Campus Life

Welcome to CPW, Class of 2023!

Prefrosh share their thoughts about MIT

Campus Preview Weekend has arrived once more! To get their take on MIT, The Tech managed to pull a few prefrosh aside and ask them the following questions:

What is one thing you think is cool, awesome, or exciting about MIT?

What is something cool about you?

Emily Sheng, Virginia

“I feel like something that makes MIT stand out is that it has a relaxed atmosphere. Other schools feel more strict about ‘this is a liberal arts college; this is the science; this is the engineering college.’ Everything is mixed together and there’s more flexibility to choose what you want to do. It also has that relaxed vibe where no one judges you!”

“I just got my permit a week ago, and I’m 18. My friends were shocked that I didn’t have it. It’s because I failed the permit test once at the DMV, and it scarred me because I was waiting for like three hours at the DMV. I failed the first part of the test — I got one of the signs wrong, and you had to get 10 correct. People were shocked. They would say, ‘You can perfectly integrate this problem with partial fractions, but you can’t pass the permit test?’”

Jessie Lee, California

“I think the pirate’s license is very cool. Where else can you become a pirate? I heard it’s very hard to get into the classes, though.”

“I really like American Sign Language. I got into it in elementary school. In our music class, we learned how to cover songs in sign language, and we would sign songs at assemblies. It was just fun to practice signs with friends and communicate secretly.”

Tomi Siyanbade, Georgia

“The fact that it’s really rigorous but at the same time everyone seems really chill. Even the hacking culture — it’s not just a bunch of nerdy engineers sitting in their rooms freaking out all the time.”

“I know a lot about fonts. It’s not necessarily a hobby; it’s just like a pet peeve of mine that grew into an obsession. My favorite font is Times New Roman.”

Varsha Sandadi, California

“Definitely the people. I went to a really small high school with 200 people in my grade, so it’s interesting to see the amount of diversity here. I’ve been spending the day trying to interact with as many people from as many different states as possible.”

“I started watercolor painting in fourth grade. I use Google images to find landscapes to paint. I like painting sunsets and mountains.”

Emily Nguyen, New Mexico

“The people here are really different and quirky and fun. Specifically, I like CPW food events. So far, my favorite food event was cinnamon rolls at Simmons because I got to go in the ball pit.”

“I won state tennis in New Mexico. I also haven’t met anyone from New Mexico yet.”