[1676] in Discussion of MIT-community interests
Re: [Mit-talk] Progress of the Task Force on Undergraduate
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Natan Cliffer)
Thu Nov 17 13:46:09 2005
Date: Thu, 17 Nov 2005 13:41:36 -0500
From: Natan Cliffer <natan@MIT.EDU>
To: Brian Sniffen <bts@alum.MIT.EDU>
In-Reply-To: <86br0jm8ip.fsf@teleri.evenmere.org>
cc: mit-talk@MIT.EDU
Errors-To: mit-talk-bounces@MIT.EDU
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I think I meant comfortable in the "ooh shiny lots of new people I
must meet them all and hang out all these places..." way, not in the
"I will hang out in my dorm room and talk to my friends from high
school" way.
Having the frosh studying for advanced standing exams from the minute
they get on campus instead of taking the APs doesn't really advance
the "break and reforge" agenda any. Let the classes do that soon
enough.
--ntn
On Thu, Nov 17, 2005 at 01:30:54PM -0500, Brian Sniffen handed me the follo=
wing bytes:
> Natan Cliffer <natan@mit.edu> writes:
>=20
> > I'm leery of this change. When the frosh first get on campus, the
> > most important thing for them is to be comfortable. =20
>=20
> That's an interesting assertion. I'd far rather see the frosh made
> uncomfortable: not certain where they'll be living, not certain who
> they'll choose to be, not certain that they can handle all this. If
> that period lasts from Rush through the first 8.01 or 18.01 exam, it
> serves a few useful purposes. It binds the freshman class together
> and to the rest of the student body; it reduces inclination to compete
> against each other; it communicates very clearly that this is not and
> should not be High School.
>=20
> MIT, like other entities advertising to 18-year-olds who think they're
> cooler than they are, has had great success with the break-and-reforge
> approach. Has the student body changed enough that this approach is
> no longer appropriate?
>=20
> -Brian
>=20
> --=20
> Brian Sniffen bts@alum.mit.edu
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