GIR's

Colleges and Universities A-Z Massachusetts Institute of Technology
1

<p>Granted that freshmen take basically GIRs (e.g., math, chem, phys, bio/HASS-D), there's still a handful to choose from. The course catalog seems inherently helpful, but I'm not quite sure what the subtle differences between various classes are.</p>

<p>Chem: There's already a thread out for that, most people agree that 5.112 is doable for those comfortable with the AP. </p>

<p>Bio: I heard intro Bio was rather boring, and I have my AP to sub in for it, but I'm thinking of a 20 or 9 major, and the bio department suggests that bio majors "take an intro course to guarantee strong foundations for the major" (more or less). The bio AP was something of a joke, so I can see why an intro course is suggested, but, again, is that just general course catalog helpfulness or is it something that really should be seriously considered?
(Or is it more realistic to knowingly chuckle at that statement and just take another higher level bio course?)
I’m also considering taking the Intro to Bioengineering class as well.</p>

<p>Phys:
8.022 or 8.02….</p>

<p>Math: Ok this I’ve got figured out. calc+smattering of theory-18.022 (you can still drop easily, if there turns out to have been some expectation discrepancies?)
(18.023-calc + apps-how is this by comparison?)</p>

<p>HASS-D: Confusing. A tad. There’s a requirement for HASS-D’s that needs to be filled, and also just plain HASS’s. I was looking through that packet we received (oh so long ago), and there are so many HASS-D classes that sound appealing. The small class size is the biggest pull, though. Is it possible (or rather, recommended) to try to take all HASS-D’s to fulfill the HASS requirement?
(Also heard the literature classes were tough. T/F?)</p>

<p>Shakespeare, or that Comedy class: both sound glorious. </p>

<p>(rumor has it, there’s a Greek-philosophy-and-its-relationship-to-Greek-mathematics class about….but I can’t seem to find it. <the rumor="" originating="" from="" me="" as="" a="" result="" of="" reading="" the="" esg="" paraphernalia="">)</the></p>

<p>Hey, this looks like 5 classes.</p>

<p>(Did I leave out anything earth-shatteringly important?)</p>

<p>Maybe the freshman advisor will just elucidate all.</p>

2

<p>There's no reason to fulfill your HASS requirement with all HASS-Ds. You can do it, but it's kind of silly, because most HASS-Ds (not all - I've been in exceptions) are both lower-level and larger class size than other HASSes.</p>

<p>Actually, now that I think about it, no, you can't do it anyway, because you need a HASS concentration.</p>

<p>I thought 5.112 was nasty nasty nasty. Of course, I hadn't taken AP, and most people in the class were okay. I'd say, if you think you can handle it, and you really like chemistry, go for it. But make sure it's what you want and not just a knee-jerk reaction to take the hardest available option.</p>

<p>8.022 is more mathy than 8.02. It's also taught in a lecture/recitation format whereas 8.02 is taught in TEAL format (sit and work in groups, use computers, do small labs and answer interactive questions with buzzers, TAs wander around class and help). Everybody's got an opinion on TEAL but my advice is to figure out what works for you and not what works for them.</p>

<p>I took 18.01A/18.02A so I can't help you with the math.</p>

<p>You can always wait until the spring to decide on the bio. You have four classes anyway if you take math, physics, chem and a HASS, and you can't take five full classes as a first-term frosh. I didn't take AP bio, so I took 7.013 in the spring, and found it not overwhelmingly wonderful but reasonable.</p>

3

<p>
[quote]

Bio: I heard intro Bio was rather boring, and I have my AP to sub in for it, but I'm thinking of a 20 or 9 major, and the bio department suggests that bio majors "take an intro course to guarantee strong foundations for the major" (more or less). The bio AP was something of a joke, so I can see why an intro course is suggested, but, again, is that just general course catalog helpfulness or is it something that really should be seriously considered?
(Or is it more realistic to knowingly chuckle at that statement and just take another higher level bio course?)

