Current MIT Freshman, AMA (Ask Me Anything)

Colleges and Universities A-Z Massachusetts Institute of Technology
1

<p>Considering that there are now a crop of recently admitted students and CPW is in a few weeks, I'm posting an ask me anything thread. I'm currently a freshman, so I was in your position a year ago, so feel free to ask me anything: how I made my decision, CPW questions, the logistics of coming to MIT, academic life at MIT, social life at MIT, dorms, etc.</p>

<p>Just to give you a feel for who I am, I guess I'm a pretty average freshman. Male, family is working class, from Florida. I'm debating Course 3 or 20 for my major, currently leaning towards 3. I lived in Simmons in the fall then moved to MacGregor in the spring. I've joined a fraternity. Not really involved in any clubs at the moment, but I am looking for a UROP for the summer and next semester I may join the Model UN. I've taken the following classes:</p>

<p>Fall: 8.01, 18.02, 7.012, 17.40 (US Foreign Policy, CI-H)
IAP: 6.S090 (Intro to Python), 18.06 (took the ASE)
Spring: 8.02, 18.03, 5.111, 6.01, 21H.133 (Medieval History)</p>

<p>Ask away.</p>

2

<p>I know a some of thee questions may have been asked several (or hundreds of times before) but i would the opinion of someone is still new(ish) to mit would be great</p>

<ol>
<li>How cutthroat is the community? Ive heard it is mostly collaborative, but out of about 1500 does that mean 100 or so are competitive? </li>
<li>What are the compettive students competitive about? UROP’s? Grades?</li>
<li>How are the curves set there? </li>
<li>If 1 person, for example, scores a 99 and the whole rest of the class scores in the 60’s or so how is it then? (in other words, what if the grades are very skewed right?</li>
<li>How are the GIRs?</li>
<li>Would you recommend preparing for them beforehand? like taking AP Chem, AP Bio, AP Physics etc?</li>
<li>Whats the average amount of sleep you get?</li>
<li>Is there a rivalry between mit and havard?</li>
<li>How have you liked your classes thus far?</li>
<li>have you changed since you came to mit?</li>
</ol>

<p>Answers from anyone would be appreciated!1</p>

3

<p>^good questions!</p>

<p>Also, what made you move from Simmons to Magregor? And what kind of experiences did you have with both?</p>

<ol>
<li><p>I am also thinking of taking an intro programming class (I have zero experience) during IAP, what was that class like?</p></li>
<li><p>I am also very interested in how competitive things are and about how/if/ what classes are curved.</p></li>
<li><p>Logistically, was moving dorms around during REX difficult for you/ others?</p></li>
</ol>

4

<ol>
<li>How much homework are you assigned? (even an approximate answer would satisfy me)</li>
<li>What’s your sleeping schedule? Are you able to get up to 7 hours of sleep a day?</li>
<li>What about your grades and is it that hard to study there?</li>
</ol>

