<p>if i only list one seminar on the freshman advising seminars application page (because i'm only interested in one...), is there a significant chance that i won't get into that seminar?
btw, i'm interested in the 'entrepreneurship and china' one. so is that considered a popular one?
and some general questions about advising:
1. in your opinion, should i take the seminars or just do traditional advising? i plan to be pretty involved in extracurriculars, but not so involved that i won't have time for a seminar
2. if i don't like my freshman adviser, i can easily switch, right? i've definitely read this somewhere, but i'm not 100% sure
3. how important is it to have an adviser in your potential major? ie, the seminar i'm interested in is led by an adviser in course 6. but i want to do course 7...</p>
<p>and yet another question, when exactly do we sign up for classes?</p>
<p>thanks so much... i feel like i've just been asking questions on this forum nonstop.. sorryy</p>
<p>If you’re interested in an advising seminar, go for it! They are only a few hours a week, and last I heard, they still feed you dinner. =) (I might be saying this because my advising seminar was quite possibly my favorite thing I did at MIT, but that’s probably a good reason to encourage you, right?)</p>
<p>I don’t know that there’s much information about which ones are more popular, because I think the offerings change a lot year to year. I get the impression that there’s usually not too high of a demand at any particular seminar, since they offer a wide variety and people have very different interests. But don’t hold me to that. If you’re only interested in one, then definitely only mark that one. If you don’t get in, they’ll assign you a traditional advisor, which sounds like is what you want, right?</p>
<p>I don’t know anything about switching advisors, but it’s definitely no problem to have an advisor outside your major. That’s what most people do. Odds are extremely high that you will take 0 classes in your prospective major first semester and 0 or 1 (<em>maybe</em> 2) second semester. Also, if you’re considering a particular major by second semester, it’s pretty easy to seek out help and advice from students or professors in it. There’s no rule that says you can only get advice from your advisor.</p>
<p>Don’t apologize about asking questions- that’s what the forum is for!</p>
<p>another related question. I’m interested in a few of the available seminars, but I also want to play for MITSO, and everything I’ve read thus far on the web says that doing MITSO would be a reason not to do an advising seminar. Is this only because of the freshman credit limit, or because the times will conflict? If the former, could I just play for MITSO not for credit and still take a seminar? Does anyone know anyone who’s done this?</p>
This is not exactly the question you’re asking, but you may still be interested to hear it: most of the lotteries at MIT are blind to the total number of choices you select – that is, writing down three seminars won’t affect your chances of getting into your first choice, and choosing only one seminar won’t make you more or less likely to get into that seminar than if you made more selections.</p>
<p>
You’ll meet with your advisor during orientation and sign up for classes then. There will also be a lottery over the summer for HASS-D courses, if you’d like to take one of those first semester. </p>
<p>Upperclassmen actually register for classes on Reg Day, which is the day before the first day of class, so freshmen register earlier than everybody else.</p>
<p>
Just because of the credit limit. The times might or might not conflict – different seminars are held at different times. </p>
<p>You could definitely join MITSO not for credit and take a seminar. I know one of my friends sang in concert choir not-for-credit and did a seminar first semester freshman year. The seminars really aren’t a huge time commitment – usually just an hour or two a week.</p>
<p>Just to be clear: Mollie is referring to academic lotteries. For the in-house rooming lottery (i.e. after you’ve been assigned to a dorm, and if you happen to end up in one that has a floor/entry/hall rush process), your preferences are read by students. If you only put your first choice, and refuse to mention anything else, they may not be happy with you, and will probably refuse you your first choice on principle. =)</p>