<p>I have heard a number of horror stories about MIT in regards to the unbelievable amount of time that has to be dedicated to studies and hw, etc. </p>
<p>I was just wondering if any current students and comment on the transition to MIT from a competitive high school. </p>
<p>I am considering other schools just because of the daunting task of MIT and want other opinions before deciding on going to a more manageable workload at another college (like RPI).</p>
<p>you'll be a workaholic. working all the time...if doing physics/ math for fun is your thing then go ahead.</p>
<p>i plan on majoring in architecture. is that course load different from the engineering (aka less physics and calc and more design classes and history of architecture class?)</p>
<p>i realize that the engineering courseload is extremely intense, but am wondering if architecture is any different. also is it hard to change majors at MIT?</p>
<p>thanks for the response</p>
<p>The workload varies by subject, of course, so if you plan your courses well you'll generally be okay -- it would be really tough to do a semester of two labs and three engineering classes, or something, but if you take that schedule, it's your choice.</p>
<p>A typical class load at MIT is four classes, or 48 units. One unit is supposed to represent one hour of time spent per week. That's not always true, but I felt like it was a pretty good approximation for me -- in a 48-unit semester, I spent about 50 hours a week on work. 50 hours a week is a good chunk of work, but it's not suffocatingly difficult. I also took terms of 75 units, which is pretty ridiculously difficult, but still survivable.</p>
<p>In short, I think people work very hard at MIT, but most people are not drowning. They have time to balance school with extracurriculars, UROPs, and a social life.</p>
<p>EDIT: No, it's not hard to change majors at MIT. You just need to submit a form, and of course you don't need to declare a major in the first place until the end of freshman year at the earliest.</p>
<p>thanks for the help</p>
<p>If you got 5's on your AP tests pretty easily, then the GIR's won't kill you. I mean, you will have no problem passing. </p>
<p>Architecture is not one of the majors known for a brutal workload (although I believe its a top 5 program.) </p>
<p>If you're going to major in architecture, I wouldn't turn down MIT in fear of the workload.</p>
<p>I dunno; walking past the architecture studio at 4AM there are often quite a few students working on projects there. <em>shrug</em> =]</p>
<p>Though, seriously, the workload is totally manageable. I'm taking 5 classes (60 units), and the only reason I'm having trouble right now is that I spend ~25+ hours a week doing theatre. :)</p>
<p>So I came from a top high school, and one of the things that I've noticed is that my college classes feel like the next logical step up in difficulty from my high school classes. Sophomore year was harder than freshman year, junior year was harder than sophomore year, and now college is harder than high school, but it was a fairly even jump. The hardest thing for me was feeling rushed to learn things - your classes will move faster than in high school and you'll be expected to know more material in less time, but you will adjust.</p>
<p>This is apparently quite different than most of my friends' experiences at different colleges, but you'll make it work. Pretty much everyone does. Don't come to MIT if you want your classes to be easier than high school. Come hear to keep pushing yourself and to learn more.</p>
<p>What is the workload like? According to former MIT professor Gian Carlo Rota, "You can and will work at a desk for seven hours straight routinely." Rota's essay is available at: 10</a> Lessons of an MIT Education | tavon.org. </p>
<p>My daughter's now a sophomore at MIT, double majoring in physics and computer science. She loved it there as a freshman, and she still loves MIT. She has routinely taken more than 4 courses per semester. She characterizes the workload as "exponentially more difficult" than high school, but manageable. Of course, "manageable" is a relative term. During a recent phone call, she described her typical day: I leave the dorm at about 9:00 am and return at around midnight." On the other hand, she's never had to pull all-nighters to get work done, and she feels that she has free time to have fun.</p>
<p>She was one of two national merit scholars at a large, top-tier public high school in Silicon Valley. The two were good friends. The other student was waitlisted at MIT and accepted to Harvard to major in the biological sciences. But in case you're wondering, he says that Harvard is just as demanding.</p>
<p>calalum, that is an extremly awesome post!! I've already shared it with other MIT admits on the facebook group!! xD</p>
<p>
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One unit is supposed to represent one hour of time spent per week. That's not always true, but I felt like it was a pretty good approximation for me -- in a 48-unit semester, I spent about 50 hours a week on work.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>This is nice. I kind of dislike that at my school, 1 unit means UTTERLY NOTHING. Zilch. Complete nonsense. Four units is the standard class, and really the number of things valued at 4 units is ludicrous. </p>
<p>I really think you have to prioritize the right things in college, and if you do, you won't be dying. I've seen this come up in the Caltech threads too.</p>
<p>Just wondering, how many hours of direct contact hours (ie. lectures, labs, tutorials etc.) are most MIT engineering freshman looking at in their first semester?</p>
<p>Taking the generic load of 3 GIRs (8.01 (Physics: Mechanics), 5.112 (Chemistry), 18.02 (Calc II)) and one generic humanities class (24.900: Intro to Linguistics), I had a total of 19 class hours/week. For physics, in the TEAL system, which you will undoubtedly hear more about if you haven't already, I was in class for 5 hours/week. 5.112 and 18.02 both had 3 hours of lecture/week and 2 hours of recitation. 24.900 had 3 hours of lecture and 1 hour of recitation. I'd say this is pretty typical for a first-semester freshman.</p>
<p>BTW, how realistic are the ocw exams found on the web? With my very basic knowledge of physics, I thought the 8.012 exams were pretty simple by MIT standards, but isn't 8.012 supposed to be beastly though??</p>
<p>Maybe, MIT gives easier exams on ocw to not scare of prospective applicants...</p>
<p>I was really impressed by the introductory biology exams/psets/quizzes on ocw... Those test really test well understanding, and are not only challenging, but also cool.</p>
<p>Hey faraday, nice to see you around. </p>
<p>Honestly, I felt like some of the equivalent (honors physics) sample exams from my school weren't too hard either when gazing online. And the course is supposed to be very, very tough. I'm sure the real MIT course is challenging, just as I'm sure the real honors physics course at my school is very tough, judging by what people in it say.</p>
<p>My brother was an architecture major at MIT, so I have at least a decent second hand perspective and I would say that the workload is no less demanding, but quite different. When I walk past the Architecture studios late at night, there were a significant number of students still creating their masterpieces at the drawing tables. Being the architecture department, it was substantially more attractive than many of the other lab envirionments, and used the space more creatively. I saw nobody asleep at their desk, but a couple of hammocks artfully arrranged.</p>
<p>But this is the thing. In your major field of study, the work is supposed to be simultaneously hard but also fun. My brother never complained about the workload, because he was doing something that he really, really enjoyed (and also got credit for).</p>
<p>Indeed, the ease of changing majors and of trying subjects in fields outside your comfort zone are designed around this very basic concept. Nobody decides to major in Nuclear Engineering because of their great experience with their high school reactor. For that matter, nobody majors in Philosophy because of their HS philosophy courses either. MIT encourages you to experiment until you find the field of study where the long hours do not represent work but also fun.</p>
<p>If you actually went to a competitive high school, you'll be well-prepared for the MIT workload. (At least I was.) Some students from competitive high schools actually find the workload at MIT to be a step down from high school (in terms of work overall, though definitely not in terms of difficulty of content), and I'm not talking about the types of students who can breeze through anything.</p>
<p>thanks for all the answers...really has helped calm nerves of not being able to handle workload</p>
<p>I know some architecture majors and they work their ass off. Most of them live in studio just like most cs'ers live at their computers. If you come to MIT, expect to work your ass off. The good thing is, like most things in life, you get used to it and you turn into a really productive person.</p>