<p>Is it true that if a student is required to take a CI-HW class, the class will not count towards one of the three required HASS-D? (Communication</a> Requirement: CI-H Subjects)</p>
<p>In other words, one should best pass the FEE or receive a 5 on AP Lang/Lit to receive some HASS-D credit for the Communication Requirement (2 CI-Hs and 2 CI-Ms)?</p>
<p>That is true. CI-HWs are not HASS-D. That’s why there’s no HASS-D label next to any of the CI-HW courses in the link you provided.</p>
<p>Bear in mind that not even all CI-Hs are HASS-D courses (and vice versa). As long as you keep track of the requirements (3 HASS-Ds before graduation, fulfill another CI each year, HASS Concentration, etc.), you are not at a disadvantage per se having to take a CI-HW course first.</p>
<p>Indeed, a student could end up taking a CI-HW first and still fulfill both the CI-H and HASS-D requirements using no overlap, with no problem. That’s not common (strictly speaking, I wouldn’t be surprised if that scenario has never occurred), but it’s possible to do.</p>
<p>But taking CI-HW does limit a student who is thinking of getting done with HASS asap while taking courses other than writing.
Do HASS courses take longer or shorter on average than other GIRs.</p>
<p>You need to take 8 HASS courses (3 HASS-D, 2 CI-H, 3-4 in a concentration… all of these can overlap, so you have elective HASSes too). Taking a CI-HW isn’t a disadvantage. I didn’t have to take a CI-HW, but one of my CI-H’s won’t come from a HASS-D class. It’s not going to mean I have to take an extra class or anything :)</p>
<p>Most people take one HASS per semester – I’ve actually never met anybody who motored through the HASS requirement really quickly for the express purpose of being done with it.</p>
<p>I don’t understand the HASS requirements. Why do people try to avoid taking a CI-HW class? / why do we have to take the FEE. (doesn’t it fall under the 2 CI-H required?) The CI-HW courses seemed cool to me.</p>
<p>@ tuesdayair
because I think there are fewer choices in respect to classes with CI-HW</p>
<p>If you limit yourself to one HASS class per semester, then yes, taking a CI-HW first will prevent you from fulfilling HASS-D sooner (if your goal is to complete your HASS-Ds ASAP). But taking a CI-HW in general doesn’t put you behind for the overall HASS requirement, since it counts as one of two CI-Hs and one of eight HASSes.</p>
<p>It’s true that many people try to coordinate their classes to have as much overlap as possible (e.g., take two HASS-D/CI-H classes), but not doing that doesn’t mean you’ll face difficulty later on in fulfilling all HASS requirements.</p>
<p>The main reason not to want to be CI-HW restricted is so that you have an initially wider selection of classes. Few people consider a CI-HW class to be the most interesting-sounding. Does who do can take one anyway even if they passed the FEE.</p>
<p>Would it help to explain the HASS requirement? I feel like this is something most freshmen don’t understand – it’s fairly complex.</p>
<p>So you’re required to take 8 HASSes. Most people accomplish this by taking one HASS per semester.</p>
<p>Of those 8 HASSes, 3 must be HASS-D, and they must come from different categories (there are five categories: literary and textual studies, language thought and value, visual and performing arts, cultural and social studies, historical studies). There is a lottery for HASS-Ds, because some are very popular. You do not need to lottery into a class to take it that semester, although it is helpful to do so if you have your heart set on a particular, popular class.</p>
<p>Of those 8 HASSes, 2 must be communication intensive (CI). CI classes must meet guidelines for the amount of writing assigned and must include oral presentations.</p>
<p>Of those 8 HASSes, 3-4 must form a concentration, a set of classes in a single department (or general subject area). You can find concentration fields [url=<a href=“http://shass.mit.edu/undergraduate/hass/concentration]here[/url”>http://shass.mit.edu/undergraduate/hass/concentration]here[/url</a>].</p>
<p>Any or all of these requirements can overlap – you can use a single course as a HASS-D, a CI, and a concentration requirement, if you so choose. You just have to make sure you complete all of these requirements in some way by the time you graduate.</p>
<p>thanks! that helps a lot. why is it advantageous to fulfill the Hass-D sooner? Is the point of getting the requirements over with using overlaps to take HASSes that are most interesting? thanks so much :)</p>
<p>It’s mostly a combination of 1) wanting to get the most limiting requirement done as soon as possible, and 2) (often) needing to take a particular HASS-D as a prerequisite to a chosen concentration. In my opinion, it’s also easier to fit HASS-Ds into your schedule as a freshman, when you’re taking a certain fairly standard set of technical courses.</p>
<p>It’s also a good idea because you know far in advance if you’re missing something. A friend of mine had to delay his graduation by a semester because he had mistakenly taken two HASS-Ds in the same category and didn’t realize his mistake until it was too late to rectify in (what should have been) his final semester.</p>
<p>I can’t believe I misspelled “those” as “does.” <em>dies</em></p>
<p>
That’s the pits!</p>