Get It Done by Chris Peterson SM '13

Hi all! A few updates over what is, for us, a long weekend.

First, I hope you’re enjoying it. The long weekend, that is (or normal-length weekend, if you don’t have Monday off). I know that fall of senior year can be a pretty hectic time. During the October of my senior year, way back in the forgotten mists of 2004, I was editing the newspaper, the lead in a play, and organizing a student rock concert to raise money for the memorial fund of a classmate who died in a car wreck – and oh yeah, applying to colleges as well.

But it’s important to take down-time, too. Some time to relax, to enjoy your dwindling time with high school friends, to just veg out and watch some football or hang out at the mall or play COD or whatever it is that you do. If you’re busy doing things that you love to do – great. But sometimes you need to just take a nap in the early autumn sun. And that’s ok too.

That said, there are some important deadlines coming up for our admissions process, especially if you are applying for Early Action.

For example, if you are applying Early Action than you must get in touch with your alumni interviewer by October 20th to schedule an interview. You can find out your interviewer’s information through MyMIT immediately, and we’ll be sending an email early next week with the information so you can’t miss it.

The Early Action application itself must be postmarked by November 1st. And if you need to take more standardized tests, you have one more shot if you’re applying Early Action, as the final testing date from which we will accept scores for EA consideration is November 6th.

So take time to breathe, but keep your wits about you. One of the most important characteristics of MIT students is knowing when to work and when to relax; another is the ability to “take care of business”, meaning that you get your stuff done when it needs to be done.

And, of course, the most important characteristic of MIT students is…a deep and profound understanding of the word “on.”

Go out there, take a breath, get it done, and keep on keepin’ on.