Re: Best Computer School?

At 12:32 PM 1/28/97 -0500, Derek Atkins wrote:
>This is really exagerating.  You do not need a 4.0, 1600, etc. to be
>admitted to MIT.  Sure, you need good grades, but a 3.6 average and
>1350-1400 SAT scores is perfectly adequate to be admitted to MIT.

I disagree and can speak from experience.  I was denied admission to MIT
even thought I had a 3.82 GPA, 1440 SAT (one try), and had taken 9 AP tests
with two 5's, four 4's, two 3's, and one 2.  As for being well-rounded, I
was on several academic teams, sang in Chorus, acted and stage managed in
Drama, and played Tennis.

The only thing I didn't have that the next MIT applicant had was money.  I
made the mistake of letting them know that I was dirt poor and would need
full aid/grants/etc, and to quote "The Great Escape" it was "Zzzt! To the
Russian front!"

>For what it's worth, I wanted to go to MIT my sophomore year in high
>school, too

Lucky you.  It had been a dream of mine since I was an annoying
overachiever of 6.  Sux to be white trash, I guess.

MIT may be a great school, but they tend to be snooty assholes for the most
part.  (DISCLAIMER: Not all MIT grads/attendees are necessarily "snooty
assholes", I'm just saying that I've yet to meet one that wasn't.)
_________ o s b o r n e @ g a t e w a y . g r u m m a n . c o m _________
"He who knows, does not speak.
He who speaks, does not know."

MIT probably has a need-blind admissions policy; they don't care whether or
not you have money. When they admit you, at least.

Let me plug Carnegie Mellon University, which consistently ties with MIT
and one of them California schools for first place in computer science.
It's not quite as hard to get into as MIT, though you do have to deal with
Pittsburgh winters. The town itself is small enough to be friendly, and big
enough to be interesting. Jim Morris, the head of the computer science
department, was my instructor for a data structures class and truly seemed
to care about his students' well-being.

Oh, and I remember we had t-shirts saying: "MIT -- the CMU of Massachusetts."

-Declan


Rick wrote:

>At 12:32 PM 1/28/97 -0500, Derek Atkins wrote:
>>This is really exagerating.  You do not need a 4.0, 1600, etc. to be
>>admitted to MIT.  Sure, you need good grades, but a 3.6 average and
>>1350-1400 SAT scores is perfectly adequate to be admitted to MIT.
>
>I disagree and can speak from experience.  I was denied admission to MIT
>even thought I had a 3.82 GPA, 1440 SAT (one try), and had taken 9 AP tests
>with two 5's, four 4's, two 3's, and one 2.  As for being well-rounded, I
>was on several academic teams, sang in Chorus, acted and stage managed in
>Drama, and played Tennis.
>
>The only thing I didn't have that the next MIT applicant had was money.  I
>made the mistake of letting them know that I was dirt poor and would need
>full aid/grants/etc, and to quote "The Great Escape" it was "Zzzt! To the
>Russian front!"
>
>>For what it's worth, I wanted to go to MIT my sophomore year in high
>>school, too
>
>Lucky you.  It had been a dream of mine since I was an annoying
>overachiever of 6.  Sux to be white trash, I guess.
>
>MIT may be a great school, but they tend to be snooty assholes for the most
>part.  (DISCLAIMER: Not all MIT grads/attendees are necessarily "snooty
>assholes", I'm just saying that I've yet to meet one that wasn't.)
>_________ o s b o r n e @ g a t e w a y . g r u m m a n . c o m _________
>"He who knows, does not speak.
>He who speaks, does not know."



-------------------------
Washington Correspondent
The Netly News Network
http://netlynews.com/

Rick Osborne writes:
 > At 12:32 PM 1/28/97 -0500, Derek Atkins wrote:
 > >This is really exagerating.  You do not need a 4.0, 1600, etc. to be
 > >admitted to MIT.  Sure, you need good grades, but a 3.6 average and
 > >1350-1400 SAT scores is perfectly adequate to be admitted to MIT.
 > 
 > I disagree and can speak from experience.  I was denied admission to MIT
 > even thought I had a 3.82 GPA, 1440 SAT (one try), and had taken 9 AP tests
 > with two 5's, four 4's, two 3's, and one 2.  As for being well-rounded, I
 > was on several academic teams, sang in Chorus, acted and stage managed in
 > Drama, and played Tennis.

     I have a degree from MIT and got in with marks only slightly
higher than these.  My verbal SAT was actually higher than my math.

 > The only thing I didn't have that the next MIT applicant had was money.  I
 > made the mistake of letting them know that I was dirt poor and would need
 > full aid/grants/etc, and to quote "The Great Escape" it was "Zzzt! To the
 > Russian front!"

     This is an incorrect conclusion.  I'm replying publicly to your
message because I would hate for a kid with ability and little or no
money to give up on getting into MIT without trying.  I grew up on a
small farm in Maine and got zero financial help for college from my
folks.  The financial aid people at Tech assured me that, if I were
admitted, they would come up with a package of grants, scholarships,
and loans to make the nut.  With me working through school, they did.
I've just finished retiring the $45k+ debt.

 > MIT may be a great school, but they tend to be snooty assholes for the most
 > part.  (DISCLAIMER: Not all MIT grads/attendees are necessarily "snooty
 > assholes", I'm just saying that I've yet to meet one that wasn't.)

     I've been accused of being an asshole on more than one occasion
(although never snooty).  I think it's more a matter of temperament
than anything Tech did to me, though.

Regards,

pjm