<p>Alternatively, you could pass out of 7.01x.</p>
<p>Then you could get 7.03 and 7.05 done with (I would suggest these before 7.02 – as was said, lack of 7.02 does not preclude many people from finding UROPs) in freshman Fall and Spring, respectively.</p>
<p>I would advise you take advantage of P/NR to take the hard classes, and get them over with. I know a guy who took: 5.12, 5.60, 5.112, and HASS 1st semester. Also, try to fit at least a class you are interested in but you are scared of taking during grades. It will help you greatly on deciding your major. For example, I wish I took 18.701 during P/NR, even though I’m not a math major because I never had a proof/based theoretical math class. And now, I kind of regret it.</p>
<p>No one would let a student take 5.12 or 5.60 without the chemistry GIR. Are you sure that person didn’t pass out of chemistry, then take 5.12 & 5.60 not so they would be under P/NR per se, but because he plans on Course 5 and those two classes are the next logical step in coursework anyway?</p>
<p>
Yeah, I took 18.022 because of P/NR. Also, even though I would’ve taken 7.03 whether or not MIT had P/NR first semester, wow, that was still a terrific class to take under a policy that would report my class performance with only a “P.”</p>
<ol>
<li>is there a difference between taking a class offered by course 7 or by course 5 if they’re technically the same thing? ok that was confusing… like for example, is a chemistry class offered by the chem department harder than the same chem class offered by the biology department? same goes for the classes offered by both 20 and 5; and by both 5 and 3?</li>
<li>this might be a stupid question, but what does the J stand for…? like 5.07J?</li>
</ol>
<p>and can someone summarize some of the “harder” classes in course 7’s requirements?
obviously, organic chem. what else?
THANKS!!!</p>
<p>J == joint. A course with a “J” next to it has more than one course number. For example, 20.111J is also known as 7.10J - they’re the same class, with two numbers because the departments agreed on the material and both want to have it exist in their department. (Note, you don’t have to say the “J” when you’re referring to the class :D)
Orgo seems to be the hardest one in 7, though I hear the labs are quite time-consuming.</p>
<p>There is usually a difference in similar classes, with the emphasis decided on by people in the department.</p>
<p>Specially, I can think of the difference between 5.07 and 7.05, both of which is biochem. The course 5 version is a lot more geared towards understanding the molecular mechanisms of the biochem reactions (electron pushing and the works), while 7.05 is focused on understanding big picture and what would happen to the overall cycle if, say, one of the enzymes in the TCA cycle was lacking, for example. Both classes allow you to use cheat sheets, and I tried to conserve time by asking my friend for her 5.07 cheatsheets. Actually, it was pretty useless and I still ended up making my own because the two classes had a very small overlap when it comes to testing. Also, I don’t think any one of them is actually harder than the other. It depends on what your preferences are and what you would like to spend your time studying.</p>
<p>As for your other suggested combinations, I should just go ahead and tell you what I think you’re referring to. For thermo, it’s easier if you’re a bio or pure science major to do 5.60 rather than 20.110. 20.110 is engineering-based, and it has a pretty strange grading system from what my friends tell me, so just do 5.60. An added bonus is that the 5.60 lectures are all online at OCW, so you don’t really have to go to class if you don’t want to : P haha</p>
<p>If you’re going to be a bio major, do 5.111/2 over 3.091. 3.091 has a really easy grading system which basically if you get above a 50% overall average (I think that’s right) you pass the class, and although there’s really no problem with that, you shouldn’t go for it if you need the chem knowledge for later on. Also, 3.091 covers things like lattice structure that isn’t needed for biology. 5.111 resembles AP Chem a lot but talks about molecular structure in greater detail. If you think you owned AP Chem, then I encourage you to do 5.112. Many people found the class sufficiently challenging, even after breezing through AP Chem with 5’s.</p>
<p>Hard classes in course 7:
5.12 (orgo is just hard the first time around),
bio project lab (but this is basically just a large time commitment over everything else),
7.02 (quite challenging to get an A in. you have to be meticulous and…meticulous),
7.06 (the exams are very hard to write; average score on a few exams was lower than 50 because the exams doesn’t ask you to regurgitate - the course is open-book and notes in the fall - but rather ask you to design experiments),
7.20 (very challenging bio elective - many of the premeds take it)</p>
<p>Some electives are also “harder” than others, but you’ll figure it out eventually.</p>
<p>thanks so much for your answer!!
and another question. i’m confused about the overlapping courses between some of course 7’s required classes and those in gir’s science requirement? for example, if i take 5.111/5.112, does that count towards both my major and the gir? and there are some more classes that overlap between course 7 and the gir and ci-m.
maybe i’m just being dense right now…</p>
<p>(5.111/2 counts as a GIR – I wouldn’t say it really counts toward course 7, because everybody at MIT is required to take it.)</p>
<p>Anything can be counted toward both requirements for the major and toward the GIRs. So for course 7, 5.12 and 7.03 are both required, and are both REST (Restricted Electives in Science/Technology), so completing the course 7 program will automatically take care of your RESTs.</p>
<p>thanks!!
