Things to do while waiting for decisions on Saturday by Keri G. '10
Clicking the "refresh" button repeatedly between now and Saturday afternoon is NOT an option.
This goes out to all of you waiting on tenterhooks for decisions to come out in a couple of days (I love the word “tenterhooks.” It’s amazing.). These are just a few small ideas – I know you can think of others tailored to your interests. And share those! They’re probably awesome!
-Sleep. As second-semester seniors, you should have become well-acquainted with this sometime around January. (Um, I mean, I SAID NOTHING YOU ARE ALL BEING DILIGENT STUDENTS FROM NOW UNTIL GRADUATION)
-If you have a ton of free time on your hands, learn ozonolysis. Oh man, was that a meta-metapost? It’s gonna be a good day. Speaking of, why do people shorten “organic chemistry” to “orgo”? Does Inorganic Chemistry (all the cool kids are calling it 5.03 these days) ever get shortened to “Inorgo”? I hope not, because that sounds really, really silly.
What was I saying? Oh. Right. More things you can do between now and Saturday afternoon:
-Buy really cool brain-related t-shirts on the Internet. Now you too can declare your nerdiness on your chest for the viewing pleasure of small children and passersby.
-Sleep.
–Also, DON’T PANIC. You’re scaring your family. (Thank them for the last couple of months, by the way. College application time causes tons of stress for everyone.)
—On that “DON’T PANIC” note, read (or reread, if you’ve already made your way through it) The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. Similar to gateway drugs, this book is the first step before reaching a level of sci-fi hardcore known only to a select few. Next comes Neuromancer and Battlestar Galactica, and then you’re on to the very depths of obscurity. If you find yourself living every waking moment in fear that you’re really a cylon, all hope is lost.
-If reading science fiction isn’t for you, you can always read a newspaper. Any newspaper. Something that isn’t centered on the United States, even. Anything at all. Ignore any of those “RECORD NUMBER OF HIGH SCHOOL SENIORS APPLYING TO COLLEGE” articles, as they will only lead to panic, and we just discussed how you aren’t allowed to do that.
-Leave a comment on the blogs that displays more than just your knowledge of ordinal numbers. (This one is really just in here to see how many of you will even read the post before commenting. Substance! Give it to us! Tell us stories!)
–Discover new music. Once you’ve done so, get all statistics-happy about it.
–Learn to knit! Don’t be as bad at it as I am.
-If you do get in, don’t get all self-righteous about it. You’re fantastic and all, but you too were sitting in your desk chair full of self-doubt and convincing yourself that you weren’t good enough to get in before you checked online, and your friends and family all know it because you probably went ahead and panicked a lot anyway. Worse than the “none of the fifteen colleges I applied to will take me because I suck at life!” guy is when he turns into the “I knew I’d get into fill-in-the-blank University all along!” guy. Don’t do it.
For more things to do, check out a post Jess made a while back. She’s better at this kind of thing than I am. Can’t say I didn’t try.
The best of luck to applicants on Saturday!
the hitchhikers guide to the galaxy is so good! But Youtube beats everything if you want to pass away the time. and long bicycle rides are a close second.
Thanks for the advice. I’ve been pretty nervous since Dec. 15 (I’m an EA deferral) – but the nervousness was increased again last Sunday. Good luck all!
Thank you, Keri! Oh… I like orgo more than inroganic Chemistry so I can skip this step while waiting for decisions. Nearly 47 hours left :S, good luck for all!
fifth
Lol at the people who posted “First” and “second”! Apparently they didn’t read the post.
To be added to the list:
DISCOVER THE RANDOM BUTTON ON XKCD. Best time-sink ever. Unless you already have all the xkcd comics memorized….
Thanks Keri!
I really am running out of ways to pass the time! Lets see….
-I’v forced myself to sleep 11 hours in the past 24…
-I learnt how to make the protein strands floating around inside my eyes trace the shape “Pi” by wiggling them around…don’t tell me you’ve never played around with them! I know you have!
-Discovered a humble side to myself after getting into Caltech..
-Watched “Good Will Hunting”….twice the past three days
-read half of “the split second”…and then realized that fiction wasn’t helping.
