How to CPW! by Selam G. '18

Advice from all the bloggers, with love.

April 4, 2017

WOW CPW IS HAPPENING IN TWO DAYS!!!

APPARENTLY IT IS ALSO SOMETIMES CALLED ‘KAPOW’!!!

IT IS STANDARD ETIQUETTE THAT ANYTHING RELATED TO CPW HAS A HEALTHY AMOUNT OF CAPITALS AND EXCLAMATION POINTS!!!!!!

VERY IMPORTANT INFO:

First, you should have already been contacted by your CPW host. Please respond to them as quickly as you can–school doesn’t halt for us either, and all the hosts are regular MIT undergraduate students, so it’s best for everyone if logistics are handled ahead of time. If you haven’t been contacted yet, email cpw-hosting [at] mit [dot] edu.

Second, be on the lookout in your email for more specific information later today!

And third….the CPW weather machine appears to be in need of some maintenance :(

If you want second-by-second weather updates, the campus weather station site can be found here.

Some clothing advice, which will be repeated in another section below, is:

“As an LA native, please bring some warm clothes. I’m wearing a ski jacket as I write this…no shame in being warm :)” (Anelise)
“Temperatures during CPW seem like they’ll range from 40-60 degrees on average, with rain on Thursday. If you just wear a t-shirt and shorts for the weekend, you’ll probably survive but also be really sad. :(” (Joon)
“Bring boots that are waterproof (flip flops don’t count). Bring a beanie or else your head will get cold. If you don’t own pants (or if you only own one pair) buy some pants.” (Fiona)
“I’m not from a particularly warm place, but I’m from a dry place, and good lord, save yourself and buy/borrow some rain boots please. The thing I hate most in life is soggy socks :( Whatever you do, don’t show up with only those ratty canvas Vans, or else you might develop Trench Foot. A raincoat is also a fantastic investment, but for the uncomMITted, a good umbrella will do, although you may suffer from blowback and possible humiliation if the local Bostonians and/or rough-n’-tough-New-Englanders laugh at you.” (Selam)

Also: there will be shuttles running from Logan to check-in. However, if you take the MBTA (Logan -> Silver Line to South Station -> Red Line to Kendall/MIT), then here is how you get from the subway stop to checkin.

Ancient CPW Wisdom

CPW 2k17 Advice

ABBY:

Come, see, conquer. (Bring a raincoat, too.)

ALLAN:

Eat vegetables. Seriously. Your digestive system will thank you.
Sleep at night. At least a few hours.
Try to visit most of the dorms! Even if there aren’t any official events going on. Just go in and wander around and ask the residents to tell you about the dorm. You’ll want to have some basis for comparison, for when you have to rank housing choices.

ALEXA:

Try to do everything, but don’t try too hard. Revel in the possibilities.
Don’t be afraid to go to an event alone. Everybody is trying to meet new people, so it won’t be awkward. Pinky promise.
Be open to the weird and the wonders of MIT, and you’ll learn a lot more about the people, culture, and school. It’s a good skill to acquire, especially if you end up coming here.
Bring (warm) layers of clothing (@warm weather ppl read: sweaters, jackets, long pants)! The weather has been quite indecisive lately, and we’ve gotten everything from snow to rain to almost sunny weather. Also, if you have waterproof-y shoes, those would be good too.

ANELISE:

I didn’t go to CPW, but from my experiences at MIT and freshman REX here’s what I wish I’d have done!

Talk to people! Talk to other prefrosh. Talk to current students. If you go to a panel, talk to the panelists afterwards. Talk to teachers about their classes. Talk to everyone. Meeting your potential classmates and teachers is one of the best ways to get to know a school.
Experience as many living groups as possible—East Campus, West Campus, independent living groups—to try to get a sense of where you might fit in here. Your MIT experience can be really different depending on the community you end up living with, so try to experience all the options before deciding if it’s a good fit.
As an LA native, please bring some warm clothes. I’m wearing a ski jacket as I write this…no shame in being warm :)
And get ready to have a great time!

