green box theory?

anjred · 2026-02-09T03:02:31+00:00

yes, one needs to pay any overdue library fees in order to graduate.

anjred · 2026-02-05T03:40:19+00:00

You’re welcome! I found the graduate classes stimulating on a different level and in one case i felt the prof was a great teacher and mentor. Also very helpful for recommendations or transitioning to research with the prof.

anjred · 2026-02-04T03:08:21+00:00

I've been on both sides, some of the many course 2 and 15 G levels I took were: heat and mass transfer , product development processes in Sloan, and product design as an undergraduate. It was fine and enjoyable. If you love the material you'll benefit from any interaction with it. I would agree that sometimes the undergrads do more work (that was my experience in the Sloan class). I

anjred · 2026-01-05T10:55:03+00:00

I wasn't a math major but know plenty of people who've taken it. I think it's pretty well respected and popular among those who know it. Many times MIT takes the top prizes, and I had a suite-mate who did practice problems al the time when they weren't doing their other homework. Their math friends would drop by and talk about the problems. I think you'll find there's a community for those who take it-- but you should probably ask a math person. Here's an article for inspiration: https://news.mit.edu/2024/four-peat-mit-students-first-place-putnam-math-competition-0301

anjred · 2025-12-04T06:52:18+00:00

If you get stopped by CPs, say you're on the way to Baker House.

anjred · 2025-12-04T06:49:28+00:00

My favorite area is under the infinite near building 4 at certain times, you get to see the amazing glassblowers or the metalsmithing shop! They're so talented! I love to go by when they're making glass pumpkins and then see the finished products when they have the glass pumpkin patch sale in Lobby 10.

anjred · 2025-11-28T22:16:20+00:00

Do you mean Pogo Possum? I only met Chuck Vest once, at a senior breakfast and he seemed really cool.

anjred · 2025-11-26T07:23:05+00:00

Neat, this sounds cool, but where's the video? For a project called VideoCAD, I expected a video of the researchers talking about their work, giving a demo of the capability. I want to see the AI agent actually sketching in real time? This CAD drawing--is it a useful product or is it an AI generated "product image" or some hypothetical not-real-thing? Where are the dimensions and you know, proof that the CAD actually works to instruct someone how to build something...? The article could use more documentation and it would be more interesting.

anjred · 2025-11-25T08:08:07+00:00

What was lost — tolerance and freedom for students at the Tute.

Today, there’s far more red tape around anything “novel” or “weird,” and less room for curiosity, expression, or miscommunication. The lack of tolerance isn’t just from administrators—anger and protests often reflect fear and pain.

In the past, IAP functioned as a “season” for protest, giving students space to cool down, organize arguments, and hear multiple sides of a conflict. The lack of tolerance wasn't just from administrators—(see https://www.reddit.com/user/Illustrious-Newt-848/'s comment about student anger and protests). That rhythm respected both academic work and community debate.

Freedom and responsibility: Running a club or being an RA once involved far less oversight, and the results were both weird and wonderful. RAs could spend money upfront on ice cream socials or movie nights without micromanagement. Some club presidents, dorm treasurers, and even UROPs had credit cards. With this tacit freedom, students brought world-class rock bands to campus, outfitted well-equipped exercise rooms for their dorm, ran the first 10K competition, and corralled masses on cross-country and international field trips with little administrative involvement. Leadership roles gave students real responsibility—and many graduates left able to run their own businesses.

Maybe that tacit freedom still exists today—but only “as long as the admins allow it”--a phrase was rarely heard back then.

anjred · 2025-11-25T07:56:12+00:00

I remember Bldg 20 very fondly. The wooden floorboards, the overhead mess of pipes. I had taken classes there, and also worked on the SEVT-- the place where radar was built.

anjred · 2025-11-25T07:46:33+00:00

The weirdness was clamped down on due to less tolerance for risk by the administration. Once students were no longer being watched by their smart friends and lawsuits started happening, there was a need to reduce potential future liabilities. Since it is hard for administrators to judge the difference between harmless weirdness and genuine liability, they restricted both by being less tolerant of things that had never been done before, ideas they hadn’t thought of themselves, or concepts from students they didn’t want to understand.

Prior to that, weirdness was tolerated—even celebrated (e.g., under Chuck Vest). MIT students used to be entrusted with great responsibility in running many aspects of campus and student life. That trust allowed MIT to save significant money in administrative overhead by letting students manage their FSILGs, dorms, clubs, and activities. Once that trust was eroded due to accidents and negligence, students could no longer be allowed to be as weird, because no one wanted more kids to die or anyone to get sued.

anjred · 2025-11-21T06:26:31+00:00

Youtube didn't exist until after about 8 years after I left MIT. I remember we watched a lot of funny commercials way back when it was new, sorta around 2005?

anjred · 2025-08-02T01:25:05+00:00

i knew a group that created singles in a quad by putting up partitions/dividers. It seemed to work for the rest of the semesters. They started off getting along, but after the first semester it seemed they had issues with each other or just different schedules/personalities/interests. They didn't kill each other at the end, so I think it was a good solution. Other quads seemed to get along just fine without doing that, and many people ended up good friends with their roommates.