-Completed “God of War” on my PSP….getting used to Virtual Tennis Pro now…its awesome!
-Thought about decisions!
-Thought about decisions!
-Still thinking….
Thanks for this entry! Though knitting isn’t really for me, I think I missed the newspapers….^^
All good ideas, but anxiety runs deeper than sleep and more powerful than literature (when it comes to MIT….I mean it’s MIT!!! Enough said.)
Did u apply for aid at caltech?
my question was for NIHAR.
Anyways, after the ordinal number comment (which fell into the trap), here is my real comment (after reading the post):
i guess sleeping would solve the problem only if it was continuous until the moment the decisions are released. Other than that if only we could sleep, because are mind is both excited and nervous.
anyways, for those who will get admitted they will find plenty of time to sleep in the coming months just to store their energy when they go to MITbecause at that time sleeping will be something high in demand.
Good luck to everyone.
@ Nihar
Are you Mr Nilekani’s son?
I googled you!
here’s another way to pass time.
Well, for those annoyed with littered billboards along major avenues, here’s an interesting read.
Good luck to everyone. Seriously, we all deserve to chillax..
woooooooooooosah
chill
listen to chill music
(like Let Me by Sergio Mendes)
CHILL
need I say more?
lol
Try landing a B-52 on an aicraft carrier in a flight simulator. Trust me it’ll take two days and is as good as solving an unsolvable physics problem…
If you do the above, try flying a F-14 without any weapons in an air combat against F-22s and F-16s for 15 minutes. And tell me if you are able to do this one!
Insomniac, that’s scary, saving up my money, still an insomniac, can’t help panicking, already 2 for 3 (sky like dead television, MAN!), still going to read those stories, doing that now and still panicking, listening to Gnarls Barkley while panicking, …maybe…, still panicking, PANICKING, PANICKING!!!!!
But thanks.
I just want a definite decision from MIT. I was deferred from EA and if I get put on the waitlist, it will put me in a rather awkward situation, since Caltech already semi-accepted, semi-rejected my application. I’m tired of waiting, but xkcd comics are amazing.
Anyone else going to see 21 when it comes out?
How about getting MAYA 8.5 and do some designing or better do some creative cooking else FIFA 2008 is there.
Also watch this
http://storyofstuff.com/
(but don’t believe every word, necessarily)
I’m going to go out and just get away from all computers that morning.
I’m going to start with brunch with a friend, and just keep myself busy. maybe catch “Be Kind Rewind” (was it any good?).
I hope to only get home sometime in the afternoon so I’ve had a full day to relax before I meet whatever awaits me behind that login.
Good luck to everyone! Just think..someone has to get in, right? So don’t worry about it.
Question!!
At what time is the admission desition is going to be at MyMIT??
Well, at least MIT has accurately told us the time. Saturday, 12PM Eastern time. So maybe a couple of hundreds of refreshes from 11:45 and it’ll be ok. But what I had with caltech… A day in which email should come. So, I woke up at 9AM and waited for it, waited, waited and got it at 1AM the next day. A reject email… ouch.
I’m gonna take a leaf out of jess kim’s book and tell you to play funny farm (http://shygypsy.com/farm/p.cgi). It helped nme a ridiculous amount waiting for EA decisions. Be forewarned though, it may cause addiction. Outside of that, enjoy your parents. In general, they’re a lot nicer in this whole situation than you think.
My way of waiting for decisons on Sunday (have I mentioned I HATE time differences before?):
Work until you forget about decisions coming out :D I nearly forgot about it because I was so into my Biology homework, but then Keri just posted, so I remembered :(
You didn’t mentio video games. that is a *fantastic* way to pass time. Counter-Strike, anybody? Team Fortress 2? Audiosurf? Off-Road Velociraptor Safari? SSBB? I could go on.
Hell, Nihar Nilekani… ohh man. You got to be a sure in, post a link of your stats, would be scary to watch. I googled you too!(sorry for the privacy).
knittinghelp.com is pretty good too, if you’re learning to knit.
ok..i’ve already read the Hitchhiker’s Guide…so what am i doing now..I’m listening to the original radio show that started it all.. you can get the shows here..they are pretty interesting if you have read the book
http://www.sadena.com/hh/
As for ozonolysis…I think most of the people in India are more than familiar with that. We had it in our class XII chemistry course.
