I have a few theories as to why we elbowed our way to the top of the list:

• OpenCourseWare: MIT courses for free on the web. What's not to love about that?
• Blogs: You're reading one now! We do have others from all corners of the Institute, so you might want to check out the MIT Blogroll.
• MIT News: Everything you want to know about technology, research and MIT. Get the inside scoop before it hits the pages of "Wired."
• TechTV: Did you know that MIT has its own web video service? There's really no way to adequately describe the eclectic mix of videos that are added by the MIT community each day. My personal favorites are the Doc Edgerton high-speed films. There's also a general MIT video gateway.
• MIT's home page: It changes every weekday.
• GAMBIT Game Lab: Games created by MIT students. I'm partial to Shadow Shoppe.

That's not an inclusive list, of course. MIT is such a vibrant, creative place that if you can't find something amazing on our website you're really just not trying. That's more of an opinion, though.

I'm also a lot busier and, like I said, stressed. Luckily the Lab for Chocolate Science has come to the rescue! The Lab offers free hot chocolate in Lobby 10 during finals. And for the purists out there I'll quickly add that yes, it is true hot chocolate (chocolate + milk). What, you think these people are amateurs? They have lab coats!

Choconauts Kendra Beckler '09, Victoria Vega '13, and Paul Weaver '12

So hang in there, sit back, grab a cup of hot chocolate (or, as the Lab would no doubt correct, hot cocoa), and try to relax. I know I will. *sip*

MyMIT will be inaccessible on Saturday, October 31 from 6:00am until 10:00am EDT for essential maintenance. We apologize for the inconvenience.

I thought that would be less terrifying coming from me the day before instead of in the morning when you fired up the browser to finally submit your EA application. Rest assured there will be plenty of time for applications after the maintenance is completed. Go ahead and sleep in, read a book, watch some cartoons, finish that last minute work on your halloween costume, or......

I can tell you aren't listening. You're already thinking about re-reading your essays for the millionth time. That's good, too. Just try not to panic.

Every student in the MyMIT database is assigned an alumni interviewer, aka Educational Counselor (EC). The interview itself is usually conducted in your home town – or someplace close – in an informal setting like a coffee house or book store. It’s not a test, and your EC won’t throw a Rubik’s Cube at you and start a stopwatch. The interview is a conversation, hopefully two-way, where the EC gets to know you: what drives you, interests you, fills your dreams, fills your day, and generally makes you who you are as a person and a student.

Applicants are expected to contact their EC directly, and the contact information is listed in your MyMIT account. You don’t need to finish the application before setting up, or even having, an interview, so there’s no reason to wait until the last minute. Just like the teachers you’ve asked for letters of recommendation (you have asked them, haven’t you?), our ECs can be busy. Getting in touch sooner is better than later.

The deadline for setting up the interview with your EC is October 20th, which is a mere twelve days away!

We’ve sent out an email reminder* for those students who’ve already indicated in MyMIT that they intend to apply EA. For those of you who haven’t told us about your EA plans, or for those who haven’t visited MyMIT to start the application process, consider this your friendly post-it note to the forehead.

If you have any questions (or burgeoning phobias) about the Admission interview, you should probably go read Kim Hunter’s post about the interview process.

* In some cases more than one, with apologies.

You can relax, because today I’m taking the high road. That’s in no small part because I really dislike computer SPAM. We’ve been getting more than usual on the blogs lately, and it’s a trend that concerns me. So we’re going to try something called ReCaptcha on the blogs for a few days. For those unfamiliar with anti-SPAM technology, ReCaptcha is the box of wavy text at the bottom of the page, just above the “submit” button. The theory is that only humans (and occasionally Cylons) can decipher the distorted text back into words. SPAMbots, even the polite ones, get stuck at the door.

If ReCaptcha eliminates the SPAM and doesn’t wreak havoc with legitimate comments we’ll keep it around. If you have trouble with ReCaptcha, please let me know (obviously you might not be able to comment, but you can always email me).

* True story

We didn't have any easily-shared application questions like LOLcats or YouTube videos this year. That's just as well since Chris Peterson has a hatred of LOLcats that borders on anaphylactic. Don't believe me? Just listen as I post this:

I bet you can hear his eyes rolling in disgust (another little-known Chris trait: noisy eyes*).

With the help of our senior bloggers, selected admissions staff, many hours of review, two intense sessions of deliberation, and one large pizza, we were able to narrow our list to the magic number of bloggers.

So without further lamentation or LOLcat shenanigans, please help me welcome the new student bloggers!

Celena C. '12
Cam T. '13
Hamsika C. '13
Jenny X. '13
Marcela R. '13

And don't forget our returning upperclassmen (they won't let you forget, but that's not the point):

Kim D. '09
Cristen C. '10
Jess K. '10

Keri G. '10

Paul B. '11

Chris S. '11

Snively '11

Chris M. '12

Shannon M. '12

Yan Z. '12

Ahmed H. '12 will be joining our Blogger Alums, though he promises to keep us up to date with occasional posts as he continues his own journey through MIT.

I'm looking forward to a year of joyriding along with the bloggers we already know and seeing where our new voices take things. For our part, the Admissions staff plan to keep pushing the technology behind the website, giving our bloggers more and shinier tools, gadgets, gizmos, and (occasionally) doodads to share life at MIT in new ways.

