iHouse App FAQ

1. Is the iHouse Seminar for credit?

Yes, 6 units, just like any other freshman seminar, except Terrascope.

2. Can I be in Terrascope and the freshman seminar at the same time?

Technically yes, although you cannot waive the iHouse seminar if you are in Terrascope. However, since Terrascope and the iHouse seminar has a scheduling conflict on Monday afternoons, it doesn't seem feasible for you to be able to be in both seminars at the same time.

3. Showers?

One benefit of living in New House is that we have, IMO, the best/newest-feeling dorm facilities out of any dorm, with the only exception of McCormick. The showers in iHouse are structured so that they're individual "bathrooms" with a toilet and a shower w/ tub with a door that you can close and lock (therefore, it's different from the showers in Baker and Next where it's just like a coed bathroom with a few sinks and shower stalls right next to the toilets when you walk in). Our bathrooms usually have two sinks, with two smaller rooms with wooden doors that enclose a toilet next to a shower. Therefore, you can undress / get dressed inside that smaller room when you shower and you won't run the risk of people seeing you shower (or even knowing that you're in the shower).

4. Varsity sports and iHouse?

The person who is in iHouse in Varsity sports is unavailable right now, but I can try to answer it for you. Truthfully, as much as the requirement sounds, it isn't really a large time commitment at all on a day-to-day basis - we are MIT students after all! Varsity sports usually run from a 5 PM to 7 PM schedule daily, with morning practices for some sports. When we have speaker dinners (once a month), it will certainly be after 7 PM, and other semester events usually start past 7 PM anyway. Our dorm meetings are on the weekends, and everything else I can think of I don't think really conflicts with anything. Honestly, although I spend so much time with my iHouse peers, I think I spend less than 3 hours a week actually doing the "iHouse required" stuff. So basically, I just want you all who have time commitment concerns to know that this house is not a big time-drainer, and the requirements really sound more intimidating written out than they are in real life.

5. How does the 3-week immersion ID project work during the summer? How much money does it cost?

The 3-week immersion ID project is designed to be the "practicum" of the freshman seminar, so you'll actually be able to apply the project that you've been working on in the seminar. This summer, for example, iHouse freshmen are working on a project in Southern China with migrant workers.

As for the cost, the great thing about MIT (as you'll soon find out), is that MIT has a lot of funds at its dispersal for your cool ideas through the MIT Public Center (web.mit.edu/psc). The freshmen apply to the PSC to a grant to conduct their summer project, and the PSC will >90% likely to agree to cover all expenses, so all you need is to pack your bags and go! (one of the big benefits about living in iHouse is that also we have a very close relationship with the PSC)

6. I am really interested in the concept of iHouse and things that you do, but I was wondering if it would be a good idea to join iHouse as a freshman, as I understand it only has about 21 students. I love the idea of having a close-knit community, but I thought we should probably go out and know more people in our freshman year. Does being in iHouse limit your social circle in any way?

I've lived at iHouse for three years (since my freshmen year), and I have plenty of friends outside of iHouse (certainly much more than just 21 :p). Although people emphasize how important choosing a living group is (and well, it is to a certain extent), that doesn't 100% define who you're friends with and there's still a lot of ways to get to know people on campus - through your classes (especially the GIRs), activities, clubs, and large events. I'm really committed in an array of extracurriculars on campus so I got to know a lot of people that way.

If you think about it, iHouse is basically the same size as all the cultural houses (French House, German House, Chocolate City…for example), the entries in McGregor, the wings in Next, the floors in McCormick, and the halls in East Campus. Living at a "bigger" dorm doesn't really mean that you'll get to know all 200 or 300 some people since people generally only hang out with their hall (i.e. people they live closest to) anyway. Thus for me, this has never been a problem, and I don't think living at iHouse would limit your social circle.

7. I'm interested in learning more about how the international development projects work. For example, is one assigned a group? How does one typically come up with project ideas? How long is the timeline between brainstorming and fruition?

Traditionally, iHouse members have developed their own projects, with help and input from each other. However, this year, we developed a collaborative project involving a locally-manufactured hand sanitizer to combat the spread of bacterially-spread disease in Mexico that we entered into the MIT IDEAS Competition (web.mit.edu/ideas). This project was born within the scope of only like a month or two, but with input from almost everyone in the dorm this year, it flourished into a really impressive project and we came really close to winning IDEAS. We did have limitations because we put everything together in such a short amount of time, but we're sending a team to Mexico this summer to expand on the project with the aim to enter IDEAS again next year (and win!). Incidentally, this project is likely to be the topic of the freshmen seminar this year. We see this kind of collaboration on team projects to continue to be a hallmark of iHouse in coming years.

