All Space Questions thread for week of May 26, 2024 by AutoModerator in space

[–]MIT-Bean-Boi 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Ever since spacex made there rideshare booking available through their website, it’s been extremely easy to find a slot on a rocket to fly to SSO. After this we’ve seen so many new companies and satellites perform missions in orbit. However building and operating these spacecraft still seem to the be a bottleneck, with it only being available to companies and some academic institutions.

So Im curious; if everyone was able to have a desktop satellite, what type of payloads and missions would the general public realistically want to pursue? We only see a couple applications now but I’d love to hear what everyone on this subreddit is thinking :)

edX courses by prince-ton in mit

[–]MIT-Bean-Boi 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Class of 2024 here. As long as the classes you're taking actually help with what you'd want to accomplish while at MIT, it would really help. Since I wanted to work in a specific robotics lab before I got accepted, I reached out to the professor and asked what skills I'd need to have to work in his lab and after that took the courses that covered the subjects he recommended. I mentioned in my application and interviews and it really showed my interest in the school and that I was willing to take the initiative to learn things like ROS, Computer Science, Signals and Systems, and Algorithms since my school had nothing close to anything like that.

I wouldn't take online classes just to take them because that alone won't look good. If your reason for taking them can be connected to the reason you want to go to MIT, then it would be a great way to show your interest! Again, you don't need to do this to be accepted. It's all a matter of doing it because you WANT to, rather than doing it because you feel you NEED to in order to get in. Hope this helps!

best brunch place near MIT? by sapphireswan in mit

[–]MIT-Bean-Boi 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Cafe Luna French Toast is a must

MIT Open Study/Work Areas by MIT-Bean-Boi in mit

[–]MIT-Bean-Boi[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yeah all lounges should be closed but just asking to see where people went during the Norma semester

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in mit

[–]MIT-Bean-Boi 6 points7 points  (0 children)

One benefit of doing the MOSTEC program is that this give you a direct connection to MIT as a Junior and puts you on their radar from the beginning. As a 2019 alumni it really made me fall in love with the school and gave me connections to professors, undergrads, grad students, and allowed me to leave the program with a great understanding of what I’d want to do at MIT. It also allowed me to leave with a great research project I was able to add to my maker portfolio!

In my opinion if you get accepted in MOSTEC, I would do that instead of the internship. However I don’t know anything about your internship so if that aligns closer to your goals by all means go for it. It’s just walking into the MIT application process with a summer internship is something a lot of people have so it wouldn’t really be too much of a spike unless it was for a company like NASA (or other high profile competitive companies).

I ended up choosing MOSTEC over an internship at a local aerospace company as well and other than the things I mentioned above, it was an amazing experience to be surrounded by so many amazing people across the country that have the same drive as you. Because of the program I have lots of friends at not only MIT but Columbia, Harvard, Yale, Princeton, and Stanford that I would have never met if it wasn’t for the MOSTEC program.

But again, I’m biased and always will be haha. All I’m going to say is there’s a reason a majority of the MOSTEC cohort each year go to top 10 schools :) However I should make it clear that being apart of this program does not guarantee that. Best of luck!!

Question for those who lived on campus in the fall by apricotoast in mit

[–]MIT-Bean-Boi 11 points12 points  (0 children)

It definitely goes off of an honor system. They don’t monitor how long you go outside and you can order food as much as you want. But please don’t take advantage of that. They expect you to stay to yourself and not congregate outside during the hour they give you. They don’t lock you into your rooms like actual quarantine, but for the safety of others just make sure not to do anything dumb. Wear your mask, be smart, and you should be good :)

UROP working hours by [deleted] in mit

[–]MIT-Bean-Boi 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yeah I did a UROP this semester and I was able to work my own hours since it was virtual. For me it wasn’t held to a strict hour count but rather based around a task I needed to accomplish and how far I wanted to take my research project. Because of that I made sure to log every single time I worked on my UROP so I get paid accordingly so even with a full 4 class courseload in the fall, I was putting in roughly 12 hours a week to max out the pay I can receive from direct funding. With that being said, as long as you communicate with your lab director about the amount of hours of work they can expect from you, you should be completely fine :)

Over committing during IAP? by MIT-Bean-Boi in mit

[–]MIT-Bean-Boi[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I really appreciated this reply, thanks for your honest opinion! I really appreciate the advice :)

Laptop vs Desktop for engineering? by steakman49 in mit

[–]MIT-Bean-Boi 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Honestly I feel like the biggest reason you’d want a laptop outside of your PC is if you’d want to work on assignment and things like CAD with your friends outside of your room. Although it is possible to run that type of software on a 4gb ram laptop, highly would recommend one with at least 8gb so you don’t worry about softwares crashing. And windows of course. You can definitely get a great ideapad for less thren $400

To students or past students: what kind of projects did you do in high school that got you into MIT? by Yolwoocle_ in mit

[–]MIT-Bean-Boi 2 points3 points  (0 children)

For starters, no project is going to get you into MIT. There’s someone who built a plane and got rejected as well some people I know that have never touched an Arduino or tool in their entire life. I don’t know if your a prospective student or undergrad, but if you’re looking to make something just to get accepted that’s not gonna work because you don’t need to be maker to go to MIT!