and yet another question (sorry). on average, how many classes do mit students take per semester? because you guys are recommending 3 science classes + hass, so that would make 4 classes per semester? is that what people usually do? or more/less?</p>
<p>People usually take 4 classes / semester, and ~all majors can be completed if you take 4 classes / semester (I can’t think of an exception, but there might be one if you take 18.01 and 18.02 in different semesters).</p>
<p>^ Any major that requires more than 180 units. 6-2, for example, requires one more class.</p>
<p>also, 7.28 vs. 7.29? which one is easier and more interesting? from what i read on the course descriptions, 7.28 sounds a bit dull… but anyone who has actually taken the classes care to elaborate?</p>
<p>if i already have extensive experience in research, can i start urop in the fall of my freshman year?
and how many credits are generally given for a semester of urop?
and urop counts as an unrestricted elective, correct?</p>
<p>and what other classes count as unrestricted electives? b/c i’m looking at the list of course 7 classes and almost all of the electives are classified as restricted… so what exactly are unrestricted electives?</p>
<p>can someone take a look at this schedule (sorry i had to write out the class names because i just can’t remember what corresponds to what number). does everything look manageable and are there some requirements that i’m obviously missing? THANKS</p>
<p>Freshman F
[BC Calculus AP = 18.01 Calculus I]
[GIR, 7] 5.111 (Principles of Chemical Science)
[GIR] 8.01 (Physics I)
[GIR] 18.02 (Calculus II)
[HASS-D, CI-H]</p>
<p>Freshman S
[GIR, 7] 7.013 (Introductory Biology)
[GIR] 8.02 (Physics II)
[7] 5.12 (Organic Chemistry)
[HASS-D, CI-H]</p>
<p>Sophomore F
[GIR, 7, CI-M] 7.02 (Introduction to Experimental Biology and Communication)
[7] 5.60 (Thermodynamics)
[HASS-D]
[HASS]</p>
<p>Sophomore S
[7] 7.03 (Genetics)
[7] 7.05 (General Biochemistry)
[7, CI-M] 7.18 (Topics in Experimental Biology)
[GIR] 18.06 (Linear Algebra)</p>
<p>Junior F
[7] 7.06 (Cell Biology)
[7] 7.20 (Human Physiology)
seminar/something
[HASS]</p>
<p>Junior S
[7] 7.23 (General Immunology)
[7] 7.27 (Principles of Human Disease)
[7] 7.28 or 7.29
[HASS]</p>
<p>
Neither one is exactly easy, but 7.28 is probably easier than 7.29. 7.29 is a tough class – fantastically interesting, but tough. The major portion of the grade is composed of a midterm and a final, and they are not easy. </p>
<p>I enjoyed both classes. I enjoyed 7.29 more, because the material is much more up my alley (hello, double in course 9), and because Chip Quinn is hilarious. 7.28 is very well-taught, though, and I probably would have enjoyed it more if I like molecular biology better.</p>
<p>
You can start a UROP during the fall of your freshman year, no matter what your research background is. You just need to email professors and see who has openings in their labs.</p>
<p>
It depends on how much you work per week. If you work 6 hours a week, you’ll get 6 units. If you work 20 hours a week, you’ll get 20 units. This is unrestricted elective credit.</p>
<p>
Almost all of the upper-division courses qualify as restricted electives, but you only have to take three of them.</p>
<p>Don’t worry too much about the distinctions in the degree chart. Just know that you have to take the GIRs, 5.12, 5.60, 7.02, 7.03, 7.05, project lab, three restricted electives, and enough other units to add up to 180 units outside the GIRs. </p>
<p>And your schedule looks fine, but don’t get married to it. There will inevitably be conflicts at some point, and you’ll have to rearrange it twenty-seven times before you graduate. It will all be fine – a single major in 7 is not that logistically difficult, even adding premed requirements into it.</p>
<p>^ I read that post earlier and totally forgot that I’m currently in 7.29, until I saw the reference to Chip Quinn. </p>
<p>He is truly a character. : P</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Keep in mind that freshmen are on a credit limit.</p>
<p>
Well, as Course 7, you’ll be advised to chose 7.10, which is supposedly designed for biology students. 7.10 = 20.111 (therefore making it almost identical to 20.110), which I didn’t feel was engineering-oriented at all.</p>
<p>In the end, choose your thermodynamics class based on which version your friends are taking. Because this is not a class you will want to take/work on alone. Thermo is not particularly hard (I found 7.10 pretty simple, actually), but the topics are THAT thoroughly displeasureable. So find other people to mutually suffer through it with.</p>
<p>
I thought 7.28 would be dull, as well, but it has one of the best lecturers in the department (in my experience, THE best), and that makes it thoroughly enjoyable. The detail of the course content is also very extensive; I thought I had pretty significant background in molecular bio, but I’m still learning a lot from the class.</p>
<p>what does it mean by using UROP credits to bump your GPA?</p>