By: Isak Marlowe
A critical question as you begin at MIT will be how to manage your course load. Considerations abound: extracurricular activities, job search, family, your professional background for the required courses, etc. Beyond these individual concerns, I would suggest thinking about the question on two vectors:
(1) Timing and Staging, and
(2) How the Course Benefits are Delivered.
In considering the decision in this way, my suggestion is to start heavy and cull your coursework from there. On any hike, it is easier to drop weight as the hike progresses than add it after you are already moving.
Across both vectors, MIT’s unique and gracious course policies suggest one strategy dominates the rest – start out heavy and prune your academic experience from there.
- In terms of timing and staging, MIT permits dropping courses well into the semester: over two months into full term courses and within weeks of the conclusion of half semester offerings.
- Regarding course benefits, MIT courses convey knowledge through three means: (1) course materials (posted online), (2) in class discussions and exercises, and (3) outside of class activities. For anyone taking the course as a listener, he or she will receive the full benefit of (1) and (2), and can do (3) though will not receive instructor (or teaching assistant) feedback. Courses range broadly in terms of how their impacts are conveyed. Some classes have great in-class discussions, but lag in terms of course materials. Others have a repository of great readings, but suffer in the classroom. The listener status earns no credit, but permits access to the course materials and classroom discussion, which may be the overriding value of the course.
So, load up early. You can drop late, convert to listener status late, and will gain nearly the full benefit of the course if you decide to lighten your pack.
*[The photo is a free photo from the internet and requires no attribution: https://pixabay.com/en/backpacking-hiking-camping-backpack-23788/%5D
Student Voices 