

Survey of MIT Students on their Stress - FrojoS
http://tech.mit.edu/V132/N59/pressure/breakdown/index.htm

======
aclimatt
Very interesting. Some people take this to think MIT students have self-image
problems, but I don't see that. To me I see this as most students reasonably
confident with their own abilities (although feel they could do a bit better
academically, although those are just high standards), but are very humble
about themselves relative to their peers.

Compared to most groups in life, this is a very rare breed of "yes I know I'm
amazing, but I know the people around me are REALLY amazing". Which I'd argue
is shockingly healthy for such a large group of people so smart and under so
much pressure.

------
Shenglong
I know I'm judging, but wow, MIT students (for how smart they are in general)
are not the most self-confident bunch... 9-21% of students think that next to
the AVERAGE, their accomplishments are impressive.

I expected this to be skewed above 50%. I wonder what response sets for this
survey would be like at other schools.

~~~
ScottBurson
Yes, and only 31% consider themselves above average academically.

I have to laugh, but it's also sad that so many MIT students feel so insecure.
I think it must be the shock that comes from being at the top of one's high
school, then arriving at MIT and no longer being head-and-shoulders above most
of one's peers.

Anyway, maybe the administration should see if there's something they can do
to give students a more realistic view of where they stand.

~~~
iamwil
I came here to point that out as well. But I was thinking it was a good thing,
rather than a bunch of fools playing out the Dunning–Kruger effect.

One of the more valuable things you can learn as a smart kid in college is
that you're not the smartest kid around. It also means that they're being
challenged at the school. There's plenty of schools that are hard to get in,
but there's no challenge after you're in.

Besides, I don't know about you, but I can't stand people that think (or
pretend) they're heads and shoulders above in ability when they're not.

[http://tech.mit.edu/V132/N59/pressure/breakdown/year/index.h...](http://tech.mit.edu/V132/N59/pressure/breakdown/year/index.htm)

~~~
bmiranda
For me personally, most of the stress does come from being challenged
academically.The professors pull no punches, and some of the classes are
downright exhausting.

Although I appreciate being challenged, it can be disheartening whenever I
observe the local coding guru / math major knocking out problems in a fraction
of the time it takes me.

However, I believe that this student response best sums it up:

 _"I still believe it’s true that at MIT, students generally compete more
against themselves than against each other."_

Everyone simply wants to be the best that they can be.

\- MIT Sophomore in EECS

------
jpdoctor
Perhaps this is a little bit of inside baseball, but LOL at the breakdown by
Course number for "Academically, I would consider myself above average at
MIT".

Course 18 in the lead followed by 8 5 and 6. The only thing that's changed in
the past few decades is that 5 is getting a bit more uppity.

~~~
ipince
For those who don't know the numbers, 18, 8, 5, and 6 correspond to the
sciences, math, physics, chemistry, and EECS, respectively.

~~~
mhb
For those of us, it would be thoughtful to reveal that in some way in the
graphs. Do MIT students really memorize the correspondence of course numbers
to subjects?

~~~
2arrs2ells
They do.

There's even an MIT "joke" that's just a string of course numbers followed by
"out," indicating the stereotypical path of a struggling MIT student.

~~~
krzysz00
Out of curiosity, what's the string?

~~~
dthunt
(Anything)->15->Out.

I suspect there are others.

------
taskstrike
very cool, but from a usability stand point, you should show all the questions
without the collapsing. Have to click 2 times for answers is not optimal.

~~~
revelation
Add to that: it should be possible to link to the results of a specific
question. Also, there is no mention of the sample size of each group.

~~~
mayneack
Really? I thought I saw one for the majors. Might be wrong.

edit: nope, you're right. I was remembering a different tech survey graphic.

------
evoxed
I admit to a serious case of greener-grass syndrome, but it seems to me that
the environment at MIT would do quite a bit to lower stress. In my experience,
the primary source of stress when doing what interests you is dealing with
people who are either disinterested or otherwise generating friction within
the group (not comprehending, communicating, etc). The less of those types,
the more stress you get just from _doing hard work_ – something MIT and at
least a few others should be perfectly capable of handling ;)

~~~
snikolov
People who do hard work tend to bite off more than they can chew, especially
at MIT, and there is obviously a limit to how much you can handle. What MIT
does right when it comes to stress relief is its housing system. You get to
pick where you want to live, and you mostly get your choice (or you can move
eventually). That way you can live within a supportive community. It really
makes a difference during those hell weeks.

\- MIT '11 MEng '12

~~~
haldean
+1. Columbia is the same way; you're surrounded by talented people who don't
need to be stressed, but they choose to be. A lot of people try to do
everything (which many are used to from high school) and most find that it's
too much too late. After a while, though, you find about the right balance.
For most people, this happens second semester senior year (:

------
ruswick
The gender breakdowns are of particular fascination.

~~~
brisance
Yes. What does "Other" mean?

~~~
sp332
Other could be somewhere on the spectrum between male and female without quite
feeling comfortable calling yourself either. (Transgender, maybe even pre-op
or post-op gender change.) Or it could mean asexual.

~~~
geofft
"Asexual" isn't the term you're looking for -- asexuality has no more to do
with what gender you identify as than heterosexuality, bisexuality, etc. do.
The concepts might be related for some people, but they aren't inherently so.

~~~
sp332
OK, what's the term for someone of no gender?

~~~
geofft
I believe it is simply "agender". I've also heard the word "neutrois" for a
third gender neither male nor female, but that's not quite the same as no
gender.

~~~
Crake
You are correct. Agender or nongendered are both fine (with me, anyway, but I
think generally too).

------
neovive
Perhaps, the respondents are just being humble. Most MIT students must know
that they are clearly above-average students. However, being humble and always
striving to improve is a good trait.

There does seem to be a trend of self-confidence improving year-over-year for
undergraduates.

~~~
karamazov
The comparison is to other MIT students, not to students in general; these
results didn't surprise me in that light.

------
Xcelerate
MIT students don't know what stress is. Try Georgia Tech for that one. #2
least happy students in 2002.

~~~
Xcelerate
Explain your downvote please. It's not at all helpful to me if you don't
explain.

~~~
aw3c2
You are already downvoted as I type this. I downvote you too. You say some
gross generalisation and throw out some statistic without backing.

~~~
systemizer
Perfect. now his average is at 3.14! Good job, sir.

~~~
Xcelerate
First post in 159 days to point out that my average is close to pi? Yep, you
definitely go to MIT :)

------
frozenport
40% of urban planning majors pull an all-nighter at-least once a week.

------
rthomas6
What the hell is course 11??

~~~
rdl
"Urban Studies and Planning". I went to MIT and honestly have no idea what it
actually is (beyond the web descriptions of it), and never interacted with
anyone from the program -- it's a very tiny program which seems inherently
fuzzy.

It's a tiny program, so I suspect a few people who responded really skewed the
numbers.

------
evolve2k
I'm looking on my iPhone and all the colors seem the same, how do I read this?

