Student Life and Learning Digest

Setting Priorities for the Coming Year

Eric Grimson
Chancellor

Welcome, or welcome back! This is always an energizing time of the academic year: new graduates and undergraduates joining the MIT family, returning students reconnecting with friends, faculty members hearing about their advisees’ great summer projects, classes gearing up, athletic teams blending new members with veterans, groups planning the year’s projects.

It’s also an exciting time. The many activities make it feel like the campus is returning to life, with possibilities for new beginnings and reengagement. If you are new to our community, you have probably noticed the incredible array of activities for you: within living groups, in the arts or athletics, through a research group, as part of one of the hundreds of student-organized clubs. Like the proverbial “kid in the candy store”, it may seem like all your wishes have come true, but it can be easy to get overwhelmed by the opportunity to sample so many choices while balancing your academic and research responsibilities.

Whether you are a new freshman, an incoming graduate student, or just returning after a few months away, I encourage you to use September for setting priorities...

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Students are asking...

Q: Most MIT students don't get enough sleep on a routine basis. I think that sleep is incredibly important. Are there resources on campus to help advise us on balancing sleep, school, and our social life?

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Q: I tend to be very social and hate to miss out on things, but I of course want to excel in my classes. How can I make the most of the resources at MIT while I take a 'drink out of the fire hose'?

Read the response