Wei Chen's essay

I’m a graduate student at MIT, and I need two things from a home: quiet, and a short commute so I can get to the lab early. Coming from Chengdu, I didn’t know which neighborhoods near Kendall were realistic on a stipend.

Filters that actually matter

Dwll let me search specifically for study-friendly places within biking distance of campus. I found a room in Cambridgeport with a desk already set up and housemates who kept similar hours.

The whole thing took a weekend. I moved in, set up my monitor, and was in the lab by Monday. For a first apartment abroad, that’s about as smooth as it gets.