Welcome to Campus Crawl
Ah hi guys, welcome to the first episode of Campus Crawl, where I take you to the top universities around the world. Today, we’re starting it off with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. All right, let’s go!
Gillian Court and the Iconic Great Dome
Right now, we’re walking in the Gillian Court. This is where students come some days, or they host a lot of events here. And what you see behind me is actually the most recognized view of MIT—the Great Dome. This is where the engineering library is and where a lot of the laboratories are. So, we’re gonna go check that out. Let’s go!
The Admissions Office and MIT’s Intellectual Energy
Admissions office right here—this is where, hopefully, we can finesse a degree into MIT. The best thing about MIT is that there’s so much IQ concentrated in one area. Down there today, they have a science fair, an end-of-term project showcase. These undergraduate projects, compared to other schools, are a lot more complex and go a lot in-depth. That’s what I think is the best about MIT—they’re so practical and knowledgeable about the sciences. There’s just so much sharing of knowledge. I love it!
The Dome Library: A Hub of Engineering Excellence
Right now, we’re about to enter the Dome Library, which is a famous engineering library.
The Stata Center: MIT’s Magic House
All right, so right now, we are actually entering the Stata Center. This is basically like the magic castle of MIT. Come walk with me! Stata is home to the labs for computer science, artificial intelligence, and information and decision systems. A lot of research is done here. This building is probably the most uniquely looking one. I call it the Magic House of Leaves—it’s yellow, it’s round, and everything. Oh my god, this is amazing! Look at this. Wow, this would be a good Instagram photo right here.
Inside the Stata Center
This building is just filled with these inventions. Most people don’t show you this during campus tours, but on our Campus Crawl, I’ll show you. This is a typical classroom, a seminar room at MIT. It’s pretty simple—basically just tables, a whiteboard, and a projector. No classrooms are all the same, no matter where you go.
Navigating MIT’s Massive Campus
We just came out of the Stata building. MIT’s campus is huge—there are like 30 to 50 different buildings, and they’re all numbered. They don’t have names, except for Stata. That one’s special, you know. We’re not gonna have time to go through all of them, but think of them as very similar to the one we just visited—offices, classrooms, and research rooms.
The Media Lab: Where Learning Meets Reality
Now, we’ll show you the Media Lab. Do a 360 around—this is the Media Lab. It looks like a modern museum because it’s actually infused with the List Art Museum. What do they do here? There are basically 25 different research groups that work on 350 different research projects—everything from how children learn, neuroscience, electric cars, and more. It’s very cool. At the bottom, it’s free for anyone to enter—it’s kind of like a museum. I think the Media Lab is probably the coolest part of MIT because this is where all the learning comes into reality in terms of these projects. People create stuff here, utilizing their knowledge, and that’s why I love it. All these things are so freakin’ cool. I feel inspired being in this place.
A Scenic View of Boston
The best part about MIT is it’s right beside the ocean, and you get a whole view of Boston. So, when you’re tired of coding or building robots, you can just come for a light walk. It is truly beautiful. That’s downtown over there.
An Open Campus with a Community Feel
MIT is actually an open campus, but it feels like an enclosed community. It has that campus feel because everyone here is either professors, students, or Chinese tourists. About Chinese tourists—they’re mainly in the main building where the dome is.
McDermott Court and the Big Sail
Now we’re in the McDermott Court, which is named after Mr. and Mrs. Eugene McDermott, who made a lasting contribution to the arts at MIT. Behind me, that’s called the Big Sail, or in French, Le Grand Voile (excuse my pronunciation). It’s 40 feet tall and has 35 parts. The parts were created in France but then assembled here in Cambridge, Massachusetts. This is just one of many sculptures at MIT. In addition to the sciences, they also care about the arts, design, and practicality—and that’s how you create a good product.
Dorm Life at MIT
So, I met a friend, Ingrid. Hello!
Ingrid: I lived here junior year. I love dorm life.
There’s West Campus and East Campus side dorms. This is East Campus—it’s kind of like counterculture, much more artsy. West Campus is more of what you think of when you think of your stereotypical dorm. East Campus is more chill, definitely much more chill.
Wrapping Up the Tour
Wow, that was a long tour, but I think every part was just as exciting as the previous one. Thank you for coming along on this very first episode, the inaugural episode of Campus Crawl. We’re starting off good! Comment below what your favorite thing was and something that you learned today.
I’m from Hafu University, exchanging at the top universities in the world with Campus Crawl. I hope you come along and crawl with me next time. Click subscribe if you want more of these videos. That’s it for today—I’ll see you at Harvard next time. Peace!
