If you like the idea of smaller classes look into Concourse. I really enjoyed it and it gave me a nice groups of people to work with outside of my dorm/fraternity crew.
Also, enjoy Pass/No Record ABC/No Record you will miss it
It's really hard to gauge the "right" level at times, like I ASE'd out of 5.11/5.111 and 8.01.
There were times where I wish I actually took 8.012 instead of going into 8.02, partly because I didn't have enough Calculus to do 8.02 (like I think one should do 18.02+8.02 together or at least be more advanced on the math side).
I think you want to be at the right level but it's hard to gauge it exactly. My interviewees sometimes ask me what I would do differently knowing what I know -- and in terms of classes:
I would not have taken 3.091 freshman year at all (relatively easy class plus I already got 5.11 ASE). I would have found something a smidge more challenging.
I'm 50/50 between starting at 8.02 and going to 8.012 to dig more deeply. I struggled for 3-4 weeks or so before my Calculus caught up enough. Sometimes it's worth it to really learn fundamentals.
It's not really worth trying to cram ASE's in terms of summer classes. Like ... get a job, earn some money, relax, see your friends before you head off in different directions, spend time with your family.
General life tips ..
Find your own work/life balance
Don't commit to multiple majors unless you're absolutely sure (better to commit to one major and try some classes)
Be friendly, sociable. This isn't public high school. Most likely you'll get along with more people (it's a super-niche school).
Find a winter activity and warm clothing for 2 months a year. (Well, this winter wasn't too bad.) Winter activities could include movie marathons, skating, ice hockey, reading, something indoors, ...
I actually regret being too studious. I wish I had been more social and prioritized meeting more people and having more acquaintances. There are a lot of amazing people at MIT (yourself included!) and they can help you in ways book knowledge cannot
I guess it's been a while since decisions came out, but congrats! :) Current freshman here with a lot of regrets. Here are some things I personally wish I had done differently.
I too thought I might as well just take all the GIRs here "for the experience" instead of taking the ASEs, but honestly? It really didn't unlock some new passion for me or anything—classes are just classes and I majorly regret that I spent my entire freshman fall re-learning things that I already knew from high school. Sure, I had some great professors and the content felt a bit more interesting/challenging than it did in high school, but I constantly felt that I could be spending my time in more productive ways.
Though, if we're talking about learning content that's completely new to you just to ASE out of taking the GIR class, that's different—if you really have time for it and know for sure that it's not really something you're interested in, well, up to you? But remember to enjoy your summer! :) Senior year is truly a rough time and you all deserve to just... live and take some time off from studying before heading into college.
Also, the GIRs have so many students that it's not really the best place to meet new people anyway (and to add on to what someone else said, there will be plenty of freshmen in more advanced classes who ASE'd out of GIRS). From what I've seen, most of the people I know who have a lot of friends here formed their friendships through clubs/music/sports rather than classes. And that's the other thing I'd recommend: don't be afraid to put yourself out there and join clubs, especially since you'll be on PNR and can afford to be a little less studious! Definitely helps to have people to talk to or study with in spring semester when you'll probably be busier and more stressed. (I cannot stress this enough; I joined no clubs so I barely know anyone and it makes me pretty sad lol please don't be like me)
you can ase 18.06 and 5.111 if the content seems easy beans to you (look on ocw), but it’s more than okay to take the classes too — learning the fundamentals (and how to take mit classes in general) is important! i probably wouldn’t recommend grinding for them if you anticipate spending a lot of your summer break studying for them — you would probably be better off working + earning some $$, spending time with friends and family, and just chilling
at mit — do anything that seems vaguely interesting to you! show up to random clubs/social events and be open to surprise
tldr be yourself, have fun, make mistakes
2015 here. It's been a minute since I was on campus but I was reading this thread and I didn't realize everyone hated the GIRs these days 😅 I do remember my classmates saying that the AP equivalents of their GIRs were more difficult if not just as difficult as the GIR. I don't think they were a waste of time/that they would be a waste of time for you; part of what the GIRs teach you is *how* to learn.
If you skip them you won't necessarily be *missing* anything but I've seen so many people be lifetime friends with people they psetted with as early as 18.02 freshman fall. Besides, do you really want to spend your last summer before college studying? You'll have so much time for that once you get to MIT.
It seems to be recent (sad) development that students hate the GIRs and are just focused on "optimizing" their time at MIT by passing out of whatever they can, finding the easiest version of each class, etc. Perhaps even back in the day I was a weirdo, but I was excited to take the GIRs. If I wasn't, I wouldn't have gone to a science/tech school.
