MBlog '10

[Jill] Admissions

Deciding where to go to graduate school is a big decision.  And applying to said graduate school is a large undertaking.  By now, you probably have taken the GMAT or GRE, if not, get on that...deadlines are approaching.  I remember this time last year I was debating over who to ask to write my recommendations.  My advice: ask those people who can speak about your leadership skills, your technical abilities, your great achievements, or watched you grow -- not necessarily all of them, but at least one.  It's always a good idea to ask your direct manager as they have probably had a lot of contact with you recently.  Make sure that you ask them at least 4-6 weeks in advance of the deadline.  In fact, it's not a bad idea to give them a phony deadline one week before the actual deadline.  You don't want your application being held up because someone is late submitting their recommendation.  Additionally, talk to these people about why you are leaving work to go back to school.  It will help them understand where you are coming from and where you want to go.  It is really helpful in essay writing and interviewing if you know the main reason you are going to grad school.  This involves really understanding your own motivation and what you want to do after graduation.  This is a great time to visit the campuses of the schools you are interested in and show your interest.  Nothing sells a school to you quite like that "I belong here" feeling you get walking around the right campus.

[Gabriel] Decisions, Decisions, Decisions...

Once you have been accepted and decided to enroll, one of the first, most exciting, and most important decisions you will have make is where to live. MIT Housing has 5 graduate residences for single students and 2 for families. Living in such a beautiful campus is fun, convenient and highly recommended.

For starters, your best option is to come visit campus before and take a look at all the residences. But, if you are an international student like me with a demanding job and cannot take the time off to visit campus before starting the program, then you will have to make a decision based only on online information. My post concerns only the search for single graduate housing, family housing might be slightly different.

First of all, you need to decide between living on or off campus. Off-campus living is harder to arrange, could be more expensive, and has many requirement that international students sometimes do not meet. If you find yourself in my situation, then on-campus living is your safest bet. Having said that, deciding which residence you want to live in is a decision you should not take lightly.

MIT has a Graduate Housing Lottery where you rank your top 10 desired combinations of residence and appartment type. Generally there are three types of appartments: single, double and triple. Doubles and triples are appartments that have two or three private bedrooms but share the living areas such as kitchen and bathroom. The type of appartment you choose is probably a decision that will depend on your budget and your willingness to put up with messy appartment mates and unclean bathrooms.

But do not be fooled. Even though MIT's housing website describes each residence as beautiful and unique, there is one you should definitely stay away from. Never, NEVER, list Tang Residence Hall as one of your options. Tang appears to be the oldest residence on campus. The furniture is old and heavily used, rooms are tiny, and there are virtually no facilities to enjoy. The "gym" is in a dark, dusty basement and the lounges have uncomfortable furniture that does not invite you to hang around. Trust me, there are only 3 MLOG students currently living in Tang and none of us are satisfied with our current accomodations.

Using a scale based solely on my personal preferences and experience, I would rank the single graduate houses in the following order:

1. The Warehouse (Has only efficiencies (singles), but has the best facilities.)
2. Ashdown House (The newest residence, has all types of rooms, and is arguably the most popular.)
3. Sidney-Pacifc (Is older than 1 and 2, but still has much better facilities than Tang.)
4. Edgerton House (It's the only unfurnished residence, but used furniture is cheap and easy to get.)
5. Tang Residence Hall (The only good thing about it is a great view of the Charles River.)

I hope this descriptions help you make an informed decision concerning single graduate housing. On-campus living is fun, safe and convenient. And if you get enough information about the residences, you will be better off at selecting the best one for you to live in during your one-year journey. If you have any questions concerning your future living arrangements at MIT, feel free to drop me a line.

Tang Residence Hall is the tall building on the right of this photo (08/14/2009)

[Mike] Speakers at MIT

One of the things that enhances and augments the experience of MLOG is attending talks on campus. (There are so many events going on at MIT on any given day that you cannot possibly take advantage of everything.) I've been able to attend a few lectures related to supply chain issues, and I've also gotten to watch a couple that were just interesting talks in general. 

Here is a sampling of the things classmates and I have checked out so far. First I was able to see a demonstration of the CarTel project. Jill and Melody are doing a thesis with this group so they can provide more information. Generally what they are doing is putting sensors on cars (and iPhones) which communicate to a server through open WiFi spots it finds along a car's route. It relays GPS data which can be used very creatively. Check out the website: http://cartel.csail.mit.edu/doku.php

Eventually this talk will be put on the Center for Transportation and Logistics website.

Another talk I went to was by Astronaut Mike Massimino. This talk is already up on the website, so if you want to check it out I embedded it below. Mike was an MIT Technology and Public Policy (TPP) graduate. TPP is another professional program in the Engineering Systems Division and they are located alongside us in building E40. If you have a chance to go see an astronaut talk, do it. Aside from being brilliant, they are great storytellers.

Lastly, I was able to see what research the people at MIT Lincoln Lab are up to in advancing technology related to LADAR. I'm not going to even try to explain what they are doing, because it was way over my head. The end result is that they can create 3-D visualizations of objects and landscapes by flashing light and collecting the returning light that bounces back on a collection lense.

