Massachusetts Institute of Technology Top Questions

What are the academics like at your school?

Rebecca

As a freshman, many of your technical classes will be large lectures with small recitations. This may worry you, but don't let it. There is no need to have a small class for multi-variable calculus, and your TA will help you along the way. Some introductory class professors are available in office hours etc, but most students get help from TAs. As you get older, you start having smaller classes, and can get to know your professors. That is up to you though. You need to put in the effort to build the relationships that will serve you while you are still in school, and once you leave. MIT has a very collaborative atmosphere. In my department (civil engineering), for example, students are required to work together on problem sets, projects etc. to imitate what the work environment will be like. Studying is everyone's main activity. You can make time for other things if you are organized, but this is not a place to skate by.

Harper

It sucks. You learn to love that it sucks. You learn to party on Thursday night even if you have to stay up till 5am to finish that pset. Sleep. Social life. School work. Choose two.

Piper

Freshman classes tend to be largest since everyone's required to take certain intro classes, and from there classes shrink. The nice thing is that the professors are only an email away. They're all required to have office hours, so you can see them in person. They're usually willing to talk before or after class, too. If you put in a tiny bit of effort, you'll be fine communicating with profs. Students are always having intelligent conversations, though not necessarily about a class because people read stuff about all sorts of topics and have tons to share. The nice thing is that since we don't have any class rank or graduation honors, competitive people are only competing against themselves, seeing how much they can push themselves. I haven't experienced any backstabbing nature like at other schools - everyone collaborates because that's what you have to do to survive. It's tough here because any given class will make you go more in-depth than you ever thought, so you'll learn tons just for the sake of learning, more than you'd probably need in a job. But in turn, you end up prepared for anything in the future.

Gina

There is no better place than MIT for math and science. I love most all of my engineering classes. Most of the professors are friendly and accessible. Everyone here wants to see you succeed so you can always find someone to help you out if you're having some trouble in a class (which is bound to happen more than once). What I really like is that most students here foster an environment of collaboration rather than competition. Classes are insanely hard, so most students work together to get through them. We have group study sessions and our teaching assistants will bring juice and donuts for long office hours. I also feel comfortable talking about classes outside of class. People here are genuinely interested in what other classes are studying. It's normal to overhear conversations about a student's lab project building a robot or extracting an important biological molecule. You can talk about things here that your friends back home would never understand.

Nico

Students study more than anything. It is competitive. Classes are interesting. I know of no professor who knows my name as I sit in a big lecture hall. The professors that do know my name know me because of other encounters not related to a class. MIT academics seems to balance the goals of learning for the sake of learning and learning for the sake of expanding one's career toolbox.

Chris

One thing to change about MIT is to loosen up the requirements for classes, because that would allow for students to actually take classes that they enjoy and are interested about.

Carrie

Your academic experience at MIT depends a lot on your major. I started out as a Course 1 (Civil and Environmental Engineering) major, and the classes were extremely small, though they were sometimes frustratingly disorganized. When I switched to Course 5 (Chemistry), the classes became much larger, but the lesson plans were well thought out, and I knew more of my classmates. MIT is too large, in general, for your professors to know you if you're not going to make an effort. You can definitely slip by unnoticed, or you can choose to be extremely involved in your department - organizing events, doing undergraduate research, and spending a lot of time asking questions and becoming familiar with your professors. Like many other aspects of MIT, its mostly left up to you; there is a lot of independence and responsibility - no one is going to look after you, which is usually a good thing.

KC

I spend a lot of time on homework, and I'm not beneath copying my friend's problem set if I'm still not done at 3 in the morning, so I spend less time than most people. Maybe I spend 18 hours a week? I think MIT's core required classes are good - then everyone gets a feel for all the sciences - if I hadn't been required to, I wouldn't have taken chemistry, but it's good that I know it now. Also, it's good to require so many humanities, because then there are more choices - then I can take a variety of classes that are not math/science but still not have to take English - I took anthropology last semester and now I'm in linguistics. I have not gotten to know any of my professors, but I've still pretty much only been taking introductory courses, so I don't think that's representative of classes that are smaller, in my department. I'm majoring in civil engineering, which has a pretty small department, so I'm confident that I will get to know my professors. But I do learn most of my interesting math/science tidbits outside of class, in conversations with my friends!

Lisa

It's hard. Really bloody hard. You'll be studying 24/7 here. Within your major you'll be well known to your professors and TAs in and out of the classroom. It's a great education and definitely prepares you for either a job or continuing higher education.

Casey

Academics are very rigorous here, but MIT pays enough attention to students in terms of making professors and TAs very easily accessible. Classes cover a variety of topics so that students can choose to take courses that they want to know more about for learning's sake, or purely for the transcript.

Michael

Professors: Very capable at research not always at teaching. Some are very good though. Students: Study varies by person. Little competition between peers.

Ashley

In intro classes, professors do not know your name. As a sophomore, it's still hard to pick a favorite class because they're not EXACTLY what I want. So far, I've like organic chemistry and biochemistry. Some students have intellectual conversations outside of class but most of the time, when you take a break, you really want to take a break. Students are not that competitive. My philosophy is - "Don't Complain. Don't Ask About Test Scores. Don't Tell." Education at MIT is definitely geared towards learning. The school tries to teach you to think outside the box in a creative way. Therefore, biology is not just memorizing but it's seeing the big picture and being able to zoom in at the same time. It's our ability to analyze things that makes MIT students attractive to the work force.

Gene

Academics at MIT are really good (in science / math / engineering / business / etc.). (Don' t come here for languages or music, although if you try hard you can get those too.) We do definitely have intellectual conversations outside of class, all the time. Everyone here is very competitive (although not really with one another, just in general). People don't spend time with professors outside of class except for in office hours. I feel that MIT's requirements are very fair--they allow a lot of flexibility within degrees, knowing that many people will want to specialize in more specific areas or broaden out to get other majors / minors / concentrations. A lot of people here are definitely geared towards getting a good job when they graduate. The education here is geared towards making you really well educated in your field--for grad school, job, or whatever you are aiming for.

Emmerson

Classes are completely hit or miss, and the course catalog is not to be trusted. Trust the reviews of people you trust, and people whose interests more closely align with your own. Always remember: courses may be insanely better in one semester due to a prof switch.

Jenn

Let's face it, MIT is not easy. We have a rigorous number of required courses (general institute requirements) that include two semesters of calculus, two semesters of physics, and several other science/math based classes. Apart from that most of the school consists of students in either Engineering or Science. As such, the courseload for most students is very difficult. With that said we have some of the best faculty in the world. There is a great feeling of comraderie amongst students in the same major, and many like to work together to help one another succeed. An education at MIT can easily be considered one of the most intense and rewarding of any institution in the world.

Wally

Classes are long and tough. Hard core classes are HORRENDOUS.

Lee

Everything, from science to finance to engineering to humanities, is strong at MIT. Everyone knows that when you come to MIT, you sacrifice nothing in the department of academics.

Paul

Although this may or may not play a big role in your life as an undergraduate here, the research that goes on here is astounding. The guys that invented the world wide web and TCP/IP, those that discovered quarks and developed the theory of quantum chromodynamics and the MIT-bag model of quark interactions, those that seqeuenced a huge portion of the human genome at the Whitehead Institute, and one of the developers of the Black-Scholes equation in economics, they're all here. No matter what field you go into, you'll run into people who invented it. Seven of the people who won Nobel Prizes in 2001 studied or instructed at MIT. Stuff happens here, and it happens fast. And it's a pretty exciting place to be. And that's pretty cool.

John

The professors are generally quite accessible. As a freshman, I took classes with Chomsky, the guy who discovered the world's oldest rock, and the guy who discovered Uranus' rings. One of my classes was only 2 people. Getting UROPs (research jobs, $8.75/hr to start) is ridiculously easy; I emailed a prof saying I was interested in what he was doing, and within a week I was hired.

