What is Digg?201 Comments
- gwax, on 10/12/2007, -17/+54The majority of MIT students either take the test during freshman orientation, if they know how to swim, or take a beginners swimming class their freshman year, which also fulfills one term worth of general physical education requirements. Anyone who gets held up from graduating because they don't pass the swim test has only themselves to blame.
- jull1234, on 10/12/2007, -27/+56Wow, sure didn't know that any college had a "Swim Test". This is possibly the dumbest thing I've ever heard of holding up someone's graduation.
- lava, on 10/12/2007, -7/+33maybe that's just analysts from UM that don't make >100k anywhere....
- Area51mafia, on 10/12/2007, -1/+26You seem to be under the assumption that MIT students get invited to pool parties...
- IcanFLY, on 10/12/2007, -2/+25The argument presented in the article for the test was not simply an exercise requirement, but was considering basic swimming to be a survival skill.
- radu79, on 10/12/2007, -7/+30It is not dumb at all.
As an engineer, especially if you do a lot of field work, you might come to situations where you have to swim.
This way MIT guarantees that their graduates are capable of being good engineers, which won't fail if there is a little bit of water in the way. - dclowd9901, on 10/12/2007, -3/+25^^^^Because it's MIT requiring it. A school that is stereotyped as a nerd-riddled anti-physical activity campus.
I thought this was stupid at first, too, until I read why. I think, as human beings we should all be able to swim. it IS a survival skill at the very least, and it teaches the students a little bit about instinct too, rather than pure numbers. - Urusai, on 10/12/2007, -1/+21The Navy has a swim requirement. I was amazed at how many people didn't know how to swim, and there they were in the Navy boot camp. This is the same Navy, you know, that goes in the ocean, which is largely comprised of water.
- humblepatience, on 10/12/2007, -2/+19It's saving lives! How many MIT students have we lost because they've been pants'ed and then unwillingly tossed into the pool at a pool party?? HOW MANY HAVE TO DIE!!
- ratbear, on 10/12/2007, -3/+17With that amount of pasty white skin concentrated in such a small area, it must have been visible from space.
- dave_colorado, on 10/12/2007, -5/+19anybody have her phone #???
i need to get myself a sugar mama - krum, on 10/12/2007, -3/+16Uh... who again makes $100k right out of college... anywhere?
Maybe they meant to say, "starting that job where they could earn $100k someday." - dclowd9901, on 10/12/2007, -4/+16She probably can, given she's from CHICAGO.
On Weh: "On visits to the beach, the Chicago native waded out only until the water touched her waist."
Read the article before you become bigotted - elnerdo, on 10/12/2007, -2/+13Pasty WHITE skin? They're all Asian and Indian, now.
- roadkillkid, on 10/12/2007, -8/+19Some might argue that a bit of exercise being forced upon the chip-munching teeming masses is not such a bad thing... although to make it a requirement for college graduation seems irrelevant. If they're going to make physical education (in the form of swimming) mandatory, they should consider expanding it to include other types of exercise. I'm sure there's people out there that would rather play a game of table tennis - or run a few miles - than swim four laps of a pool.
- navster15, on 10/12/2007, -7/+18Wow, just wow. You assume due to her appearance and name that she is incapable of communicating in English? I myself am of Indian ancestry and have a very foreign sounding name, but I bet that I can communicate in English as well as, if not better, than most white Americans. I am just glad that I don't have to deal with your ignorant ***** in real life.
- bowe, on 10/12/2007, -2/+13"I'd be more worried about if she knows how to speak good english" Don't you mean speak english well...?
- WALoeIII, on 10/12/2007, -2/+12I might be baised since I love the water, but I think swimming is a "life skill." Those are what colleges really aim to teach you. You are learning how to learn. How often does your college degree directly influence your career? More times then not they're completely unrelated. Those that succeed after school are the ones that are able to adapt - in all manners. You need to adapt mentally, socially, and often times physically. Requiring swimming can be an extension of teaching people to adapt physically (those who already know how have learned this skill at a younger age). I think its important, or at worst: useful.
I passed my test when I came in as a freshman, I can see how it would be frustrating as a graduating senior! - danielson, on 10/12/2007, -2/+11Yeah, if you read the article you'd know that without having to ask us.
