MIT OR Center’s focus on doing research that has a positive impact in practice is unparalleled. It provides a unique opportunity to work on problems that are driven by collaborations with industry partners and government agencies. No matter what your interests are, you will always find professors who would be interested in working on them. ORC has an equally strong and diverse student group. Given ORC’s interdepartmental structure, students work on all kinds of problems and you will never run out of interesting lunch conversations! 

I have lived in the graduate housing (Ashdown House) since my first year and I would definitely recommend it to incoming students. The graduate community at MIT is very close knit and there are events happening almost every day. Weekly coffee hours at both Ashdown and Sid-Pack are events to watch out for if you enjoy evening coffee with friends!  

As a prospective student, you should definitely try to attend the Open House. It is a wonderful opportunity to know more about professors both by meeting them and talking to their current students. I would also recommend you to keep an open mind about the research projects in the first year. Although you may not start with a project that completely aligns with your interests, there are plenty of opportunities to modify it in later years.