Blogs: Why I Came

My Recipe for Getting In

SPRING 2017
by Lauren S.
Biological Engineering
I had never considered a PhD until late in my undergraduate degree. Most students in my program were either grabbing one-year master's degrees or becoming entry-level grunts at consumer goods or biomedical device companies. I remember a career fair where I talked to a recent graduate who was...

From Professional to PhD

SPRING 2017
by Patrick W.
Nuclear Science and Engineering
A 70 percent cut in pay — that’s what my next career move would cost me. And yet it was an opportunity I knew I couldn’t pass up, and it was possibly the best thing I could for my career. Still, a 70% pay cut would definitely change my idea of a vacation for the next few years…  When I started my...

It's Not About the Weather

SPRING 2017
by Patrick Y.
Materials Science and Engineering
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...

Being a Historian at MIT

SPRING 2017
by Alison L.
Science, Technology, and Society
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 &...

From My Future Self

SPRING 2017
by Alicia E.
Nuclear Science and Engineering
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

SPRING 2017
by Katherine S.
Materials Science and Engineering
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 definitely...

Why Choose MIT?

SPRING 2017
by Annie C.
Electrical Engineering and Computer Science
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...

To MIT with Love

SPRING 2017
by Dishita T.
Architecture
“… you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future…” It was a rainy monsoon evening of August, almost a year after my first visit as a tourist to MIT. I had decided to finally go meet (read as: go on blind date) with the guy chosen by my parents. In India, turning 26 is a...

Why Study Anything but Engineering?

SPRING 2017
by Jeff B.
Leaders for Global Operations
Why study anything BUT engineering at MIT? In my case, why study Supply Chain Management and Operations? MIT is Infinite MIT offers cutting-edge research opportunities and access to infinite resources and some of the world’s best professors. For instance, the university has one of three domestic...