Anna

Do professors know your name? Do you spend time with professors outside of class? Most of my professors don't know my name, the classes are in general too big for that. But there are ways to get to know the faculty-- you can do research in their labs, or meet them through extracurricular activities. All students also have academic advisers in their department who meet with them at least once a semester. Tell us about your favorite class. Least favorite? My favorite class was a biology elective. The class was small, only about 20 students. We read two papers from biology journals each week and students took turns presenting the papers. We learned from literature, not textbooks (which is how you learn in the real world) and there was a lot of discussion. Our professor was there to guide us and answer questions but not to lecture. My least favorite class was definitely thermodynamics in the chemical engineering department. It's a very difficult topic and the teaching was pretty awful. The professors taught the subject very quantitatively, using only equations and no explanations. How often do students study? Students study a lot here. During the week, I usually spend 4 hours a day on homework or studying. I also study most of the day on either Saturday or Sunday and either Friday or Saturday night. Is class participation common? It depends on the class. Most professors are open to questions.. but lectures are primarily for professors to talk, not students. Do MIT students have intellectual conversations outside of class? Students like to talk about their projects or research outside of class. But we don't talk about intellectual stuff all the time. We like to have fun too! Are students competitive? Not usually. There are some rare exceptions, but most students rely on one another to work on homework and study. How do you feel about MIT 's academic requirements? MIT's science requirements are fair for a technical institution. The humanity requirements are pretty strict though-- we have to take 8 courses in the humanities to graduate. Students complain about this a lot, and it will probably be restructured in the future. Is the education at MIT geared toward getting a job, or learning for its own sake? This question depends a lot on the person and the department. In general, the engineering departments teach very practically, prepare students for jobs.

Lisa

I'm in the theoretical math subsection of the math department, so the main job that this could possibly be geared toward is a job in academia. I've had a few wonderful professors who explain things well and hold my interest. There have been a few who whiz through material too fast for me to follow it, which is frustrating. There's a bit of student participation in math classes. In lectures, it's mostly just students asking a question or correcting the professor (more often the latter). Students study as much as we need to, which is usually a lot. I tend to study for most of my free hours during the week, and much of the weekend, but that's not actually all that much because I have music rehearsals four evenings per week for several hours each.

Terry

Professors will know your name if you make an effort to get to know them. All professors have office hours, so it's easy to get to know professors, but you have to make the effort. MIT students are always talking about intellectual topics outside of class. You're always hearing people talk about they're latest research. The other day I was walking down the hallway explaining to a friend about mapping functions in the complex plane...it's just everyday conversation. Students are competitive if they want to be. No one is going to berate you for having a bad GPA. No one cares how you are doing in school, for the most part, so competition is very much a self-driven thing and not a culture-driven thing. There are usually events where you can spend time with professors outside of class, but it depends on the professors. There are some professors really known for being social and other equally known for being reclusive. MIT's academic requirements are pretty tough. But hey, it's a tough school. You can take whatever you want away from MIT's education. Chances are, you won't learn a lot of the skills you learned at your job, but the way you learn to think about and solve problems is invaluable and applicable to any job. Mechanical engineering is the best major. Obviously.

