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Rating: 
Summary: rings heartbreakingly true
Review: After almost 20 years in and around MIT, I've encountered only two great MIT books: (1) A.R. Gurney's out-of-print novel _The Snow Ball_; (2) Pepper White's book. White went to a top undergraduate school and was very strong academically. Yet he was completely unprepared for MIT grad school and couldn't believe how easily the folks who'd been MIT undergrads took everything in stride. He didn't know that they'd had exactly the same experience four years before! It is all here. Losing the girlfriend. Being surrounded by nerds. Scrambling for funding. Being called a jackinape by professors. Every MIT kid should make his parents read this book, if only to increase the supply of mailed-in CARE packages.
Rating:
Summary: MIT isn't *quite* this scary, but it's close.
Review: I read this the summer before entering MIT as an undergrad, and it had me crying and wishing I could change my mind and go somewhere else. Although my MIT experience wasn't as harrowing as White's, I think he does a good job of capturing the essence of the culture. The undergrad and graduate experiences are very different, but I think his experience as a GRT in an undergrad dorm helps to give you both perspectives. A great book - but I wouldn't read it just as you're about to go to MIT.
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Summary: Author Cliams MIT is Hell
Review: Pepper White, a Mechanical Engineering Grad student tells of his life at MIT. Anyone who is considering gradaute study in engineering has to read this book. Anyone who is curoius about what life might be like at MIT should read this book. In summary, Pepper works like a slave for a couple of years and loses a part of himself in the process. But there is no doubt that he emerges with an education that makes him incredibly better at thinking. But really, is it worth it? Anyone who is having the Be-All-You-Can-Be-At-The-Top-Notch-Tech-School OR Settle-For-Less-And-Have-A-Real-Life debate with themselves needs this book. This book will push you to "having a real life." MIT sounds scary.
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Summary: Very interesting perspective of grad school
Review: The book is MIT as seen by the author during the process of getting his masters. One can see opinions and biases sometimes, but I have to give credit to the author for stating his opinions straight regardless of whether they sound nice or not. I am sure the experiences may not sound familiar to everyone who went through grad school, but there are lot of instances that remind me of situations very common in grad school - social situations and personal issues especially. One major point I saw is that the author enters MIT with huge reverence for MIT and low self esteem. May be MIT ambience forces it. Some of the mechnical engineering stuff felt like too much detail for me. Author does have strong opinions about his school and other schools, but he is entitled to his ideas. If one can put up with that, this book is a very interesting read. Only thing I kept thinking is that if the author managed to go into the PhD program, the book could have had a very different tone. Who knows? Given the constant drive of the author in the book (big bucks and cushy job - usual stuff), I think he did well in the end.
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