5

<p>Alright, so many questions to answer. Here I go:</p>

<p>@rr5001

  1. The community is not cuthroat. People, especially freshmen (who are, for the most part, in the same classes), work together on psets and studying for tests. It is a little competitive, in that most people want to beat the average on the test (hence, a low average is nice for that) but noone actively goes out of their way to jeopardize anyone else and people often help each other.
  2. There are few “competitive” students in the sense that almost noone (at least, noone I’ve met) feels that they should jeopardize someone else to do better in a class. There are plenty of people who are hard-working and put lots of time into their classes to come out on top in grading. There isn’t really competition for UROPs, they’re plentiful and most often gained by e-mailing professors.
  3. Curves, in the strictest sense (ie: assigning a percentage of the class to each letter grade) do not exist at MIT. However, classes do curve down if the test average is low (read: curving is supposed to only benefit students). For example, in 7.012 the average was usually in the high 60s, so the average would be set as the cut-off for a C, then a grade that was a standard deviation above average would be an A. Hence, for that class a grade of an 82-84 would get you an A (much better than a 90). Other classes don’t curve, they just have cutoffs. For example, 8.02 has a 15 point grading scale (A: 85-100, B: 70-85, C:55-70) and promises that if test averages are low they will adjust down, but never adjust up. Other classes are strict and have cut-offs that will never change (In 6.01 it’s the typical hs 10 point scale, and they’ve stated they won’t adjust that.)
  4. I might’ve answered this in the previous question, but the class will adjust (not everyone will be penalized for one person doing extremely well). This is usually done by grading around the average (often making the average into a low B, and a standard deviation above average). MIT classes are usually B centered at it’s usually not difficult to pull of a B (A’s, however, tend to be much harder to get. By this I mean that getting a B rarely takes an excessive amount of effort but getting an A most certainly does. There is a large differential in the amount of work it takes to go from a B to an A). Also, it varies by department. My understanding is that some departments (like 5 and 7) tend to be meaner about grading while others (like 18) tend to be more forgiving.
  5. I’m not the biggest fan of the GIR’s, but they’re ok. None of them has been difficult for me except 7.012 (and that was mainly because I had a pitiful background in bio coming in) and I still got a good grade by putting effort into it (and it was also my most enjoyable GIR, probably because it was the one where I learned the most and the challenge made it fun). Low-level math classes tend to be really straightforward, 5.111 is basically AP Chem again so far and really easy, 8.02 is also easy, and 8.01 was a bit trickier, but definitely manageable. If you’re looking for a challenge in the GIRs there are the advanced options (8.012, 8.022, 5.112, 18.022) but they’re a real challenge (I was in 8.012 for a few weeks before I dropped down to 8.01, that class was too much for me).
  6. Preparing for them definitely means taking the corresponding APs beforehand. AP Chem is really good preparation for 5.111. For math, AP Calculus is important (you want to get out of 18.01, or at least into 18.01A) but even more important is a solid background in pre-calculus (algebra 2, trigonometry, complex numbers: euler’s formular and trigonometric form, polar coordinates, matrices etc.) 8.01, 18.02, and 18.03 have drawn heavily from pre-calc and I’ve come to realize that my school’s pre-calc was really good compared to others and that’s really helped. If you have the option to take AP Physics C over B, do that. Physics B was not a very good preparation for MIT physics from my experience. I don’t know about AP Bio, but I imagine it’s helpful (though, conventional wisdom is that 7.01x is the GIR that is least like the AP test). If you can ASE things due to high school preparation, I’d say go for it. There is little benefit to taking a lot of these classes at MIT when there are much more interesting classes you could take instead. Note: ASEs in Math and Physics are known as being pretty straightforward but the ASE in Biology, and even moreso the ASE in Chemistry, are known for being difficult.
  7. Average sleep: 6-7 hours a night. I could get more if I were less social, but I operate best on that amount of sleep. Also, I’m probably one of the people who gets more sleep, but that’s because I tend to manage my time well so I rarely have all my work piled up at once (though this has happened, and I’ve had nights where I’ve only gotten 3 hours of sleep)
  8. Yeah there’s rivalry, but it’s mostly in jest. MIT people look down on Harvard for a variety of reasons (primarily, that they have grade inflation and easier classes). Anyways, it’s nothing that bad or serious is usually limited to a few comments and maybe some silly bickering with Harvard people.
  9. My classes thus far have not been super enjoyable, but I feel that’s the norm for freshmen who have to do lots of GIRs. Math tends to be dry, I have no interest in physics, 5.111 is a regurgitation of AP Chem and thus boring. I also dislike 6.01, but I’m not course 6 and am taking it to fulfill programming requirements in my prospective majors (there are people who enjoy this class, I just find it to be too much work). I did enjoy 7.012 a lot and really enjoyed my HASS in the fall and also enjoy my current HASS (just, not as much).
  10. I’m sure I’ve become more humble, since now I’m around a lot of people who are smarter than I am. I’ve also gained a better work ethic to keep up with my classes. I’ve become a bit more outgoing, but I’m working on improving that even more and becoming more active.</p>

<p>@IssacM:

