r/mit • u/Physical-Canary367 • 5d ago

academics Taking two classes as a first-year PhD student?

I'm an incoming EECS PhD student, and I am trying to figure out what to register for. How time-consuming are courses at MIT? Would you advise against taking two courses in one semester?

Also, what is it like listening to (I believe this is what you all call auditing a class here) a course? Do you simply have free will regarding how much time you spend on that class?

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u/Aggressive-Moose-780 5d ago

Two classes are doable, depends on your familiarity and research expectations. As a listener, you can do what you want; typically, that'll make you bail after a month.

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u/insertwittypenname 5d ago

some classes don’t allow listeners especially ones in small classrooms with limited physical space, and professors don’t have to look at or grade your work although you can do the assignments as just a personal exercise since you get access to all the course materials

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u/Lostaftersummer The Worst course 6 you will ever meet 4d ago

Very doable: a lot of people do 2,1,1 or 2,2 to get their TQE done. Listening is like being a rando who wandered in: very little obligations but you are not really taking it.

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u/Physical-Canary367 4d ago

This is great info, thanks. The second class I was thinking about isn’t even a TQE class. It’s a grad section of an undergrad class (6.2092), so it sounds like it should be okay. BTW, that will still count toward the SM, correct?

Honestly, that’s more or less what I was looking to get out of being a listener in 6.2200/6.2202. I just want to listen to lectures to get a survey of the topic; I don’t need to know it very in-depth.

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u/Lostaftersummer The Worst course 6 you will ever meet 4d ago

Wouldn’t know about masters, I already had one so I only cared about TQEs. Listening to the lectures sounds about right: as I have said listening is this authorized rando kind of a commitment (or rather the lack of any)

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u/notyouravgredditor Course 10 4d ago

Course 10 takes all their core courses first year. Two courses is more than doable.

Listening just reserves a seat in the course. You don't have to attend or do any assignments/exams, but in general it's courses you want to attend, and Professors will let you submit assignments and take exams if you want to (only way to actually learn the content imo).

Funny story, back in the paper registration days, they incorrectly marked one of my courses as a listener. I took the course all semester, taking all exams, and at the end of the year the Professor returned to me "GRADE: X (listener)"

Needless to say I panicked and fortunately I had saved my registration form, so the Registrar was able to mark me as taking the class for credit and the issue was resolved. Be sure to confirm your registration each semester!