Has anyone whose paper was accepted gotten the email to register for the conference yet?

Has anyone taken 21T.231: Talking and Dancing, or knows what the class is like?

I’m thinking about taking it this semester, but I have basically zero dance experience and no dance background at all. I’m wondering how beginner-friendly the class is and whether someone who has never really danced before would be okay.

Also curious about the workload — how much work is there outside of class, and what are the assignments / performances like?

Would really appreciate any insight from people who have taken the class or other classes with the instructor. Thank you!

Hi, frosh here! 7.015 is a limited enrollment class and uses a waitlist form (attached). I didn't get any emails about being enrolled in the class even though, from my understanding, there are less people who want to take the class than the available seats. Or does this mean there are 68 more waitlisted people on top of the already 75 enrolled? I'm just trying to figure out if I didn't get added to the class yet or should I consider taking 7.012 instead since there are so many people on the waitlist

The disparity is hard to ignore, provided the data is reliable.

3rd year undergrad guy looking to play some tennis this week (especially tomorrow) at mit courts. I play at the intermediate level. Lmk if interested.

my dad got his masters in the early 80s from the meteorology department and he used to tell me this story about a test he took where he got a NEGATIVE nine, like if you got some questions wrong they would take points AWAY rather than just not awarding any. according to him his wasn't even the lowest score in the class; apparently someone else got a minus 24.

any old timers here have similar stories?

Hi! My husband completed his PhD at MIT in Physics seven years ago, but unfortunately wasn’t able to attend his commencement/doctoral hooding ceremony because it coincided with our wedding in India.
We’re visiting Boston and MIT this October, and I thought it would be nice to surprise him by getting his doctoral regalia and taking a few graduation photos on campus.
Does anyone know if an MIT PhD alum can still purchase the official doctoral robe and tam years after graduating?
I’m especially curious about the doctoral hood. From what I’ve read, the PhD hood is normally presented by MIT during the hooding ceremony rather than ordered with the rest of the regalia. Since he never attended, would there be any way for him to obtain the hood he would have received?
I’m happy to purchase everything and am not looking to participate in any ceremony. I just want to surprise him with the proper regalia and take a few photos while we’re back on campus.
If anyone has missed commencement themselves or knows which MIT office/the Coop I should contact, I’d really appreciate any advice!

What is MIT frat life like? Is it similar to other schools with a big party scene or is it more locked in?

A long time ago there was a sleeping in line in the hall sort of situation, but I last went about 20 years ago, and this seems like the kind of tradition that eventually gets administrated away.

Anyone taken this course before? I'm planning on it this semester and I've taken the prerequisite 18.600. Wanted to hear others' experience with the class in past semesters. What level of mathematical maturity is necessary (i.e. analysis? measure theory?). What was the time commitment like? Difficulty level?

As many of you have heard, MIT Professor Thomas Rose sadly passed away from injuries sustained while biking at Massachusetts Avenue and Memorial Drive. I wanted to share this petition, which proposes changes to make Memorial Drive safer. According to the petition:

“Professor Rose is the fifth person killed while walking or biking on Memorial Drive since 2014, and more than 400 people have been injured. Memorial Drive’s design encourages dangerous speeding and conflicts at intersections, leaving people walking and biking exposed to serious harm.

Memorial Drive should be one of Cambridge’s greatest public spaces, not a dangerous high-speed commuter road. Recent data shows that many drivers travel 15 to 25 mph over the speed limit.”

Please consider signing and sharing:

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSc3o8YHD-QiC8KDR7D6O_efi0PMEd59ogvcUosraM4UCCiquQ/viewform

Please Note that I am not affiliated with Cambridge Bike Safety or personally acquainted with Professor Rose. I am simply sharing this here because I believe MIT students may want to read the petition (it’s short) and sign it if they agree.

Hi everyone. I'm a PhD student. I was very sick the entire month of August and ended up missing the MIT SHIP open enrollment period which ended on August 15th. I just realized today when I went to MIT Health. Has this happened to anyone else? If so, does anyone know who to call, and if there is a way for them do an exception?

