posted by: kallie on May 23, 2006

Hey Mollie, as always, the entry is awesome, and very inspiring.



Something I loved is "if you come here on a visit, and you are wandering around lost, I will bet you five dollars you can stop any random undergrad in the hallway and say "Hi, I'm a prefrosh and I'm lost. Can you help me find [the Student Center, the Admissions Office, my mommy]?" and that random undergrad will point you in the correct direction."



When I was at CPW, I didn't know where Simmons Hall was, and I had this lost prefrosh face trying to find a way to get to Simmons, and an undergrad student actually asked me if he could help me and walked me to Simmons. Once I was there, I found out that my host wasn't going to meet with me until 5 in the afternoon cause he was at a lab, and I had an appointment at 3:30 in the financial aid office! Well, the fact is that I was sitting at Simmons Hall, trying to figure out what to do, when out of nowhere an undergrad girl asked me if I was a prefrosh, and then who was my host, and many other questions (she was a real nice girl). After a while I told her my problem and, guess what? She let me drop my bags in her room, until I could actually meet my host



I guess that kind of people are the ones that made me realize that MIT is the place for me. People that really care about others, and help others without expecting anything (what can an MIT student expect from a lost prefrosh?)



Well, again, I loved your entry and I am very happy that you are going to graduate soon, and get your TWO diplomas! Congratulations



PD: "I could go in there, write my name on those tests, walk out, and still graduate. I'm still nervous." That is awesome

Posted by: Omar '10 on May 23, 2006

One thing still puzzles me. Do you have to culture bacteria overnight and sample them during the incubation at intervals of one hour to check for protein expression? How did you manage to accomplish that within a few hours?

Posted by: Charlotte on May 23, 2006

excellent entry mollie.

congratulations on graduating; it feels great to even think of it...

Posted by: Saad Zaheer on May 23, 2006

I hope in four years I can look back on everything as positively as you have!

Posted by: Kristin R. '10 on May 23, 2006

Really awesome entry. These are all the reasons I'm here. You just put a smile on my face. Now I'm off to have 18.03 maim me severely

Posted by: Michael Borohovski on May 23, 2006

A fiercely brilliant fiercely adorable double-majoring genius-on-wheels cheerleader in pearls! That's our Mollie!!!

Posted by: 09Mom on May 23, 2006

haha, haha, No lie, I laughed for almost 2 minutes -"underwater basket weaving." My hs actually has that! Welcome to the twilight zone.

Posted by: 0 on May 23, 2006

I never thought I'd ever feel special for being blue-eyed and nearsighted. Heh heh.

Posted by: Christine on May 23, 2006

Oh, sorry about that. Thanks for taking the time out for me, though =)



MIT sounds as amazing as it always has for me - probably why I'm dreaming of going.



That was a great post, by the way. Thanks for sharing with us <3

Posted by: faye on May 24, 2006

That was a beautiful entry, thank you very much. I look forward to my next year at MIT, but I am sorry that I won't be able to meet you and personally tell you how much that entry meant to me.

Posted by: Olga on May 24, 2006

Hi Mollie, thank you for all the help and an awesome entry!

Posted by: Sean on May 24, 2006

Wow. I can just imagine the first week -- everybody staying up until the wee hours of the morning so they can talk with fellow smart folk. I know I'm one of the four smartest students in my school, and two of them are graduating early (sigh), so by the time I go to college I'm going to be starved for intelligent debate. Not that my family is bad or anything, but . . . nothing beats a discussion between peers.

Uh . . . one question. (If it sounds dumb, that's okay.) I play Laser Quest the way you drink Mountain Dew - "religiously." I know there's a Laser Quest in Danvers, Massachusetts, and was wondering whether you knew of any clubs or informal groups that go to the monthly all-day events there. My college decision won't hinge on it or anything, but it would be nice to think that an LQ addict could find other LQ Members (okay, addicts) at MIT.

Posted by: Susan on May 24, 2006

really nice entry...even tho i didnt get in i read your blog...religiously:D i just love the way u write:) ive gotten into med school btw(my 2nd option)...we do that after 12th grade here.

Posted by: Mushal on May 24, 2006

Thank you very much for the entry; MIT is the college I'd never thought I'd get into or end up at. I'm really excited but also a little scared of everything; reading your blog has made me feel really comfortable and confident in my decision. Thanks again!

Posted by: ariadne on May 24, 2006

As a bored child up late at night, I google a biology minor, your blog comes up, I am inspired.



MIT rocks, but it'll rock a little less when you graduate.



Don't leave us, -sobs-

Posted by: Chris'toph'er on May 25, 2006

no no, silly, don't fret. she'll just pass on the rocking to the rest of us.

Posted by: lulu on May 25, 2006

This is an amazing entry.

Posted by: Colin on May 25, 2006

Mollie, thankyou for all the time and personality you put into this blog. I think you have made a difference in people's perceptions of MIT. A positive difference. Best of luck in Grad school and beyond. You will be missed.

Posted by: 56forceout on May 25, 2006

Hey Mollie, I just wanted to tell you I've been reading your blog since my junior year in HS, (I'll be class of 2010 at MIT), and it has always been inspiring. This school has always been a dream of mine and this blog entry showcases the reasons why. Good luck at grad school and I'll miss reading your entries.

OJ From Texas

MIT 2010

Posted by: OJ on May 25, 2006

please don't tell me this is your last entry:(

Posted by: Lena on May 25, 2006

We are fear the same... Mollie's leaving us. But hey, she's still going to be around as she promised (right?)



I love your blog and in the many months (more than an year) that I've been reading your blog I have realized how amazing you are. I wish you the best of lucks at Grad School and you'll be my role model at MIT (although I wont major in what you did!)



You are simply... amazing Mollie!

Posted by: Omar '10 on May 25, 2006

"When you come to MIT and have a wonderful, fulfilling, active social life, no one outside MIT will ever believe you."



I LOVED that entry. Thanks for that

Posted by: JKim on May 25, 2006

My GOD!!!

I'm impressed. Capitalism & Egotism live.

If you don;t read Ayn Rand Mollie, you really want to. Your type of sentiments.

And hell, you've just listed nearly every reason I want to come to MIT.

I'm printing out your blog and pinning it up

(once I get the ink refilled in my printer that is...)

And even if, only MIT is like what you described, I'd gladly turn down a million bucks to be there.



Hope your graduation is all you hope for.

Sarab

Posted by: Sarab on May 25, 2006

What am I going to do without you next year?!? :-(

Posted by: Ben on May 26, 2006

Yes,Ben! I am crazy about the same thing! Congratulations and thank you Mollie! Your blog has accompanied me through the days of applying, anxiously waiting, getting in and preparing... Will you keep any more blogs (I know it will not end with mitblogs dot com)? I remember once you said you would like to keep track of things in your life and I am eager to share it if I can! Or can I contact you later for any questions/advices as a follow-up mit undergraduate?

Posted by: Helen on May 26, 2006

I love that now that I go to MIT, the rest of the world thinks I'm really smart, when actually, I'm not really so smart at all anymore.



P.S. Mollie rocks.

Posted by: Laura on May 26, 2006

Excellent post!

Posted by: Kim on May 26, 2006

Comments have been closed.