  1. Simmons was too quite for me and I couldn’t stand that. Rumor is that there are parts of Simmons that are more social, but I wasn’t lucky enough to end up there. I feel like MacGregor is like that too, but I already had friends in an entry that has lots of social freshmen, so I’m much happier there. Also, the meal plan (required at Simmons, not MacGregor) is way too expensive.
  2. Programming classes during IAP are a great idea. 6.S090 was the advanced intro python (the, you’ve programmed before but not in Python class) and I don’t feel it was that good. It consisted of a week of instruction with trivial assignments and then 1 big group project. I don’t feel that structure was very good for my learning of Python, but it might be one of those your-mileage-will-vary things. Alternatively, there is a more basic intro Python class that is for people without prior experience, and the type of work they do is what I wish we has done in 6.S090. Not knowing programming coming in should not be a limitation, and IAP is a good time to gain programming experience.
  3. See my answers to rr5001
  4. This depends on where you want to be. Moving into Burton-Conner or Baker is difficult because those dorms are popular. Otherwise, it seems to be rather easy. Moving out of New House would probably be the most difficult, but definitely not impossible. Just be sure to make more educated decisions about dorms beforehand (I wish I had). Also, certain dorms are sinks, so if you put them anywhere near the top of your choices you will end up there. These include New House, Simmons that I know for sure and I also imagine Bexley, Senior House, Random and maybe even EC.</p>

<p>@ZepHead

  1. I’m assigned quite a bit of hw, but freshman classes aren’t that bad. A physics pset can probably range from 4-7 hrs per pset (there is a lot of variety in how well a subject is taught, if I’m working with other people, how hard that particular pset is, etc.) 8.01 psets were definitely harder than 8.02 psets. Math psets I’d give about a 4-6 hr range, and it varies for the same range. I find 18.03 psets to have easier questions, but they are often poorly worded, making deciphering them a challenge. 5.111 psets have been really easy and probably take me around 3 hours. 7.012 I don’t quite remember. They were challenging but not incredibly time-consuming. 6.01 is really time consuming, but that’s mostly because I’m not very good at the class. Some people are able to finish most, if not all, of their work during lab hours, but I’m not one of them. That class is starting to feel like a 15 unit class to me. HASS classes are pretty easy and don’t require that much time. In the fall, I didn’t do my classes reading which essentially meant the only hw I did were papers, which I would do the night before they were due (about 10 hrs for a 8 page paper, there were 2 of these along with other assignments). My current HASS I read for, and it’s about 60-80 pages per class, which translates to about 3 hours of reading a week. Papers are 5 pages long, and I wrote the last one in 4 hours (and the reading for that week was light).
  2. 6-7 hours a night, except a few weeks (no more than 2 a semester, thus far) when I have several tests and maybe even a paper in one week, in which case it drops down to 5.
  3. Freshman year is not THAT hard, you will definitely be able to make it through and should pass every class if you try. Grades, as I said before, tend to make it decently easy to get a B and hard to get an A. My grades are very good, but I also put in a lot of time for that. I’m sure things are going to get harder in subsequent years, but It’ll be easier to get through because the subject matter will be more interesting. Also, MIT is as hard as you make it. If you take the standard 4 classes a semester, with 1 of them being a HASS it should be no problem. However, if you start exceeding that then it gets tricky. I’m doing that to myself this semester by taking 6.01, which is making my life a little bit miserable, but it is worth it to get this unenjoyable class out of the way freshman year, imo.</p>
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<p>

</p>

<p>How are you defining easy? I have no idea how long the wait for BC or Baker is. Random, EC, and SH all have waitlists. A few friends of mine who are juniors waited over two years to get into Random.</p>

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<ol>
<li><p>What about Macgregor… is it hard to get in there as a freshman?</p></li>
<li><p>also, Macgregor appeals to me because I do like talking to people and being very social, but I do need my down time to relax and study and things that require quiet like that :slight_smile: is Magregor really as antisocial as people make it out to be? if so, are there any other dorms where it is a. easy to get a single as a freshman or b. easy enough to get quiet/down time?</p></li>
</ol>

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<p>Thanks for reply, that really helped. I just have a few more questions ( or so)

  1. Since MIT is so heavily technical, I would think professors are good at calculating, cutoffs, averages, standard deviations but are they?
  2. You mention ASA out of classes, i have a good amount of time before I would take the gir’s so should i just use opencourseware, mitx (assuming it gets those courses), etc. to study now and get out of them later? I really hate biology…
  3. Do you see any differences between the freshmen and non-frosh? Are the upperclassmen more mature or crazy?
  4. How can a pset take 3-6 hours? In other words, do you just stare it each problem for half hour and then realize the solution, or are there so many problems that it takes forever?
  5. During your pset, are you completely focused, or do you go on facebook, google, college confidential?
  6. When you see your classmates, do you look at someone or yourself and say/think “that’s the next mark zuckerberg” or something along those lines?
  7. In ap classes, a lot of teachers always say something along the lines of " you’re in ap, you don’t need (insert curve, answers to questions, deadline extensions) " is it that way in mit or do they cut you guys some slack? </p>

