Mini-Guide to the GIRs

Mini-Guide to the GIRs I feel slightly weird to be typing away on the MIT blogs again, when the farthest thing on my mind right now is MIT. BUT I feel like if I dont write this entry now, when I have so much time on my hands, this blog would never get written so here goes. Im also going to stray from the conventional path of telling you what options are available to you (Im sure you know that already, being the zealous beavers that you are), but rather Ill base everything on my own personal opinions and observations from freshman year. (Also, this is conveniently before you have to choose your courses for frosh year =p) Again, this is only my interpretation of the GIRs, so please ignore them if you think Im just being woozy in the head. :) 2. Chem fall, bio spring. This year, I went for Professor Landers 7.012 class in the fall being the awesome lecturer that he was. I learned a lot; Professor Lander was great, but we didnt have very many people in the class (it was ~200, at a time when 3.091 had so many people that the lecture was even broadcast into another room). A few inconveniences presented themselves as well the curve could have been a bit better with more people (intro bio assigns grades almost completely on a bell curve), and 3.091 got the lectures recorded on video (for the overflow room) so a lot of people didnt have to go to class (humph*) the same applied for 7.013 in the spring. Alright to be honest it isnt THAT inconvenient, but I always get this naggy feeling that intro courses are better if you do them with the big crowd, and for me, given a chance to do it again, I would do 5.111 in the fall and 7.013 in the spring. Professor Lander was great; but for me, I felt that it wasnt completely worth taking bio early (other than gloating at helping my roommates with their biology queries second semester =p). Also, I really want to address something about my 5.111 class in the spring. 5.111 in the spring, as you may have predicted from the size of 7.012 in the fall is small. We had perhaps no more than 70 students in the class. Contrary to what Ive been reading in the certain thread at College Confidential back in April, the class isnt notoriously instructed. Really, I dont know where that came from. Our two instructors had distinctly different teaching styles, but I didnt feel that anything was wrong with the class. Theres a lot of controversy about our second professor not assigning reading assignments just allow me to say that I feel if you are a student at MIT, you should be capable of divining a chart known as The Table of Contents and finding the relevant sections yourself. To take this as a sign of instructional negligence is in my humble opinion (IMHO) very excessive. /rant To be fair I did feel that 5.111 was a bit too small of an intro class for my liking. I would have preferred a much bigger chem class, and would probably have preferred taking 5.111 in the fall instead. This also frees me up to take 5.12 directly in the spring, and 5.13 sophomore fall. Given the current circumstances, I would have to postpone 5.13 all the way to junior fall. Oh and take 5.111 (or 5.112!) if youre interested in Course 5 or Course 7. I did peruse the 3.091 course content, and no offense to the people who took 3.091, but I feel 5.111 has a more comprehensive and useful chemical introduction if you feel like youre going to take additional chemistry courses in the future. (3.091 is a good course if you dont plan on seeing chemistry ever again like the way I am with physics, muahaha). 5.Not knowing calculus at MIT is like a fish not knowing how to swim. For the math requirement, please refer to This Meticulous Chart. Ive highlighted the common courses I see in pinkish magenta. The three most common paths I see for the Math GIR at MIT is: -If youve seen Calculus in high school and took Calc BC 18.02 -If youve seen Calculus in high school but isnt entirely comfortable with it (or didnt take Calc BC or the Calc ASE) 18.01/2A (the flip side to finish 18.02A you have to stay at MIT during IAP) -If youve never seen Calculus or isnt comfortable beyond basic integration/derivation 18.01. Either of these three paths have quite a decent number of people doing it, so theres no shame if you come in doing 18.01 when your friends might be doing 18.02 or (gasp!) 18.03/18.06 immediately. However, it IS important for you to get your Calc GIR out of the way as soon as possible, rather than prolong it till the very last moment (like what some people do with 7.01x or 8.02 taking it in their senior year). The main reason for this is that theres almost always some level of calc required in science/engineering courses at MIT (even in humanities courses like economics!), and youll be doing yourself a favor understanding 18.01/2 before going into those courses (unless youre planning on majoring on the humanities =p). Also Auroux for 18.02 in the fall is AWESOME! Do try to take that class unless you really have some pressing reason not to =p 10. Try to take a HASS class thats both CI-H and HASS-D in the fall. You need 2 CI-H classes to graduate, and you must take one during your frosh year, so why not make the best of it and kill two birds with one stone by taking a class that fulfills both requirements? (you need three HASS-D classes for the HASS GIR) Besides, youre on pass/no record first semester, so what do you have to lose? 17. On classes with extra decimal places (like 5.112, 8.012 (the advanced version)NOT 7.01x or 5.111, for example) The short and simple of it: Take as much advanced courses as you are able to handle. Before I launch into my rationale, I think it is important to note that I didnt take any advanced classes for my GIRs, and so you may take my treatise with a grain of salt (its from my observations of my peers who took advanced classes). MIT courses, to be simple, would probably be unlike anything youve seen in the past, especially if you didnt come from a very prestigious high school or a magnet science/tech school (at least it was that way for me). Also, college isnt like high school you would soon discover that a regular high school courseload of 7 courses isnt a feasible schedule at MIT unless youre superhuman (and they also exist at MIT, but in very small quantities =p). Its very much the same way with classes like 5.112 and 8.012 (sorry to mention them constantly, Im just using them as an example this also applies to courses like 8.022, 18.022). When people suggest that you should have a high level of chemistry coming in to 5.112 or be comfortable with calc coming in to 8.012, they do really mean it it isnt like your high school teacher saying Make sure you know Algebra 2 before taking Physics!. If you take those advanced courses be prepared to work theres no way that you can breeze through them like what a lot of people do first semester with their GIR courses (since its P/NR). Along with work comes, inevitably, some sacrifice with fun and social time. But on the flip side, as the blogger Paul probably realizes now, theres great rewards to have weathered a difficult class. Intellectual triumphs aside, theres the memorable communal-bonding pset sessions, a better grounding of the subject for subsequent courses, and bragging rights, to mention a few. =p Pass/no record exists as a smoother transition for an incoming frosh to the rigors of the MIT curriculum, living away from home, and making new friends. Yes it can also exist for academic masochism, but I have no doubt that youll see more than your share of it in the coming semesters. Personally, I didnt take any of these advanced courses, and I felt it WAS the best balance for me (even though I still had that naggy voice left over from high school in the back of my mind, You should be taking the MOST RIGOROUS courseload available!). Your balance may be taking both 5.112 AND 8.012 or it may simply be the same as mine. As you will quickly see after you get here, being at MIT is already privilege enough once you get in, it isnt like high school where all the brightest and greatest rush to fill up their schedules with AP classes. Theres no shame to be taking 18.01 when others are taking 18.02 youll all get to where you want to be in due time. You will undoubtedly find your own chord here, the same way that I did the same way that we all do. Interesting fact (confirmed by Mr. Matt McGann): Whether you take 8.01 or 8.012, it all shows up on your official transcript as Physics I. (so let the love of physics be the motivation of taking 8.012) Oh, one last note: DONT TAKE 8.012 just because you hate TEAL. I know, we preach about the evils of the Satan, also known as TEAL, but dont go for 8.012 just because you dont like 8.01T. It isnt worth it. :) 28. PE requirement Take PE courses during your frosh year! The last only one quarter each, and you only need 4 of them for your PE requirement (yes, theres a PE requirement at MIT!). You also should do it during your frosh year cuz its so much more fun taking PE courses with your friends =p. I recommend Sailing and Pistol. :) Also, do your swim test during Orientation and get it out of the way! Youll get a nice white T-shirt as a souvenir too =p 41. Suggested schedule Classes you should definitely ASE or AP out of (or take at earliest opportunity): 8.01, 18.01, 18.02. Suggested Schedule, assuming you have credit for 18.01 (as a lot do from the Calc BC exam): Fall Spring 8.01x 8.02x Chem Bio 18.02 MAJOR HASS HASS Seminar 9-unit class Note: During the spring semester, there are a number of 9-unit classes that are almost targeted directly at freshman, which conveniently fills the gap of your 9 credits and are very interesting (one such class was Snivelys toy design class). It may be worthwhile to shop around during Christmas/IAP to find those classes. Also, by MAJOR I meant that if you have 18.01 credit, you probably can begin taking your first class of your major as soon as the spring semester rolls around. If you dont have 18.01 credit, it only means that you should take 18.02 second semester instead of your major class. Moreover, the HASS spaces above arent completely rigid. You can opt not to take a HASS class second semester and take another class of your interest, but either way, I strongly suggest taking a CI-H+HASS-D HASS class first semester. Use P/NR to your advantage. Moreover x2, you dont have to fill up all 54 and 57 credits if you dont want to. Quite a few people just took 4 classes both semesters so suit yourself and do whatever is comfortable for you. Whew, that is a LOT of discourse on the GIRs. Hope you find it useful. =D And to prove that Im not completely boring, check out this awesome act from my high schools talent show (yes, I got to go to school for the last two weeks of my high schools spring semester and attend the seniors graduation! CONGRATS to all 08s that graduated!) Before you ask yes, this is an American high school in Taiwan. =p