The Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Date: Aug 02 2008
Major: Biology (This Major's Salary over time)
MIT is not for everyone. If you are coming here for the prestige, then you would more then likely be happier at another school. MIT does have a few regular Joes and Janes, but a good number of students here were the top of their high school class; won national or regional science/math competitions; built robots when they were twelve; and so forth. Then they come to MIT and realize that they are just another face in the crowd. Some students find this a relief, others depressing. The course-work is hard, even those who major in the Humanities are required to take a year of Calculus and a year of Physics. Think of MIT as akin to going through SEAL training; you will be pushed to your absolute limits, and then pushed some more. If you stick with it, in the end you will know that you are one of the best. Receiving straight A's in high school is one thing, but here it is not that common. While it does happen from time to time most students receive B's and C's. If you strive for perfection, then you would be best served somewhere else. That sounds contradictory, but an unwritten mantra at MIT is that they expect you to fail, at something. The logic being that you learn from your mistakes and failure breeds perseverance.