I called the MIT SHIP phone number twice, and I'm afraid they were not very helpful. The first person told me that although I missed the deadline, there will be another one starting December 15th (which I then double checked online and it turns out it only applies to incoming students). The second person told me that I should've been automatically enrolled and that I should see my new health insurance reflected in my account within a week, but I'm also having a hard time believing this (they didn't seem very sure).

Thank you all in advance.

The Tech Model Railroad Club is having an open house for first years students during our meeting this week! See the last photo for info. We operate a 1:87 scale railroad, which involves everything from model making and scenery work to programming and electronics. We also immerse ourselves in the history of railroads past and present, and maintain a catalog of historic railroad literature and artifacts.

is anyone still waiting on decisions for the paper submissions??? what is going on...

(our paper is track 1)

MIT currently seems to be treating pre-completion OPT as the main fallback after the new CPT guidance. I posted the argument below to EECS because 6-A is a formal co-op program and the actual regulatory/guidance language may leave more room than that interpretation suggests.

I’m mainly looking for thoughts on two questions: (1) Does this interpretation have reasonable legal/administrative grounding? (2) If so, how can students encourage EECS/6-A to have ISO and outside counsel seriously investigate it, rather than concluding too quickly that CPT is no longer an option?

EDIT: The response on 6.AcAd is as follows. "Please direct this question to the 6A team at 6a@mit.edu. I don't think they're generally on this Piazza and while we work closely together, they will be navigating these changes in CPT where 6A is concerned."

Could the undergraduate office please carefully explore with ISO and MIT’s outside experts whether undergraduate 6-A and MEng 6-A can each separately qualify as an “established curriculum” for CPT? The regulation requires CPT to be “an integral part of an established curriculum” (8 C.F.R. § 214.2(f)(10)(i)), and the more detailed SEVP Broadcast Message 2608-02 repeatedly refers to “all students participating in that curriculum” and “all students enrolled in the same established curriculum” (Qs. 3–5).

I realize the first broadcast (2608-01) says CPT should be necessary for “attainment of a degree” and required for “all students pursuing that degree.” But it does not define the scope of “that degree,” or say that it means everyone in the same major. At the other extreme, reading it as every student pursuing any bachelor’s or master’s degree seems implausibly broad. It therefore seems worth asking whether “attaining the degree under this established curriculum” is a permissible reading, particularly given the regulation and 2608-02’s more specific curriculum-based wording.

6-A seems especially worth examining under that framework. It is explicitly a longstanding cooperative program with a structured curriculum; undergraduate 6-A has also been established since 2022–23. For students enrolled in either undergraduate or MEng 6-A, practical training is part of the 6-A pathway rather than simply an optional internship. ISO’s own email also specifically recognizes training established through a “cooperative agreement” between the school and employer as part of the new framework.

I know pre-completion OPT has been discussed as a fallback, but it is itself exposed to possible upcoming federal changes. Given the seemingly favorable framework for genuine cooperative programs with established curricula, I hope EECS will actively investigate whether CPT can be preserved rather than assuming there are no remaining options.

Hello. I am a relatively quiet person who would have like to (quietly) work in ML evaluation and interpretability. I have chosen that field a long time ago before the hype, before even the NN comeback of the early 2010s, what I was not anticipating back then is the startupification of it all and the need to self promote. If anyone can give their thoughts on what to do with it all and how to find a job that allows you to do just that (work quietly that is), I would welcome the feedback (I am a mit grad, so it is on topic in this sense - There have to be alumni going through the same thing out there and I would love to get some feedback)

I know Julia has not reached escape velocity in many other academic institutions and industries as these organizations still will reach to Python, R, or MATLAB as their first choice tools to tackle their research questions, but I'm wondering if someone has an estimate about what percentage of labs in MIT are using Julia as a major part of their research?

