<p>Because spring semester chem is taught by lecturers that aren’t as good as the lecturers in the fall, and since fewer students take the class in the spring (and many of those who take it in the spring failed it in the fall), it’s harder to find a problem set group. The evaluations are uniformly worse in the spring than in the fall.</p>
<p>If you want to take 7.012, you can take it either freshman or sophomore fall. If you want to take it freshman fall, it’s going to work out best if you have credit for another one of the GIRs, so that you’re not putting yourself off-semester for 8.01, 18.01, or 5.111. Otherwise, just take it sophomore fall. You could also do what Piper suggests in post #34, taking 4 technical classes in the fall and doubling up on HASSes in the spring, but I would consider that a last resort.</p>