CME: To Do or Not To Do?

Several people have asked me for advice on deciding whether or not to apply to/take part in the Cambridge-MIT Exchange. Here's a compilation on some of the most important points I've been repeating. Hopefully, whoever you are, this can give you some insight into the differences/experience/etc. and help you with your decision!

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* On Classes:
Classes are not rigorous. They do not do continual assessment (the only thing that counts is the final exam - and your "psets" are only reviewed at "supervision" -think office hours- for "helpful review" rather than being graded) so honestly the workload is really light compared to MIT. I'm sure I will be stressed when finals come around (in late-April for every class regardless of which term you took the class - trimester system, first two trimesters are classes, last trimester is final exams + projects) but for now I feel like it's a breeze. And when the stress finally does come around, it'll be about 1/100th of the type of stress you feel at MIT. You'll get a 5-week vacation wherein you can study/review however much you want for your exams. Think about the 72 hours you get to prepare for MIT's finals week. Now imagine that being spread over 5+ weeks where you don't have classes, other distractions, nada (seriously, even athletics and other clubs get put on hold!), to study for exams.

* On life at Cambridge:
It is a totally different pace (slower) that you'll have to adjust to. To be honest, when I first got here, I was kind of depressed for a while - probably 4-5 weeks. It was really weird for me to feel because I am usually someone who, out of all my friends, is the person who most loves adventure, doing new things, meeting new people, going new places, etc. so it was startling for me to feel depressed about Cam life. I realized finally that it's because MIT is incredibly -almost disproportionately, compared to other American universities, let alone European ones where the academic:extracurricular focus ratio gets even higher- spontaneous, creative, dynamic, and almost spastic, lol. Everything is always changing and exciting things are happening everywhere around you. Since Cambridge is on the college system (you live in "colleges" kind of like what you see in Harry Potter), you largely spend your time within your college grounds - wake up, lectures, come back to college for lunch, go back to your department for lectures, come back to college and work in library/room, go to hall for dinner, go to other college for university society (club) meeting, go back to room to study and/or hang out with people in your college common areas (bar - that's really the only common lounge area in your entire college campus, aka oversized dorm). I probably felt a bit suffocated at first due to this routine, but afterward, I really got into the groove and have a group of really good friends so now I am very very happy about it.

* My courses:
Getting credit this year for 2.002, 2.004, 2.671, 2.672, 2.96, 14.02, 14.11, and 24 units of HASS elective. The transfer ratio (for the course 2 department) is 1 MIT class per every 2 Cambridge engineering modules taken. In the engineering department, we can take additional language classes, so I took two Spanish classes for 24 units HASS. I'm also taking an economics class (full year class) for 24 units of course 14 credit for 2 classes that will complete my HASS concentration. So I'm walking away from CME with 9 12-unit classes worth of credit, which is great. Side note: Cam students don't get to take classes outside of their major. Doing what I'm doing and taking engineering with the engineering students in the engineering department and taking an economics paper with the econ kids in the econ department ... you'll be an odd ball there. But coming from an American background, I appreciate the balance and the chance to learn anything I want.

* Would I do it again?
Yes. Though that's more a "yes" at 80% than a "YES!!!" I still think that MIT is more active, spontaneous, passionate, etc. but I really appreciate the opportunity that studying abroad has given me to see beyond the MIT world and experience a different culture, a different college lifestyle, and just see The College Experience from a different vantage point. My personal opinion is that it broadens perspective and is teaching me/making me more aware of the countless little nuances distinguishing our cultures. It's without a doubt a huge benefit to experience more than one university during your college years, and seriously, who would turn down a chance to study at BOTH freaking MIT and University of Cambridge within one college career!? I also love meeting all these new people and having a circle of Cambridge friends who I really like and can visit/know forever. It's awesome to be able to travel Europe while you're here (in December, I went skiing on Cambridge+Oxford's annual trip 2,500 students to the French Alps for a week, then to Switzerland, Paris, London, Vienna, Paris again, London for New Year's, then Amsterdam, Munich, Venice, and finally Spain, Dublin, Kerry just this past month) and also just to understand a different definition of "college."






Read around for more posts on specific Cambridge events, thoughts/feelings/experiences, and such. Hopefully this has been helpful, stay tuned for more.