[/quote]

I thought it was useful, as a 9/7 double major, to take 7.013 at MIT. The biology department has a rather unique way of asking problem set questions and test questions, and it's good to get used to that format while studying stuff you effectively already know.</p>

<p>It's not essential, though, and certainly I know many people who took 7.03/7.05 without taking 7.01x at MIT.</p>

<p>You can't take all HASS-D's because of the concentration</a> requirement, but you are free to take more than three if you so desire. I took four.</p>

<p>And, just to highlight what Jessie said, you're limited to 54 units as a first-term freshman. You can only take 4 classes plus an optional seminar.</p>

4

<p>And I'd just like to mention that about 1/2 of the lectures in 7.012 are taught by Eric</a> Lander, who is freaking amazing.</p>

<p>Just saying. I'm not a terribly big fan of bio, but he actually made it really interesting to me. (Sorry Mollie. =P)</p>

5

<p>Here's just a quick response to the math question. You were thinking of 18.022 or 18.023. My full recommendation goes to 18.023. The "applications" part of it just means that rather than learning a technique and being asked to solve a problem with it, the questions are more geared to real-world problems (or abstract word problems). This is what a lot of MIT is so it's not that different from the other versions, but the BIG difference is the amount of work. 18.023 has only 4 problem sets, 4 tests, and NO FINAL. The number of tests is the same, but the lack of problems sets makes so much difference and not having a final makes the first finals week a lot easier too.</p>

<p>Also, a LOT of people drop from 18.022 to 18.023 in the first few weeks (my year like 30 or so).</p>

<p>I will post again about other subjects.</p>

6

<p>The Greek Philosophy/Mathematics class you mentioned is:</p>

<p>SP2H3 Birth of Philosophy and Mathematics HASS-D, CI, Category 2</p>

<p>It's an ESG (Experimental Study Group) HASS subject, and can only be taken by members of ESG. More info here: <a href="http://web.mit.edu/esg/www/html/academics/classes_fall.html#hass%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://web.mit.edu/esg/www/html/academics/classes_fall.html#hass&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

7

<p>Much appreciated!</p>

<p>Reciprocative filler: Are the HASS's really that much smaller than the HASS-D's? I was under the impression that the H-D's were limited to 25 students, and I felt I'd be happy to have such a small class.
8.022: So by more mathy, is this like deriving all the maxwell's, whereas 8.02 does not go so much into detail?</p>

<p>Last question. Seminar?</p>

8

<p>As promised, here are my opinions of some of the other GIR's (math above).</p>

<p>As for chem, there are two very separate reasons for choosing two very different paths. For those of you who took AP chem and want something similar, go with the 5.11x route. Obviously 5.112 is more demanding but if you are interested in a 5/10 major, it may be just want you want and is manageable. </p>

<p>3.091 is generally considered "easier" though this is not necessarily true. I would say that if you came into MIT knowing absolutely nothing about chemistry, this may be true. The thing is that most people come into MIT knowing some chemistry, if not a lot, so 3.091 tends to be a completely new subject after the first test. This makes it actually harder for people who were good at and expecting more of the material from high school. I would, however, recommend this class for people not interested in a chem-type major since it will be the largest of the chem classes (if you don't mind that). The benefit of this is that most of your friends will also be in the class which makes it much more enjoyable in general.</p>

<p>Now...Physics.
I honestly cannot say much as for the different kinds as I did not take the more advance version, so all I can say is that if you can pass out of a physics class and aren't a physics-lover, take the credit or the advanced standing exam and get out of it. Makes for a lot less stress and work.</p>

<p>BIO:
I personally enjoyed my bio class this past semester (7.013). It was probably the easiest science GIR I took so I would recommend waiting to take it after first semester and take the more difficult ones on P/NR. If you are debating using AP credit or not, I know many people who got a 5 and then took it again here. They still get general credit for the 5, but most of them felt like taking bio here was a great help when they went on in further bio classes. (So if you are not going to take more bio, then take the AP credit, but otherwise it may be good to retake it here - and it's not that hard.)</p>

<p>I hope this all helps!</p>

9

<p>Stupid question: when do we actually sign up for our first-semester classes? do we meet with our advisor or something?</p>