Nora

Some do, most don't. Lecture classes are too big for professors to get to know you, unless you go to office hours frequently. There are smaller classes you can take, or seminars, and recitation classes for lectures are smaller than the lectures, so it is possible to get to know some instructors well. My favorite class this semester is my writing class. There are fifteen of us in the class and we meet twice a week. Every class, three or four students read whatever essay they've written for the week and then we critique them. It's a really good class and I feel like I'm learning a lot. My least favorite class is 8.02, Physics II. It should have Calc II as a pre-req, but since that would put a lot of people behind in majors requirements (what with prereq and coreqs and all that), it's a coreq. So a lot of the math we have to do in 8.02, I haven't learned yet. Students study a LOT. Sunday through Thursday, basically I go back to my dorm after classes end and start doing work, and work until 2 or 3am, stopping only for dinner and short study breaks. Class participation depends on the class. In my writing class, for example, there is a lot of participation due to the class size. In my calc class though, since it's a lecture, there is very little participation, but we have recitation twice a week that gives us more of a chance to speak up and ask questions. Physics has a lot of participation because of TEAL (Technology Enhanced Active Learning), the purpose of which is to create more participation. MIT students have conversations about everything outside of class, and intellectual conversations are definitely part of that. Last semester, some friends and I were talking about which is more socially accepted, rape or murder. Students are definitely not as competitive as in high school. There is a lot of collaboration and interest in helping your classmates succeed. The Electric Engineering and Computer Science Department (Course 6) is the biggest, and arguably the hardest, department at MIT. Almost a quarter of students are Course 6 majors, and even students who aren't frequently take Course 6 classes. There are 3 possible majors in 6, 6-1 (just EE), 6-2 (EECS) and 6-3 (just CS). The curriculum for Course 6 was changed over the summer in 2007, so a lot of the traditional Course 6 classes have been revamped or even cut out completely. Some of the GIR's (General Institute Requirements) I think are a little ridiculous. I understand that they want us to be well rounded and all that, but Course 6 majors taking Chemistry or Bio, just doesn't have any purpose.

Charlie

Some professors know my name, mostly those in the learning community that I am in, ESG. However, most of the personal interaction that students get is based off of the student's own initiative. Also, there is a lot of undergraduate research and students get to know professors that way instead of through classes. Students study all the time. If you are not studying, you are not taking hard enough classes. Class participation is very common in the smaller classes that you take because they are a class that you want to take. It is not uncommon to just skip classes that you don't particularly enjoy and just study it on your own. There are definitely intellectual conversations outside of class. Sometimes they will range from philosophy to math to economics to religion back to math to string theory to politics and so forth for hours on end until someone realizes that he just spent four hours talking and that means four hours less of his ever valuable sleep. Students are definitely competitive. Not so much in the "I am better than you" kind of way, but all of the classes are graded on a curve (pretty much) and it is difficult to keep up. An MIT education is geared toward whatever the student decides to gear it toward. If a student does not intend to go to grad school, then she will concentrate on the business end of her major, otherwise she will concentrate on the more academic parts ect.

Anna

Professors often shock me knowing my name... it is nearly impossible in a lecture of over a hundred, but some professors really make an effort. In particular, I remember Professor Winston, an AI professor who studied a list of names and ID pictures and seemed to know every student's name. Some of the computer science classes are classic, the websites are perfectly set up, the online tutorials are easy to use and helpful, the lecturer is brilliant and funny, the problem sets are interesting, the tests are fair and challenging. 6.001 and 6.004 in particular. My true passion is linguistics and foreign languages, however, so I get most excited in syntax class or during Chinese or Japanese class. Good students probably study a little every day, taking an occasional day off. In HASS classes and in recitations, class participation is common. MIT students banter about all kinds of things on their down time. Most students are not competitive; in fact, it is quite striking when I find someone who is and it always leaves a bad taste in my mouth. The majority of us are just trying to learn the material and are not concerned with whether we are better than anyone else. In fact, it is normal to help our friends and classmates whenever we can. I think some of MIT's academic requirements are inappropriate or at least inappropriately complicated; everyone meets with frustration sooner or later.

Alex

Yes; most of my current professors know my name. My favourite class: Algebra and Symbolic Programming. Class participation is common. Students study a lot of the time. There is a lot of work, and it's hard to get by without studying enough! Yes, I do have intellectual conversations outside of class, both with professors and fellow students. Students are not competitive, which I think is very good. I think MIT's education, at least in the Mathematics Department, is geared towards learning for its own sake.

