It’s Not About the Weather
Don't choose a grad program for the location or climate
I’m a first year graduate student in Materials Science and Engineering, or “Course 3” to anyone who’s familiar with MIT’s classification system for majors (more on this later). I’m on my way to a PhD (or as my good friend calls it – Permanent Head Damage, Piled Higher and Deeper, Pretty Huge Diploma, etc.). For […]
Being a Historian at MIT
Perspectives on MIT from a student of the humanities
I’m a graduate student at MIT, but my experience here is not the norm. I state that with confidence because I… am a historian. As of writing this post, I’m a fourth-year doctoral candidate in an interdisciplinary PhD program shared among the History, Anthropology, and Science, Technology & Society departments—HASTS for short. There are only […]
From My Future Self
Advice from a fourth-semester graduate student
Dear Alicia (circa 2015), Hi! It’s me. Or you, from the future. I’m writing you from the fourth semester of our grad school experience (the one you’re about to embark on!). I know you’re simultaneously thrilled and terrified to start a PhD program at MIT! Let me tell you, it’s going to be one of […]
Returning to MIT
Choosing to attend graduate school at my undergraduate institution
I came back to MIT as a graduate student more in spite of my time as an undergraduate here than because of it. And I’m so glad that I did. Now, don’t get me wrong. My hesitation wasn’t because my undergraduate experience wasn’t amazing. It was. I loved my first time at MIT, and would […]
Why Choose MIT?
The reasons I came to MIT, and the reasons I'm glad I stayed
When asked the entitled question (“Why Choose MIT?”), especially by prospective students whom I haven’t gotten to know well personally, I’m often at loss as to how to respond. The follow-up question that I’ve always secretly wanted to ask back is this: When your initial reasons for going to MIT are no longer true, can […]
