Firsthand proof that MIT overtrains its runners - from MIT Confessions

I have known Halston Taylor since 1978.

I can say without reservation, that he is one of the top five azzholes I have known in my 58 years on the planet.

DIII Alum wrote:

One thing to remember about MIT is that the core curriculum that all students have to take is extremely hard, including biology, chemistry, physics, and calculus. That's just the baseline, and most MIT students are STEM majors (obviously).

In comparison, a lit major at Williams doesn't have to deal with all of these challenging science classes on top of their major classes. Williams is obviously an excellent school, but I think there is something to be said about the academic load at MIT compared to it's peer DIII schools.

There is more to be said about the academic pressure at MIT. My Ph.D. advisor went to MIT. He did not find it particularly stressful, because he never got caught up in worrying about whether other students were better, or learning more faster.

I was a STEM major, but pretty much all M, as I had no particular interest in lab science, or labs that would interfere with afternoon runs. I didn't have a problem with multidimensional calculus, but understanding why I was here as on a darkling plain was a different sort of thing.

DIII Alum wrote:

the core curriculum that all students have to take is extremely hard, including biology, chemistry, physics, and calculus.

I guess it's even worse than I thought. Their reputation is built on requiring mastery of high school math? You can't study physics anywhere at all without that.

The idea that STEM classes are harder is overblown. The judgment question comes into play in humanities courses to the degree that you might just not be able to get an A in a class because your professor may not like one kind of argument vs. another. The classes are not easier. And I see STEM students doing very badly in my humanities classes, while liberal arts majors often do very well--not because I don't like their political opinions, which don't come into the subject anyway, or that I don't like their opinions; it is because they don't know how to read carefully and can't seem to learn facts about abstract claims and arguments.

MITcrazy wrote:

Too many pimples on the face due to stress of MIT courseload

Not enough sleep

Pressure from parents

Pick at your acne more so it leaves permanent scars

don’t get laid

Makes sense why your life would suck

Run around campus and get 4 hrs of sleep a night, don’t shower and this happens

I ran XC for a year at MIT before quitting. My main reason for not continuing was that there were so many other awesome things to spend my time / energy on. With coursework, it's challenging but if you just stick to one major and do the minimum necessary, it's not too bad. Most people, however, try to load up as much as possible on courses and end up with double majors, minors, etc. Not to mention all the extracurriculars. There's so many things I wanted to do that pulling all-nighters was pretty common and honestly fun. The choice between full immersion in the MIT experience and becoming a slightly less mediocre DIII runner was pretty easy for me. Regarding Coach Taylor, I thought he was fine. He takes the team seriously and has high expectations. It's fine if you don't want to devote that much time and energy to running -- just quit like many of us lol. You can still run on your own at your own level.

- Told me I didn't have the test scores to get into MIT and got in off of his support and the major I selected alone

When I was around, admissions was pretty explicit in maintaining that everyone had to meet the baseline scores regardless of anything else. Unless that changed, this one seems off.

ALL high school runners thinking about running in college should read this thread very carefully.

This was generally my experience as well. I had a few years that were really rough and for some inexplicable reason, I stuck it out and ran all 4 years. Probably because of the tight friendships I made freshman year. I'm glad I did, but I wouldn't do it again knowing what I know now and what was sacrificed.

it's really tough. every year the coach is more interested in the next recruiting class and there are a million things going on to make life more complicated. college is fun though, just try to be patient with training and improvement and I would urge you to have a 4-year outlook for track and XC.

my fastest two races of college were my last two. I didn't run for 6 years after those races, but now have been running for the last 7-8 years or so and enjoying it.

running isn't your personality. it isn't your life.

zxcvzvcx wrote:

The idea that STEM classes are harder is overblown. The judgment question comes into play in humanities courses to the degree that you might just not be able to get an A in a class because your professor may not like one kind of argument vs. another. The classes are not easier. And I see STEM students doing very badly in my humanities classes, while liberal arts majors often do very well--not because I don't like their political opinions, which don't come into the subject anyway, or that I don't like their opinions; it is because they don't know how to read carefully and can't seem to learn facts about abstract claims and arguments.

It's not about cognitive difficulty, it's about the time and mental energy required to make a good grade, which, trust me, is quite high for intro STEM classes at MIT.

Bad Wigins wrote:

DIII Alum wrote:

the core curriculum that all students have to take is extremely hard, including biology, chemistry, physics, and calculus.

I guess it's even worse than I thought. Their reputation is built on requiring mastery of high school math? You can't study physics anywhere at all without that.

Yes, but ALL students have to take calculus, not just the STEM majors. That's what sets MIT apart in terms of course load.

Calculus and STEM aren’t necessarily hard. People just like to name drop

MIT up my butt wrote:

Calculus and STEM aren’t necessarily hard. People just like to name drop

Fine, you're right, all colleges are the same difficulty. The student who studied communications at Podunk state was under the same academic load at the student at MIT studying engineering.

Schools are similar in difficulity. It is the majors that differ.

Both of the above posters are wrong. MIT is obviously much harder than your average school across the board, for all majors, but the insinuation that MIT STEM is particularly harder than the same programs at Stanford, Johns Hopkins, and the like is totally bogus.

I have $hit durability and average talent, and run slow times at a crap college with a coach who doesn't care. I'd love to have better durability than being injured literally every 2 weeks at 40 mpw, and have a coach who pushed me to my limit so I could improve.

Despite all that I'm still appreciative that I'm able to compete in running at any level, while I'm getting an education. Stop biching about your sad life at MIT with a coach who pushes you "too hard" and stfu

May need this kind of treatment from all the stress and lack of sleep

https://youtu.be/JMa5NX2zSjM

Need Sleepy wrote:

May need this kind of treatment from all the stress and lack of sleep

https://youtu.be/JMa5NX2zSjM

The pus kind of looks like the KONG treat I put in my KONG to feed my dog, you know? Dogs find it tasty

DIII Alum wrote:

Bad Wigins wrote:

I guess it's even worse than I thought. Their reputation is built on requiring mastery of high school math? You can't study physics anywhere at all without that.

Yes, but ALL students have to take calculus, not just the STEM majors. That's what sets MIT apart in terms of course load.

Right over your head. If MIT was half the school it claims to be, students would be done with multivariable calculus before even starting there.

By the time calculus gets difficult, it's no longer called "calculus" but "analysis." "Calculus" is the basics of differentiation and integration with the fundamental theorem as the grand holy revelation linking them. You don't take any courses named "calculus" in college unless you skipped something in high school. Except multivariable, which I doubt MIT students have to do, or linear algebra either, except undoubtedly physics majors - just like all physics majors everywhere because physicists use it regularly.

So... they can't code, they think calculus is hard... which part of technology ARE these elite students good at?

So your post offered no actual proof, just a bunch of whining. Perhaps the things he said to you were true. Perhaps you weren't good enough. Perhaps his help got you in school. When you quit, you did let your teammates down. His job isn't really to blow sunshine up your posterior, but to produce the amazing results you acknowledged. You just didn't have what it took.

You are clearly very intelligent... Too smart for MIT, good thing you didn't go there!