Deciding My Next Four Years

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This is what I wrote for a question about something I changed my mind about recently (Atlas Fellowship Stage 2):

My dream school has always been MIT which I’ve been dying to attend since I visited for SciOly my sophomore year. But after Bulldog Days earlier this week, there was something about Yale’s gothic architecture, welcoming atmosphere, top-notch support resources, and stellar academics that captivated me. I became more and more torn between the two schools. Yet I’m not going to Yale this fall because I changed my mind and committed to MIT yesterday. This decision sprouted from not only a phenomenal visit earlier this month to Cambridge where I fell in love with MIT’s combined CS and neuroscience major and talked for hours on end with fellow prefrosh and current students about anything and everything but also a few lackluster aspects of BDD where despite the appeal of the campus and its food, I found the research opportunities available to be underwhelming and not fitting for my goal of becoming a pioneering research-scientist. The diversity of thought at Yale is undeniable and I would definitely enjoy having the flexibility of taking classes that simply pique my interest but these values are not lost on MIT. It goes without saying that MIT is the place to be for immersing oneself in innovative technology but doing so doesn’t require sacrificing the humanities; in fact, by virtue of most students being focused on STEM, those interested in humanities typically receive more attention and individualized support from faculty in the arts. This past chaotic month of deliberation and visitation taught me that what matters isn’t the name brand or the connections I can gain by studying in the Ivy League but that I belong in the community I will be joining and feel connected to the peers and adults I will be living and growing alongside in this next chapter of my life.

I’m happy to share that I’ve decided. I’m going to be a beaver for the rest of my life. I’m comMITed!

Here are some points of contention (in no particular order) that I considered while trying to decide that may help future admits who think like me:

