UAAP
Massachusetts Institute of Technology: Class of 2016

Advising & Academics

First-Year Grading Policies

The information provided below explains how freshmen are graded at MIT, along with policies associated with the use and release of fall term internal "hidden" grades.

Special Features of First-Year Grading

Freshmen are graded differently from upperclassmen and your grades are also reported differently, both within MIT and on your outside official transcript. These policies are intended to help you adjust to MIT's teaching and grading methods and the workload without having to worry about accumulating a grade point average (GPA).

In your first semester and Independent Activities Period, you will receive grades of Pass or No Record:

In your second semester, you will receive "A", "B", or "C" grades.

  • These are recorded both internally and on your official transcript; "D" and "F" grades continue to be noted only internally.
  • You will not begin to accumulate a grade point average until second term, when only passing grades are used to figure your GPA.

Beginning in sophomore year, "A" through "F" grades will be reported, with "D" considered a passing grade.

See the Registrar's site for complete grading information.

Official versus Unofficial Grades

At the end of your first term at MIT you will receive both your official Pass/No Record grades and a copy of your unofficial "hidden" grades. You cannot use your hidden grades for any purpose other than advising. In fact, your copy of the hidden grade report does not even have your name on it.

Policy on Release of Freshman Internal Grades

MIT's educational policy is to provide internal "hidden" grades to students for educational and advising purposes only. In almost all circumstances, hidden grades will stay hidden and not included on an external transcript. MIT will not communicate your internal grades to your parents or any other third party outside of MIT without your specific written permission. See Student Information Policy for complete information.

Use of Fall Term Hidden Grades

Sometimes freshmen need to provide a transcript with grades when applying for scholarships or internships. Since MIT does not release letter grades for freshmen, here is what you can do to provide transcript information in these situations:

  • If you are applying for a scholarship or internship that requires you to submit a transcript: You can get a copy of your external transcript from Student Services Center, room 11-120. 
    • Because your are on Pass/No Record grading, your external transcript will only show a P grade for all subjects passed. (Subjects not passed do not show up on the external transcript.)

  • If you are applying for a scholarship or internship that requires you to submit actual grades: Your freshman internal grades are meant to be seen only by you and your advisor for advising purposes.
    • They are unofficial and therefore cannot be released to third parties outside of MIT. 
    • You cannot use the student copy of your internal grades because your name does not appear on it, nor can your advisor give you a copy of your hidden grades.

  • If the scholarship absolutely requires your internal (hidden) grades, do the following: You need to go to the Undergraduate Academic Administrator in each department in which you took a class (Physics, Math, etc.) to ask her/him to write a letter. The department administrators are used to doing this for freshmen, so you shouldn't worry that you are making an unusual request.

    The letter should be addressed to you, and should state, "[Your name] took 8.01 (or 18.01, etc.) under the MIT freshman Pass/No Record grading system. Had an official grade been recorded for you, it would have been an X [whatever grade you received]." You may then forward a copy of this letter on to the scholarship for which you are applying.