George A. Madrid MIT ID #595-30-3478 14 Saint Paul Street, Apt. #2 Cambridge, MA 02139 Committed for Readmission Student Assistance Services Massachusetts Institute of Technology 77 Massachusetts Avenue, 5-106 Cambridge, MA 02139 Members of the Committee: In the Spring of 1991, I took a Leave of Absence from MIT. In the three years since, I have worked for a Dimensional Insight, Inc. and attended classes at The Museum School of Fine Arts and MIT. After three years away, I find myself in a position to return to MIT and work towards completion of my Bachelor's Degree in Mathematics with Computer Science. This letter accompanies my "Request for Readmission for Undergraduate Returning from Withdrawal Status," and I hope that the committee will review both and approve my application to return to MIT. In the Spring of 1991, after a disappointing term academically and personally, Stan Zanarotti, the vice-president and co-founder of a startup company named Dimensional Insight, Inc., offered me a job doing programming for his company. I was to be the second programmer in the company and doing work which I considered fun and interesting. I took a Leave of Absence from MIT and started working for DI. In the three years I have been working for DI, the company has more than doubled in size, and the programming staff has grown from two to five. Earlier this year, I received a promotion to "Senior Software Engineer" and along with this, certain managerial responsibilities. I was pleased with and flattered by this promotion since it reflected the company's trust in my abilities as a programmer and as a manager. My employers, Fred Powers, President, and Mr. Zanarotti, have always been aware that it was my intention to return to school and complete my degree. They have been very supportive in this respect, going as far as paying all tuition fees for one class during each of the terms during the last school year. I took 6.034, Artificial Intelligence, and 6.033, Software Systems Engineering, and received grades of 'B' and 'A' respectively. I have also taken art and writing classes at the Museum School of Fine Arts in Boston and the Company of Writers in Cambridge. Letter grades were not given in any of these classes. In June of this year, I announced to my employer's my intention to return to MIT full time in the fall. This was no surprise to them, but it did come at a somewhat inconvenient time. In mid-July, Mr. Zanarotti approached me with an offer which I have found too good to pass up. He told me that if I continued to work for DI half-time, DI would pay my tuition fees for two classes a term. During this time, I would receive no reduction in my monthly salary or in any of the benefits offered by DI, including participation in the medical and retirement plans. This offer appeals to me for several reasons. Over the last three years, I have watched DI grow from a small struggling startup into a thriving corporation which shows much promise for success. This offer allows me to continue to participate in that success. It also allows me to continue work toward my degree which was my initial intention when I started with DI. Over the last three years, I have become quite independent and have not relied on my parents financial help. Becoming dependent on them again is not something I would like to do. My father is retired and he and my mother have only recently begun to enjoy that retirement. I am strongly averse to putting a strong financial drain on them again. My boss has give me the means to pay for my own education from this point on. My intention is to return to MIT for two terms under Light-Load. By the end of the next year, I will have saved enough money to return for one more term full-time. Then I will have one more term at half-time. This allows me to finish MIT in two more years. I have discussed my plans with Dean Ayida Mthembu in the Student Assistance Services office. She agrees that this is a viable approach to completing my degree and seemed very happy at my good fortune in receiving this opportunity. I have discussed my degree requirements with Joanne Jonsson in the Undergraduate Math Office. I have contacted the Bette Davis in the Office of Humanities and Social Sciences to discuss my humanities requirement. Neither of these people discerned any problems with my current plans. There are certain details which Dean Mthembu suggested that I mention. First, I would like to affirm that I left MIT in 1991 by my own choice. I was not a Required Withdrawal. Second, the dean's office has lost both my student folder and my freshman advisor's folder and has no records of some of my history. Hopefully, these documents will turn up and everything will be in order. Fortunately, both the registrar and the math office have complete academic records for me. I would like to thank the Committee for their time and look forward to hearing from them in the near future. I am very excited about continuing my education at MIT in the fall and thankful to all those, including the member of the committee, who are making it possible. Sincerely yours, George A. Madrid MIT ID #595-30-3478