Is anyone familiar with the cross-enrollment program at Harvard that allows students to take courses at MIT. If so, please share whatever information you have such as: your experience with the program, what courses you took, the travelling arrangement, etc…
It is theoretically possible but none much because it is too much hassle Which school woul be your visiting school?
??
It’s like 9 blocks away.
Its 1.5 miles Miserable walk during the winter
For basic information look at http://web.mit.edu/registrar/reg/xreg/HarvardtoMIT.html
I can see how that’s quite a challenge.
Luckily, engineers invented this wonderful thing called a motorbus.
It is quite a challenge to a 19 year old . 30 minutes there 30 minutes back. What about office hours and sections not to mention study groups at 9 at nite. Spring vacations are at different times!!! Tell a kid he cant go on spring vacation because he has class at another school. It is just a lot of hassle for most kids. Luckily engineers arent in charge of everything 
The campuses are also just two stops apart on the subway, but as florida26 notes, the distance is not the primary obstacle. I could envision students cross enrolling for specific upper division classes, or to take a class from a certain professor, but for most classes, I imagine students would think it’s not worth the trouble!
My son’s roommate in freshman year cross-enrolled at MIT for a couple of classes. It was a logistical burden, and as i recall, he wound up missing a lot of classes at both campuses.
Is the program available to all undergrads? Or just Sophomores onward (this is what I’ve heard) ?
I believe MIT cross registration is open to freshman as well, but I would recommend not cross registering your first semester, as that will allow you to get used to Harvard’s shopping period (student’s are responsible for all work from the first day of class even though there is a two shopping period prior to submitting your study card). Spend the time getting acclimated to Harvard and the work load of classes, especially the mandatory Expository Writing and any foreign fanguage class needed to graduate.
I was a Harvard undergrad. I actually worked at a lab at MIT one summer, but never took a class there. I did look into cross registering there, though.
Here’s the main thing:
I never found a need to to that! Almost every department in science (except for maybe some of the very specialized engineering programs, like nautical engineering) is equally strong at both places. I was a physics major at Harvard, and every basic physics class MIT had, Harvard also had, so why bother?
I did know of an MIT student who cross registered into a creative writing class I took at Harvard. I can’t recall the procedure, but my recollection is that while it’s possible, it is only allowed if there are empty spots. That is, the “home” school students get preference.
I did cross register for a class at Harvard Med School while a undergrad, which was painless. (As an undergrad, you can cross register at any of the Harvard grad schools.)
Everything else people wrote here, I also suspect is true. Although MIT is just down the street from Harvard, it is a fair ways away. Today it wouldn’t seem that daunting, but at 18, walking 30 minutes each way seemed like a huge hassle. Yes, it’s only two T stops away, but when you take into account the time sitting and waiting for the train as well as walking from the T stop to wherever you’re going, it probably takes about 30 minutes as well each way (shorter if you’re lucky, but you can’t rely on that.) In the winter, the walk is miserable, and in the summer it can also be miserable (Boston is very hot and humid in the summer!)
So, in summary:
There’s probably no need to cross register, and it is kind of a huge hassle. Especially for the into classes, why would you bother?
The only reason I could see for doing this would be if there was an advanced specialized class that your home school didn’t offer. Then it might be worth it.
Not easy to fit MIT’s class schedule into your Harvard’s, unless it’s a seminar in the evening when you’re free before and after at Harvard. The No.1 bus goes on Mass Ave, but it crawls through the city traffic. Biking is better, except for the road condition of the Ave.