tier-listing all the classes i’ve taken at mit by Gloria Z. '26

I’m about to graduate! In this blog, I want to loosely tier-list all of the classes I’ve taken at MIT, map them, etc. Shoutout to other bloggers who did this when they graduated too :-).

first, the numbers

In 8 semesters, I’ve taken 43 classes, totaling 510 units, for an average of about 64 units per semester. I’ve also taken 2 IAP classes, totaling 15 units, and I wrote an art and design thesis. These credits congealed to form a major in 6-2 (electrical engineering and computer science), a major in 4-B (art and design), and a minor in CMS (comparative media studies).

Some other statistics:

• The smallest number of units I took in a semester was 24, and the highest was 96.
• 34% of my units came from HASSes—I took 15 HASS classes overall, totaling 177 units. This is on the high side for a MIT student (compared to the required 8 classes), but it’s mainly because a bunch of my 4-B requirements are also HASS-As. In fact, the breakdown of my HASSes goes like: 10xHASS-A, 3xHASS-Hs, and 2xHASS-S.
• I performed the worst academically (based on GPA) in freshman spring.
• I took classes in 10 departments (2, 4, 5, 6, 8, 11, 18, 21G, CMS, MAS), although 5 and 8 are only there because of GIRs.
• I took 57 units worth of classes that didn’t count towards any requirements, but that were fun!
• I NRed* 30 units worth of classes that I had put substantial effort into! You live and you learn, right? (NRing is basically failing a class, but applying Pass/No Record grading so that the F doesn’t show up on my transcript.)

tier list

First, let’s go over our tier-list categories:

1. At the top is our super awesome tier – these are classes that I still think about now and that honestly altered the way I think about creativity, programming, my career, the world, life, etc.
2. Next is fun and/or interesting: classes that I really enjoyed, either due to the projects, my classmates, the instructor(s), or some combination.
3. Right in the middle is it’s solid. These are classes that I felt like I learned things from, and that I’m glad I took, but that I don’t feel too strongly about otherwise.
4. Under that is it’s alright. These are classes that were just fine to me, and that I’m ambivalent about having taken.
5. Finally, at the bottom, is not my cup of tea, comprising classes that I probably could have done without.

For the bottom tiers, I want to add a disclaimer that I don’t think any of the classes I put there are Bad Classes. Rather, I think I just enjoyed them less when I took them, probably due to my own content preferences and learning style, and often just because I was really busy that semester and would have appreciated not having to finish work for that class. Notably, a lot of the classes in those tiers were GIRs or degree requirements :P.

Okay let’s begin!!

1 – super awesome (6 classes + thesis)

• 4.602 – Modern Art and Mass Culture
• 4.603 – Understanding Modern Architecture
• CMS.614 – Critical Internet Studies
• 11.067 – Land Use Law and Politics
• 2.12 – Robotics: Science and Systems
• 6.5840 – Distributed Systems Engineering
• Thesis

The first four classes in this category are just banger HASSes that I took in my junior and senior years. My main observation here is that beyond featuring really interesting content, they were also taught by some of my favorite professors at MIT—all great lecturers, very approachable, and genuinely invested in their students’ intellectual development. Having that sort of instructor engagement and opportunity for discussion with my peers made these classes really stand out to me not just in content but also in the classroom experience.

The latter two classes here are my favorite technicals I’ve taken; both were pretty difficult project classes that took a lot of grinding my brain against the wall and going through frustrating testing loops. 6.5840 in particular gave me a new appreciation for the sheer complexity of modern computing, and 2.12 gave me the awesome experience of napping on the ground in the tunnels under the Stata Center.

Finally, I put my 4-B thesis into this category, even though it wasn’t officially a “class.” I’m going to try my best to write a whole blog about this project in the next week or so (before I am thrust into alumni status), but if I don’t get to it, here’s a little summary :). My thesis consisted of an exhibition comprising six conceptual artworks, plus a 40-page document providing context for, explaining, and analyzing the works. It was probably one of the hardest things I’ve done at MIT, both because of how self-directed and unfamiliar it was and because of the magnitude of the work/ amount of moving parts. Although I had painted, designed, constructed, etc. before this, I had never worked on an extended, theoretically grounded artistic project that was both subject to critique and intended for public showing. From reading theory to engaging with previous artworks to actually making pieces to receiving feedback from my advisor, it was such a rewarding experience to be able to shape my thesis and my show how I wanted. I’m also exceptionally grateful to Arts@MIT for providing me the funding and gallery space for the exhibition <3. In the end, although thesis drained all of my brain juice from my spinal cord over the past three months, I’m still begrudgingly seating it in super awesome.

