There's an article about college depression in the latest issue of Newsweek, and MIT was mentioned like 3-4 times...amusing:

"One counselor at an East Coast private high school says that during the 2003-04 admissions cycle, officials from two colleges confided they were particularly focused on admitting a class that was "rock solid" emotionally—both to help prevent suicides and to reduce the toll on overbooked school therapists. MIT Admissions Dean Marilee Jones says she's looking to enroll 'emotionally resilient' students. 'If we think someone will crumble the first time they do poorly on a test, we're not going to admit them," she says. 'So many kids are coming in, feeling the need to be perfect, and so many kids are medicated now. If you need a lot of pharmaceutical support to get through the day, you're not a good match for a place like MIT.' "


HAHAHAHA....all right, so the key to getting into MIT is to not have to take any anti-depressant medicine.....lol...j/k, but seriously, it all does make sense now... now i finally understand how i got accepted in without being a science/engineering/math genius - cuz my essay kinda played into exactly what they wanted to see...hmm....i guess lab research pays off in its own funny ways...^_^

another quote from the article:

"At MIT, Jones, the admissions dean, gives preference to students who are "self-driven" (read: not being pushed by their parents), based on her belief that self-motivated students are better able to cope with failures. "Our culture has become insane—we're making people sick," Jones says."

umm...well, uh, yea..? GIVE US BACK OUR SECOND SEMESTER OF ONLY PASS/FAIL!!! =P

and then the same article goes on about a suicide case at MIT:

"The strategies used by MIT to deal with its troubled students are at the heart of a closely watched court case. In April 2000 MIT sophomore Elizabeth Shin of Livingston, N.J., fatally set herself on fire in her dorm room. The family is suing the school for $27 million, claiming that despite Shin's repeatedly telling MIT administrators, psychiatrists and dorm mates that she was suicidal, the school failed to place her under intensive psychiatric care, inform her family of her troubles or take adequate steps to prevent her death. "If a student is acting out because of drugs or alcohol, there's no hesitation to bring in the family," says David Deluca, the Shin family's attorney. "We've not gotten to the same point when it comes to mental-health care." (MIT has denied the allegations, saying it treated Shin adequately and kept the family informed.) If the Shin family prevails, other colleges may rethink how they communicate with parents about a student's problems."

wow. that's a little freaky. haha. we are "troubled students"!!

hmm so i guess we are the suicide school after all.. haha....so it remains to be seen what will happen when i start taking my tests at college.....*scary music in background* dun dun DUNNNNNNN....