Your Academics
MIT offers you a wide-range of academic options and requirements for you to consider in the next few years. This page includes important information about your academics.
- Declared Major
- General Institute Requirements
- Freshman Essay Evaluation
- Communication Requirement
- HASS Requirement
- Physical Education Requirement
- Helpful websites
Declared Major
When you are admitted as a transfer student, you enter the Institute with a declared major. This provides you with the opportunity to be part of an academic department and to be advised by a faculty member upon arrival.
Once you enroll, we expect you to confirm your intended major with Leslie Bottari, bottari@mit.edu. She will put you in contact with the Undergraduate Administrator of your academic department prior to your arrival. The Undergraduate Administrator will be your primary contact in your new department who assign you to a faculty advisor to assist you with spring registration.
If you change your major selection at any point prior to arrival or within the first few weeks of classes, you need to inform Ms. Bottari soon as possible to ensure the accuracy of your academic records.
General Institute Requirements
All MIT undergraduates must complete 17 General Institute Requirements. The GIRs lay the foundation for study in your major. Transfer students are admitted to the Institute with the majority of their GIRs completed. In your first and second semesters at MIT, you might need to take additional courses to fulfill the Science Core of the Institute requirements. These might include Calculus, Physics, Chemistry, and Biology. Many of these classes are prerequisites to more advanced classes within your major.
We encourage you to read more about the GIRs.
Freshman Essay Evaluation
The first step towards fulfilling the Communication Requirement is to take MIT's writing placement test, the Freshman Essay Evaluation (FEE), which determines what type of CI-H you must take during your first year. The only students exempt from the FEE are those who scored a 5 on either of the Advanced Placement English Tests, equivalent to a "CI-H/CI-HW Required" on the FEE. If you earned a score of 5 on either of these AP tests, you must request that the College Board submit your AP scores to MIT.
The FEE is administered online twice during the summer, once in June and another time in July. A complete description of the FEE, including how to register, is available online. For questions about the FEE, call 617-253-3039 or email fee-help@mit.edu.
Some transfer students have taken a first-year writing course at their previous institution. If you would like to request transfer credit for such a course and be exempt from taking the FEE, the Transfer Credit Examiner in MIT's Program in Writing and Humanistic Studies will determine whether such credit will be recommended. If transfer credit is recommended, you will need to petition the Subcommittee on the Communication Requirement (SOCR) for final approval.
For more information about applying for transfer credit, contact Writing and Humanistic Studies (617-253-7894) or the Communication Requirement Office (617-253-2313 or commreq@mit.edu).
Communication Requirement
All undergraduates, including transfer students, need to complete a total of two CI-H and two CI-M subjects by graduation. During your first year at MIT, you must either pass a CI subject or receive transfer credit for one. If you do not receive transfer credit for a CI subject, you will need to take two CI classes during one of your academic years at MIT. For transfer credit requests associated with CI subjects, you must first seek approval of the department's Transfer Credit Examiner. Once the transfer credit examiner has approved the subject, you must then petition the Subcommittee on the Communication Requirement in order to receive CI credit. If you have any questions, please contact the Office of the Communication Requirement at 617-253-2313.
HASS Requirement
MIT has an eight-subject requirement referred to as the HASS (Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences) Requirement. Students who transfer into MIT as sophomores in Fall 2013 will need to take classes designated as HASS-A, HASS-H, and HASS-S. For a more detailed information on this Requirement and how to satisfy it, please visit the HASS website.
Some of these HASS classes might also be designated HASS-D, with limited enrollment. If you are interested in taking a HASS-D subject during the Fall term at MIT, you will have the oppportunity to enter the HASS-D lottery over the summer.
Physical Education Requirement
Transfer students need only complete four points of credit and the swim requirement to fulfill the PE requirement. If you are able to swim 100 yards, you are encouraged to arrange to take the swim test during the Orientation.
For more information, visit the Physical Education Office, Room W32-125, 617-253-4291 of go online: http://mitpe.com/.
Helpful Websites
We also encourage you to review details about MIT subjects, policies, and procedures on the following sites:
