It's a classic problem for the average scientist-in-training: Do you pick your teeth with your acceptance letter from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology or with the envelope it came in? (The correct answer is neither: you use the paper clip holding together your orientation materials.)

But seriously, for a moment anyway, M.I.T. recognized the fact that it was sending some students out into the world who were apparently more comfortable crossing a Wheatstone bridge than crossing to the other side of a room to introduce themselves. They were more at ease asking for a Dewar flask than asking, "Do you want to dance?" They could insert a gene better than they could insert themselves into a conversation. Before I search for a geology reference, you get the idea. So in early February, M.I.T. invited any and all students to voluntarily attend its eighth annual charm school.

This article was originally published with the title Charmed, I'm Sure.

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