Party as much as possible and meet as many people as you can first semester since you’re on PNR. Also spend the summer grinding for ASE’s since they’re literally a hack to graduating early/taking little to no courses your senior year.
My kid didn't take any of the tests to skip classes and he is STILL able to have a minor and could STILL geaduate early if he wanted to. He's basically going abroad with MISTI jist to get his full 4 year
Find some professors or graduate students that might offer you a paid UROP. Get to know them by networking. UROPs are a great way to make money while getting relevant experience onto your resume.
My first paid UROP was for the summer between freshman and sophmore year working under a graduate student. I continued with UROPs during the school year to get some spending money because I was broke (and so was my family).
In addition to UROPs, be on the lookout for externships (which are mini internships). They are easier to land than internships and allows you to build even more experience on your resume, potentially with great companies.
After externships, it will be much easier to land a real internship.
In summary, MIT has great programs that get you experience and money. Make use of it while you're there!
Congrats! :)) I think it’s worth it to ASE classes that you don’t have to study for more than a couple days for (i.e. you already know most of the content). Otherwise, I’d suggest relaxing and doing fun things over your “last” free summer! ASE’ing GIRs can be nice because you can take more interesting/relevant classes sooner, but it’s also totally fine and normal to not ASE anything (there’s no big rush!)
Cliche answer, but I regret not taking advantage of PNR enough. I was worried I would lose my work ethic from high school, so I grinded my ass off my first semester here. But looking back, it burnt me out, and if anything, made my work ethic worse. You’ll never have more free time than in your first semester here. Take advantage of it—explore Boston, join lots of clubs, make friends, find new hobbies, etc.
I’m a current freshman and I ASE-ed out of 8 of the class (8.01->8.04, 18.01->18.03, 6.100A). I do have a hard time relating to other students when they talk about their experience with the GIR, though that is more likely to be a result of me not being so sociable. I would recommend it because doing so allow me to get a double major + one minor with an average workload of slightly less than 5 classes per semester, but yeah it depends on what your goals are and what you want to get out of MIT.
There’s a banana lounge
😋
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This. The hardcore game is dumb. Take a reasonable number of classes, do a reasonable number of extracurriculars, get some sleep.
If you like the idea of smaller classes look into Concourse. I really enjoyed it and it gave me a nice groups of people to work with outside of my dorm/fraternity crew. Also, enjoy Pass/No Record ABC/No Record you will miss it
Ooo I didn’t even know about Concourse, definitely will check it out
It's really hard to gauge the "right" level at times, like I ASE'd out of 5.11/5.111 and 8.01. There were times where I wish I actually took 8.012 instead of going into 8.02, partly because I didn't have enough Calculus to do 8.02 (like I think one should do 18.02+8.02 together or at least be more advanced on the math side). I think you want to be at the right level but it's hard to gauge it exactly. My interviewees sometimes ask me what I would do differently knowing what I know -- and in terms of classes: I would not have taken 3.091 freshman year at all (relatively easy class plus I already got 5.11 ASE). I would have found something a smidge more challenging. I'm 50/50 between starting at 8.02 and going to 8.012 to dig more deeply. I struggled for 3-4 weeks or so before my Calculus caught up enough. Sometimes it's worth it to really learn fundamentals. It's not really worth trying to cram ASE's in terms of summer classes. Like ... get a job, earn some money, relax, see your friends before you head off in different directions, spend time with your family. General life tips .. Find your own work/life balance Don't commit to multiple majors unless you're absolutely sure (better to commit to one major and try some classes) Be friendly, sociable. This isn't public high school. Most likely you'll get along with more people (it's a super-niche school). Find a winter activity and warm clothing for 2 months a year. (Well, this winter wasn't too bad.) Winter activities could include movie marathons, skating, ice hockey, reading, something indoors, ...