Kaitlin

I only have about 2 or 3 professors that actually know my name. I was not thrilled with that aspect of the school. Many of the professors are cold and too engulfed in their own work. MIT is really individualistic in the sense that your responsibilities are your own and so is your motivation. They dont even take attendance or anything.

Hunter

As I've said before, MIT's academics are amazing. Since I am a freshman, I have huge classes (~200 people for some of them). Therefore, some of my professors don't know my name. However, My recitation leaders and professors for smaller classes do know my name. It is often easy to find groups of people studying together in the reading room in the student center. Such cooperation is often encouraged by MIT faculty. MIT's education is geared towards getting a job. After all, the point of going through this hell is to (theoretically) affect the world we live in.

Elise

Some professors know your name. A lot of introductory classes are large; my biology class last semester was probably like 350 students, so no, my professor didn't know my name, but smaller classes they certainly get to know you. I really don't think the large classes are a problem because you also have recitation in which your TA gets to know your name, and the TAs are very knowledgeable and helpful as well. The classes are all good, I can't name a favorite or least favorite. Students study a lot, they have quite a bit of fun, but I imagine they study more than a lot of colleges; they have to in order to learn the amount of material expected of them. Students here are competitive, especially the ones who are pre-med, but we all sort of commiserate on tests that didn't go so well, and there's a lot of camaraderie among peers. We're competitive with the unnamed student who scores 100{4a082faed443b016e84c6ea63012b481c58f64867aa2dc62fff66e22ad7dff6c} on that really difficult test, but not so much with our friends who do better than us. I suppose the class I've taken which is the most unique in my experience is a computation and logic seminar I'm in this semester; it's a very different way to see math from a logical standpoint. I've taken math classes, and logic classes before, but I'd never really thought of combining the two. There are opportunities to spend time with professors outside of class; there are often dinners sponsored by different groups where they get professors in and eat with the students. There are also advisers who you can go to, and you get to interact with in a one-on-one setting. The requirements at MIT are all good, everyone here needs a basic knowledge of calculus, physics, chemistry, and biology just to understand how to relate at all to their peers. The humanities requirements are also essential, I believe, in helping us learn how to communicate our knowledge with the outside world. This is a big problem at MIT, at least potentially, because the stereotype would be that we're too intellectual to be able to actually communicate our massively complicated thoughts. The education at MIT is geared towards getting a job, but also learning for its own sake; for the sake of learning we gain knowledge of how to get a job? It's both and the same.

Hannah

Academics are what MIT is known for around the world, and for the most part we deserve it. The first year is full of GIRS (MIT speak for "General Institute Requirements") Many of these classes are large, too large for my comfort. I am in a lecture class of over 600 students. However we have amazing Tas who lead our small recitation sections who know all our names and are willing to help. If you absolutely hate these big classes, there are alternatives. A few freshmen programs allow you to take these requirements in a small setting, one even has classes of 5 students! It's up to you what size class you would like. And after freshmen year, the classes become much more specialized and shrink rapidly. Students study a lot. During the week most students can be guaranteed to be working on something. But that isn't all we do. Many organizations hold study breaks to help us distress and we take breaks. After all, studying is why we're here. But all that work doesn't prevent us from being involved. I have friends in varsity sports, theatre, debate team, and all sorts of activities. We talk about intellectual things outside of class a lot. We do talk about other things, but it is not uncommon at all to discuss the implications of what we learned in class or the newest technology. It's one of the things I love about the people here. We can go from small talk to discussing the launch of the new shuttle in no time at all.

Alex

Professors are always available during weekly office hours, and they are always willing to clarify a point from lecture, discuss their research, or answer some questions about the problem set. That being said, I've been to office hours only once. I often find it hard to fit office hours into my schedule, and my questions are usually late at night right before a due date. Conversations around campus always begin Where do you live? and then What is your major? From there, they generally veer off into personal interests, current technology issues not immediately related to coursework, or a movie that someone saw recently. Oftentimes, we spend so much time with classmates, working on problem sets, that they become close friends, and remain a part of our lives in a non-academic setting.

