ET

 

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About Us

Culture

We are proud to have the most BLÅHAJ per capita of any MIT living group!

Our house culture is constantly evolving, shaped by the interests of whoever happens to be living here at the time. Here are some of our current obsessions:

We’re alcohol-free in public spaces, so socialization features games and discussions and creative ideas.

We also have many traditions, both old and new:

Community

We’re a tight-knit community where everyone looks out for each other and takes care of the house as a whole. Other people will help with your chores when you’re stressed, take care of you when you’re sick, or just be there to listen. People will generally email the whole house about doing social things, so nobody’s left out and it's easy to make good friends. We accept all kinds of people and are very LGBTQIA+ friendly.

We're also very involved in various facets of greater MIT culture, such as Live Action Mafia, Spinning Arts, ESP, the Assassin's Guild, osu!mit, the MIT Mystery Hunt, Tech Squares, Asymptones, and Bridge Club.

Food

There’s a special kind of community that comes from sitting down to family-style meals together, laughing as we decompress from each day of classes. ET’s mealplan evolves to suit the tastes of our members, but it’s always included in the house bill, and friends, guests, and alums are always welcome.

We have dinner five nights a week and leave plenty of leftovers for easy meals in a hurry. Members sign up in pairs to make meals for the house, as part of our house duties system (so no one has to cook if they don’t want to). Vegetarian options are always available, and we're happy to accommodate any dietary restrictions. Leftovers and open food (drinks, milk, cereal, eggs, fruit, bread, snacks, or anything else you request) are available to all!

Our commercial grade kitchen features a combo fridge/freezer, two full-size freezers, a full-size fridge, and an absolutely massive 7’ by 4.5’ fridge -- we never run out of fridge space. The delicious aroma of someone’s latest baking experiment can often be detected from one of our two ovens, and cleaning up after it’s all been eaten is a breeze with our spritzer and sanitizer. We keep a fully-stocked spice rack and baking shelf, helping us bring our wildest cooking dreams (or nightmares) to life.

Neighborhood

Our house is located in Brookline, a small suburb of Boston. Our location is a buffer against the daily pressures of MIT. And wow, is it a nice area for walks! There's a park with a playground across the street, where we often go to get some fresh air. The Halls Pond park has a beautiful walking trail. And there are always more parks to see around Brookline. Some of our members walk or bike to campus daily just for the views.

Transportation

We live roughly 2 miles from campus. On weekdays, our 15-passenger van travels between ET and MIT several times each weekday and at least once a day on weekends. In addition, MIT operates a Saferide shuttle in the evenings, which stops at ET (along with many other FSILGs). The journey between MIT and ET is a pleasant 10-minute van ride, 15-minute bike ride or 40-minute walk.

First-Years

Frosh are required to live on campus (per MIT policy), so we don't charge them rent, but they are given rooms at ET and can spend as much time as they like here, just like any other member. Frosh are full members of the house, including being able to vote in elections and hold all elected positions at ET. Frosh can officially move in at the beginning of their sophomore year, but many consider themselves practically moved in earlier.

House Duties

Every member contributes to the house by signing up for a few hours per week of house duties. These can be many things - cooking, washing dishes, vacuuming, driving our van, managing our paperwork, ordering groceries, etc. - so you’ll never have to do anything you really dislike. (True in general, at ET!) If you’re interested in our worksession coordination spreadsheet, we’d love to tell you about how we optimize to match everyone's preferences and make sure nobody feels like they’re getting a bad deal.

House Bill

ET is cheaper than a dorm: in 2023, the rent was around $4500/semester. That covers housing, meal plan, laundry, food, fall retreat, social events, and almost everything else you can think of. Summer housing (late May - mid August) is charged separately and available to non-members, and ET members get a discount. Pledges who are paying rent elsewhere (including first-years, who have to live in a dorm) are not charged rent, though they do pay a pledge fee of $75—which is a pretty good deal for an unlimited meal plan!

Joining ET

ET has a rush process similar to many other FSILGs. During rush week, we hold fun events (like the ones in our most recent schedule) to help us get to know prospective members. Throughout rush, we invite many people to consider joining the house. Undergrads, grads, MEngs, and exchange students are all welcome! See our Live Here! page for more information.