At MIT, some students take 8+ classes over ~15 weeks. This involves lots of busywork and an expectation of getting the highest grade (an A). [They also often do side projects.]
Scott Young aims to complete classes at the same rate. But he’s skipping much of the busywork and requiring merely passing grades. I wouldn’t be surprised if he pulls it off.
I’m an MIT student and currently spend 60-100 hours/class. Taking Young’s approach, I could probably average 30 hours/class, which for 33 classes might be doable in about 2 months… Maybe doing 33 MIT classes in 1 month is something for a Tim Ferriss.
The pace I’m planning on sustaining (at least for the initial period) is roughly 1 class per week. I’m trying to go faster initially so I can do 2-3 weeks on later courses where I plan to do more project work.
You’re absolutely right that cutting out the busywork makes my approach a lot easier than trying to do this in actual MIT classes. But that’s one of the possible benefits of doing this streamlined approach to learning rather than in an institution, one of the tradeoffs I hope to discuss as the challenge progresses.
Students manage conflicts by simply skipping class sessions. Last semester, I often skipped two thirds of my class sessions. As long as you read lecture notes, do the work, and show up to tests, you’re fine.
At MIT, some students take 8+ classes over ~15 weeks. This involves lots of busywork and an expectation of getting the highest grade (an A). [They also often do side projects.]
Scott Young aims to complete classes at the same rate. But he’s skipping much of the busywork and requiring merely passing grades. I wouldn’t be surprised if he pulls it off.
I’m an MIT student and currently spend 60-100 hours/class. Taking Young’s approach, I could probably average 30 hours/class, which for 33 classes might be doable in about 2 months… Maybe doing 33 MIT classes in 1 month is something for a Tim Ferriss.
The pace I’m planning on sustaining (at least for the initial period) is roughly 1 class per week. I’m trying to go faster initially so I can do 2-3 weeks on later courses where I plan to do more project work.
You’re absolutely right that cutting out the busywork makes my approach a lot easier than trying to do this in actual MIT classes. But that’s one of the possible benefits of doing this streamlined approach to learning rather than in an institution, one of the tradeoffs I hope to discuss as the challenge progresses.
How is this done? When I was at university, scheduling conflicts would start becoming a problem at 5 classes and be almost insurmountable at 7.
Students manage conflicts by simply skipping class sessions. Last semester, I often skipped two thirds of my class sessions. As long as you read lecture notes, do the work, and show up to tests, you’re fine.
Ah, okay. This is strictly forbidden elsewhere.
Whaa? How do you even manage to get signed up for conflicting classes- is MIT’s registration system set up such that it allows you to do that?
In general, MIT’s registration policies are “we’ll provide the rope, try not to hang yourself.” On the flip side, it’s nearly impossible to fail out.
Yup.