2 – fun and/or interesting (13 classes)

• 4.S00 – Bad Translation: Expanded Typography and Publication
• 4.657 – History of Making Things
• 4.031 – Design of Objects and Interaction
• 4.501 – Tiny Fab: Advancements in Rapid Design
• 2.004 – Dynamics and Control II
• 6.006 – Intro to Algorithms
• 6.390 – Intro to Machine Learning
• 6.004 – Computation Structures
• 6.110 – Computer Language Engineering
• 18.701 – Algebra I
• MAS.S63 – Recreating the Past
• CMS.611 – Creating Video Games
• CMS.609 – Computational and Experimental Writing Workshop

Some standouts here: classes that had less than seven students and therefore really chill and awesome social vibes (4.S00, MAS.S63, and 4.501), and classes where I particularly enjoyed working with my pset or project group partners (2.004, CMS.611, 6.110, and 4.031).

3 – it’s solid (11 classes)

• 4.250 – Intro to Urban Design and Development
• 4.341 – Intro to Photography and Related Media
• 2.003 – Dynamics and Control I
• 6.S092 – Intro to PCB Design (IAP)
• 6.1904 – Intro to Programming in C and Assembly
• 6.2000 – Electrical Circuits: Modeling and Design of Physical Systems
• 6.9000 – Engineering for Impact
• 18.03 – Differential Equations
• 21G.107 – Chinese 1 (Streamlined)
• CMS.306 – Making Comics
• CMS.100 – Intro to Media Studies

Solid! A lot of these classes would probably be one tier higher if I didn’t take them alongside other, more time-consuming classes, leading me to have to rush through their assignments.

4 – it’s okay (9 classes)

• 4.02A – Design Studio: How to Design Intensive (IAP)
• 4.022 – Design Studio: Intro to Design Techniques and Technologies
• 4.301 – Intro to Artistic Experimentation
• 2.001 – Mechanics and Materials I
• 6.4110 – Representation, Inference, and Reasoning in AI
• 6.8301 – Advances in Computer Vision
• 6.1800 – Computer Systems Engineering
• 18.212 – Algebraic Combinatorics
• 11.C35 – Interactive Data Visualization and Society

Hmm… glad I took these, but they often fell by the wayside in my priority list.

not my cup of tea (6 classes)

• 8.02 – Physics II
• 5.111 – Principles of Chemical Science
• 6.3700 – Introduction to Probability
• 4.THT – Thesis Prep
• 4.THU – Undergraduate Thesis
• 4.110 – Design Across Scales

The main theme here is that these are either GIRs or required classes I took during already super busy semesters. Also, I took five out of six of these in the past year (senior year), when I was definitely a lot more checked out of school and thinking a lot more about post-grad life and the world outside of MIT. 4.THT and 4.THU are technically “thesis” classes, but they didn’t actually have assignments beyond some required checkpoints; I’ve put them in this tier because I didn’t feel like they were the most useful overall.

Finally, here’s the whole tier list as one image, roughly color-coded by course number (except for when I had only taken one class in that course)!

mapping by year

I also wanted to map out my classes by semester, color-coded for what requirements they fulfilled. Split colors means that the class ticked multiple boxes. I’m pleasantly surprised by how balanced the distribution of each color is throughout the years; I had expected a stronger shift from blue (computer science) to green (art and design). My declared major also changed throughout the years; I only settled on my final combination this past semester.

final thoughts

I’m writing a separate blog about my general thoughts and reflections about my time here, but with regards to classes specifically, I think I’m pretty content with what I was able to squeeze in. There will always be courses I wished I could have taken and things I wish I could have tried, but that will always be true with such a limited amount of time. Some semesters were extremely jam-packed with schoolwork, and others were filled with extracurricular activities and socializing; in the end, my only regret is not being able to put as much time as I would have liked into all three of those spheres, a contradictory mission in all respects. I am so grateful to have had the time and space here to learn just for the sake of learning, in whatever field interested me most at the moment :).