Today a lot of us are going to a lecture about the the bridges between research and business in Spain. The President of the United States even stopped by MIT a couple weeks ago to talk about energy innovation.

[Alex] Being an international student in MLOG

MLOG is a very intensive one year program—it does not matter if you were born in the U.S., China, or in a nameless island on the Pacific Ocean. Once you arrive on campus, you have to learn how to drink from fire hose without hurting yourself. I personally had never lived in the United States except the short summer semester, and before coming, I was anxious about the adjustment. It became worse after the first day of orientation, because most of MLOG students are really fluent in English. Although about 40% of our class is international students, most of them have lived or worked in English-speaking countries for a long time. For the first three days I barely understood what my classmates said because it was really fast. Because I was so nervous about speaking in English, I did not even feel like to go to class for the first two weeks!

However, a turning point came up at the end of 2^nd week. After class on Fridays during the orientation, we used to go to Muddy Charles Pub on campus..  One night, I realized that all of the nervousness during last two weeks felt really stupid and that I could relax and be myself. I had a really good time with MLOG classmates on the night and felt like I was blending in better.

Here are my 3 words for future MLOG international students. Relax, relax, relax. If you are a student selected by MIT MLOG, you must be a person who has achieved many things in your academic and professional life.  That kind of person is usually used to getting a result or success faster than others. Therefore, during the orientation period, you should take time to relaxing and adjust to living in the US and on MIT’s campus. Those first few weeks are just a fraction of 9-month MLOG journey. Now, 2 months after the first day of orientation, I can blend in much better and communicate in English much better. I can even smile at those two weeks when I was nervous. I think I could have enjoyed the 2 days in Thompson Island (on our Outward Bound Trip) much better if I was more relaxed.

The best part of being in small MLOG class is that everyone knows each other very well and there is very tight bond between all the classmates. Therefore, you do not need to worry about the cultural differences or language issues, even if you have never lived in an English-speaking country in your life. If you just relax and reach out to your classmates, you will benefit from their energy and friendliness.

 

MLOG Class of 2010 @ MLOG Lab

[Jill] Recruiting

When your master's program is only 9 months long, recruiting starts the day you walk in the door.  Its a little bit crazy getting all settled into school and simultaneously looking for a job.  But MLOG is the right place to be!  First off, our thesis projects were pitched by some really exciting companies.  In MLOG, you research a thesis topic either sponsored by a partner company or research a topic of personal interest.  The partner companies come and share their problems and try to convince you to spend the next year working on them.  Its a great opportunity to pick a thesis project most interesting to you, and also to network and hear about many different companies.  Then there's the MIT Career Fair.  Its very busy, but most of the companies are very interested in students pursuing degrees involving supply chains. They are also more than happy to give you some pens or other goodies and lots of literature on their company.  Around the time of the career fair, many companies hold info sessions. GO to these.  TALK to the speakers after the sessions.  Some of these companies know about us and have info sessions for ONLY MLOG's which is so amazing.  You get an hour of quality time from someone who can give you the real deal and answer your questions about what its like to work at their company.  We have a career adviser, Jon, at MLOG who helps line up these sessions.  He has been a huge help in resume writing and critiquing too.

Now you're informed about companies.  You've visited their booth at the career fair.  You've been to the info session, you talked to the recruiters.  Now its time to interview.  For many of us, a job interview isn't something we've done recently.  We are all helping each other as we start the interviewing process.  And yes, its already started.  Its really important that your suit fits and looks good.  You only get one chance to make a good first impression.  Its also important to be prepared.  Make sure you know why you are the BEST fit for that company and that job.  Be able to answer tough questions too like name three adjectives that your friends would use to describe you, or tell me about a time when your team failed.  Then go in there and knock their socks off!

[Mike] MIT: We came for the sports

One of the courses all MLOG students take together is a course on leadership.  Recently in class Professor Saar stressed the importance of making time to work out, so I'll comment on the opportunities I've taken advantage of on and near campus with classmates. This is just the tip of the iceberg, do some searching to see all the various clubs that exist...or you can create your own.

MIT sponsors 33 Division III sports for undergrads and many athletic clubs open to all. Because of this, there are always games to watch on campus. A couple classmates and I were able to check out the Cricket Club's match against a local rival. I had never seen a game before, so it was enjoyable to watch for a half hour on the walk home from classes and meetings. If LARPing is more your speed, you can check that out as well. They definitely get a workout.

The Zesiger Center is in the middle of campus, and it has a huge pool, large gyms, an ice rink, updated weight rooms and newish cardio equipment.  A couple times a week we have been able to get MLOG game going, and hopefully we can keep games running throughout the year. We were even able to get the program director Jarrod out for a game.