<p>thanks again!!</p>

9

<p>Lol AMA…I feel like we’re on Reddit. </p>

<ol>
<li>What do you think of Course 6-7 (MolecBio/Comp Sci?)</li>
<li>Is a double major worth it?</li>
<li>Is MIT good for biology/neuroscience?</li>
<li>Do YOU like MIT?</li>
</ol>

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<p>

There are no problems calculating these things, but predicting them in advance is not trivial. I’ve been a TA for the past two years, and it still amazes me how difficult it is to write an exam that 1) differentiates between students with different levels of understanding and 2) fits within the time allotted for the exam. </p>

<p>

The odds of getting into a particular dorm in the summer lottery depend on the preferences of the class as a whole. Most years, MacGregor is fairly middle-of-the-road in popularity, but any dorm can experience years where it’s much more or much less popular than usual.</p>

<p>I lived in MacGregor all four years, and had a great social life along the lines you’re describing – I could hang out in the lounge or in the hallway with my friends, and I could shut my door and have alone time when I needed it. The culture of the dorm does vary by entry, but you will get to choose your entry if you end up in MacG in the end, so you can pick an entry that fits your social style. I lived in A Entry and D Entry, which at the time were considered two of the most social entries in the dorm.</p>

<p>

As a double major myself (in biology and neuroscience – and to answer your other question, MIT is one of the best universities in the world to study both biology and neuroscience), I don’t think a double is worth it for anything other than your own interest. I am glad I completed both majors, as I got a very broad education in biology and a specialized education in neurobiology, but I don’t think it’s been tremendously useful for me in terms of getting into grad school or winning fellowships in grad school.</p>

<p>The useful thing about a double major is that you learn a great deal about two different fields, but it would be just as useful to take all the same classes and not complete the paperwork for the double. The usefulness is in what you learn, not in what’s written on your degree in the end.</p>

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<p>ok, more answers:</p>

<p>@Piper,
yeah, I should be more clear, I shouldn’t say they’re easy, but easy relative to more popular dorms. For example, switching from Simmons to MacGregor is easier than switching from Simmons to Burton-Conner.</p>

<p>@IsaacM

  1. It should be about middle tier in popularity, I’d listen to Mollie’s wisdom here.
  2. So, MacGregor is organized into entries, and then entries are subdivided into suites. some suites are social, some are antisocial, you just have to be smart about where you pick. The easiest way to avoid an antisocial entry/suite would be to make friends with a group of social freshmen during orientation who end up at MacGregor, then for all of you to join the same suite/entry (note: there is a positive correlation between numbr of freshmen and how social a part of a dorm is)</p>

<p>@rr5001:

  1. I haven’t felt any class I’ve taken so far is graded unjustly, so I’d guess they are. I defer to Mollie’s expertise.
  2. Here’s where it gets tricky. I think, in general, ASEs are a good idea, but you need to make sure you learn material well if it’s going to be important later on. For example, ASEing 7.01x might mean not learning 7.01x as well as somebody who’s in the class, so if 7.01x is important, you might want to reconsider. Alternatively, getting 7.01x out of the way to take another bio class (if it’s important for your major) may mean it’s worth not knowing 7.01x as well (to progress more quickly). If you have an entire summer to study, that should be enough for an ASE (I studied for 18.06 over the span of 3 weeks in IAP and did well). Also, don’t assume that just because you did not enjoy bio in hs you won’t enjoy bio at MIT, MIT bio is different (imo, much better). MIT bio focuses on things at the basic levels (genes, cells, proteins, enzymes, etc.) and ignores organismal fluff and the problems on psets and test are more like puzzle solving then regurgitating memorized information. Anyways, I heavily disliked bio coming out of hs and really enjoyed bio at MIT.
  3. There are differences. Upperclassmen can be more serious, and less social (ie, more likely to study in their room than in a lounge). They are usually much better at time management. They are also extremely helpful since they’ve already taken many of the classes freshmen are taking. As to maturity and craziness . . . that’s on a case by case basis. Note, there are plenty of social upperclassmen, it’s just that my experience in the dorms I’ve lived in (and these are the quieter dorms) that they aren’t super social.
  4. So, for most classes psets don’t involve a lot of questions, the questions are super involved and have multiple parts and that takes time (the only exception I’ve had so far is 5.111, which has lots of pretty easy questions). You’re rarely staring at a problem until inspiration comes though, you often attempt it, try to set up the basics (for physics, free body diagrams, for math some equations from class, etc) and then you see if you can solve it. If not, you take a closer look, then reread and try again. If, after a while you’re still at your wits end, you seek help, either other people working on the pset or upperclassmen who’ve taken the class. Also, working in groups is a variable that can either shorten (someone has the creativity to figure something out) or lengthen (people bicker about problems instead of figuring out the answer) time spent. Either way, working in groups is more fun than not, so I think it’s worth it even if it sometimes makes psets longer.
  5. Sometimes I am, sometimes I’m not. I’m usually focused when I’m figuring out a problem itself, but can get distracted between problems or when I get really stuck.
    6 Um . . . no, but there are certainly people here who are brilliant and going to be super successful. There are people who are interested in tech start ups and they may end up being like Zuckerberg, and there are also people who are interested in research and may end up in academia and win noble prizes/fields medal/etc. Note, though, that not everyone is super amazing when they come in so don’t be intimidated that you’ll be the only normal person.
  6. Things are rarely so cut and dry. If you can’t do work for x,y,z reason there are resources on campus to help you. There’s MIT Medical and Student Support Services (S^3) which can get work excused/rescheduled. Last semester I was sick on a week I had 3 tests and a paper and got my paper pushed back simply by e-mailing my TA, without having to go through channels. People are mostly reasonable.</p>

<p>@wvcollegecrazy:
haha, yep it is like reditt, thanks for catching that

  1. So, I’ve heard mixed things about 6-7. Personally, I think that it’s not the best designed major because it kind of just takes classes from course 6 and mixers them with classes from 7 without really providing a set of classes unique to itself that do combine biology and computer science. Those are just my 2 cents.
  2. I defer to Mollie. I’d say that if a second major or a minor requires you to take classes that you don’t want, then just take the classes in the field that you’re actually interested in without doing anything official.
  3. Yes. Very Good
  4. I do like MIT. I feel like it’s he place where I fit in the best. I’d say this: the most important factor in which university you pick should be which university you fit in best socially.</p>
12

<p>I just want to thank you guys for taking the time to answer these questions! Much appreciated!</p>

<p>Since I’ve learned a lot about the academics at MIT from reading the answers on this post, I’d like to ask a bit about life at MIT:</p>

<ol>
<li><p>What is the social scene like?
Can you describe the range of parties? How often they are, or anything else you want to talk about. Do people go to parties to meet new people, or are they more for hanging out with friends you already know? </p></li>
<li><p>Is there pressure to drink/do drugs?</p></li>
<li><p>What is the food like if you’re not cooking for yourself?</p></li>
<li><p>What is the dating scene like? I know the male female ration is close to 50/50, but do you ever feel like it’s really unbalanced? If so, do you feel that imbalance in certain dept.s and classes, or in dorms, etc (obviously not single-sex dorms, lol)? Where do people go to meet people, etc, and are many students in relationships, or only focused on their coursework? I know there’s certainly a wide variety of students, but in general can you describe the guys? Are they generally shy and nerdy or extroverted, etc? Are many jerks? Are girls shy? Are they haughty and self-important or friendly and down to earth?</p></li>
<li><p>Do students interact much with people from different majors? I imagine you might make friends freshman year that go into different majors…is it hard to maintain the friendship if they are in different courses later on?</p></li>
<li><p>How about balancing schoolwork with other things? On average, how many hours do you have for clubs, extra-curriculars, or work? If you want to work and be in a few clubs, maybe a sport, and perhaps do some other activities later on, is that spreading yourself too thin? Is that reasonable or will you not have time for all that?</p></li>
<li><p>Assuming you manage your time and work hard during the week, will you usually have the weekend free? Or do they give assignments during the weekend? What do people do during the weekends?</p></li>
</ol>

<p>Those are all the questions I have for now. I’m not only interested in social life I swear! LOL, it’s just that there were some pretty good answers for the academic life questions, and I wanted to get a social life discussion going too :)</p>

<p>Again, thanks so much, you guys are being very helpful in answering these questions so thoroughly!</p>

