Before I forget the details...

Here's a little bit of information about my commute for the summer from home to LGO.  I live in Porter Square which is on the Red Line (the one with direct access to MIT (and Harvard)).  I feel incredibly fortunate in that I am not only very close to the stop itself, but I am right across from a large, chain grocery store, Shaws, which is something rarer to find in the city.

So, how to get to school in a little more detail...

You can see the funky wind sculpture thing (three red metal sails) on the roof of the station.  That's at the end of my street :-)

So getting to the station itself is not a big deal.  Living near a subway as opposed to taking the bus to school or walking is that, if you have to wait, at least on the Red Line, you always do so INDOORS.  No rain, no snow and it's just about always warmer down there.  When I went to MIT as an undergrad I always felt like Porter was another world away, but really it's no big deal.  In the fall, hopefully I can tell you that MIT grad housing is no big deal, either.

Porter is a subway stop, however, that is especially, literally "down there".  You have to do some serious climbing to get in or out.  Take these photos below...

The first escalator, this one (climbing back up at a moderate but not hurried pace) is ~30 steps.

At the first level change there is one escalator going up, one going down and a set of stairs in the middle.  Most people seem to split the difference and walk up or down the escalator.  I try and do the same.

Escalator #2

The second escalator not only is twice as long...~60 steps climbing the escalator at a moderate pace, but it is wider and so somehow feels even more steep and precarious.  This set is past the point where you pay for the subway and is three escalators wide with two sets of stairs.  Again, most people climb the escalator.  Just standing there takes too long, but going up each and every step with no help is more than people want to do at the very beginning or end of their workday.

Three stops to get from Porter to Kendall/MIT

If you're a normal person, you ride the T, but if you're sneaky, observant and/or smart, eventually you learn which end of the platform to stand on to get off closest to where you need to go.  For coming to MIT/Sloan, I always try and stand near the front of the train because that let's me off closest to the exit near the business school.

This whole thing reminds me of the freshmen seminar I took called "You Can Get There From Here."  As long as you wake up early enough, it's pretty true.