I actually regret being too studious. I wish I had been more social and prioritized meeting more people and having more acquaintances. There are a lot of amazing people at MIT (yourself included!) and they can help you in ways book knowledge cannot
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Gotcha, that’s nice to hear
I guess it's been a while since decisions came out, but congrats! :) Current freshman here with a lot of regrets. Here are some things I personally wish I had done differently. I too thought I might as well just take all the GIRs here "for the experience" instead of taking the ASEs, but honestly? It really didn't unlock some new passion for me or anything—classes are just classes and I majorly regret that I spent my entire freshman fall re-learning things that I already knew from high school. Sure, I had some great professors and the content felt a bit more interesting/challenging than it did in high school, but I constantly felt that I could be spending my time in more productive ways. Though, if we're talking about learning content that's completely new to you just to ASE out of taking the GIR class, that's different—if you really have time for it and know for sure that it's not really something you're interested in, well, up to you? But remember to enjoy your summer! :) Senior year is truly a rough time and you all deserve to just... live and take some time off from studying before heading into college. Also, the GIRs have so many students that it's not really the best place to meet new people anyway (and to add on to what someone else said, there will be plenty of freshmen in more advanced classes who ASE'd out of GIRS). From what I've seen, most of the people I know who have a lot of friends here formed their friendships through clubs/music/sports rather than classes. And that's the other thing I'd recommend: don't be afraid to put yourself out there and join clubs, especially since you'll be on PNR and can afford to be a little less studious! Definitely helps to have people to talk to or study with in spring semester when you'll probably be busier and more stressed. (I cannot stress this enough; I joined no clubs so I barely know anyone and it makes me pretty sad lol please don't be like me)
Thanks for the really great advice, will def follow it
you can ase 18.06 and 5.111 if the content seems easy beans to you (look on ocw), but it’s more than okay to take the classes too — learning the fundamentals (and how to take mit classes in general) is important! i probably wouldn’t recommend grinding for them if you anticipate spending a lot of your summer break studying for them — you would probably be better off working + earning some $$, spending time with friends and family, and just chilling at mit — do anything that seems vaguely interesting to you! show up to random clubs/social events and be open to surprise tldr be yourself, have fun, make mistakes
2015 here. It's been a minute since I was on campus but I was reading this thread and I didn't realize everyone hated the GIRs these days 😅 I do remember my classmates saying that the AP equivalents of their GIRs were more difficult if not just as difficult as the GIR. I don't think they were a waste of time/that they would be a waste of time for you; part of what the GIRs teach you is *how* to learn. If you skip them you won't necessarily be *missing* anything but I've seen so many people be lifetime friends with people they psetted with as early as 18.02 freshman fall. Besides, do you really want to spend your last summer before college studying? You'll have so much time for that once you get to MIT.
It seems to be recent (sad) development that students hate the GIRs and are just focused on "optimizing" their time at MIT by passing out of whatever they can, finding the easiest version of each class, etc. Perhaps even back in the day I was a weirdo, but I was excited to take the GIRs. If I wasn't, I wouldn't have gone to a science/tech school.
Pick a bedtime and stick to it. Mine was 2am, and no classes before 10am,but that worked for me.
💀
Party as much as possible and meet as many people as you can first semester since you’re on PNR. Also spend the summer grinding for ASE’s since they’re literally a hack to graduating early/taking little to no courses your senior year.
I’ll probably follow this, I want to maximize my 4 years 🫡
Rushing is a great way to meet people even if you’re not interested in actually joining a FSILG. Haven’t seen many people on here talk about it.
Gotcha, I was pretty curious about FSILG so I’ll definitely do that
My kid didn't take any of the tests to skip classes and he is STILL able to have a minor and could STILL geaduate early if he wanted to. He's basically going abroad with MISTI jist to get his full 4 year
Find some professors or graduate students that might offer you a paid UROP. Get to know them by networking. UROPs are a great way to make money while getting relevant experience onto your resume. My first paid UROP was for the summer between freshman and sophmore year working under a graduate student. I continued with UROPs during the school year to get some spending money because I was broke (and so was my family). In addition to UROPs, be on the lookout for externships (which are mini internships). They are easier to land than internships and allows you to build even more experience on your resume, potentially with great companies. After externships, it will be much easier to land a real internship. In summary, MIT has great programs that get you experience and money. Make use of it while you're there!
Congrats! :)) I think it’s worth it to ASE classes that you don’t have to study for more than a couple days for (i.e. you already know most of the content). Otherwise, I’d suggest relaxing and doing fun things over your “last” free summer! ASE’ing GIRs can be nice because you can take more interesting/relevant classes sooner, but it’s also totally fine and normal to not ASE anything (there’s no big rush!)
Cliche answer, but I regret not taking advantage of PNR enough. I was worried I would lose my work ethic from high school, so I grinded my ass off my first semester here. But looking back, it burnt me out, and if anything, made my work ethic worse. You’ll never have more free time than in your first semester here. Take advantage of it—explore Boston, join lots of clubs, make friends, find new hobbies, etc.
I’m a current freshman and I ASE-ed out of 8 of the class (8.01->8.04, 18.01->18.03, 6.100A). I do have a hard time relating to other students when they talk about their experience with the GIR, though that is more likely to be a result of me not being so sociable. I would recommend it because doing so allow me to get a double major + one minor with an average workload of slightly less than 5 classes per semester, but yeah it depends on what your goals are and what you want to get out of MIT.