13

<p>I’ll just do a selection, and leave most to others, but…</p>

<p>

No, not generally. Alcohol is pretty widely available, and it’s not impossible to find drugs, but people aren’t fazed if it’s not your thing. I’m not a big drinker, and I don’t do drugs, and I never had problems with people pressuring me. </p>

<p>

Very generally speaking, very few people at MIT are haughty and self-important. Other than that, it’s really hard to generalize – MIT is a collection of 4,000 really smart 18- to 22-year-olds, and you’ll find the variation that you would find in a group that size. </p>

<p>

Many students are in relationships. For those who aren’t in relationships, it’s not generally because they’re too focused on school – it’s more likely because they just haven’t found anybody special at that time. I met my husband at MIT, and we’ve been to a bunch of our MIT friends’ weddings to each other in the past few years.</p>

<p>

On average, you’ll be spending about 50 hours a week on school (class, homework, lab). The rest is yours for clubs, other ECs, UROPs, hanging out with your friends, etc. </p>

<p>

It varies by person, but that’s probably too much. The clubs and ECs in college tend to be more involved than the clubs in high school, so you probably won’t join several clubs – you’d just join one and be more heavily involved in it. </p>

<p>I had a UROP, played a sport, and lightly participated in my dorm government, and that was about the max for me. Those three things together took about 20-25 hours of my week.</p>

14

<ol>
<li>MIT has a good social scene. Our parties are usually among the better parties in the area. How much you party is up to you, and there are people that go party-hopping as often as possible and those who never party. I don’t party much and usually just go to my own fraternity’s parties. From my experience parties are bigger affairs so it’s hard to meet people, but people usually go in groups and dance and party with their friends (and yes, sometimes meet people).</li>
<li>No, there is access to alcohol but people don’t pressure others to drink and most (all that I’ve met) will drop it if the person doesn’t drink. Drugs are rarer than alcohol, but the same applies.</li>
<li>Dining Hall food is ok, not super amazing and also not worth the price (unless you’re going to take advantage of the all you can eat part). There are healthy options and unhealthy options (and most people gravitate towards unhealthy). Additionally, on-campus there’s the Student Center (include’s a Subway, Middle Eastern Place, take-out Japanese place) and LaVerde’s (over-priced super market open really late in Student Center). Shaw’s is the more reasonably priced supermarket that’s an under 10 min walk from the student center. Off-campus there are quite a few food places (Chicago’s Pizza is infamous but open late, Hi-Fi Pizza/subs is pretty good, Thailand cafe is ok Thai food and pretty good schezuan, lots of cheep take-out Chinese food places, the Kendall food court, McDonalds, delivery from Wings Over Somerville, etc.) but I generally feel the area around MIT leaves much to be desired (though, we will be getting 2 Chipotles very soon :). There are lots of places to eat around Harvard if you make the trip and the same goes for Boston. Personally, I get lunch at dinner at my fraternity.</li>
<li>Gender balance is really good at MIT for a science/engineering school. I hear that some majors (like Course 7 and 9) have lots of girls, but otherwise I don’t know much about imbalance. Also, a lot of guys I know at MIT date outside of campus (with Wellesley and Simmons College girlfriends).</li>
<li>Ummm, I’m a freshman so I don’t know from personal experience, but things like living groups (dorms, fraternities, sororities,etc.) help keep people together. Once you’re in your major you’ll probably make more friends in that major too.</li>
<li>You won’t be able to do too many extracurriculars, but you can eek out some time (as Mollie said). I have not done a good job of joining clubs/doing stuff outside class but I will be fixing that next semester (though I may be working, like UROPing and grading/tutoring, instead of joining clubs). Anyways, I do a lot of academics, but it does not consume all my time and I have plenty of times to do other things or relax.</li>
<li>You will probably be able to maintain one free day in the week if you do a good job/want to (another option, which I tend to do, is get 2 days “half-off”). There are no weekend specific assignments, but some classes (notably 8.01 and 8.02) have psets due near the start of the week. Most classes, however, have psets due at the end of the week.</li>
</ol>

