I was a high school senior during the 1992-93 school year. My parents and I did the "college tour" in August 1992 (they would not let me miss even one day of school for campus visits). We visited a mixed bag - MIT, Hahvahd, Cornell, Princeton, Williams, Amherst, Trinity, Caltech.
For some reason, my guidance counselor was pushing Case Western Reserve University, even though I was class valedictorian and knew I could get into Ivy+ schools. (Class standing was based on freshman-through-junior grades, so I could have blown off my whole senior year and still been valedictorian.) His idea was that I could easily make a 4.0 at CWRU and then go to MIT or Caltech for grad school. (I think he was getting kickbacks.) I did visit CWRU, but I had my heart set on going to MIT as an undergrad.
I was instructed to hand-write or type my applications. At the time, typewriters were becoming obsolete - my dad had a typewriter, but the alignment was screwy - so I hand-wrote everything, including my essays.
I applied early action to MIT and got in. I sent in the applications I (read: my dad) had already paid for: Hahvahd, Princeton, and Cornell. But my decision was made.
This was back in the day when banks sent you your actual physical cancelled checks with your statements. My dad still has the $50 check he wrote to MIT for my application fee.
Caltech begged me to apply. They sent me a letter to tell me that my application deadline was being extended from Jan. 1 to Jan. 15 because I am female. I never did apply.
My first semester's tuition at MIT (not including room and board) was $9500. The next semester, tuition hit $10000. This prompted a
hack. A dorm room ran about $3000/semester. We had a declining-balance system for food - you put money in your account and then swiped your student ID when you bought food. I kept a small balance in my account so I could grab hot tea and a bagel in the mornings, and otherwise cooked for myself or hit the food trucks.
Hybrid Mode
