FAQ for people thinking about taking 6.033

I want to take 6.033 this term, but I don't have the prerequisites. Can I still take it?

We won't kick you out of 6.033 for not having the prerequisites, but we strongly advise against it. 6.033 immediately builds on material from the last half of 6.004, and for the most part does not review that content (and proceeds at a faster pace).

Can I take 6.033 as a sophomore? As a first-year? I have the prerequisites.

We strongly discourage sophomores and first-years from taking 6.033 even if they have already accumulated the nominal prerequisites. Since this is a class where we study real systems, students get more out of 6.033 the more experience they have in computer science. You can accumulate that experience in various ways: UROPs, other classes, summer jobs, more interaction with the Athena clusters, etc. Juniors have an additional year of such experience.

It's now more than two weeks into the term and I want to add 6.033. I haven't been participating up till now, but I'm willing to work hard to catch up. What are my prospects?

Much of the learning experience in 6.033 comes from participating in recitation discussions of assigned papers. A large part of your grade depends on that participation, which you cannot make up. Thus, we don't allow adds after more than two weeks into the term, except in extenuating circumstances.

Can I have permission to register for it as a listener?

Yes and no. In 6.033, we regularly have a much larger enrollment than the department has teaching resources. At the same time, we would like to cater to students who want just to listen. So we offer a compromise: we have no objection to listeners attending the lectures, but we don't permit listeners to join recitations. The reason is that 6.033 recitations are intended for discussion. Active listeners usurp opportunities that registered class members should have to participate. And passive listeners act as negative role models for those registered students who are hesitant to participate. Either way, it doesn't work very well.

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