Also, as Jill mentioned, one of the opportunities we have is easy access to sailboats on the Charles River. The MIT sailing pavilion is located very close to the MLOG lab and any time after noon and before dark we can go down and take out a boat. As a point of reference, the MLOG lab is one street in behind sail number 32 in the picture below. My (formerly) secret place to study, while the weather is still moderate, is at a picnic table on top of the pavilion boat bays. You even get internet out there. If you don't know how to sail, they offer a class on Sunday mornings. I'm guessing about a third of the class has been to one. It's fun to take guests to campus out on the Charles, since it is not something many tourists in Boston are able to do. Here is a pic I took of my friend Emily from Dayton (college part I) who is doing some graduate work at Tufts.

 

Also, there are great places to run close to campus. I used to think running around the National Mall in DC was the best place to run, but running along the Charles River is right up there. From the Cambridge side you have a great view of Boston. MIT's location also makes for an easy jog to Fenway Park or up past Harvard along the Charles River where the local colleges are all training for the Head of the Charles. I'm especially excited for that race since the current members of the Dayton men's rowing team are coming out. Also, a lot of the girls from the team I used to coach are coming to support them along with one of their teammates racing a single. It will be fun to show them around and go to places I haven't been to yet. 

[Melody] MLOG Goodness of Fit

At age 27, returning to graduate school was a substantial decision for me, and there are true opportunity costs for every single person in the Class of 2010.  For that reason, the fact that MLOG is an intense, nine-month program was extremely attractive.  But quite honestly, part of me wondered how in such a short time we could enter MIT with varying levels of experience and graduate being able to provide strategic direction for and run global operations of an organization’s supply chain.  That’s a tall order.

Our cohort is made up of engineers, entrepreneurs, members of the armed forces and MBAs from around the globe.  Our diversity is one of our strengths, and when considering where/whether to apply, it is important to evaluate what you can bring to the program and/or want to get out of it as opposed to whether you fit the candidate profile. 

MLOG is one of five programs in the Engineering Systems Division (ESD)—an academic unit that spans each of the five schools within MIT.  Because our classes span many disciplines, we are developing the tools to approach and solve complex problems that we will face over the course of our careers.

It would be overly ambitious to cover the past six weeks in one blog post.  But already at this point in the program, I have no doubt that each of us will leave MIT with exactly what we came here for.  Hopefully, over the coming months, the other bloggers and I will be able to provide a clear picture of our experiences.  Also, please do reach out to us through the admissions office—we would be more than happy to answer any specific questions you have.

Cheers!

[Mike] Hello World

In high school, my programming teacher Mr. Peters told us the first thing to do when learning a new language was to output "hello world" to the monitor.  Being a creature of habit, it is hard to come up with a more appropriate headline for this initial post.

If you've found this blog then you must be interested in the MLOG program at MIT so I will try to help shed some light on what it is like to be a student at MIT in MLOG.  Feel free to leave comments or questions, and I will try to answer them promptly and honestly. When I was thinking about applying to the program I was a regular reader of the MLOG class of 09 blogs, so I hope you will find the posts useful and informative.

If you don't know what MLOG is, then here is the quick and dirty version. MLOG is a program at MIT which lasts approximately 9 months and at the end awards a Master of Engineering degree in Logistics. One of the program's strengths is the international component. There is a sister program at the Zaragoza Logistics Center in Zaragoza, Spain called ZLOG. In January the members of the ZLOG program will come to Cambridge for three weeks, and then we all go to Zaragoza for a week. Also, as a part of the MLOG curriculum we all complete a research thesis alone or with a partner from the program.

I'll fill in the details of what we have been up to and what life is like going back to school in another post. Until then, please feel free to drop me a line with any questions or comments.

[Jill] It's Almost October!

MLOG started in Mid August with an intense 3 week orientation. We came in on day one as 33 strangers, and by day 3 we were already friends. This was by design: we spent a day and night on Thompson Island participating in an outward bound. It was AMAZING! We returned from the trip and began our prep coursework. It was a great way to brush up on statistics and also learn some basics on Supply Chain and Logistics concepts. Its also really nice to be able to settle into life in Cambridge before the hustle and bustle of school starting.


My birthday fell on the first Friday of orientation. Having just met 32 other people, and having recently relocated back to Massachusetts, I wasn't sure if anyone would want to go out. I was pleasantly surprised that almost the entire MLOG class joined me for a night on the town! We are a fun group (we just learned about our personalities using the Myers-Briggs personality tests) and many of us fall into the "extrovert" category. There is always something to do outside of school, and its tough to squeeze in all the talks, groups and presentations. And many of us love exploring our new city and have ventured to Fenway park to catch a Red Sox game, to Newbury street taking in the shops and restaurants, or Sailing on the Charles.

As for classes, our first semester is fully underway with many team homework assignments. MIT has a great policy of being able to spend a few weeks "shopping" for classes. You can get a really good feel of whether you like a class or not before committing to it.

The excitement of late was learning about our thesis projects. Many companies came over the past 6 weeks to pitch ideas. In addition, students could write their own. Last week we submitted bids on the projects we were most interested in, and we found out what we will be researching for the next 9 months. I am working with a partner as are many students, but it certainly isn't required.

This was one of our first days of orientation: