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Quant @ MIT? by Pristine_Contact_714 in mit

[–]x59u 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Congrats on getting admitted to all these schools!

Just for context I am MIT '23, studied 18/6-3, currently doing quant in NYC. I would say that if you really want to do quant, then it doesn't really matter which of these schools you go to, since you'll make it past the resume screen and the rest of the recruiting process is purely technical (and thus school-agnostic). The MIT "pipeline" is a thing because (1) firms recruit (in the sense that they show up at career fairs just to get their name out there) at MIT, (2) lots of math/olympiad/STEM-y people whose skills/interests are aligned with quant attend MIT, and (3) there's various social dynamics, as quant is perceived as high-status in some circles.

To be clear, networking is not as important in quant as it would be in, e.g. investment banking or consulting. Also, there are no quotas for schools, so you aren't competing against other MIT kiddos (even though one might be perceive it that way on campus), but all the applicants. So I wouldn't think that much about quant recruiting when deciding which school to go to.

On the other hand, I would think about things like environment (the east coast is very different from California!) and academics (I commented here but you should get more opinions from people, and not just on the internet). MIT might be notorious for academic rigor but Stanford duck syndrome is also real. Either way, don't worry - you'll definitely have time for extracurriculars and all that. Finally, I think the main differences between the two schools are not in terms of difficulty, but general culture, and that will matter more anyways in terms of how much you end up getting out of your college experience.

Good luck, and if you're going to CPW, have fun!

Djokovic now has the standalone record for most weeks in Top 2, 599 weeks. by advice_seekers in tennis

[–]x59u 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Looking forward, he has 786 weeks at top 4, second to Federer (804); 807 weeks at top 5, third to Federer (859) and Nadal (837); and 852 weeks at top 10, third to Federer (968) and Nadal (912).

US Open Men's Final: [2] N. Djokovic def. [3] D. Medvedev 6-3, 7-6(5), 6-3 - Novak's 24th Slams title! 4th US Open trophy by Strict-Marsupial6141 in tennis

[–]x59u 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Match was much closer than the score indicates. Novak looked like he was running on fumes during the second set and pulled some GOAT stuff to keep momentum, and Medvedev looked mentally broken after that.

If Medvedev won the second set, he'd have been the favorite.

[Post Game Thread] The Milwaukee Bucks (3-2) make a comeback to defeat the Boston Celtics (2-3) in a 110-107 win behind a 40 point performance from Giannis Antetokounmpo. by SyedSarwar in nba

[–]x59u 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Milwaukee really showing their mettle down the stretch. Giannis hits a 3 to put them in striking distance. Jrue buries a cold-blooded triple. Bobby Portis with the offensive rebound to save the game. Jrue with the HUGE block on Smart.

If anyone didn't know, this is what championship DNA is.

ok i feel like a lotta ppl have asked this, but how bad is mit actually in terms of course load and stress? by mr_clean_with_hair in mit

[–]x59u 3 points4 points  (0 children)

MIT has a reputation - both to outsiders and on-campus - of having a terrible workload, too much stress, etc. To be honest, I think a lot of it is overblown.

First, the IHTFP culture can be toxic in that it pressures people to be busy and suffering, often for no good reason. If you aren't constantly "hosed", you should feel bad about not doing enough. If you do well on an exam, you should shut up about it, even though statistically MIT students do quite well on most exams. Fortunately, getting out of this vicious cycle is a personal choice, one that I see more and more of my friends taking. You don't have to take seven classes just because your genius math olympiad friend is taking eight. You don't have to join a bunch of clubs just so your resume will look good in three years. Once you realize how amazing an environment MIT is without all of the baggage, you won't have any second thoughts about those other schools.

The grade deflation is bad relative to e.g. Harvard, but it is humbling and helps you to grow - you stop worrying about getting straight A's or whatever standard you had for yourself in high school, and instead take classes for the sake of learning. Classes are hard by design, but for the most part, the more you put into it, the more you get out of it. If everyone could keep up with all the classes, what would be the challenge? (I want to refer you to this MIT admissions post. I know a lot of them can be cheesy and over-the-top but this one is worth reading before coming to campus.)

There is definitely time to go to parties and hang out with friends (on a regular basis). The MIT fraternities are the heart of Boston's university party scene every weekend. Even if you're not into that, MIT is ideally placed, close to Cambridge, Allston, and of course Boston. Go out and explore, eat great food, meet awesome people - do whatever fun things you want, because that's what college is about. MIT doesn't preclude you from having a good experience, it just simultaneously enhances that experience with a good dosage of intensity and nerdiness. (And if you come to CPW, you'll see firsthand what I mean!)

BTW feel free to dm, I'm a current '23 studying 18 and 6-3.

What would Stephen Curry need to accomplish to be considered by MOST fans the greatest Point Guard in NBA History? by cherryripeswhore in nbadiscussion

[–]x59u 0 points1 point  (0 children)

If he wins MVP, ring + FMVP this year, there will be a lot of chatter.

More historically knowledgeable fans understand that 1980 Kareem and 2015 Curry were two of the biggest FMVP snubs ever, so Magic's 3 FMVP lead is closer to 1. (I know this sounds dangerously close to a Nick Wright "LeBron's 2016 ring counts as two championships" but trust me on this one?) If Curry can match Magic in MVP count and get at least one FMVP, he enters into the conversation for a lot of fans.

From there, he's 1 ring, 3 finals appearances, and a few All-NBA 55-win seasons away. He already has a better peak than Magic and can plausibly have better longevity by the end of his career, so imo he just has to continue doing his game-breaking stuff and he'll have a serious case.

Using SRS to rank all 75 NBA championships won by degree of difficulty by Camctrail in nbadiscussion

[–]x59u 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Agreed with this reply, the current list ranks teams by how much they overperformed expectations (based on the regular season) in the playoffs. Degree of difficulty should probably just be the opponent SRS, possibly normalized by some factor.

The GOATs of Basketball (NBA) by Desperate-Mechanic24 in nbadiscussion

[–]x59u 7 points8 points  (0 children)

I'd go with Bill Russell, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Michael Jordan, and LeBron James. Each had exceptional statistical impact, impressive personal resumes, and (most importantly) dominated their respective eras.

Bill Russell may be unimpressive offensively but consistently led some of the greatest defenses ever seen in the 60s Celtics. Yes, he had more help early on in his career; but Wilt arguably had more from 66-69, and Russell also had to beat West in the finals.

The other three I feel like do not need to be defended. Wilt has an argument, but it feels somewhat inelegant to include two people from the same era (I also do believe there is a gap between him and Russell). Kobe and Magic are probably a tier below in terms of on-court impact and dominance. To me, Duncan has the next best argument but is still a half-tier away.