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MIT staff blogger Matt McGann '00

‘Twas the night before Christmas by Matt McGann '00

Happy holidays to everyone!

The Christmas holiday is a pretty big deal in my family. On Christmas Eve, Santa visits our annual family gathering, with dozens of McGanns in attendance.

Last night, my parents, my brother and I gathered for our traditional decorating of the tree.

Just a few miles from my house is the famous Big Duck, which always gets all gussied up for the holidays.

It’s great to be able to spend some quality time with my family… I hope many of you are taking advantage of your holiday time with family, too.

Happy holidays! =)

21 responses to “‘Twas the night before Christmas”

  1. Guyomar says:

    Merry Christmas…smile Nice pictures. I’m frightened that I’m never going to send off my essays. I just can’t seem to stop re-writing them.

  2. Jillian says:

    Merry Christmas!!

  3. Jess says:

    Merry Christmas, dozens of McGanns!

  4. Ian says:

    Yay! First to post a comment! Happy Holidays everyone!!!

  5. merry christmas… 26 minutes and counting

  6. Alyssa says:

    hooray for long island smile

  7. ICE says:

    Merry Christmas~

  8. Jon '11 says:

    sweet duck.

    and merry christmas!

  9. Peter says:

    A very merry Christmas to all!(Luke 2:13)

  10. Kristina says:

    Happy holidays to you too!

    That duck has got to be the next best thing to the giant bunny I found a while ago.

  11. Shashank says:

    Happy Holidays everyone!! And a Merry Christmas!!

  12. Sanja says:

    Merry Christmas!!!

  13. Anonymous says:

    Happy Holidays all! Spend them happily and safely.

  14. Basant says:

    Merry Christmas, Matt. Have a gr8 time!

  15. Anonymous says:

    Merrrrry christmasss!!!!!

  16. Xan says:

    Terrifyingly awesome duck.

  17. Adam S. says:

    Merry Christmas! .. Actually, Christmas is over now. Drat. grin Hope you enjoyed it, Matt & everyone else!

    Now.. I have a question..
    I was deferred. Now that I look back, I think that I sent in *way* too much extra stuff. I sent in a CD with a few programs, lots of extra information, a few additional teacher reqs, etc. I’m starting to regret sending so much, because now I have one or two more things I’d like to share, but I think that I’m already pushing the patience of the admissions officers.

    With that in mind, I have a few questions.

    a) Is the reviewing process started over from scratch, or are the notes taken on each applicant from EA reused?

    b) I sent in a CD with perhaps 5 or 6 programs on it. I would like to scrap that, and just write a summary with a few screen shots instead. I don’t want the admissions officer to have to spend time looking at the CD *and* reading the summary. Since the summary is just compressing the contents of the CD to an easier-to-use form, is it possible for me to completely remove the CD from my application?

    c) I’ve done some things that are particularly interesting to me lately. In comparison, the things that I sent before were rather dull, actually. I’m planning on sending in a page of information on the new things.. but I’ve sent so much other information that I’m a bit worried that the new information will be smothered. I know I can’t actually remove the old information from my application, but is there any way that I can ensure that the new information will be considered more closely? Since it will be more recent, will this be done automatically?

    Sorry for turning the Christmas thread into a questions and answers post, but I would really appreciate your help.

    Thank you very much!
    Adam

    Wow, I really wrote that much? Yeech.

  18. Alex says:

    MERRY CHRISTMAS!! yay i go to retreat tomorrow too xD

  19. Monika says:

    merry christmas to “dozens of McGanns”;)
    Nice- we are a dozen to- its Great to have a huge family!!!Especially on Christmas