Words of Advice for the Incoming Class by Cami M. '23

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First off, congratulations to the admitted class of 2026. You have taken incredible strides, made great sacrifices, and worked so, so hard to get here and I can only barely imagine what this excitement and feeling must feel like for you.

You might have gotten recently added to the Discord or gotten praises from friends, acquaintances, and not-so-much acquaintances. There may be an onslaught of information bursting toward you like an overly aggressive firehose and it’s just too much information all at once.

I get it. I know it. I was there.

I thought I’d make something to hopefully help you proceed and answer a big question: Where do we go from here?

Take a step back, relax, and revel.

First of all, and perhaps easier said than done, relax. Give yourself a pat on the back. MIT is one of the most difficult schools to get into and you have achieved something that is by no means easy. The hard part is over (for now).

A lot of adMITs will throw themselves into a panic because they think they need to prepare for MIT, when in reality, you were admitted because you are already prepared.

If you’d like to do some light studying or review for fun before MIT begins, then sure! But do not spend this next year constantly studying, studying, studying. That’s probably how you already spent these past four years of high school — why not take a break and relax knowing that MIT is in your pocket already?

Take it slow.

Current students are, expectedly so, so excited to meet you and talk with you and tell you all the things they love about MIT. They’ll talk about dorms, classes, majors, people, histories, hacks, lore, professors, rankings, labs, cats, more and more and more and–

It’s a lot. Do not feel afraid to stop reading all that MIT information — you’ll learn it soon enough if you do commit. In fact, you’ll see at it CPW.⁠01 Campus Preview Weekend: MIT's admitted students weekend where admits spend a weekend at MIT learning about our culture and getting acquainted with all we have to offer.

There is no rush at all to acquire your MIT wings. There’s nothing wrong with taking a look at dorms or taking the time to talk to current students about their lives, but do not absorb so much information that you feel as if you’re going to implode. MIT is a lot; there’s a lot to us. But you have four whole years to learn all about us. And on that note…

Take what we (current students) say with a grain of salt.

Perhaps contradictory but something that needs to be said: current students have biases. Whether we like it or not, we are going to biased on everything – preferred classes, majors, dorms, professors, dining halls.

Do not take what we say as the end all be all. We, current students, are meant to be purely informational. We give you our opinion, we say what’s on our mind, and you take that information temporarily then you go and experience it for yourself. You combine what we told you and what you experienced and form your own opinion from there.

I say this because current students develop over time a nasty habit to talk in absolutes. I’m guilty of this to. They say things like “The best sorority is…” or “You have to take this..” or “Actually the best dorm is…” when in reality there really is no best or worst universally. Only best and worst for you.

So please, please, please please form opinions for yourself. Go to CPW and see what that dorm is really like. Talk to that professor. Meet that fraternity. You have autonomy as well and you shouldn’t listen to what we have to say in full accord.

Take time to be kind to yourself and others.

MIT is probably going to be one of the hardest things you undergo. There’ll be a lot of changes and challenges and you will have difficulty adaption. Everyone struggles in different ways as well — academically, socially, emotionally, physically.

Please take the time to be kind to yourself in these times and as you prepare for MIT. It will be hard. You will fail, you will struggle, you may run into issues you would have never anticipated. But understand that that is all a part of the MIT process.

Additionally, some things may come easier to you than it does to for others at MIT. A lot of you may have come from competitive high schools or backgrounds. Maybe you’re an Olympiad kid that’s studied biology all your life, whereas some of you may not have even had AP Biology offered at your school. It is these differences between you all that make it absolutely imperative that you are kind to one another.

It’s important that, as you enter as a class, you learn to be empathetic and understanding since people from all kinds of backgrounds will be joining you on your MIT journey.

MIT is a collaborative environment and this is upheld through the nature and culture of our school. It is our responsibility as undergraduates to uplift and help one another. MIT is already difficult as it is — why make it harder for others?

In Conclusion..

Congratulations again. Know that current students are always so excited to help and talk to you so please, please, please do reach out if you have questions or are curious. I’ve done Zoom calls one on one with admitted/incoming students before and I’ve never minded the amount of questions I get!! I love being a resource for students, current and incoming, and I’m so excited to see you in the fall if you do choose to commit.