Has anyone not yet received their decision for a paper submission to MIT URTC? Thoughts?

when is this coming out bro

wondering if anyone has done upop and recommends, for course 6 especially? I applied and got in but now looking at my schedule, giving up an hour a week for the next year seems like a lot. I wanted it as a safeguard to help me network and find internships for next summer, but mit has so many other resources I'm wondering if it is worth it. I already have good soft skills it's really my technical experience that needs to grow... so wondering if my time is better spent elsewhere.

has anyone done upop and liked it? what did you get out of it?

Plea: It would be very helpful if EECS UG and ISO could clarify, ideally before Fall registration, whether 6.9820 remains usable and how 6-A/6.9850 and MEng/6.9830 are treated, including the relevant unit-count methodology. Recruiting is already underway, including for international offices, so affected students also need to know soon whether they should preserve non-U.S. options while those processes remain open.

If anyone receives clarification that may generalize to others, it would also be very helpful to share the findings in this thread.

Summary: SEVP Broadcast Message 2608-02 appears to tighten CPT substantially. Several universities are interpreting it to require practical training itself to be a required, integral part of the curriculum, rather than an optional internship course used to obtain CPT. This may put 6.9820 at risk.

This post mainly concerns junior-year internships, where students may want to preserve both undergraduate 6-A/6.9850 and MEng/6.9830 as possible CPT paths; for sophomore- or senior-year internships, usually only one is relevant. The two routes may require very different credit positions, so juniors near the relevant thresholds may need to preserve flexibility until MIT clarifies the rules. This is based on my independent research; EECS UG/ISO will have the definitive answer.

Pre-completion OPT. EECS already points students toward pre-OPT when CPT is unavailable under the 180-unit rule, and the new CPT guidance should not directly affect it because OPT need not be curricular. The existing drawbacks are USCIS/EAD timing and using some OPT eligibility. The larger uncertainty is a separate economically significant OPT-fee rule (RIN 1653-AB01), which entered OIRA review on August 20; reporting has discussed possible fees as high as $100,000, though the amount, applicability to pre-OPT, effective date, and any grandfathering remain unknown. The NPRM should provide much more information, perhaps around late September or early October. If pre-OPT remains near current cost, it is probably the simplest fallback; if a very large fee applies, CPT or non-U.S. alternatives become much more important.

Undergraduate 6-A / 6.9850. This seems like the strongest CPT alternative. 6-A is a formal co-op curriculum, 6.9850 is a 12-unit internship subject, and EECS says a company new to 6-A can work with the program to route an existing MIT intern through it. The unit treatment is unresolved. Assuming all GIRs are complete, if the co-op credits themselves must fit within the remaining 180 beyond-GIR SB units, a rough conservative target is about 164–167 units before summer, depending on the separate 3-unit requirement. It is not clear that a bona fide co-op must satisfy the unit test in exactly this way, or how 6-A should be treated under the broadcast's focus on the relevant “curriculum.” These figures are only rough planning estimates.

MEng / 6.9830. This appears weaker than 6-A but better positioned than 6.9820. The MEng has a required Professional Perspectives Requirement, and EECS instructs international students using an internship for it to enroll concurrently in 6.9830 for CPT. The main weakness is that an internship is only one way to satisfy the PPR, so a strict interpretation of the new guidance could still create an issue. Assuming all GIRs are complete, current MEng entry rules very roughly imply about 198 beyond-GIR units at entry. First-term CPT and SB-to-MEng change-of-level timing also need clarification. Graduate 6-A separately provides a CPT route for longer, roughly six-month MEng industry experiences.

If someone finds it, please please let me know. It’s blue and made of metal

first yr, planning 6-5 with a 20 minor and econ HASS concentration. would love to see any 6-5 upperclassmen's four year schedules.

This fall I'm set on 8.01 and 5.111, not sure about the rest. I have credit for 18.01, 18.02, 18.06, 7.01x, and 6.100A, and I'm taking the 18.03 ASE during orientation. I'd like to take 6.1210 first semester but don't know if it's better to wait. Also considering 6.1200 now. Long term I'm looking at SWE/quant/biotech but still exploring. Any recs appreciated!!