And II need to thank MIT for giving us a specifiic date and time. I got a letter of regret from Caltech..at 4:00 in the morning..
Hey fellow prospectives!
My name is Nihar Sharma. Im an Indian from Indonesia. AND by NO means a sure in!!
Hi fellow ’12 prospectives,
first…. WHICHEVERTH!
All the lists of ‘things to do’ are missing one major point: “program computers till you drop”.
Personally, I can’t even get excited about decisions because I’m too busy playing Fire Emblem and worrying about getting GNU RPGE 0.0.1 ready for release around the time the decisions are posted….Well, guess it keeps my mind off my weak application.
Now.. back to that work on GNU.
~A GNU Maintainer and yet another worrying prospective.
I am reading a lot, and I’m surprised you did not mentioned sports ! It helps a lot on relieving stress, trust me.
After hearing from everyone here, I don’t feel so bad about the waitlist at Caltech. Better than an outright denial. I even have something in mind to send them so I might still get in.
Just think, less than 45 hours until decisions come out. I’m partial to playing portal to pass the time, but everyone has their own preferences.
lol I read “post more than just your knowledge of ordinal numbers” at the same time I saw “FIRST” in my browser. Epic moment
As said repeatedly, best of luck
#34 .. I know cardinal numbers!!
did i tell you how much you remind me of angelina jolie?
Can not agree more! Sleep!Sleep! More sleep. Thank you for the good idea.
The week before EA decisions all I did was sleep a lot, eat, and play Tetris (plus do the minimum amount of work needed to keep my grades up). And the whole night before I just kept thinking, “Well they have to let someone in, why not me?” And thankfully they did accept me.
Good luck to everyone waiting for Saturday! I hope you get whatever is best for you, only a few more hours to go.
Hahaha…A lot of those describe me. I am definitely scaring my family…a lot of freaking out here. I’ll try to stop. Before, I think inwardly I was very much like the guy who thought he had a good chance everywhere. Now I am the opposite guy who thinks he has no chance. Haha…w/e though. It’ll be over soon.
icanhascheezburger.com
read every one. yup, the archives and voting pages too. i promise they’ll help.
good luck to everyone waiting!
^-^
keri, i wish you didn’t post that link to threadless. because now ALL i want is that SHIRTTT.
LOL i love neuroscience :D
It’s a good thing our FFA state convention is in a week and I have a lot to do… Otherwise, I’d be going crazy right now.
Not to say that I’m not excited or anything… :D
Fun post; you really need to blog more!
Speaking of influential sci-fi novels, don’t forget Snow Crash.
Absolutely. Freaking. Amazing.
is anyone else going to bake a pie for PI DAY TOMORROW! I’m so excited it’s ridiculous.
video game is perhaps the best way of killing time now. I think I’ll play Onimusha tonight, go to watch movie with friends tomorrow night, sleep in on Saturday morning, and watch Manchester United rampage over Durby to reclaim the top of the EPL!
Any good suggestion for the movies?
I agree with Isshak. (Reading ftw!) I’m actually about halfway through Orson Scott Card’s Pastwatch right now. Is anyone else a fan?
Also, sleep is amazing. I mean, what? I’m not trying to get seven hours of sleep a night or anything. I am too dedicated to sacrifice that kind of time.
@bga02
Try Gladiator, Black Hawk Down, V for Vendetta, The Bourne Series (any will do), or Hot Fuzz. If you are talking about a cinema movie then do not see 10000 BC. It is not worth the money.
Yeah, this is pretty much a list of my favorite movies that I can think of.
@ Anon/ Hopeful ’12
Portal is a good idea
HAPPY Pi DAY EVERYONE!!!!
And I see that you are from Fort Lauderdale, Keri. What high school did you attend?
Laser – I went to Stranahan. Are you from the area too?
on your blog you say do not panic, but it is very difficult not to think about it…… thanks for you post
Come on people, even if we don’t get into MIT, we’re (pretty much all definitely) still going to college next year! You know what that means: SSBB, Halo 3, CoD4, Guitar Hero (any number)… the list goes on. I personally am working on Guitar Hero (I’ve been out of the loop for a while), but we all need one game (at the very least of the party variety) that we can be good at!