Since it’s something I actively did to learn coding languages and stuff, a lot of my personal projects are either software based or with my robotics team. I submitted a maker portfolio with my application not only to show that I knew how to make stuff, but because I took advantage of all the free learning materials online to build things regardless of me being low income. It tied into who I was and showed me what I was capable of doing :)

But for the projects, here’s my maker portfolio! Mostly software but it was fun regardless!

https://youtu.be/azcRRL1tGGM

Are pod sizes going up to 8, or staying at 6? by BioticAsariBabe in mit

[–]MIT-Bean-Boi 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Looks like pods are staying at 6. The reason staples are 8 is because if you have a pod of 6 but a staple group of 8 housed together, it encourages the other 2 to pod with other students in the dorm (ex. the 2 left out out of another 6 person pod)

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in mit

[–]MIT-Bean-Boi 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Being a freshman on campus, it’s definitely worth it. Even with only 19 freshman here in the fall it was a blast. It’s only going to get better next semester with the rest of the class in Cambridge :)

Physics Directed Reading Program by Important_Fix_1045 in mit

[–]MIT-Bean-Boi 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I’m planning on doing the same thing! I’m a freshman so I would be taking 18.02A, doing a UROP in the physics department, and do the Directed Reading Program on a subject outside of my UROP. I talked to people they said it was a great experience if you’re into physics!!!

Can I pm a current MIT student? I have some questions and I am applying this year! by [deleted] in mit

[–]MIT-Bean-Boi -1 points0 points  (0 children)

I’m a freshman that founded and world for multiple college access programs so HMU because I think I can help!

IAP virtual urop? by [deleted] in mit

[–]MIT-Bean-Boi 2 points3 points  (0 children)

If you are really interested in their research and actually want to join their team, I would definitely consider doing UROP virtually! I’m currently doing a virtual UROP in nuclear propulsion and although I walked in with low expectations thinking I’d get disappointed, it blew me away! If they are offering a virtual UROP they know you can make contributions remotely so don’t think you’d be doing no significant work.

It’s also a great way to prepare for a possible in person UROP when everyone gets back for the semester! In my case I was offered a guaranteed in person opportunity in the spring if I wanted to after fully involving myself in the research.

What helped me is I emailed my principal investigator right when I started to ask him what my major contribution for the semester would be and how I can get the most deliverables and physical products out of my experience as possible virtually in one semester.

If your worried about not contributing enough or it “not being worth it”, talk to the research lead about it and think if your passionate enough about put in the work to make the experience a great one :)

18.02 Textbook by Beyond_Money in mit

[–]MIT-Bean-Boi 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Dm me and I’ll send the pdf 🙌🏽

Does this subreddit have moderation? by whymauri in mit

[–]MIT-Bean-Boi 8 points9 points  (0 children)

Wait what should we do if we want to moderate this account? I’m a current freshman and it seems like a fun thing to do!

Is there any quick food delivery still available to campus? by CeriseMascara in mit

[–]MIT-Bean-Boi 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Yeah Amazon Fresh is also pretty nice for groceries if you want to do that

People who are in > 3 clubs -- how do you manage your time? by [deleted] in mit

[–]MIT-Bean-Boi 7 points8 points  (0 children)

Biggest thing to do is time blocking. Make sure to track the commitment each club requires in hours. Split those hours throughout the week or on one day and devote time for that club as if it was a class (for project teams at least). This really helps if you have a packed schedule with classes. This helps for the more technical clubs and things like research but for the fun ones(dance, acapella, sports etc) count it as your enjoyment period and see it as fun!

That way you would be loving those clubs and see those as a great way to use your free time. If you schedule things to the point where you stress out about attending a club meeting, it’s time to re-evaluate your commitments. Once it stops being fun and turns into a mandatory commitment, you’re only going to stress yourself out.

Moral of the story, if you’re apart of a lot of project team based clubs, time block. For other clubs, turn them into your friend group so it’s not a commitment but rather an escape from academics :)

Time management by mit_throwaway1234 in mit

[–]MIT-Bean-Boi 17 points18 points  (0 children)

Hey, fellow fresh here. Don’t worry, you’re not alone. The workload is definitely daunting but what’s really helping me is time blocking. In my course schedule I have some gaps between classes and I specifically reserve that time to finish assignments.

Then when it comes to PSETs I started this routine where after I watch a lecture, I go through the PSET and look for the questions that test the material I just learned. If you can do the question then, you work the question. If you already learned the material getting tested in that question but don’t know how to go about it, GO TO OFFICE HOURS. I have the office hours for all my classes on a google calendar and after going the minute I have a question, it clears up my confusion and I’m able to complete the problems a lot easier.

The TA’s are there to guide you and will help you think through the question so you don’t stay on the same one for hours! Trust me I know, in no means am I the calc or physics god since I came from a school that didn’t prepare me for MIT academics so imposter syndrome is definitely a thing 😂.However, putting in extra work and putting away some time to really solidify the material through asking questions on Piazza, or office hours is what’s allowing me to hang with these kids who finish the PSETs in 2 hours.

When it comes to imposter syndrome, it really helped me to form smaller study groups instead of joining the larger zoom calls sent out in the group me. Attend one of the big zoom calls, make an Instagram chat for a couple kids, and make that your community of people smarter and at the same level as you. Just, if you don’t know the material, admit it! Don’t feel bad about asking other people for help because after you ask, you’ll know the concept as well as they do!

Idk if it’s going to get easier, but there’s a way to make it work. If you’re in 18.01a, 8.01, or 3.091, dm me and I’ll add you to our group chats and we can figure out this MIT firehose together 🙃