"... At Cornell, Dartmouth, and Columbia, where swim proficiency also is required, ..." - dclowd9901, on 10/12/2007, -2/+11Why is it so dumb to be a well-rounded individual. I would rather hire someone who's been around the block both intellectually and physically than a person who only really excels at one quality. Multiple abilities denotes a level of flexibility that is utterly valuable in today's workforce.
- yorxs, on 10/12/2007, -6/+14I hope all test at MIT are this easy, I'd be an A+ student
- tonicboy, on 10/12/2007, -0/+8Cornell had the same requirement. But as gwax said, if you passed the swimtest as a freshman, you are required to take swim classes which count towards your PE requirements. So, you're not taking more classes than anyone else. I think the whole point of why schools started to make this a requirement is that, during WWII, they found that too many recruits could not swim and this is clearly a problem when trying to train an effective army.
- rushiku, on 10/12/2007, -4/+11Recruiter: "Mmhhhmmm, ah, Advanced Theorical Quantum Mechanics, yes, yes, I see...hmmm oh, Linear Algebra, hmm, y'know...you're not very...what am I looking for here...well-rounded?"
MIT Grad: "Er, I once swam 100 whole yards, uh, without stopping!"
Recruiter: "Oh My! Why isn't that on your resume? Let me just call the company president, he's in a meeting with the Joint Chief of Staff, but I'm sure he can free up a few minutes for this!" - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -3/+10sctually those countries are hardly kicking our ass, they just have much lower standards and then claim their people are "smarter" (especially china, which is a communist country that covers up it's own history).
You know where all the smartest indians and chinese go? American schools. - Nyghtewynd, on 10/12/2007, -1/+8Don't disturb him. It's much easier to sit around and whine about injustice rather than take three hours and learn how to swim. More lucrative, too.
- Nyghtewynd, on 10/12/2007, -4/+11They get a chance to get over it. They should thank MIT for that opportunity.
- itsmrdumass, on 10/12/2007, -4/+11100K out of college? I think that's a little bloated.
- TKDEE, on 10/12/2007, -1/+6@raodkillkid - MIT actually has a separate PE requirement, where every student has to take 4 quarters (1 year) of PE classes. These classes range from Table Tennis, to Rock Climbing, to Pistol, to Sport Taekwondo. So, there are a bunch of other ways that they force activity on the "chip-munching" nerds.
As far as the cause of the PE requirement the article said it came out of WWII. The urban legend around MIT, though, is that the 4 lengths are equal to half the width of the Charles River. So, anyone who fell in would be able to swim out. I think this is just a myth though. - steelshanks, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5It isn't because they are always indoors.
- spiderland, on 10/12/2007, -2/+7University of Chicago (where I went) has it as well (along with other PE-related requirements). You can place out of this during the first week of your first year at school.
The objective was that each student would be "well-rounded." It's not a bad objective; however, I feel that this should be stressed in earlier grade levels. We're rapidly becoming an overweight nation. - gaberowe, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5After 4 years, very few people make over 100k in the area of EECS. Maybe as a contractor in Iraq. With a PhD 100k at a decently sized company and you are above average, is pretty easy to get. I know multiple people getting over 100k right out of college with their phd and I'm not at a top 10 school. MIT grads get probably 20k more than their peers. EECS at MIT is the top program--has been the top for many years. 100k for an EECS student at MIT I'd say has got to be unusual... consulting companies such as accenture and exponent often pay a premium for top tier people because they can wield their credentials... if you are paying for brains, and not name appeal, you won't probably be paying 100k to somebody...
- TKDEE, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4Ok to put an end to the debate of how much you can/can't make coming out of MIT. Here is the report of the salary survey from last year's graduating class.
http://web.mit.edu/career/www/salary/05summary.html
All of these numbers are for the salary pre-bonuses (I know because I filled it out last year). It is definitely possible for her to have a starting salary above 100k especially after bonuses. Also, keep in mind that while she majored in EECS she is going to work in finance (which is fairly common) so arguing about how much a software company pays is pointless. A lot of these companies, have a large portion of their compensation in annual/semi-annual performance/profit sharing bonuses. - jdavid, on 10/12/2007, -3/+7This is cool, I like the idea of a final physical test for an academic degree, it suports an ideal of balance in ones life.
