Hey there, friends. I tend to enjoy smaller classes and wanted to know more about MIT's undergraduate population. Does the class size change significantly from freshman to senior year?
Hello! Excellent question. MIT has an undergraduate population somewhat within the medium range—there are around 4,500 undergraduate students, which makes it smaller than large state universities but larger than some of the smaller private institutions.
This distribution translates to roughly 1,100 students per class year. However, unlike some universities where class size can decrease significantly as you progress to upper years due to students transferring out, failing out, or taking more specialized courses, MIT typically maintains a fairly consistent class size across all years.
In terms of individual class sizes, it varies greatly. Introductory courses, especially in popular subjects like computer science, can be quite large (often several hundred students). Upper-level or specialized courses, especially in less popular majors, can have fewer than 10 students. MIT emphasizes research, so by your junior and senior years, you may be doing significant independent study or lab work in a small group setting, too.
Of course, the overall environment you're looking for matters quite a bit. Despite its relatively medium size, MIT has a low student-to-faculty ratio which often leads to small class sizes and the ability to forge strong relationships with professors and classmates. Make sure to also take into consideration other aspects like availability of faculty, the type of instruction you prefer, and the kind of academic community you're looking to join.
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