I will, I will set this schedule on fire

I will, I will set this schedule on fire Last week, I dropped 9.15 from my preregistration schedule for the upcoming term. It hurt me to do it; 9.15, only offered in alternate fall terms, was the class I was looking forward to the most. The problem, however, was this: Schedule: doable? Um, no. Regardless of how set I am on this illusion that I am working towards a dual degree at MIT, doing 72 units during my first term entirely on grades especially the 72 units above isnt really the best idea. (Neither is doing 60 units including both 5.07 and 5.13, but theres no avoiding that.) Some of you have already heard the following edict: Work, friends, sleep pick two. This is exactly what Ill have to do very soon. Itll be a huge comedown from last term, where by some miracle I managed to get all three. For those of you who just skipped the beginnings of a rant above, heres a brief summary: Classes. Lots of them. Grawr. That is all. ^_^ Enough about my schedule. Lets talk about yours. And by yours, I mean you. Yes, froshlings. You. Youll all be here in two weeks. Your friends at other schools may all know what theyre doing, where their classes are, and at what ungodly hour theyll have to wake up so they can make it to their 7AM chem lab on time. Meanwhile, you dont have a definite housing plan yet and youre sitting around wondering what in the world a Math Diagnostic is and how many Advanced Standing Exams you should take and what 8.012 is and if you should take it in the fall and hey, how come MIT doesnt give credit for 5s on the AP Bio exam anymore? Never fear, for answers are here! (Except for the AP Bio thing. I have my theories maybe the AP Bio curriculum doesnt match up with 7.012/3/4/5 well enough for you to continue receiving credit for it? but since I dont know for sure, my on-the-record answer is they just dont.) Ill even give you responses comprised of more than just saying that 8.012 is Physics for Physics Majors and Crazy People. (It is.) But first, a ridiculously simplified picture of what your schedule should look like. Its on neon yellow paper because everything neon is awesome. You know Im right. I know youre already forming what if questions about AP Credit, college courses, making it through freshman year with no previous experience in physics, and more. Thats why I also created the following list. A FALL-CENTRIC, FIVE-PART LIST OF EXCEPTIONS TO THE RIDICULOUSLY SIMPLIFIED SCHEDULE ABOVE (Numbers in place of class names will be prevalent, but dont worry Ive linked to class descriptions for all of these.) 1) Math. Many of you will take 18.01. If youve taken the AP Calculus BC exam and scored a 4 or higher, though, youll probably start in some variation of 18.02. Those of you who took Calc AB can opt for 18.01A/18.02A, which covers the whole of 18.01 in the first six weeks of fall term and covers 18.02 straight through to the end of IAP. A few of you will have already finished the equivalents of both 18.01 and 18.02, though, and youll probably take 18.something if you take a math class at all. 18.03, 18.06, and 18.700 are popular choices. 2) Bio/Chem. Most people take Chem in the fall and Bio in the spring. Two of the three freshman chem classes are only offered during fall term (3.091, usually taken by aspiring engineering majors, and 5.112, for the truly masochistic. 5.111 is available in both fall and spring terms.); the opposite is the case for Biology, with both 7.013 and 7.015 being spring classes and 7.012 being fall-only. Heres a reason to take biology first term, though: Eric Lander, one of the leaders of the Human Genome Project, teaches 7.012. 3) Physics and the Math Diagnostic. 5s on both parts of the AP Physics C exam gets you out of 8.01. Regardless of whether or not youve done that, youre taking the Math Diagnostic during the week before classes start. Based on your score on this exam a short, calculus-free, no-calculators-allowed evaluation of your basic math skills up through exponential and logarithmic functions youll be advised to take 8.012 (as stated before, this is Physics for the Truly Insane), 8.01L (8.01 held through the end of IAP, for people without much calculus or physics experience), or good ol 8.01. Some students take 8.012 because it, unlike 8.01, uses a standard lecture/recitation format. 8.01 uses TEAL; rather than give you a botched explanation of TEAL, Ill simply give you a link here. 4) Humanities and the FEE. There isnt much to say here. Take a HASS class that interests you; otherwise, you will suffer greatly and come to despise all things humanities-related. (The same can be said about most other classes you will take, but this is one of the few places where youll really have some leeway in your freshman schedule. Make the most of it, willya?) Take a CI-H to get them out of the way, since you need to take two of them and they should be completed by the end of your sophomore year. If you failed the FEE, youre required to take a CI-HW (writing-intensive) class first semester. Passing the FEE gets you out of the CI-HW part, leaving you free to take just a CI-H if you so desire. Getting a 5 on either AP English exam gets you the same as the FEE with 9 general elective credits. Taking a CI-H isnt necessary both terms, but you need to have completed at least one by the end of your first year. I took a theater class in the fall that wasnt a CI-H, and it wasnt a big deal I missed out on being offered sophomore standing (which I wouldnt have accepted anyway), but thats a can of worms I wont be opening here. 5) Advising Seminars, Mission 2011/Terrascope, F/ASIP, et cetera, blah blah blah. As a freshman, you have a 54-unit limit your first term, and a 57-unit limit second term. Your four main classes only comprise 48 units. Whatever could those extra units be for? Tons of things, as you should already know if the state of my inbox during the summer before freshman year was any indicator of that of yours, then youve already received multiple emails from twelve million different programs. If your plans dont already have you doing things like saving the world via Mission 2011/Terrascope or learning the Super Sekrit Ways to Score Awesome Internships in F/ASIP, you can always take a really cool Advising Seminar. I took Chemistry and Art, which was a great class. (I can give you more details if you want them, but the class is no more my freshman advisor left MIT in May.) You can also use the extra credits to take an intro class in your planned major, or get this you can do absolutely nothing with them. I took 48 units in the spring, and Im glad I did it gave me more time to get all of my work done, and I even got to sleep sometimes. Mmmmm, sleep. Want more information? (Can you even imagine there being more than this?) If youre looking for further explanation of anything in particular, the first-year website has all of this and more! I sound like an infomercial now! Woo!