  • Prestige and Name Brand
    • The Ivy League
      • Everyone knows that the Ivy League originally formed as an athletic league and thus should be no indication of its institutions’ academic prowess. It just so happened all eight colleges have stellar academic offerings and faculty that now, the “Ivy League” is synonymous with “best colleges in the US” even when schools like Stanford, MIT, and UC Berkeley are of equal, if not higher standing in many respects. It’s not petty or elitist to value that name brand and heavily consider how it may give your career that extra boost it may need for the rest of your life.
    • Alumni Networking and Being a Yalie for Life
      • After being admitted to Yale, I was invited by the NYC alumni community to a welcome event at a fancy venue uptown. There, I was received by current students, alumni, admission officers, and lots and lots of finger foods and Yale merch. While we stood in a circle, listening to the hosts introduce themselves and talk about the connections they’ve made with each other through Yale, I had an epiphany that I was there just because I was admitted to Yale. I haven’t even started attending yet and I already feel so welcome to the community. This was a huge pull factor for me given my humble background and desire to move up the social ladder.
  • Diversity of Thought
    • Humanities at Yale
      • Admittedly, although I knew Yale has made itself quite a name in the humanities with many esteemed faculty in diverse fields, I never explored this side of Yale and just wrote it off as any other perk that came with attending. I didn’t quantify how exactly I could take advantage of it as a STEM-focused student and in hindsight, doing so might have given me more conviction in my decision to leave it behind.
    • The People (distribution of majors and interests)
      • at MIT vs Yale
        • I was told I’ll lose out on a lot of diversity and “culture” if I attend MIT. After all, it is a tech school and attracts a lot of future entrepreneurs, researchers, engineers, and overall high-achieving STEM students (like me). And not so much the future presidents or senators, lawyers, librarians, NBA stars, hairstylists, and your run-of-the-mill workers. Or even fellow premeds for that matter. But it didn’t seem that way when I visited MIT. I met so many eccentric and down-to-earth people who spanned a wide array of interests and personalities. There will be no shortage of amazing people to have those late-night conversations with and spend my next four years with.
  • Research Opportunities & Funding
    • STARS
      • STARS is Yale’s premiere seed research program. Starting your freshman year, they walk your hand through finding the right mentors, funding your projects, and guiding you to prioritize your goals from there on out. The problem with this for me was that to get in, it’s another application process (mind you, with other Yale students). Yale would have been much more attractive if this came with my offer of admission (in other words, I wanted a guarantee) and if I had been a YES scholar.
    • UROP
      • UROPs are MIT’s premiere research opportunity for credit or for pay. There’s a staggering statistic that >90% of all MIT undergraduates complete at least one UROP by the time they graduate. It’s a big thing at MIT. The accessibility of such a program, I feel, was what Yale’s STARS program, despite its seemingly immaculate advising, lacked.
    • Research Abroad
      • Both schools have amazing abroad resources and it’s not uncommon for students to get full funding to do something cool in another country for a semester or summer. This is something I’ve come to be thankful not to have to split hairs over. I’m excited to take advantage of such amazing global experiences!
  • Academic Program and Rigor
    • MIT - Mastery of Peers and Competition
      • As a potential premed student, how much effort it takes to maintain a perfect GPA was something I seriously considered, especially for a school notorious for having extremely difficult and time-consuming classes. Everyone says that the academic rigor at MIT is found nowhere else but coming from one of the best public high schools in the nation (and doing quite well for myself), I looked to alumni at MIT for answers and I heard what I wanted to hear: it’s hard, but completely doable for someone coming with my background.
      • One of the events I regret not attending is MIT’s Academic Expo. MIT was the first school I visited so, in an attempt to maximize fun and information-gathering, I naively wrote it off as a boring event whose utility is squashed by the internet in favor of something I don’t even remember. I did, however, go to Princeton and Yale’s respective Academic Expos where I received crucial information on the fields and subjects I’m interested in. In a way, attending these worked against me because if I had attended MIT’s, I believe I could’ve put a finger on why exactly its BCS department is the best fit for me (or not) and would have more conviction and confidence in my final choice.
  • Living Situation
    • Campus
      • Yale has undoubtedly one of the best, if not the best, campus. I always loved the idea of a campus that gave off a similar feel as Hogwarts; it’d make studying so much more enjoyable. But it’s definitely not a dealbreaker for me. And admittedly, MIT doesn’t have a horrible campus. I liked how compact everything was and some buildings are rather visually appealing and unique. In fact, Building 46, where most things BCS are located and naturally, where I’ll be spending many hours, is one of the rather beautiful buildings on campus which is a nice touch.
    • Food
      • MIT gave us $20.26 in our IDs to use, meaning only one of our meals could be in a dining hall. I spent it immediately when I arrived for lunch at Masseh Hall, known to be one of the worst dining halls. But I found it fine. MIT does food all-you-care-to-eat style which I appreciate and because my standard for good food is rather low, I thought most things were quite palatable and more than just tolerable for four years. In contrast, Yale actually gave us a dining card and let us have several meals throughout the days. The food was great. Breakfast had the works and dinner had an scrumptious selection of proteins and sides. Still, similar to the campus, food is not a dealbreaker and the supposed inferiority of MIT’s dining experience had little impact on my decision.
  • Pre-Med + Higher Education Advising and Suitability
    • Dean Chang
      • I met Dean Chang at Yale’s activities fair. He is the STARS coordinator and, stationed next to its beautiful poster and peeling one tangerine after another while presenting the program to onlookers, made himself out to be an amazing mentor and invaluable resource who knew all the ins-and-outs of what a high-achieving student always looking to be one step ahead of the curve would want. He spoke with such conviction and matter-of-factness, asking students what they were interested in and immediately giving them a rundown of what he would recommend them doing each summer to craft the best possible med school application. Things like doing research for a lab your first summer, doing research abroad at a affiliated lab the next summer, and returning to the same lab the following summer to build credit with hotshots in the field and obtain stellar recommendation letters. He even has a publicly available guide (you can Google it) for the courses you should take based on your goals and when to take them to best prepare yourself for the MCAT and med school applications.
    • Pre-Med Society and Advising Office at MIT
      • Every top school has its respective pre-med organizations and advising but MIT, perhaps because of its smaller premed presence, seems to have a more tight-knit and niche community for a process that can quickly become toxic and competitive in a pigeonhole scenario. But with fewer than a hundred premed students per class, especially at a school known for collaboration, I am hopeful to find friends, not foes, with similar interests.
    • EMT
      • Even though both schools have a student EMT presence, I feel oddly tied to MIT’s. Maybe it’s because I went to two of their interest meetings and am a fan of one the current EMT’s YouTube videos. Regardless, I really want to join MIT EMT my sophomore year and join the community that serves the greater Boston area. The idea of staking out night shifts with a few buddies and pseting in the call room excites me. Truly the grind.
    • MGH vs. New Haven Hospital
      • Both hospitals are amazing in their own right and I’m very lucky to have been choosing between two institutions with such well-known and accomplished hospitals a short bike or bus ride away. So this point is not so much a point of contention than it is an added bonus.

And finally, take this with a grain of salt as all this will most likely only resonate with students similar to myself who have also luckily received admission to their top choices and now, coming to terms that they cannot merge the best from all worlds, need to split hairs to decide which is the best fit for them.