MIT vs...

[slifty]

I can't believe I'm even in this situation, but I wound up here.

I found out last week that I got bumped up off of the wait list at the MIT Media Lab - thrilled about it! Full funding plus RA stipend. There is no question that this is the sort of opportunity that no person in their right mind with an interest in technology would even stop to think about before accepting flat out.

However back in December a friend and I applied to an innovation competition which is also very prestigious (for instance, last year Sir Tim Burner's Lee -- the man who invented the WWW -- was one of a few winners). One of our applications has a serious chance that it could win; but when I say serious chance I really do mean serious CHANCE. It appears to be in the top .01%, but they only select about .005% of the applicants to fund. If we got it, however, I would be up there getting to shake Tim's hand and we would receive $300k to work on a project that would hopefully bring transparency and information to local government and physical communities' civic issues.

I have absolutely no desire to turn down the Media Lab. I especially have no desire to turn it down based on a chance. However I want to try to set myself up so that if this grant does pan out I could have my cake and eat it to. For instance, I would be happy to defer my enrollment for a year, create this system, and then start up at MIT with some bonus experience under my belt. I don't know how that topic would (or even could) be broached - this is a very generous package and I don't want to appear at all ungrateful.

I owe MIT a response by April 15th. I won't know about the grant until well after that (i.e. not until late May/early June). I'm visiting Boston this weekend.

Does anyone have any suggestions? My current plan is to explain the situation to the folks at MIT with the understanding that I want to ultimately accept their offer, and hope that they will help me work something out if I ended up getting lucky with the grant... but there are a lot of different ways this could be accomplished.

I truly appreciate any thoughts you guys and gals have.

Edited April 8, 2010 by slifty

[origin415]

I doubt MIT would have a problem with your situation, and you should tell them about it. Tell them you want to accept, but if you get it, you'd like to defer a year.

[iamthelaw]

I second what Origin says. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity.

[LadyL]

First of all, congrats on just being awesome. Competitive for a 300K grant PRE Ph.D.? You are doing something right!

I would think MIT would be insane to hold this against you, considering if you get the grant they can brag about what a prestigious award one of their students received. But if they decide to be jerks, my inclination is go with the grant money...that's once in a lifetime thing and MIT will still be there in a year.

[slifty]

Thanks everyone for the advice (and thanks LadyL for the compliment ) -- I'm getting some confidence that this could actually work out; relief!

I'll let you know how the conversation goes.

[Sassytune]

W00t! Congratulations! Wow! Awesome to be so close to winning the award. Fingers crossed for you!

I agree with the other posters - MIT will surely understand the need to defer.

Good Luck!

[slifty]

I realize this is super late but wanted to fill in on what happened in case it proved helpful or interesting to anyone down the line:

1) We didn't end up getting the award, so the problem solved itself!

2) If we *had* gotten the award, deferring would not have been possible. Apparently at the Media Lab you apply to specific openings, which may or may not still be open the next year. You can defer for a semester, but that's about it... This put me in a very stressful position since I didn't know what my status with the award was going to be, but again it worked out.

That MIT policy seemed a little bit aggravating... But then again I did talk to the administrative person (i.e. the person who is paid to follow rules super closely). If the award had panned out I can only hope I would have been able to work SOMETHING out.

[Reinventing]

I realize this is super late but wanted to fill in on what happened in case it proved helpful or interesting to anyone down the line:

1) We didn't end up getting the award, so the problem solved itself!

2) If we *had* gotten the award, deferring would not have been possible. Apparently at the Media Lab you apply to specific openings, which may or may not still be open the next year. You can defer for a semester, but that's about it... This put me in a very stressful position since I didn't know what my status with the award was going to be, but again it worked out.

That MIT policy seemed a little bit aggravating... But then again I did talk to the administrative person (i.e. the person who is paid to follow rules super closely). If the award had panned out I can only hope I would have been able to work SOMETHING out.

Congratulations--I'm glad things worked out.

If it makes you feel any better, having been on both sides of that fence, many schools are deciding not to allow deferrals, especially where funding is involved. You have to keep in mind the impact of your deferral. It makes things more complicated for the school. These days, you never know what is going to happen with budgets, and if you'll have money to give next year. A professor may want you for a certain project they are doing right now, and won't need you later. They may also have specific goals for a certain class (certain size, certain distributions). Many students who defer do decide not to attend. The administrative people are not trying to make it more difficult, they just have a different perspective, goal, and responsibility in the situation. But like I said, I'm glad it all came to a happy conclusion!

Edited October 6, 2010 by ruralworks4me

[Zwanderer]

Many many congrats for the media

lab admit which group are you going to?

Cheers