Aside from that, I find The Onion absolutely hilarious, thank you for the link!
Keri, I am little further North in Palm Beach; I currently go to Atlantic Community. But I travel down there sometimes for math competitions, etc.
I would be freaking out about Saturday, only I got into Caltech EA, and I’m half-hoping that I don’t get into MIT so that I won’t have to make a decision. (it basically comes down to palm trees vs. the Stata center)
Anyway, knitting, xkcd and Youtube are just about the best things ever.
“Tenderhooks” is almost as good as “overwhelmed”. I always wondered if there was a “whelmed” (which by the way, there was) and whether “underwhelmed” was an option (which by the way it is).
But my new favorite word is “hoomalimali” which is one of the spelling words I am working on for our town spelling bee. It is Hawaiian and means to humor or jolly for a purpose (or some say to act so as to attract favorable attention).
One way to hoomalimali would be to read through the dictionary on Friday. It might help me with the spelling bee!
yes people, please don’t freak out. if you don’t get in, life will go on. it’s very interesting how an unexpected (and what we think undesirable) result might bring us much more happiness than we think. just think about it.
-omar
I read all of the Hitchhiker’s Guide books and listened to the radio show on road trips with my parents when I was in fourth grade
*That’s* how you know you come from a family of nerds!
Badmitton is possibly the best sport ever. You should try it.
I completely forgot about admissions decisions on Saturday in the midst of studying for the Chemistry Olympiad for tomorrow – you should try that too. Studying chemistry leaves little room for anything else in your head!
And, on Friday, I plan to go out with friends and goof around and then sleep until one, at which point my friend will come over and log into the webpage with me. Friends are good. They’re probably as sick of hearing about MIT as your parents…I know mine are
Now I need to find a situation where I can use the word tenterhooks. Good way to waste 2-3 hours is go to #1 on xkcd and look at all of them (about 395). I did that today. “Nerd Sniping” (xkcd comic title) is my favorite.
Beware the ides of March!!!!
jk…best of luck to all of you
Yeah…funnyfarm definitely got me through waiting for EA decisions. I would resurrect it except that I would have to start over and that’s so not worth it. (I was ALMOST done…and then didn’t need anything to pass time anymore.)
I don’t know what’s worse, three months of deferral with hope or a negative definite decision. *anxious*
Yeah…funnyfarm definitely got me through waiting for EA decisions. I would resurrect it except that I would have to start over and that’s so not worth it. (I was ALMOST done…and then didn’t need anything to pass time anymore.)
I don’t know what’s worse, three months of deferral with hope or a negative definite decision. *anxious*
Hah, funnyfarm, I started that during EA time, and everyonce in a while I get back to it. I’m somewhat near the end, but things get a little abstract after a while.
Hey Rachel, I’m right with you. Since I was deferred, I just really put MIT out of my mind for a while. It worked because the last three months flew by… until this week.
It’s pi day here in singapore!!! and i agree, i absolutely hate the time difference!
Here’s an idea:
On Saturday, you could wake up at 6:30 AM, put on uncomfortably tight clothing, ride a bus to a high school way out in the boonies, find some people you’ve never seen before in your life, commiserate on the unpleasantness of the weather/futility and absurdity of human existence, and then challenge them to throw a metal frizbee farther than you can. At least that’s what I’m doing.
Hi! one more day……
Wow there’s soooo many indians applying…i guess that diminishes my chances? I hope not. Haha Dhruv, and Shruti, feel just a bit sorry for you. I’m abroad and don’t have to take the boards (I’m taking IB Exams instead….2 years worth of fun physics, chemistry, math, history, french, and english!!).
hmmn…..keri, I find counting snow flakes an effective way of passing time. Look at the cool intricacies of nature….and how it melts the moment it lands on your window…..*sighs here*….immediately remembers decisions come out tomorrow…..jerks awake….curses time difference….bangs pillow on head….resumes counting snowflakes….
Heh, I sometimes wonder about the sadistic nature of the MIT admissions counselors…giving us our decisions on the Ides of March. Et tu, Brute?