Elli

Yes and no - Most of the large freshman lecture classes - not at all, but any humanities class or even as you get higher up in your classes - yes. Um my least favorite class last semester was my writing class - it was taught really well but I just hating writing papers. So far my favorite class has been 3.091 - Chemistry because the professor was really cool and it was pretty easy. Students study every single night. you have to do A LOT of work here to survive, but it's definitely doable. Class participation is common in smaller classes like humanities or higher level classes - not so much in large lecture classes. All conversations almost always revert to something to do with physics or politics or math or something - its MIT what do you expect? Students always strive to do their best, but everyone will help everyone out to excel and no one tries to put someone else down for their own gain. And if they do, they don't have a lot of friends. 3.091 was pretty unique just because the professor was crazy and so cool. I have no clue what major I want to be yet which is a little scary. Professors are really willing to help you outside of class if you want to and also if you take the initiative. I mean students and professors don't really talk outside of class about normal things unless it's a professor from a higher level class that doesn't have a lot of people in it. But there are a lot of like "meet the professors dinners" where you can talk to your professors on a more informal level. MIT's academic requirements are pretty rough but definitely doable. Some majors are lighter than others, but all could definitely be done. You can finish every single major by taking exactly 4 classes a term which is the normal load. For the most part education is geared towards learning for its own sake.

Amanda

Well, to talk about MIT is to talk about academics firstly. To be a student here is to know that you are surrounded by some of the best and the brightest of the country. The guy sitting next to you in 5.12 could be discover the new equivalent of penicillin or the girl next to you in 8.02 could finally discover the graviton. Classes here are very difficult, and homework is heavy. Students will work together in groups mostly to try and get all their problem sets done on time, but problem sets plus exams plus extracurricular activities can be overwhelming. In the first few classes students will take the lectures will be huge, and the chances that the professor knows your name is very low. In addition to classes here, though, is the recitation. Most lectures have recitations, which are smaller classes (usually of somewhere between 10 and 25 people) with a graduate student or upperclassmen. This is the environment where your teacher can learn your name, and where your questions can be answered on a personal basis. Outside of the recitations all the recitation leaders and professors have office hours where you can get one-on-one with the instructor. Overall, if you plan on coming to MIT plan on a huge workload, but also be prepared for fellow students who are willing to help, and love to talk about whatever they are passionate about when they are relaxing from p-setting. (You will also learn that all the classes here are organized by numbers; 5.12 is Organic Chemistry I, 8.02 is Physics II.)

Alex

Students study a lot, and there are huge numbers of intellectual conversations outside of class. Many students take more classes at any given time than they needed to, so that adds to the perception that MIT is hard. Some classes are very good, and some professors are very nice and interesting, but it varies. The best thing about academics at MIT is that your professors are very, very smart. MIT's professors can answer any topic about their class as thoroughly and correctly as any human being on the planet. My friends in other colleges sometimes complain that their professors are stupid and unqualified, trying to teach things they don't understand themselves. This is never the case at MIT, these professors are knowledgeable in the extreme.

Kent

It's hard. BUT it's doable. People have a preconception that only geniuses can do an MIT work load. That's not so. You must, however, be excited about working and learning enough to sacrifice the weekdays to do just that. Classes are decently sized and professors for the most part want to know your name and who you are. Frequently the TA's can have difficulty speaking English.

America

Some professors know my name, and most try. Class participation is not that common, but when people do contribute, we get spirited discussions.

Sasha

Big lecture classes during freshman year, then smaller. No grad students teaching classes. Even recitations are often taught by professors (my physics recitation was taught by a Nobel laureate!). MIT is a very unique place where the smartest students I've ever met are always trying to solve new problems. Lunch conversations turn to theoretical physics debates, then to a recent Red Sox game, and finally to new movies. Students are social, with wide interests that span the academic to the popular.