10

<p>
[quote]
Reciprocative filler: Are the HASS's really that much smaller than the HASS-D's? I was under the impression that the H-D's were limited to 25 students, and I felt I'd be happy to have such a small class.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>9.00 is a HASS-D. It's taught in one of the three largest lecture halls at MIT, and the room is pretty full. And it has recitations.</p>

<p>17.40 is a HASS-D. It also uses the lecture/recitation format, and probably has close to 100 people.</p>

<p>24.900 is a HASS-D. It uses l/r format and is similar in size to 17.40.</p>

<p>Not that they're bad classes (I loved 9.00 and 17.40, didn't like 24.900) but they're not small. HASS-Ds are frequently large because most of them are intro-level in their field, so more people are qualified to take them. There are small and advanced ones (21W.735, when I took it, had 8 or 9 people), but you have to find them.</p>

<p>sran: Yes, you meet with your advisor toward the end of Orientation week.</p>

11

<p>9.00 is no longer a HASS-D. <em>sob</em></p>

12

<p>The recitations for HASS-D's which are very large are supposed to be around 25.</p>

<p>Some HASS-D's are forced to be large -- I mean, you can assume that about 3/8 of the entire student body is taking a HASS-D during any given semester.</p>

<p>When you get past your HASS-Ds and start taking upper-division HASS classes, you'll often find the classes getting very small. I took a 21A class last fall which had seven people, which was mostly great (except that it was difficult to get away with not doing the reading).</p>

13

<p>Jeremy Wolfe is my hero</p>

14

<p>I took 3.091 because I'm not a big chemistry fan, so I thought I'd try something new. It seemed more interesting to me than the same old stoichiometry, solutions, blah blah blah. I liked it, but I wouldn't say it's any easier or harder than 5.111. They're really two entirely different subjects after the first 3 weeks.</p>

<p>Maybe I'm just weird, but I've taken 2 HASS-Ds so far, and both have been small classes. One was an upper-level Spanish literature class (yes, still a HASS-D), with 25 students and the other was a history class that was also a CI and therefore limited to 18 students. I mean, you should just take what you're interested in, but you can definitely find all kinds of classes in terms of size and subject in the HASS-D section (even if the HASS requirements make you want to scream).</p>

15

<p>Has anyone taken intro to bioengineering? How does it compare to a basic intro to bio class (e.g., depth, interest, difficulty, etc.)</p>

16

<p>I got placed out of Introductory Psychology and Neurobiology because I took them at a local college. However, I do not recall many things from Neurobiology. Should I retake the class or just move on? If I start off with a higher-level course 9 class first semester, which one is good to start with? I was considering 9.07 Statistical Methods. And I got credit for Biology through the AP exam. Should I start off with 7.01x or 7.03 Genetics. Since 7.013 emphasizes genetics, should I just take 7.03 instead? Thanks for any feedback!</p>

17

<p>If I test out of 8.01, 8.02, 7.012, 18.01, and 18.02 then would</p>

<p>5.112
18.03
18.06</p>

<p>be all I really have to take?</p>

<p>Also, would you guys recommend using your Pass/no record semesters for the HASS-D/CI-H requirements or would you use those classes to pad harder semesters later? (with the credit limit, I'm basically wondering if it's better to take a fourth class that's more challenging).</p>

18

<p>I'd imagine that you'd qualify for sophomore standing.</p>

19

<p>Ah. Apparently 96 credits plus your CI-H after first semester will get you that. Which I would have if I take those 3 classes + CI-H.</p>

20

<p>tropicalisland, they placed you out of 9.01? I've never heard of that happening before. 9.01 is a prerequisite for basically every course 9 class, so I don't know how enthusiastic I'd be about skipping it. </p>

<p>Maybe Jessie will weigh in on 9.07; I took it the first semester it was offered, and I hear it's changed quite a bit since I took it. If it's still similar to the way it was when I took it, it will require very little knowledge about neuroscience or biology and a lot of knowledge about Matlab.</p>

<p>You will have to decide for yourself whether you wish to take your AP credit for 7.01x or re-take the class. Although 7.013 does emphasize genetics, the subject matter does not overlap with 7.03.</p>