In other news, webcomics can only last so long in terms of their distraction value…unless you read every comic in succession. Fun to do for xkcd, and Questionable Content. Takes a little longer for the latter…
Good luck to all!
One and a half day more for us in the Indian ocean…….nerve wrecking.
Good luck everyone!!
good luck to everyone!! and sorry keri… but I am panicking!!!!! o_O* <yes, that is me
[T_T] but I can’t help it!
I’ve been so scared and excited about finally knowing and nervous [and… well, you know the rest] all this week! I too have been reading.. a LOT!! science fiction [short stories]masterpeices compiled by asimov are really good!
again, good luck to all! ^_^
good luck to everyone!! and sorry keri… but I am panicking!!!!! o_O* <yes, that is me
[T_T] but I can’t help it!
I’ve been so scared and excited about finally knowing and nervous [and… well, you know the rest] all this week! I too have been reading.. a LOT!! science fiction [short stories]masterpeices compiled by asimov are really good!
again, good luck to all! ^_^
24 hours
“OMG 48 hours!” “46 hours!” “24 hours!” posters –
So I’m assuming none of you read the above “don’t get absolutely neurotic and obsessive about decisions coming out” post. Am I right? ^_^
Knit! Knit!……..Do i really need to? :()
Don’t Forget DDR!! Get a group of friends together and make fools out of yourself, that way you will still be a good mood when you click on that decision!
To kate- Orson Scott Card, is one of my favorite authors too! A good thing to distract yourself is read all of Ender Game Saga, that will take up time:)
@Shruti & Dhruv
I got over my boards last year, and realised that they are the most unpredictable examinations that exist this side of andromeda. I still don’t know what took away my maths century. So don’t think too much about them…
Oh I’m not worried about the boards…As long as I do reasonably well…and get into one of my top 6 or top 8 university choices there isnt much that worries me!! You’re totaly right teh boards just arent predictable and it isnt worth losing sleep over…@Kamya…Well f you lined up every person in the world every 3rd person would be Indian or Chinese…and yes MIT admits some 5 Indians every year…but try not to think of it as competing with everyone…You could be one of teh five…and even if you aren’t there is a life other than MIT as much as most of us dont acknowledge it!! Anyway Shruthi good luck for Bio and Math…More importantly to all of you…good luck for the decisions!! Remember! Whether you get in or not…you’re still who you were before you got in…Keep the confidence…Cheers guys!
I have my finals going on now…Wonderful timing don’t you think?! Nothing better to help me study for Bio than anxiety…Problem is…I can play Soccer on my PSP (just won a game 13-0) which calms me down…Except that doesnt help me study!! Maybe one of you geniusses want to help?!
For all of you guys who like bad jokes…Here’s my contribution…
What did the egg do when the lights turned green?
It Egg-Celerated!!
Bad joke I know…Nervous energy…Going back to study now…
First Parent!! Maybe? Good luck to all who applied for admissions. Just to be in your position,to be able to apply to MIT speaks highly of all of you. Your parents are proud of u as I am of my son. Remember you will be where it is meant that you are to be. Everythong happens for a reason. If one door closes another WILL open to you as you are all deserving. To the Class 2012,
you are blessed and even though I know not all of you will there in the Fall. I have enjoyed reading all the blogs. Thank you for making me feel a part of the MIT family even though it may not happen, as the odds are in the favor of the few.But don’t be too disappointed. For the web can keep u all connected and u will be great students wherever you find your path leads. Stay in touch and know that your are all great sons and daughters to us your parents and families. See u at HIGH NOON on the 15th.
Beware the Ides of March.
Hehe, I did actually take up knitting again to pass the time this week. Also, my senior thesis rough draft was due today so I’ve been fairly busy bashing my head against hte keyboard.
21 hours and fifteen minutes, according to my clock.
Douglas Adams owns. Period. Though I haven’t read Mostly Harmless yet… Still, I’ve considered picking up Dirk Gently. Neuromancer was kinda weird — I never really got into Gibson that much. But, as Paul said, Snow Crash is AMAZING. OH. MY. GOD. “Oh, I’m sure they’ll listen to Reason” is, like, one of the greatest quotes in history. And if you don’t get the joke…Wikipedia will help you.
