<p>I know that you can't take all of the classes that you wanted to, but I wanted to point out that 5.xxx classes are in the Chemistry department, not biology.</p>
<p>7.012 is Intro to Bio, taught in the fall by Professor Langer, who is widely regarded to be awesome.</p>
<p>7.013 and 7.014 are taught in the spring, and they are the bio classes that most freshmen take.</p>
<p>3.091 is taught by Professor Sadoway in the fall, and is considered the easiest chemistry course.</p>
<p>You should check out the seminars online! MIT</a> Class of 2011: Advising & Exploration- A lot of them sound really cool and it might be slightly more helpful than asking CCers which one you would be interested in :)</p>
<p>
[quote]
5.111 (took AP Bio)
3.??? (Easiest Chem, took AP)
[/quote]
Those comments don't make sense to me. 5.111 is Principles of Chemical Science - it has nothing to do with biology (the intro class of which is 7.012, as is said above, though one of the professors for it is LANDER, not Langer). 3.091 is probably what you're thinking of - Introduction to Solid State Chemistry - which no one in his or her right mind would take in addition to 5.111.</p>
You could have ended the parenthetical statement after "lab" and I would still have agreed with you. :) </p>
<p>
As far as I am aware, you can only do this second semester (by accepting the invitation for sophomore standing -- no credit limit, but no A/B/C/no record either). I do not think it's possible to get around the credit limit first term freshman year, though someone should correct me if I'm wrong.</p>
[quote]
A freshman may not register for, or receive, more than 54 units of credit in the fall term, or more than 57 units in the spring term. In the fall term only, freshmen may exceed the 54-unit credit limit by up to 6 units for Seminar XL, and by 3 units for 12.000 "Mission". The Committee on Academic Performance (CAP) will not allow freshmen to exceed the credit limit.<a href="Emphasis%20in%20the%20original.">/quote</a></p>
<p>just fyi: my previous post in the thread should not be interpreted as falling within the "toxic" category that jessie mentions - i agree with her point entirely. my point was merely that there's no harm in trying to push your limits.</p>
[quote]
A freshman completing the first term may advance his or her class year only if he or she is offered early sophomore status by the Director of the Office of Undergraduate Advising and Academic Programming. To be eligible for early sophomore status, by the end of the first term a student must have completed 25% of the undergraduate program, including an appropriate Communication Intensive subject (either a CI-H or CI-HW) and a majority of the Science Requirement subjects (mathematics, physics, chemistry, and biology). No student will be considered for early sophomore status unless he or she has completed a Communication Intensive HASS subject (CI-H or CI-HW) in the first semester.<a href="Again,%20emphasis%20in%20the%20original,%20which%20they%20really%20seem%20to%20like.%20:">/quote</a>)</p>
<p>My reading of this is that you must have completed at least five of the nine subjects in the science requirement (although perhaps it's just four of the six listed, and doesn't include REST and the lab requirement?), plus a HASS-CI. I'm not sure if there's a units outside the GIRs requirement as well.</p>
<p>
[quote]
my point was merely that there's no harm in trying to push your limits.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>This is true. People at MIT push their limits in all sorts of ways, and often get a great benefit from it. The problem is that too many people either don't realize when they are well beyond their limits, or they are too ashamed to admit it (because they've been led to believe that anyone should be able to do what they are trying to do).</p>
<p>One of the brighter guys I know from MIT, absolutely refused to take more than four classes a term. He said that he took five classes once, and that it was just too much intellectual multitasking for him personally, and that while he was still getting good grades, he didn't learn the material for any of his classes nearly as well. So he never did it again (even though his social group was one where it is popular to take tons of units). That guy understood his limits. And, like I said, he was very, very bright, and a top student.</p>
<p>I knew another guy who took 100+ units several terms in a row, got very high grades, was learning the material to his satisfaction, and still had more time to goof off/do extracurriculars than most people. He also knew his limits. If your limits are closer to his, you will probably discern this early on.</p>
<p>If you think you have a strong background, be aggressive in taking the advanced standing exams. I would recommend taking only 3 technical classes plus a HASS your first term , though.</p>
<p>isn't seminar XL only for minority students?
and
does anyone know if we can take 4 classes (12 credits), a 6 credit seminar, and the SP.800 FASIP, thus exceeding the 54 credit limit by 3?
or is it seminar (54) OR FASIP (51)?</p>
<p>Going exactly by what mollieb quoted in the Academic Guide regarding the only exceptions given to the freshmen credit limit, I would say that's a no to your second question.</p>
<p>1) NO NO NO. Seminar XL is run for everyone. It's a great thing, too - you get extra practice, and you basically get credit for studying. Seriously, I highly recommend SXL. It is run through the minority office, though, which might've caused your confusion =). Interphase is the same way.
2) And the 54-unit credit limit is strictly enforced. I believe you can so FASIP for not-credit though.</p>
<p>I thought FASIP doesn't count for credit in the first term. it only started counting for credit second term because of the credit limit problem.
You can check to make sure.</p>