Cathy

Yes!! i become friends with most of my professors...and if my professors don't know my name, it's because i abuse my TA's instead and become real good friends with them! favorite: 15.279, it's such a fun class, and you learn plenty of things that you know will be applicable in your future. Oh, and Lori Breslow (the prof) is AMAZINGG!! least favorite: 7.012 bio sucks. a lot. like, a really really lot! we study a lot. more than you would think. on an average night, i do ~5 solid hours of homework. umm, class participation is usually low when unnecessary. Students are competitive with themselves and their own personal standards, but since there is no ranking, everybody wants eachother to succeed and do well. Most people survive MIT because of their friends helping them. most interesting class: "Streetfighting Mathematics" ...the name says it all

Torry

Everyone talks about academics at MIT being a "sink or swim" sort of atmosphere. That DOESN'T mean that if you're clueless about physics you're going to drown (I didn't get to take physics in high school, so I feared that would be me!). The key to academic success at MIT is wanting to succeed. There is a huge support structure in place for every department and every class, so all you have to do is ask for help and you will get it. From free tutoring, to extra study sessions, and more open office hours with Professors and Teaching Assistants than you can count, the only way to consistently fail your classes is to not care. Nobody is going to watch over your shoulder 24/7 to make sure you're doing your work. You are the engineer of your own success, and you will do just as well as you want to. In my major, I can count four professors who remember my name. One of them however, is internationally famous and has written highly acclaimed textbooks in his field. Just about all professor host open office hours for questions, but I never went to them.

Rachel

Certain professors learn your name even in a large class. Others don't bother even in small classes. My favorite class so far has been artificial intelligence (known as 6.034 here). Lectures were interesting - the professor was a great teacher. I talked to him after finals and started doing some research in his lab group.

Clinton

Yes, professors know my name. My favorite class is Psychology, 9.00. The professor and material are engaging. Class participation is common. MIT students have intellectual conversations outside of class. Students are competitive but humbled by MIT. MIT is both geared towards getting a job and learning for its own sake.

Devin

Some professors know my name. Those are the professors that I actually made an effort to know. My favorite class was Artificial Intelligence because I enjoyed the material and the workload was bearable. My least favorite was computer engineering systems because it was a lot of writing and not very interesting. Class participation depends a lot on the class. It is not very common in a lot of my classes because of the lecture style. However, I have definitely had several classes where it was encouraged. MIT students definitely have intellectual conversations outside of class, sometimes to a fault. Students work together a lot which makes the environment less competitive. The most unique class I took was Hip Hop. My major is Electrical Engineering and Computer Science and my department is one of the largest in the school. My department is very supportive and I love my major. MIT's academic requirements are not too bad and are for the most part necessary for one's major. The education is definitely geared more toward learning than just getting a job.

Rachael

If you want your professor to know your name, all you have to do is approach them after class and introduce yourself. Freshman year is different because everyone is taking general requirements, so the class sizes are large, but as you go through MIT and get into the specific majors, the class sizes decrease. My favorite class is American Literature because it is based mostly on discussion. It is interactive and interesting and the least stressful of all my classes. My least favorite class is definitely physics. The lectures are two hours long and the homework assignments (problem sets-aka psets) are very difficult. Students here study often. Rather, we do work almost every night of the week. Some people, like me, like to set time off to simply not do work and do something fun. For me, this is usually Friday night. I will not lie though, there is a lot of work to do and it is challenging. Class participation depends on the class. Physics, you have to answer questions every once in a while, so it's a little more interactive than calculus class where you sit in a lecture hall and listen for an hour. MIT students most definitely have intellectual conversations outside of class. It can be very common to hear people discussing classes, technology, or random intellectual things in general. Students at MIT are not as competitive as you might think. Students are much more collaborative than in high school where it was all about competing against everyone else to get into college. Here, it is all about working together to make it to graduation, and you will have to work together to make it. My major is chemical-biological engineering which is has one of the heaviest course loads at MIT. I haven't taken any classes in my major yet, but it will be an interesting four years. The fact that my major includes a large portion of biology classes while teaching me chemical engineering attracted me to the major because I love biology, and wanted to major in something related to it that was more hands-on. I don't spend time with professors outside of class unless I am going to office hours. I do interact with a few administrators though. I feel MIT's academic requirements to be challenging, but they prepare you well for what's ahead, especially if you're interested in grad school or a career in the sciences and engineering. The education at MIT is geared towards learning for its own sake, but more than amply prepares you for a job.