Also, might I recommend Terry Pratchett?
Anyways, some general time-wasting things that I do include YouTube, Wikipedia (it’s like a black hole sometimes), xkcd, Copter, ROFLcopter, coding random stuff (yes, I code to waste time — hey, it’s true!), and generally exploring the bowels of my computer. I actually found dunnet this way (a text adventure that comes bundled with emacs).
I can’t do anything but be nervous!! The time difference is horrible. It’ll be 3AM on Sunday when the results will be released, here in Sydney that is.
As a fitting tribute to one of the most beautiful numbers, you could learn the first, hmmm… 1000 digits?
But when you do have a biology final exam the next day, and you’re thinking about learning anything not related to biology, would in essence be a bad idea. But who cares anyway :D
Happy Pi Day Keri!
pleaaaaaaaaaaaaase MIT accept me …PLeaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaase I need u … I am an international student and I need you
Guess what I did to celebrate pi day? I overslept till 12:30 PM and missed most of school. (I only have three of four possible periods this year.) Am I a party animal or what?
Oh by the way–I have eyes for no one else, MIT.
When I’ll be applying next year and the decisions will come out,I’ll be waay to busy giving my ISC board exams to worry.I’ll be worrying about those exams instead!Umm,I might slip in an hour or so of speculation between one exam and the other.btw,when can we start applying for 2009?
@Shruthi…You’re a CBSE case too eh? Where in India are you? and how be the boards?
Things to do while waiting for admissions:
Study hyperbolic lemniscate functions.
Learn pi.
Solve the Dirac equation. Twice.
Go outside.
Watch DiffEq lectures from OCW.
Go outside again.
I have to report to work at the appointed hour (noon EST) and have work for the next 5.5 hours! Not the ideal situation. I have, however, negotiated with my boss to have a corner and her laptop “whenever there’s a lull” so that I can check. I work with kids and they are great at telling when you’re agitated and whether I haven’t found out yet, know I’m in, or know I’m not, I’m going to be agitated on Saturday.
Thank goodness for laptops.
decisions will be out at 6pm in lebanon… so whatever i do, im still gonna find a lot of time to get nervous and panick :( … good luck to everyone!
@ Omar
I agree. Things will work out and in the end, whatever was meant to happen will happen. Everything is out of our hands, so worrying is pointless and we should make the best of things as they are now.
Oh, and my two cents on this whole ordeal: do not spend the next two days looking at the clock and calculating how many hours/minutes/seconds until decisions come out. The will make time pass soooooo much slower (and yes, I know from experience). Staying busy doing anything is much better. Good luck everybody!
Wow, I do feel loved now. CBSE case? Lol.. I am from Chennai… Boards are going great, except for physics, where I think I missed the centum by 2 questions :( And you Dhruv?
I’m so stressed out, I don’t konw what to do :(
hehe…CBSE case only…I’m from Chennai too…Bala Vidya Mandir, and you?…Boards so far gone well…I dont like to predict my results though…Always surprises me…But I didnt really make any mistakes in Physics or Chem…So we’ll see…Great Indian from Chennai…2 of us applying to MIT…Odds are its going badly for one of us!! hehe…Anyway!! What do you want to study for these next four years?
Neuromancer has already claimed this one’s soul.
What’s 9 x 6?
…42 base 13 :o
I considered saying “100th post” just to annoy Keri.
Then I decided that Keri is probably to busy to read all the comments before mine to actually read my comment and get annoyed.
I just found out that my father is dragging me out of the city to his brother’s ranch for the weekend!! no internet access for TWO WHOLE DAYS! This is soooo bad, having to live knowing that the decision has been made and not being able to check…I think I just might have to borrow a horse to the closest possible place with internet access for my phone….PORQUE!!!!!
“Also, DON’T PANIC. You’re scaring your family.”
You should also add:
“Parents: DON’T PANIC. You’re scaring your kid”
My parents are contemplating staying up all night to be there at 10 (We are in mountian time) to see the results. I believe the wait has made them insane.
good luck to everyone…and of course including myself…lolz…