New faces on campus
Every member of MIT’s incoming freshman class has at least one thing in common: They all survived the stressful, competitive, and often soul-searching process of applying to college. While most of his new classmates were toiling over essays and prepping for interviews, John Peurifoy was making a business of getting into college. Peurifoy, who is among 1,447 students admitted to MIT’s Class of 2018, says that for many high school seniors, the most dreaded element of applying to college is the college essay, with topics that can range from the generic to the quirky. “One question I’ve seen is, ‘What’s your favorite dinosaur?’ … and I’m sure if you said T. Rex, they can nail your personality,” Peurifoy says. “But at the end of the day, you don’t know what the heck to do with that.” Last year, to help students through this often-befuddling process, Peurifoy and a few friends created Essace —...