Welcome to CPW! by Jessica Z. '27

Last week, my photo gallery reminded me that roughly one year ago was my CPW! Interspaced between pictures of Boston and campus were other assorted pictures—midnight karaoke, bleached hair, and lots, lots, lots of free food—that reminded me how much I enjoyed exploring MIT for the first time as a prospective student. In light of it being the night before CPW, I wanted to highlight a few pieces of general advice I had :)

Explore the different dorms! 

I knew I wanted to live in Burton-Conner as soon as I went on a dorm tour during CPW. It helped me get a sense of all the important details, such as the living space, community, distance from campus, etc. Each floor in Burton-Conner also has a different culture (which you can read about more here), so you can also visit each floor’s events!

For example, my floor is holding a few events⁠01 shameless plug in our flounge:⁠02 floor + lounge = flounge

• Studio Ghibli Movie Night (4/11 @ 10:00pm)
• Pottery and Paint (4/12 @ 6:30pm):⁠03 I'm hosting this with my roommate! Come say hi and paint with us :) In Burton-Conner Porter Room as part of the BC Bonanza!
• Super Smash Bros & Other Games (4/12 @ 8:00pm)
• Nail Salon & Build a Pirate Ship (4/13 @ 4:00pm)

Go to Midway!

Nearly everyone goes to Midway, so this is kind-of a CPW given, but Midway features student group booths to show student life culture at MIT. Each booth will have club members there, so you have the opportunity to ask any questions about the club or MIT life in general. There’s also lots of free merch, like t-shirts, stickers,⁠04 I think I took like 30+ stickers back home after Midway tote bags, and snacks.

This year, I’m on the other side of Midway and helping to run the MIT Society of Women Engineers Chapter and MIT Student Events Board booth. Throughout CPW, there will also be other academic booths set-up by different departments to talk about their research, classes, and program offerings. I actually learned about MIT’s Washington DC Internship Program through one of the undergraduates at a Course 17 booth, which is what I’m doing this summer!

Alsooo, go to community-specific events!

A lot of clubs will hold CPW events for you to get to know the members of a certain community in a casual, fun way! Nearly every sorority, fraternity, and independent living group hosts CPW events for you all to talk to current members and start thinking about if you want to join one of their communities. For me, I went to one of FLI@MIT‘s events last year, and I remember it was nice being able to ask students questions in a less formal setting than a traditional Q&A panel. Would highly recommend exploring the different communities on campus and asking students any specific questions you have while you’re there :)

On that note, talk to new people!

I spent a majority of my CPW talking and going to events with people I already knew, but I wish I had spent more time meeting new people and asking questions instead. You’d be surprised at how many people you meet for the first time that you end up seeing again (and it’s also nice to meet and talk to so many different people in a casual environment)! For example, I talked to someone one time at CPW because we were hosted in the same suite. We both now live on floor C4 now :0

…but also don’t burn yourself out <3

Towards the end of CPW, I was really tired. This isn’t a universal experience—a lot of my friends spent every moment of CPW at an event, talking to people, or doing something around Boston, and they really enjoyed it. For me, though, I wish I took more time to decompress, so also make sure to take care of yourself in the rush of CPW :’)

Lightning round advice from the Class of 2027:

• “Don’t let the rain ruin the vibe, we promise you’ll grow to like the rain (hopefully)”⁠05 better yet, take advantage of the rain and treat killian like a slip-and-slide (don't do this)
• “Walk around Boston and take at least one sunset picture by the bridge”
• “Go to events even if you’re not sure you’ll join the club. I ended up joining a lot of clubs I wasn’t initially interested in!”
• “Highly recommend trying Mike’s Pastries and Toscanini’s”
• “Go on a lab tour! They are very fun, and you can usually talk to the lab’s professor about their work if you’re particularly interested :)”

In short: have fun, come prepared with a raincoat or umbrella⁠06 or brave the rain like I did when I lost my umbrella for a week last semester before caving and buying a new one , picture yourself on campus, talk to new people and upperclassmen, try new things, walk around Boston, take breaks when you need to, and eat lots of free food.

Welcome to campus! By the last day of CPW, I was already mentally committed to MIT for the next four years, and I hope you all will feel the same :)