Still on Snow Crash

Since being accepted to Stanford two weeks ago, I've done virtually nothing useful. I stopped work on all my other applications because there was no way I was going to rack my brains* writing another essay. I always thought I would be applying to MIT, and up until a few months ago, it was clearly my dream school. However, when it came to looking at MIT holistically, it just didn't seem right for me.

WHY I LOVE MIT:
1. OCW lectures helped me out with my preparation for physics olympiad. OCW was pretty much a major source of my entertainment this year. =)
2. When I first signed up for a MyMIT account three years ago, they sent an MIT brochure all the way across either the Pacific or Atlantic ocean to my address.
3. Entertaining MyMIT student blogs (JKim rocks!).
4. It was the first university I did extensive research on. As a thirteen-year-old, I had already downloaded their application forms.
5. Top math olympians go to school there (if Reid Barton thinks MIT is good, who can argue?)
6. MIT culture: brass rat ring, hacks, IHTFP, etc.

Around August, I started to talking to some people about applying to MIT. That's when I started thinking of what it would be like to go to school at MIT. Would I be able to endure the cold? I have visited my relatives in Canada a couple of times, always during winter, and have never developed a liking for the cold. I get sick easily, catch a flu, and end up spending most of my time sitting on a bench enjoying the interior of some mall. I like to be able to venture out in the open wearing minimal clothing, just a shirt and short pants, and I'm incredibly weak when I'm sick, so this was considerable reason against going to MIT. Check out climate data for Boston, Massachusetts and compare with data for San Francisco, California. Coming from a small town, and also having briefly sampled city life on a number of occasions, I also have to admit a dislike for urban life. Having Boston at my doorsteps is definitely a turn-down for me. So while I still have considerable respect for academic aspects of MIT, I don't think I would thrive well in an environment like that.

Besides MIT, the only other school that I have been interested in is Stanford. Why not Harvard, Yale or Princeton? Well, the whole ivy thing just never really appealed to me. That doesn't seem like much of a reason, but I just can't explain how it is that I associate these universities with social elitism. This is just my opinion based on gleanings from a lifetime of reading US News without serious debating with anyone, so I won't be surprised if I'm wrong.

I have to admit that finding out Stanford has not ranked in the Top 5 of recent Putnams was a bit of a disappointment for me. But that's a little ridiculous because it won't really matter if I went to a school that ranks high in the Putnam: I probably won't even score above the median mark anyway (which is zero!). All I am really looking for is to join a Problem Solving club, and from looking at the Stanford Putnam Pages, it's clear that the activities they run will certainly be enough to keep my problem solving appetite safistied. I don't intend on being a math major, so not being able to brag about Stanford's Putnam performance would not significantly hurt my pride.

In the mean time though, I've pledged to work hard on preparing for math olympiads, and hopefully most of my blog posts in the future will revolve around my efforts. I'm right now still trying to finish The Art of Problem Solving Volume 1 - how lame is that? I've been sidetracked so many times already, and at the moment it is because of the novel Snow Crash that I'm not getting anything accomplished. I also have an incredible urge to read Godel, Escher and Bach, which I've given up reading a total of 7 times. Maybe it will be an eight time lucky? Again, my goal to finish AoPS will be delayed!

*Am I right in writing this in plurals? It's two brains, isn't it? Left and Right.