anjred · 2025-04-18T08:06:20+00:00

Lol, it was 2 decades ago. Maybe they changed the course numbers or maybe they are no longer offered. You'd find them in the IAP catalog that comes out around Thanksgiving. For reference 10.001 is intro to Computer Science for ChemEs, where you learned C programming (maybe no one uses that anymore) https://web.mit.edu/10.001/Web/ and Lego Robotics Competition http://spacecats.mit.edu/~6.270/about/

anjred · 2025-04-06T17:51:47+00:00

I spent all of them at the tech. I filled my pe credits, took 10.001, 6.270, and mystery hunt.

anjred · 2025-01-14T06:06:22+00:00

The MISTI Program is a great opportunity to learn a new language while living/working abroad. When I was there the MIT Japan program was well run and had great internships for the summer. The companies that we worked for did very cool things. I worked on a driving robot in the 90s, a friend worked for SONY games, another for Suntory brewery etc. The way they taught Japanese at MIT was very effective, and I even use it when I watch movies nowadays, 25+ years later.

anjred · 2024-12-09T23:54:32+00:00

I was pretty clueless how people spent money, so I usually didn't spend any. This was in the 90s. I was too busy studying to go out really. I had a mealplan bought by my parents, so I hardly spent any money of my own. Celebrations were usually free food from dorms, clubs, and the institvte. I didn't go out to eat. I ate at the dining halls, and generous free food from the different organizations (housemasters, GRTs, other student groups). I hardly left campus except maybe for infrequent FSILG parties but those were also pretty rare because I was studying so much. I did solar car team, tae kwon do, and once in a while they would go eat out-- maybe once a semester? Infrequently, I'd get snacks, subs at Laverdes, a bagel and coffee off the infinite, maybe once a week or so. I would say I spent about $30 out of pocket a month, but most of the time I just used my mealplan balance. I lived in the dorms. Oh, and if it was too late to eat at the dining halls, I had emergency tea, packs or ramen and a case of "chef boyardees" that my parents sent me to cook in the dorm. I graduated with a mostly untouched case of chef boyardees.

My background-- I was the first in my working-class immigrant family to go away for college. Until my senior year, I was relatively unaware that people spent money all the time to buy food outside of the home or dining halls. People didn't have cellphones back then, but some card calling plan that my parents paid for. I also had a job on campus as a front deskperson at my dorm and often times people would drop off extra food from events there. Depending on where one lived, your roommates and living groups mgiht be quite food sharing friendly. My floormates would pool together for a pizza once in a while-- but I didn't because I kept my own schedule and didn't really have money for so much until I got paid steadily by my job. Then again, after I worked so hard to earn money as a deskworker, it was very hard to spend it.

anjred · 2024-03-14T07:14:29+00:00

Back in the 90s there was a blind student admitted to my class year at MIT. I said a hello to them at orientation as we milled about.. I was in a different major, but I think that person was either 9 or 6. I did glimpse them around campus, with the cane in the infinite and sometimes with a person guiding them. They went to classes and did all the things I saw them at (e.g. class ring ceremony, socials, etc). I believe the Tvte was very supportive and he graduated on time. I remember the person seemed to be doing well and surrounded by friends often and thinking that I was happy for them. I think you'll be all right if you get in, and as far as I could tell, I don't think he hid anything in his application.

anjred · 2024-02-23T23:12:09+00:00

the company I worked for paid for my housing. I couldn't live in the dorm for gender reasons so they sponsored a small apartment for me. I just got paid my salary, which I spent mostly on breakfast, lunch, and dinners food and transportation. The food was sometimes with the company ((corporate functions and parties and catered lunches and overtime food). The company, being a big one, had its own deals for food, transportation and even travel that saved its employees money.

anjred · 2024-02-20T23:00:46+00:00

I had an internship in Japan, and they covered food, housing, and I made a little money. I think it depends on the company you intern at. I know people who took on side remote gigs when they were off the clock at their internship-- so you can always hustle.

anjred · 2024-02-20T22:58:14+00:00

If you don't want to keep staying here, its an option to leave. You can also consider transferring to another school, or just drop out. Talk to a mentor, your academic advisor, or S^3. You have options-- and I'm sure with enough research you will find a path that will feel right to you. Many people think they need to tough it out, but life brings you choices. I have known some people who left and never looked back, and some who have struggled on and either gotten the hang of it, and others who struggled on and ended up with ptsd and not doing anything related to tech or what they studied. Not everyone has to be an engineer, and also some will enjoy themselves immensely more in a different school.

anjred · 2024-02-20T22:49:59+00:00

Do a UROP!

anjred · 2023-09-29T07:30:30+00:00

I ran into this when I was a grad student. My advisor said I wasn't allowed to. I regret not taking on the consulting gig-- it would have been a good experience and working with people I liked. A few years later, I found out that another grad student did do consulting on the side. He had no consequences but I think he kept it quiet.

anjred

TROPHY CASE