<p>Molly, D was admitted to MIT and really interested in course 9. Any advice for a new freshman in term of where to start, how to find support group, undergrad research, etc.? Thanks so much.</p>
<p>A good place to start is to take 9.00 (intro to psychology) as early as possible -- it's a requirement for the major in addition to being a HASS, so it's useful in many ways. :) When I was at MIT, it was offered in the fall, but it appears to be offered in the spring now.</p>
<p>Other than that, in terms of classes, the normal freshman GIRs are just fine. If she's interested in the more biological side of neuroscience, she might consider taking 5.111 or 5.112 rather than 3.091 -- the chemistry department has statistics showing that students who take 5.111 or 5.112 are better prepared for 5.12 (organic) than those who take 3.091. She might also think about taking 5.12 in the spring, if she has room in her schedule (though it's fine to take it another time).</p>
<p>As for research opportunities, most people get their UROPs by emailing professors whose work sounds interesting. To narrow down what she actually finds interesting, she could consider going to some of the department's events (calendar here</a>) -- the Brain Lunch, Cog Lunch, and Plastic</a> Lunch are weekly events where graduate students and postdocs present their research.</p>
<p>There's a very real possibility that this could be very overwhelming for a freshman. I actually got my UROP after freshman year knowing only what I'd read on professors' websites -- I emailed about 10 professors whose websites sounded interesting, and I was invited to interview at a few labs. I picked one, and ended up loving it so much I stayed for the rest of undergrad. So while a reasoned, informed approach is probably best, the "fling some emails at professors with no real knowledge of anything" approach is not without results. :)</p>
<p>Note that 5.12 isn't actually required for course 9. ;) It's quite useful in some subfields, of course.</p>
<p>A couple of recommendations from me (another course 9 alum):</p>
<ul>
<li><p>Take math classes. Take them seriously. Only 18.01, 18.02, and 9.07 are required for course 9 people, but 18.03 and 18.06 are useful in a lot of subfields, and I'd recommend taking at least one of those two.</p></li>
<li><p>Look at related UROPs outside the department. Advertised UROPs are ridiculously competitive in course 9 (the ones I applied for generally had ~50 applicants), and even if you're just poking a professor (often a more successful tactic), rather than answering a UROP ad, they may not want some frosh who has no lab skills or useful coursework. On the other hand, course 6 (if you're into comp neuro or cog sci) tends to have more open UROPs than people who want to fill them. Course 22 does some stuff jointly with course 9, if you're into neuroimaging. You might be able to get a course 9-relevant biomaterials UROP in course 3. I had a friend in course 9 who did a course 2 biomechanics UROP.</p></li>
<li><p>Course 9 is interdisciplinary. All of the science core GIRs (math, physics, chem, bio) are relevant and useful in upper-level classes. Don't put them off if you can avoid it.</p></li>
<li><p>Take a lab as early as you can.</p></li>
<li><p>Your support group is likely to come from friends from a variety of majors in your living group and student activities. Don't rely on the major to provide you with friends. Take living group selection seriously and participate in your community.</p></li>
<li><p>Again, course 9 is interdisciplinary. When you chat with your friends from other majors, if you pay attention, you might notice that the stuff they say about their own classes could be useful in some problem in your field.</p></li>
<li><p>Don't assume that 9.07 (probability & statistics) is going to be easy just because it's a course 9 math class (course 9 gets too many people who are afraid of numbers). I took 9.07. I took most of 18.440 (the math majors' probability class) before I dropped it because I was taking too much. 9.07 was harder. Much harder. And it moved quicker and covered more material.</p></li>
</ul>
<p>How many undergrads are in this major for undergrad?</p>
<p>
[quote]
There are usually about 30-40 undergrads per class year in course 9, although I think that number has been steadily rising as the brain has gotten more trendy over the past few years. Upper-division classes tend to be small (20-30 people)...
[/quote]
</p>
<p>That's dated 2005 from Mollie's post @ Mitblogs : MIT</a> Admissions | Blog Entry: "A lot about course 9"</p>
<p>Hopefully that helps some...</p>
<p>Last year 47 students graduated with a degree in course 9, so it has gotten bigger since I was there, but not enormously so.</p>