Ryan

My professors know my name (most of them). My favorite class is kind of a part of some classes. I love the labs of Course 3, very helpful with understanding material and it's nice to not always listen to lecturers. Class participation is very common. Intellectual conversations...I would say that's rare. People compete against themselves usually...sometime there are those who compete against others, but not common. My most unique class was 3.094, we got to build a replica of an Incan bridge, life size! No time with professors outside of class. Academic requirements are just right. Geared toward learning how to do things so you can do anything...so maybe for both.

Carolina

Some professors know my name, some don't. But that's mostly on each individual student to make that relationship happen. For the most part, profs are very approachable and friendly. I'm working on improving myself in this regard. My favorite class that I'm taking this semester is my Bioethics class. A class that debates issues like abortion, active and passive euthanasia, and issues in morality when it comes to things like cloning and the such - it's a very cool class that makes you really think about some issues that you probably only glance over. Some other really good classes I've taken: a Comparative Media Studies class featuring professional wrestling (I got to meet JR and Mick Foley, how awesome is that? Mick even signed my book and let me take a picture! very cool), my psychology class last year was great, especially after AP Psych, and I also thoroughly enjoyed the intro calculus classes here. Yes, I'm a math nerd, and proud of it. Least favorite class: biology. I hate biology. Sorry if you like it - someone has to. Just not me. But it's a core requirement here so I'm currently in it. Sigh. How often do students study? I can't speak for everyone, but I hit the books at least 4 days a week, most of the time 5 or 6. I take the weekends light (in other words, we just got Rock Band in my dorm and now my schedule's been rearranged a little bit). Anyways, I need to be more productive. Like reading up on aerodynamics instead of rambling on this site, for one. Class participation isn't great but it's not horrible. Eventually people start to open up, it's not that big of a deal here. We most definitely have intellectual conversations outside of class. Not all the time, but we do talk about ideas. It's interesting to hear what other people have to say about something like String Theory. We definitely engage the material on our own. That's not ALL we talk about but sometimes it's cool to see what other people are learning and to expand your own mind a bit. Are students competitive? Of course, but mostly with each other. It's a very helpful atmosphere here. Extremely helpful. Most unique class I've taken was my pro wrestling class. We looked at the history and evolution of pro wrestling and had lots of speakers come in to talk to us. Great times. I'm currently in aero/astro engineering. It's a great department, very intense though. The workload is definitely hard, and not for the weak. Our intro class weeds out pretenders, as well it should -- it's a 24-unit class that fuses four disciplines together under one subject. You better believe it's hard as hell. I love it though. It's definitely for me. The people in it are also very down to earth and very chill, and so we all slave away together. I personally love MIT's academic requirements (except for the bio part, because I hate bio). I think it gives a solid technical foundation for you, even if you go to some humanities major (there's nothing wrong with that, we have good offerings). The core classes in particular are awesome because you take them your freshman year with all your classmates, and you make friendships that will stand for a long time that way. The thing MIT gives you (besides a shiny brass rat and a piece of paper that flies a long way) that I find the most useful is the ability to learn and adapt to whatever situation comes up in front of you. We're problem solvers in one way or another, and we learn how to handle things when they get overwhelming, and we do it with a level head since MIT has beaten the ego right out of us. I think that's almost more important than the actual formulas and all of those things; we learn how to think here, and you can't put a price tag on that.