IHTFP - Loving it or hating it, come discuss.

Physics08
Sat, 03 May 2008 04:32:52 +0000

lizbee:

First off, almost every major class at MIT will give out problem sets and reading assignments. I’m guessing your child is taking 5.111, which I know for a fact gives out weekly problem sets and reading assignments. If you are talking about extra problems in preparation for exams, those are always posted on the course web-page. It is hard for me to believe that a chemistry professor will “refuse” to prepare students. All the professors I’ve had my first semester have been extremely helpful, friendly and accessible during office hours. That being said, it is also upon the student to seek out certain educational resources . Finding out the relevant chapters of the text doesn’t seem like a huge challenge for an MIT student. And also, I agree with you that certain professors are better than others, and yes classes may be easier/harder/more comprehensive/less comprehensive during different semesters. But this is true at almost all the schools, not just MIT. Different professors have different teaching styles.


If you feel that a pset is graded harshly or incorrectly, TAs are more than happy to regrade. Weekly solutions to problem sets are posted along with the point value. Grading inconsistencies? Could it be that some solutions require work not simply an answer?
Ahh, grade deflation. Ok this is my take on this topic. Grad schools and top companies know MIT has grade deflation… they aren’t clueless. And also, this grade deflation can be expected. MIT graduates more engineers and scientists than its Ivy League counterparts. And engineering especially is considered a more difficult subject. Also for the med school statistic, you have to be careful where you’re getting your statistics. The 90% admission rate from Ivy League schools is misleading because Ivy League schools “screen” their applicants who are pre-med. This means that Ivies can choose not to support or recommend applicants whose GPAs are too low to med school. Actually if you look at MIT’s statistics again, I believe around 89% of MIT undergrad applicants who had pre-med advisors were admitted to med-school. This is more comparable to the Ivy League 90%.


Sorry if my response is a little “on the edge”. But certain things are just not true and to single out MIT is just plain wrong.