Member-only story
Is MIT a Party School?
It Depends on What you Mean by Party…
I first went to MIT as a pre-frosh. That’s what they called visiting guests back in 1987. A friend of mine from high school was a freshman at MIT and I was visiting her. I spent a weekend in her dorm, which was Next House. Yes, that actually is the name of an MIT dorm.
We had a great time. One night she hosted a small party in her room — just 3 other people including her new boyfriend. She brought out her tiny crystal liqueur glasses, which were a gift, and a bottle of Grand Marnier. She poured all of us a thimble full while we sat on her bed.
I was taking calculus at the time, and I kept examining my glass while I sipped at the delicious liquid inside.
“What are you doing?” she asked me.
“Trying to figure out the volume of the glass by integrating the parabola,” I explained.
“OK, Shefali,” she said. “You better get in because you belong here!”
Fortunately I did get in. As a new freshman, I adjusted to life away from home for the first time, dealing with roommates that I didn’t particularly like, core courses in football sized classrooms and all the other things that make th first year in college a challenge. On top of it all, MIT is a pressure cooker.