- lostngone, on 10/12/2007, -4/+8This is very important!
Most of the graduates will go out and buy expensive yachts with all the money they earn. You wouldn't want MIT to lose all of its alumni from drowning after falling overboard would you? - calzone, on 10/12/2007, -5/+9The reason as I was told is that there was an alumnus once who drowned. Everyone felt it was horrible for a bright promising person to be snuffed out by something like not knowing how to swim, so they brought in the requirement.
Anyway, before I passed the swim requirement, I thought it was stupid too. Now I think it's a really nice little detail that is fun, practical, and full of only good karma. - abenton, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4Oh you mean like me going to a university with about 8% black population, but having the university pay 125000$ to bring in kanye west and have a seperate student union and services for only blacks, or how about all the gay/lesbian initiatives, or minority based scholarship money being given out while im pulling maximum student federal loans i will pay off when i graduate? I'm against all these because they send a message of forced prejudice while having a face value of eliminating them, I do have to put up with this every day.
- abenton, on 10/12/2007, -2/+6Yes, welcome to america and our schools, if you want to graduate, you have to put your religion aside. Remember the constitution puts in place that no governement will impose religion, and as a christian in school, most of them cant practice their beliefs anyways, so why should it be different for those of other religions? You are told the requirements as soon as you get to that school, if you dont like it, go try a university in the middle east, im sure that would be fun
- umfskibum, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5I had to do a PE course in school too, and honestly thought it was a great idea. Usually it is only required of freshman or first-years, and it helps keep students active and fend off the freshman 15.
- ubertroll, on 10/12/2007, -2/+6Did she take a bukkake class at MIT while she was there? It's a very useful skill for women.
- zombiedog, on 10/12/2007, -2/+6Dear ole Auburn, down in LA (lower Alabama) got a huge endowment from someone that lost a son in WW1. To graduate from AU didn't require much but the swim test was manditory. 4 laps using 4 different strokes and a half hour of treading water. The test could be waived IF you passed a full PE swimming course.
I don't use any of my engineering degree anymore, but I can still swim. What does that say for the value of a college degree? - slbyer, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4Heh, gotta make sure some geeks survive the coming global warming floods! ;-)
- pkulak, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4"Surveys indicate that about a third of Americans are afraid to put their heads under water. Nearly half are afraid of deep water in pools, and nearly two thirds are afraid of deep ocean water."
Isn't it kinda normal to be afraid of being stranded in the middle of the ocean? - bowe, on 10/12/2007, -3/+7Yep, Dartmouth has a swim test, it's only half as long as MIT's though.
- frostband, on 10/12/2007, -2/+6"...and it teaches the students a little bit about instinct..."
I could be wrong but I thought that you didn't have to learn about instincts... - IcanFLY, on 10/12/2007, -4/+8What good is a fancy degree when you are dead at the bottom of a lake? I suppose you could spend your entire life away from water, boats, and ferries.
- thejaysta, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3@Flashman
Just concluding... in Australia, we learn how to swim in Primary & Secondary school which is a good thing. I wish we had that swimming requirement for graduation! At the uni I went to, we had to do 3 semesters of "social science" which included rubbish like "Adolescent health" which you needed to pass before graduating. It wasn't just a matter of submitting your projects, but you were graded based on your attendence as well! Go figure! - WALoeIII, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3I think you are going out on a limb here buddy. Clearly they're not going to make a disabled person swim. Or a person who really is afraid of the water, a fear that they mentally can not conquer. But you can't just "not want to."
- Flashman, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3Alceria sez: "I'd never go to MIT, because they'd make me swim!"
Pfft, your loss, bozo. - tonicboy, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3Sorry, I meant to say, "if you FAILED the swimtest as a freshman" hehe.
- giantrobot, on 10/12/2007, -3/+6I wish I had that kind of salary. I went to MIT and I'm working at a temp job nowadays. FYI, I majored in Mathematics. Damned career counselors told me that people wanted to hire smart people, and math means that you're smart. Too bad that people reading my resume are too dumb to understand the names of the classes I've taken.
If you want to hear something even more ridiculous: you can't graduate unless you have tons of Physical Education credits. PE classes have strict attendance standards, and if you miss three classes you fail the course.
In my last year at MIT I was forced to take four PE classes per semester to make all of my credits. Sigh. -
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