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<p>Oh, I know who you’re talking about. In addition, one of my worst instructors is one of the most renowned global researchers in yeast genetics.</p>
<p>And speaking of poor numeric grades, one of the 7.06 exams had an average of 37 percent. If you got above a ~52 it was a A. Points mean next to nothing at MIT (except a few notable classes like 3.091, 8.01, 8.02, and 7.05, where they operate on an absolute point system). Otherwise, your final grade is always curved relative to the performance of the class (bio classes: class average = B or B+, 0.5-1 SD (that’s standard dev for you) = A, -1 SD = C). </p>
<p>I’m sorry, maybe course 7 is just bad or something, but I actually think that as many as a third of my classes are poorly taught (mostly intro classes). Moreover, my friend who’s Course 5 share the same sentiment. Almost all (except 2 or 3) of the HASS classes I’ve taken (and I’ve taken like over 20 XP) are excellent though. This might be a no-brainer but very generally class size correlates inversely with teaching quality. The best science class I had at MIT had around 30 students. The best humanities class I had at MIT had around 6.</p>
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<p>Retired. Although he still has an office and if you’re lucky you’ll see him roaming the halls once in awhile.</p>
<p>18.01 is Calc I, 8.01 is Physics I, 8.02 is Physics II. All of these are general requirements that all MIT students have to take or pass out to graduate.</p>
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<p>These are excellent quotes, and very, very spot-on. This applies to other majors at MIT too, not just math. I did AMC/AIME pretty hardcore in HS and I feel like MIT exams across all majors are generally like AMC/AIME questions. There are very few “gimme” questions and almost everything requires certain depth of thinking. If you get used for looking for this “depth,” it’ll invariably help you mucho on MIT exams. Echoing what was said above, I think the reason why some students don’t do well at MIT (or even the difference between a B and a A) comes down to the ability to think critically. Everyone is intelligent here, but MIT really wants to train you to be able to apply your knowledge.</p>
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<p>You’ll have to see if MIT accepts them as transfer credit. You either have to get them to accept it as transfer credit (attach textbook list, syllabus, transcript) or you’ll have to take the ASE (advanced standing exam, equivalent to that class’ final) and pass it to skip the class. A lot of people skip out of 18.01 though with a 4 or 5 on Calc BC, so I think that’s a good idea. You can skip out of 8.01 with a 5 on BOTH parts of Physics C. The only way to get out of 8.02 is ASE or transfer credit.</p>
<p>If you think you’re never going to see the subject again, then there’s no repercussions to skipping requirement classes (like you’re not going to be a physics major and you want to pass out of 8.01 and 8.02). If you’re going to do substantial coursework on the major area though, I think it’s a good idea to take MIT’s intro classes, to get used to the “critical thinking” questions and such. (for example, they stopped accepting AP Bio credit in lieu of intro Bio beginning my year, and it’s basically because AP Bio doesn’t resemble MIT’s Bio at all)</p>