ERICK:

Make a plan then don’t follow it.
Meet cool people then follow them.
There is always free food nearby.
Go to some events on the Boston side of the river.
Call your parents at some point over the weekend.

FIONA:

Bring boots that are waterproof (flip flops don’t count)
Bring a beanie or else your head will get cold
If you don’t own pants (or if you only own one pair) buy some pants.
Please sleep just a little or at least enough to stay up late the next night :)
Don’t lose your nametag because next year you will need it to pretend to be a prefrosh for the free food
DO NOT PAY FOR ANYTHING (if you do you are doing CPW wrong)
Do (most of) the things
Get all the swags
Make new friends!!!! :))) :) :))

JOEL:

Don’t eat vegetables
Don’t sleep at night
Don’t take advice
You’ll look back and laugh at CPW no matter what, so be weird and crazy while you still have the plausible deniability of being in high school.

JOON:

CPW is rarely what your actual MIT experience will be: nevertheless, it’s important to go out, explore, try and make new friends, and have fun!
If you’re from a warm place, please please please remember to pack warm clothes: temperatures during CPW seem like they’ll range from 40-60 degrees on average, with rain on Thursday. If you just wear a t-shirt and shorts for the weekend, you’ll probably survive but also be really sad. :(

KEVIN:

Sleep – you’ll have more fun well-rested.
Ask questions, any question is a good question.
Stay curious, stay adventurous.
Have fun.

KRYSTAL:

Try not to judge a school by its prefrosh too much; not everyone you meet will end up attending. The current students are a better indication of what it’ll be like at MIT, so get to know us!
Make time for some “serious events”. Don’t forget to attend a few classes, academic fairs etc. to get a flavor for the academic side of MIT which, let’s be honest, is a nontrivial (read: huge) part of being a student here.
But most importantly: you do you. Don’t feel pressured to “do CPW right”.

SABRINA:

Don’t get too caught up with where your new (or old) friends want to go; go to events you want to go to.
Try to eat more than just burgers.
Get to know upperclassmen; they’re excited to meet you and, if you decide to come here, will be good friends to have.

SELAM:

I didn’t go to CPW (lol) but I went to freshman orientation which is similar :3

Talk to people!!!!
+1 to what Yuliya said– for once, don’t plan, just find people you like and stick with them until you’re all a coagulate ball of prefroshness~
You’ll hear this many times, young prefroshling–you’ve all applied to MIT for the academics, the prestige, the fancy labs, the this and the that. The reason you’ll (hopefully) stay is for the people, because it’s ultimately all the people here that make MIT~ meet each other and upperclassmen and generally as many of them as you can! :3
WEATHER: I’m not from a particularly warm place, but I’m from a dry place, and good lord, save yourself and either buy or borrow some rain boots please. The thing I hate most in life is soggy socks :( whatever you do don’t show up with only those ratty canvas Vans, or else you might develop Trench Foot.
MOAR WEATHER: for the comMITted, a raincoat is also a fantastic investment. For the uncomMITted, a good umbrella will do, although you may suffer from blowback and possible humiliation if the local Bostonians and/or rough-n’-tough-New-Englanders laugh at you.

YULIYA:

don’t plan. Instead join people for random events. Try something new.
don’t walk alone. Not a safety concern if you do, but try to join groups to meet new people
try to visit all dorms. Ask people what it’s like to live there. Don’t listen to rumors about other living groups. I was told by other pre-frosh that East Campus is too hardcore, but I’m glad I ended up visiting. I’ve lived in EC for three years and I love it.
bring a change of clothing in case of rain, mud, or grilling
don’t buy things like food and MIT merchandise. Get lots of free food and free swag.
the students are excited to meet you. There are over a 1,000 prefrosh coming and there are always more students than that happy to host them.