* This is not actually true. I don't really know if Chris P.'s eyes are noisy, or for that matter, what an average amount of eye noise should be. I bet you'll be thinking about it all day when you talk to people, though; staring at their eyes wondering if you can hear them. You're welcome :)

Now I don't mean to imply that I do that alone (if you listen closely you should be able to hear the laughter coming from 3-107 at the sheer lunacy of the idea). The Admissions office is chock full of brilliant people, some of whom you know from the blogs and others you don't (but should). They've created amazing things over the years, including this website; every piece infused with a candor and respect for our prospective students that borders on the unique and, some would misguidedly say, reckless.

My job is to tell you what MIT is really like and then let you decide if you can't imagine spending your college life anywhere else. In Admissions we don't lie about MIT. That kind of Zen-like simplicity is on par with Google's directive of "Don't be evil." It's a refreshing honesty that I savor even more than Yan's posts about food (but only just). I revel in the idea that every day I come to work I can discover what fantastical new thing someone, somewhere, at MIT has done. Then I get to learn all about it, work with a room full of creative geniuses to craft the story, and tell the world about the wonders of MIT. That's a hell of a job, and the day I feel like I need to lie about MIT is the day I'll start thinking about a career change. Honestly I can't even imagine it.

What I do need is a crash course in all things MIT, so I've spent my first few weeks touring places like the Media Lab, getting lost in the infinite, flailing at a never-ending torrent of projects like Lucy and Ethel at the chocolate factory (ask an oldster or, better yet, YouTube), re-acquainting myself with the mystical ways of the Mac (which has been dead to me since just past OS 7), speaking wistfully and in the past tense about normal amounts of sleep, trying to order a burrito at Anna's during the lunch rush without getting flustered, coming to grips with MIT's nerdvanic mutation of the english language, and generally trying to get over the shock that I'm actually working at MIT.

Insert freshman analogy [here].

For personal tidbits beyond my intro you should know that I can have entire conversations in movie references, feed an ever-growing Vietnamese spring roll addiction, have a fascination with aircraft I can't begin to explain, am a certified SASL (Sarcasm As a Second Language) instructor, and have been known to break into accents I don't actually have. As a rule I've preferred the quirky and unorthodox to the land of cubicles and career ladders. That philosophy has been a two-edged sword, but at the end of the day I'm glad to lead an interesting life and plan to continue challenging myself, even if my friends and family spend most days shaking their head and wondering what I'm thinking.

Probably not too much of a surprise that I'd want to work at MIT. The Institvte is a mental amusement park (occasionally a literal one), creative cruise ship (ditto) and ultimate Choose Your Own Adventure book all rolled into one.

If Dave should...

• geek out, turn to page 2
• exercise more, turn to page 3
• eat lunch, turn to page 5
• join an MIT club, turn to page 7
• get another degree, turn to page 11
• flee and go back to his old job, turn to page 13
• save the world, turn to page 17

In the annals of competition there are iconic achievements: the gold medal, the yellow jersey... the coveted 50 pixel avatar of an Admissions Blogger.

Sure you won't be hounded with endorsement deals (well okay maybe Snively is) but it's a pretty big deal to us. The annual blogger selection is like the Admissions office's own running of the bulls, only with more emoticons and Dr. Horrible references... and no bulls... and quite a few vegetarians, actually.

It's not a perfect metaphor.

All MIT undergraduates are encouraged to apply. That being said, I have to bear the bad news that we're primarily looking for 4 incoming freshmen to compliment our contingent of talented upperclassmen. However if your first thought is, "Bah! They will all fall weeping before the pure, as yet unwitnessed genius of my rapier wit!" (or hopefully something a bit less piratical) then show us what you've got. I'm not saying that we absolutely won't add upperclassmen, just that the bar is set pretty high.

The exception will be for video. We're looking to add video to the blog this fall, so a video podcast, killer clip or a demonstration of creative production skills would go a long way toward convincing us that we just can't live without another upperclassman blogger.

The application process is similar to last year. The selection committee will include our senior bloggers Jess, Keri and Cristen.

2009 Blogger Application

To be considered for a blogger position, you should email me (dmcowen at the usual) by 5pm on Tuesday, August 18, 2009 and provide the following:

Blog/writing stuff

• Provide a link to your "portfolio." This will be the single most important part of your application.

  While you do not need to have a current blog, we have found that students who already keep blogs are the most active bloggers and best make the transition to being public bloggers for the MIT Admissions program. While we cannot say for certain that we will only hire someone with an active blog, we will have a preference for folks who do have active blogs.

  

If you do not currently keep a blog, you may wish to start a new blog and start writing over the next couple weeks. Or, you may just submit a portfolio of writings/videos.

  

If you do have a current blog, please send a link to it. If your blog is locked/protected, please also include a way for the committee to read the entries you'd like us to see. (You don't need to clean it up -- we will understand that a very public, unlocked site would contain different writing than a locked, personal journal)

  

If you post regularly on any admissions (or related) forums such as College Confidential, please provide URLs and username/screenname/etc. (If you don't, no worries -- neither do I)

Biographical stuff

• Tell us your major, or (for freshmen) possibilities of your major.

• Tell us what activities hope to become involved with at MIT, or (for upperclassmen) what you're currently involved with on campus.

• Let us know your living group. For freshmen, tell us which dorm you've been temped in. For upperclassmen, tell us where you live, and, if applicable, any FSILG affiliations.

Short Answer Essays (complete both)

• Short answer #1 - In a paragraph or two, describe why you want to be an admissions blogger and what unique things you feel you'll contribute to the program.

• Short answer #2 - In either a video or a written post with photos, introduce us to a part of your life, house, town, etc. that you find wildly interesting.

Good luck! For the curious, links to previous blogger application results: 2008 & 2007.