Generally, ID projects begin with a good idea, and there's plenty of idea-generating events throughout the school year (iHouse events, classes like D-Lab, clubs like Engineers Without Borders, which one of our dormies is heavily involved in). How long it takes to put together varies - from as little as one month in our project to a year or more in very elaborate projects. Usually there involves a trip abroad because visiting your local community partner is very important so you can get a first-hand view at whether your perceived view of their needs is the same as their actual need. But yeah, don't worry if all of this sounds too intimidating - almost none of us knew this much before we got into MIT! Thus, if you know all of this already, you're further ahead than all of us. :)

8. REX and the Readjustment Lottery

There's no rule saying that people who have committed to iHouse cannot participate in REX. In fact, we ENCOURAGE you to go out and take a look during REX so you can get to know the 13? MIT dorms better (I visited every single MIT dorm during my REX, for example :3). If not to go around and visit with your new entering class, at least get a load of all the free food! :)

However, we hope you will not enter the Readjustment Lottery because this is the reason why we established a selection process. We want the people we choose to want to live in iHouse, since we always have more applicants than spaces. Also, since we select who we live with, having someone who committed to iHouse suddenly leave causes a dilemma for us because the Housing Office will probably fill that empty spot with some random frosh that doesn't have a room yet.

I will note here that iHouse usually seems very quiet during REX because not all of the upperclassmen are back and the house would feel pretty empty. However, we are doing our own version of REX this year (not necessarily to entice other freshmen to move in, since the housing decisions would have already been made), but to showcase our dorm to even more people at MIT. A group of us will be back by August 29, right before ya'll's Orientation begin, so you guys can get to know us before school starts! (the biggest reason that REX is always a tricky time for us because the actual upperclassmen move-in date is Sept 6, and unless you're already helping out at campus in some form - like being a O-leader or a frosh associate adviser - we can't qualify for "early return" by the time that Orientation and REX starts for you all).

Anyways, this is a pretty long explanation but I just wanted to clarify that 1) you can still participate in all REX events, but 2) we would strongly request that you do not enter the readjustment lottery after committing (or at least talk to us if there's a big problem - we still don't want you to be unhappy!). If you have pressing concerns about this, please bring it up over the phone interview.

9. I would also like find out how it is that the members of iHouse fund their activities beside the house tax which is a requirement of all houses as they participate in more activities guided at international development than the other living groups.

We apply to grants from individuals interested in supporting the work of iHouse and we receive money from other donors (both MIT and outside) sometimes. Funding has never been a significant issue since the social life money (dorm activities) is separate from the project money (which is usually funded through PSC grants)

10. Finally, do the academic classes related to international development interfere with the coursework of those participating in learning communities such as terrascope or concourse?

For Terrascope, see the response above. Being in iHouse DOES NOT preclude you from participating in Concourse or ESG, however! We have iHouse dormies that have been part of both. The major difference is because Terrascope has a scheduling conflict with the iHouse seminar.

11. A short blurb about iHouse from Kathy '10, who just graduated this year, which you might also find helpful. She spent an semester off-MIT working on a development project in rural India, and is headed to UCSF Med this fall.

We're a group of 21 students from everywhere in the world who are interested in international development. We often have lively, impromptu discussions about various development issues, and we do have certain (usually interesting and informative) 'required' events like speaker dinners with professionals in international development. There are also some perks that are very unique to iHouse - the fall of my junior year, when Paul Kagame, the president of Rwanda, visited MIT, a few iHouse students were invited to attend a dinner with him at Susan Hockfield's home.

But more than being a community focused on international development, iHouse has been my home for the last 3 years (when it was founded). As a fairly small living group, it's just as easy to get to know the seniors as the sophomores. We have 3 lounges (one with a TV, one with a huge whiteboard, and another cozy one for whatever) that are very well utilized, and it's unusual to come home to an empty house unless it's very late at night (Chris: haha, meaning, past 4:30 AM since I'm usually up till then :P). We often order food together, watch a lot of movies, play board games, celebrate birthdays, help each other with schoolwork, and more. It's also very easy for freshmen to have a leadership role in iHouse exec.

As far as projects go, we have had mainly individual international development projects, but something local is definitely an option. And this year we put together our first iHouse group project - an effort to promote clean hands in a community in rural Mexico through locally manufacturing hand sanitizer and an educational campaign. We are currently tweaking the project and 2 or 3 people will be traveling to Mexico in August to do a bit more information gathering on the project. This is also (I believe) going to be the project for the iHouse freshman seminar next fall.