Admitted Students Parties by Matt McGann '00
Go to one in a town near you, and send in your pictures/reviews.
Beginning today (Saturday), MIT alumni from around the world (from Massachusetts to Malaysia) will host parties in their hometowns for students admitted to the Class of 2011. If there’s one in your area, you should check it out — it’s a great opportunity to meet some potential future classmates, as well as MIT students (home for Spring Break!) and alumni.
These events mostly occur this week (MIT’s Spring Break week), though some will happen later. See your MyMIT portal for a list of locations and times for all of the Admitted Students Parties.
Today, I’d like to highlight a few of the parties around the country: one a day for the next week. (This list is just a subset of the many parties going on)
Saturday
- Reno, Nevada, in the home of my friend Kristie ’03!
Sunday
- Orange County, California (or “The OC,” if you prefer), in the home of Dr. Joanna Tan ’74.
Monday
- Providence, Rhode Island, with special guest Prof. Les Norford, MIT Department of Architecture.
Tuesday
- Miami, Florida, at the home of Dr. Paul Gluck ’68, where you can see an extensive collection of Native American art (recognized as one of the top private collections in the nation), including a beaver totem (go MIT!) carved for them.
Wednesday
- San Antonio, Texas, in the home of an awesome MIT couple, Brian ’77 (chairman of a shoe company!) and Lissa ’76 (consultant/engineer/entrepreneur).
Thursday
- Los Angeles, California, at Northrop Grumman Space Technologies, where a cool space heritage exhibit is on display. (This is the most popular day for parties, with 17 from Toronto to Puerto Rico)
Friday
- Long Island, New York — my hometown meeting. Strong Island!
Saturday
- Indianapolis, Indiana, and Chicago, Illinois, both in Italian restaurants (yum!). Altogether, there are more than a dozen parties on the last day of March.
Sunday
- Honolulu, Hawaii, in a park in a beautiful ridge line neighborhood (I wish I could be at this one!).
If you go to any of the Admitted Students Parties, post your review here, I’d love to hear about it! And if you take some digital photos, send them along to me and I’ll post them online.
Enjoy, and I look forward to meeting you at the biggest admitted students party: Campus Preview Weekend!
First Post!!!
Yes got first post.
Massachusetts to Malaysia, quite a few parties hosted world wide. Doesn’t sound like there are many parties in Europe though :( If there are then hopefully I will be attending one next year.
im rejected..sobs…sobs..any parties for that pool of applicants is being planned matt sir??????
I’ll be at the Sunday and Thursday parties in California :D. Can’t wait to see some of you there!
Have a good time everybody.
I just wonder if there has ever been an MIT alumni from Lithuania?
Hmmm, the RSVP email for the San Francisco area party isn’t working…
Has anyone else in the Bay Area managed to RSVP by email? I guess I should just pick up the phone and call.
I take it back, I typoed the email.
Oops.
hey Matt, how can I find out who’s going to be my host for CPW?
Anybody else notice how empty these comment sections are since admissions decisions came out?
It’s sad! The blogosphere is in need!
I might go to the one in Philly on Tuesday if I feel like making the two hour trek (I don’t think there’s one closer by.) I’ll totally let you know if I do!
no admitted parties in taiwan =(
Snively, I promise I’ll be filling these gaps. Well, at least until the next admission decision for the ’12.
i am doimg my BE 1 year .
I’m going to the Princeton one on Thursday. WWEEEEEE!
No parties in Tanzania.. :( Well but glad to be admitted… Thank you…
I went to the admitted student party in Philadelphia tonight. I knew it was going to be fun, but I was shocked at how great it really was and how fast the time FLEW by!
What really amazed me was just how much everyone was excited with MIT. Current students, new students, alumni, parents of new students, parents of current students – EVERYONE was absolutely in love with MIT, and it was infectious. If MIT wasn’t already my first choice (by far!) I think tonight would have definitely swayed me.
Anyway, it was great to meet up with current students and alumni who were full of information and advice, as well as start to get to know the people I’m going to spend the next four years of my life with.
Good times had by all!
Good to hear that Ryan!
I hope to get in next year (yeah yeah I know everyone does :D)
Been working on my magazine, first issue next month, I hope it works out, you never know it might be my hook to MIT
http://www.evolutionboard.co.nr
MIT has been my first choice for most of high school, but for a brief period of time, another school took its place as my number one, and then the two schools jointly occupied the position of “dream school.” I included both in my list of college applications. MIT eventually came back to being my top choice, and a couple of days after receiving my acceptance to MIT, I was sure I was joining the MIT Class of 2011.
Then my acceptance from my old top choice came. I wavered for a moment. I knew at either of the schools, I could probably spend my college days there and declare afterwards, “Those were an amazing four years!” After some thought, I decided that MIT overall was the better fit. But my mind needed further convincing, further affirmation that MIT was really the right place for me. That further affirmation came with the Long Island Admitted Student Party.
The party started off slowly with some introductions of admitted students, of current students, of alumni, and also of MIT—nothing that was particularly grabbing. We then began a Q&A session, and that was where the real color and appeal of MIT got through to me. We, the admitted students, weren’t the most talkative bunch during the Q&A session, but I’m glad people asked questions, or else the party wouldn’t have been the same! My biggest concern about MIT was successfully addressed with another person’s question: “What if I go through MIT only to find that I want to be an English teacher?” Though that wasn’t my exact concern, it was close. The consensus among the current students was that you could do anything with an MIT education—yes, even become an English teacher. The current students at the party ended the Q&A session with confident declaration that if we haven’t already been won over, CPW would definitely do the job.
After that, we were allowed to mingle among ourselves and eat delicious cookies. I chatted with some other admitted students, and I also got to talk to some current students and ask some more questions. One of them had also faced the decision of choosing between the same two schools that I was slightly divided over. You can guess which school I will attend after that conversation. In the meantime, my mother made plans for a future carpool arrangement with another admitted student’s parent.
A worthwhile night? I think so.