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Bill Gates: Why MIT matters

boston.com

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Re: Bill Gates: Why MIT matters

#31

Post by sp332 »

hugh3 wrote: post #6
bugsy wrote: post #2

Bill is right that MIT is a great school. His statement "almost half (48 percent) of MIT’s undergraduates are minorities" is a bit misleading. According to MIT: "The class of 2014 is 36% Caucasian, 30% Asian, 14% Hispanic, 9% African-American, a few percentage points for assorted "other". All in all, it's about 75% "over-represented" and 25% "under-represented."

Sounds to me like it's 100% minorities.

My great-grandfather fled Mussolini and came to the USA. Does that make me a minority, or does it still count as a majority because my skin is white? :)

Re: Bill Gates: Why MIT matters

#32

Post by forensic »

robg wrote: post #14
forensic wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The internet used to be cool. It was full of smart people saying smart things. Now it's mainly a communication tool for 13 year olds and desperate housewives.

I wouldn't go that far. I'm just surprised when the internet culture dictates the zombie response. If someone sat next to me on an airplane, heard me mention MIT, then waxed eloquent for an hour, I'd be nodding along with a big grin. Contrast that with me asking if MIT was involved in a conflict or if the speaker wanted a donation. It would make no sense. So why do we allow and enable that attitude online, especially…

I think an airplane, and face-to-face life in general, is actually a much more exclusive and filtered place than you realize.

On the internet you are interacting with people who you would never run into face-to-face. They don't have a position in the world where they ride on airplanes. They dress in such a way that you would not even consider them for a conversation. Their body language communicates hostility and fear.

They generally won't even live in the same city, or even the same country. How often do you visit Montgomery, Alabama? How often do you visit Turkey and strike up conversations with the local neurotics?

The internet is where these people go to dump their neural refuse. People who are seen as pathetic hobgoblins when face-to-face use the internet megaphone to spew bile everywhere.

Re: Bill Gates: Why MIT matters

#33

Post by bethling »

ipince wrote: post #23
nvarsj wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not that state schools are much cheaper these days, but do you really think it's good advice to suggest accumulating 200K+ in debt to get an undergrad degree?

People need to understand that MIT and most other top tier schools have insanely amazing need-based financial aid programs. If you really can't afford it, don't worry, you won't have to. Yes, you'll accumulate some debt, but it's more like 16,000 instead of 200,000 (at least in my case). Plus, again in my case, it's interest-free for as long as you're in school and 9 months after you leave. So yes, I strongly advice…

When it came down to everything, the amount of aid I got from MIT made it cheeper than going to my state university. I paid it off over the course of 6 or 7 years, with a payment that was less than a car payment.

It really doesn't hurt to apply - I got my aid package before I had to decided to commit to any school.

Re: Bill Gates: Why MIT matters

#34

Post by ernestipark »

ipince wrote: post #23
nvarsj wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not that state schools are much cheaper these days, but do you really think it's good advice to suggest accumulating 200K+ in debt to get an undergrad degree?

People need to understand that MIT and most other top tier schools have insanely amazing need-based financial aid programs. If you really can't afford it, don't worry, you won't have to. Yes, you'll accumulate some debt, but it's more like 16,000 instead of 200,000 (at least in my case). Plus, again in my case, it's interest-free for as long as you're in school and 9 months after you leave. So yes, I strongly advice…

I am eternally grateful that MIT has provided me unbelievable aid which without it would've been extremely difficult on my family to send me to college. Hopefully one day when I'm making money in the work force, I'll be sending money back to my school and paying it forward.

Re: Bill Gates: Why MIT matters

#35

Post by sireat »

pnathan wrote: post #12

I wish I had had the cojones to apply to MIT when I was looking at undergraduate schools. I was afraid I was too fail, and I was terrified of the debt I'd accrue. Today, I think I could have made a competitive attempt to get in. If you're a nerdy high schooler: Don't let that be you.

On the other hand do not worry too much if you do not get in MITas an undergraduate.

A friend of mine did 4 years at a state school of little note, but absolutely did excel at it. He also paid almost no tuition. He now has a full ride at the graduate school at MIT.

This "first in village" hack can save you hundreds of thousands. Obviously, you have to put in the work in any case.

Re: Bill Gates: Why MIT matters

#36

Post by rgbrgb »

robg wrote: post #9
hugh3 wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It reminds me of a Point/Counterpoint from The Onion: "Why MIT Matters", by Bill Gates vs "MIT Sucks and Everyone Who Goes There Is A Huge Fag, lol" by A First-Year Engineering Undergrad at Caltech

Sad that we can't take time - even just a moment - to appreciate nice things. Is the default really to assume a conflict? It's like the internet really is a fifteen year old - highly opinionated and easily slighted. I've been affiliated with MIT for three years. I hope to never leave. I wish I appreciated education as a kid and I might have arrived much sooner.

All I was saying is that this site is for news. A piece about MIT being a good school is not news, it is utter fluff.

Re: Bill Gates: Why MIT matters

#37

Post by JasonMoyMN79 »

pnathan wrote: post #12

I wish I had had the cojones to apply to MIT when I was looking at undergraduate schools. I was afraid I was too fail, and I was terrified of the debt I'd accrue. Today, I think I could have made a competitive attempt to get in. If you're a nerdy high schooler: Don't let that be you.

no offense, but MIT is pretty much for f*cking retards.

Re: Bill Gates: Why MIT matters

#38

Post by TrygveThront »

ipince wrote: post #23
nvarsj wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not that state schools are much cheaper these days, but do you really think it's good advice to suggest accumulating 200K+ in debt to get an undergrad degree?

People need to understand that MIT and most other top tier schools have insanely amazing need-based financial aid programs. If you really can't afford it, don't worry, you won't have to. Yes, you'll accumulate some debt, but it's more like 16,000 instead of 200,000 (at least in my case). Plus, again in my case, it's interest-free for as long as you're in school and 9 months after you leave. So yes, I strongly advice…

yo, no offense, but MIT is pretty much for fuckin retards.

Re: Bill Gates: Why MIT matters

#39

Post by TrygveThront »

pnathan wrote: post #12

I wish I had had the cojones to apply to MIT when I was looking at undergraduate schools. I was afraid I was too fail, and I was terrified of the debt I'd accrue. Today, I think I could have made a competitive attempt to get in. If you're a nerdy high schooler: Don't let that be you.

MIT is great, if by great you mean it fucking sucks.

Re: Bill Gates: Why MIT matters

#40

Post by hga »

pnathan wrote: post #12

I wish I had had the cojones to apply to MIT when I was looking at undergraduate schools. I was afraid I was too fail, and I was terrified of the debt I'd accrue. Today, I think I could have made a competitive attempt to get in. If you're a nerdy high schooler: Don't let that be you.

Indeed, and it should be noted that if MIT judges that you can do the work (survive/thrive the environment and curriculum) your odds of getting in are 1 in 3: 13,000 applicants per year last time I checked with around 3,000 making that cut.

Although if their rejection letter is like CalTech's (roughly "We receive many more qualified applications than we have slots for", Heinlein even commented on the letter's quality in his "what you have to do to get into a good university" book, Have Space Suit, Will Travel), if you don't get in you won't know where they judged you to be.

One last bit of info: MIT really likes evidence that you can projects. Beside geographic diversity it's pretty clear that's what made the difference for me in 1979.

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