Blogs: Why I Came

Iñupiuraallaniptigun Uqausiptigun Maŋŋuqaqtugut

With our Iñupiaq language, we have an identity

JAN 2020
by Annauk O.
Linguistics and Philosophy
Aullaqisaaqta! Let’s begin! Iġñiġa Daał miluguuruq. My son Daał nurses often.  I once read somewhere that Karl Marx had to chain himself to a library desk in order to finish Das Kapital. You might wonder what Marx has to do with nursing? Well, more than you might imagine. Baby Daał’ feeding habits...

Where Computing Meets Brain Research

My first impression of the BCS Department at MIT

JAN 2020
by Yu X.
Brain and Cognitive Sciences
Three years ago, I first came to the U.S. for an international conference in Boston. As I passed through the MIT campus during a morning jog, I saw the beautiful sunrise on the Charles River. The sky was crystal clear and the great dome was golden brown. I was wondering how happy the students at...

Taking the Plunge

Choosing Grad School over Industry

Nov 2019
by Cormac O.
Mechanical Engineering
Applying to grad school can feel like climbing a mountain.  We’ve all heard the analogy, but I’ve found that there’s very little advice on what to do once you’re at the top. After all the effort of making applications and getting in, the decision on what to do next can make you feel like you’re...

How I became an engineer overnight

From basic science to medical engineering

Nov 2019
by Irena V.
Harvard-MIT Health Sciences and Technology
Applying to graduate school is a nerve-wracking process. It’s a blanket of excitement that, when uncovered, reveals a flood of conflicting emotions--from wondering whether you are rushing and have no experience and should work for a few years to questioning your self-worth and doubting if you have...

A Techless Path To MIT

How I, an aspiring philosopher, wound up choosing the world’s most famous Tech school

OCT 2019
by Jessica H.
Linguistics and Philosophy
When people hear that I’ll be spending the next half decade at MIT, many seem to think I’ll be spending my days huddled over an intelligent robot plotting for the technological apocalypse. When people hear that I’ll be spending the next half decade — and, hopefully, a lifetime — studying philosophy...

Iḷisavsaaqtuam aakam qaitkaa uqautchiñi kiŋuvaamiñun

A graduate school mom gifts language to the next generation

SEP 2019
by Annauk O.
Linguistics and Philosophy
Aullaqisaqtuq – It is the beginning Iḷisaguuruŋa Iñupiatun MIT-mi. I study Iñupiaq at MIT. Iñupiaq is the language of the Alaskan Inuit, whose population numbers 24,500 and whose speakers’ number 2,000. Iñupiaq is considered “moribund,” which means having few or no child speakers because the...

An Open Letter to My Future Self

Thoughts from my last first day of school

SEP 2019
by Mingyu Y.
Harvard-MIT Health Sciences and Technology
Dear future Ming, The date is August 26, 2019 - today is your/my/our first day at MIT. When you next read this after/if you graduate, it may well be the year 2025. How’s life at 27 treating you? In the year 2025, your younger brothers, currently high school freshmen, will be halfway done with...

Advising Advice

What should you look for when choosing an advisor?

MAY 2019
by Charlotte L.
Aeronautics and Astronautics
At the end of my second year at MIT, I chose to switch to a different advisor, based on our overlapping interests in a specific research area. This turned out to be a great decision, but for many reasons that I hadn’t even remotely thought about when I made the choice. I’m very conscious now that I...

You Got NSF, Now What?

How NSF can change grad school selection

APR 2019
by Mark G.
Chemical Engineering
It's early April. You wake up and refresh the emails on your phone. There is an email from your professor congratulating you on getting the NSF, a colloquial expression for getting into the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship Program. You...

Gambling with Degrees

Coming to MIT with a master’s

APR 2019
by Guillaume G.
Nuclear Science and Engineering
How many master’s degrees is too many? It’s not a very common problem to have. Yet for some of us that have already completed a couple years of postgraduate education before coming to MIT, the question comes up. I must admit I hadn’t looked much at the course requirements for a PhD before applying...