15

<ol>
<li><p>I’m pretty set on bringing a bike to MIT (mountain bike I guess it is called), is the campus fairly bike friendly? Are there lots of bike racks? Do most dorms have somewhere where you can keep a bike?</p></li>
<li><p>I’ve taken 2 years of calculus AB and BC and 2 years of physics, normal and AP Physics B… But not calc based physics. For reason, probably lack of interest (my teacher is super dull and doesn’t really explain things in a way that makes it click for me) I don’t enjoy it and I have been getting B’s fairly consistently in my AP Physics class. I am really good at Calc, averaging like 96%. I’m thinking that basic 8.01 and 8.02 will be the best fit for me (and I’m also considering esg or seminar xl for this reason) but do you think that the 8.01/8.02 will give me any problems? Like would it be really hard for someone who tends to struggle with algebra based physics? Is MIT physics more interesting than maybe your average high school physics/AP physic class? In general, are the professors engaging and easy to understand? Outside of extra groups like esg or seminar xl, is it easy to get help from TAs/Prof/etc?</p></li>
</ol>

16

<p>

Yes, yes, and yes, but bring a good lock.</p>

17

<p>Isaac M, Mollie answered number 1, so I’ll answer number 2:</p>

<p>So Physics C is better prep than Physics B, but don’t be discouraged. I only took Physics B and got an A in 8.01 and currently have an A in 8.02, so it’s not like having Physics B will make things super terrible. While the classes are calc based, you’re doing more algebra than calculus. If the high school class is too easy for you, I doubt it will be at MIT. My only issue with 8.01 is that it does assume you have a background in mechanics (while, 8.02 feels like they assume you know no E&M). 8.01 psets will sometimes make your head scratch, and you’re going to run into really difficult problems, but you will have plenty of resources to help you (other freshmen in 8.01, upperclassmen, professor’s office hours). The tests had their fair share of tricky questions, but they were not impossible and with a 2 hr time very reasonable.
As far as teacher quality, this is tricky. 8.01/8.02 are TEAL, which means they have multiple sections with multiple professors. This means there is a wide variety in teacher quality. I know that Dourmashkin is one of the best, if not the best TEAL professors, so you should try to get him if you can.
Oh, and on Seminar XL, it may help but I doubt that you will NEED it (assuming you put in effort, you should probably get a B or higher in these classes). Seminar XL is a time commitment (along with requiring units, I believe), so I wouldn’t commit to that lightly. Odds are that taking the time out to go to review sessions (I believe Dorumashkin has weekly math review sessions for both 8.01 and 8.02) and maybe going to office hours of various professors will be more than enough (and more than I have done) to get through the class. As far as learning communities, it is a good way to avoid TEAL and get more individual attention.</p>

18

<p>Can you tell me about your choice of classes the first year. I realize the physics are mandatory so you got them out of the way…same with the calcs, but how did you choose to take Bio first and then Chem versus Chem first and then Bio? Is there a choice? I know Fall is P/F. Additionally, for the 2 Humanities courses…did you need to take 1 each semester? Could it have been any Humanities course and you chose 2 from the history category out of personal interest? Lastly, at what point could you take a Harvard course of you wanted to…and does this course always need to be an elective or could you take a Harvard course for your major? Thanks!</p>

19

<p>bsalum</p>

<p>I’m a current MIT student, and generally speaking, advisors “suggest” you take Chemistry in the fall and Bio in the spring since biology assumes a decent amount of chemistry knowledge (especially in the biochem unit, ~1/3 of the class). However, I’d say anyone who has taken AP Chem (or near that level) can take either in their first semester and be perfectly fine. I think bio in the fall is better than in the spring, but it depends on the student too, based on previous knowledge. Bio in the fall matches up very well to the AP curriculum. I personally took both in the fall, since I passed out of 8.01, but that is less common.</p>

20

<p>@bsalum:
I chose to do biology in the fall and chemistry in the spring because I had a much better background in chemistry than biology (5 in AP Chem in hs vs. freshman year Honors Biology) and I wanted the more difficult one on P/NR. I’d say taking the harder one (for most people, biology) during P/NR is generally the best idea. </p>

<p>Also, on chemistry background: 7.012 didn’t use much chemistry, and almost all the chemistry questions boiled down to polar vs non-polar bonds and hydrogen-bonding (in the polar case) and van der Waal’s forces (in the non-polar case).
My advisor had no comment when I told him I wanted bio in the fall. He did however not approve of 8.012 (and he was right, since I ended up dropping that class for 8.01).</p>