Massachusetts Institute of Technology Top Questions

My classmates are amazing and well motivated toward sucecsss

Enthusiastic academic geniuses.

I would trust 80{4a082faed443b016e84c6ea63012b481c58f64867aa2dc62fff66e22ad7dff6c} of my classmates with my life, strangers among them included, because they are intrinsically smart, educated, kind, driven, sharp young men and women who would nearly always know and do the right thing.

Overwhelmingly white and asian. I knew more albinos at MIT than I have ever met again in the "real world". Incredibly eccentric and passionate about all things.

For the most part, my classmates are helpful, friendly, and willing to help you with whatever you need whenever you need it, even if they have to go out of their own way to do so.

The students here are pretty unique. I have friends of different races, religions, orientations, etc, and it's awesome because I'm experiencing different cultures I've never met in my life. I don't see a lot of self-segregation along these lines. People are cool with each other and that's that. They come from everywhere - people on my hall come from near the Boston area to Kenya and Sweden, and that's a really neat experience. As far as political activism, some are, and some aren't. There's a place for you here if you are, but if that's not your thing you'll be fine too. I'd say people lean more liberal than conservative, but I've met some very conservative people too so that's not a sweeping statement.

MIT is incredibly heterogeneous. There are people from every state, just about every country, every race, religion and financial background. What's more is that different types of students interact while studying, working on a project or playing on a sports team. You get close to the people you spend lots of time with and here, that can be absolutely anyone.

Experiences range, and MIT offers so many groups -- which, at times, come off as factions -- that try to make their presence and function on campus known. I would think that few students would feel out of place due to academic standing, since students at MIT are admitted here because they have shown they can prosper academically, but I get the impression that students of lower socioeconomic backgrounds must feel like they've been ripped off their whole lives after arriving at MIT and seeing the many other students who have had the privilege of belonging to affluent communities, going to top-flight schools, and flying to MIT and back home regularly, perhaps in first class. The higher rungs of the socioeconomic ladder are certainly better represented here at MIT, with only a small percentage (14{4a082faed443b016e84c6ea63012b481c58f64867aa2dc62fff66e22ad7dff6c}, according to MIT Financial Aid statistics) of students qualifying for the federal Pell Grant. Many students I know have parents who are doctors, nurses, professors, or other professionals and have been fortunate enough to come from nourishing backgrounds. Then there are a few students who can tell stories of struggle, that percent -- I wish I could be more quantitative -- must also be quite small.

Wish students were more aware of what's going on in the world, in general. Life here at MIT can be so fast-moving that people don't even follow the news.

My experience with the students at MIT has been mostly positive. I don't think there are many students that would feel out of place here, as it is an amazingly accepting community. Pretty much any eccentricity you could have, no one would mind. We're used to it. Or, you can choose to be pretty normal (a normie, even) and you can have friends, too! Another great thing about the MIT student body is that you won't find as many "rich kids" here. Its definitely a bit more diverse as far as financial backgrounds go than many other prestigious schools. I should add that MIT is much less politically aware than a lot of other colleges - I'm not sure why that is, but its quite pronounced. People don't know much about current events. However, they tend to be pretty liberal, and talk reasonably intelligently about political issues, when they happen to come up.