Academic Year 2012-2013 Key Registration Dates

September 4 Fall Registration
September 5 Fall First Day of Classes
September 7 Fall Registration Deadline
October 5 Fall Add Date
November 21 Fall Drop Date
December 3-28 Spring Online Pre-registration
February 4 Spring Registration
February 5 Spring First Day of Classes
February 8 Spring Registration Deadline
March 8 Spring Add Date
April 25 Spring Drop Date

New Students

2012 Graduate Student Orientation Handbook

1. International Student Office Clearance

Room 5-133, 617-253-3795, iso-help@mit.edu

http://web.mit.edu/iso

All international students must obtain clearance from the International Students Office (ISO) before picking up registration material or receiving an ID card. Bring all your visa documents, including your passport, I-94 card and your I-20 or DS-2019 form, with you to the ISO. You will need to attend an orientation session.

2. Medical Report

Room E23-177, 617-258-7051, medrpt@med.mit.edu

http://medweb.mit.edu/about/formspubs.html

In order to register, new students must have a complete Medical Report on file in the Medical Department, including a record of physical exam, full medical history and documentation of all immunizations. Contact the Medical Department with questions and concerns.

3. WebSIS

http://student.mit.edu

Student academic information is kept on a web-based system called WebSIS. Prior to the start of the term, students should enter current address and emergency information and verify existing biographical information on WebSIS. To access the system, students need to have an Athena user account and a current web certificate. The registrar's website for new students provides a good orientation to WebSIS.

4. MIT ID Card

Room W20-021, 617-253-3475, mitcard@mit.edu

http://web.mit.edu/mitcard

Incoming graduate students should obtain an ID card from the MIT Card Office upon arrival on campus. Bring a valid picture ID (A US driver's license, passport, or other US government-issued picture ID are accepted. An international driver's license will not be accepted.). International students must receive clearance from the International Students Office prior to receiving a card. Incoming freshmen and transfer students will automatically receive MIT ID cards during Orientation.

5. The English Evaluation Test

Room 10-250, Tuesday, August 28, prior to Registration Day (September 4), 9 a.m. to noon

http://web.mit.edu/fll/www/languages/ESLOptions.shtml

All new students whose first language is not English must take the English Evaluation Test (EET). You should bring an English dictionary, pencils and a pen to the test. The EET is offered by the Department of English Language Studies.

1

Continuing Students

Pre-registration Instructions:

Students pre-register in May for summer and fall and in December for IAP and spring. All continuing students are expected to pre-register online through WebSIS for the upcoming term(s). A student who has not completed pre-registration by the noted deadline on the Registrar's Academic Calendar and registration by the end of the first week of the term will be assessed a late fee. Subjects selected during pre-registration are noted on the student's Registration Form. Changes can be made to the online Registration Form during the first week of classes.

http://web.mit.edu/registrar/reg/instructions

Department of Architecture subject offerings and descriptions are available to help students choose courses. The MIT Subject Listing and Schedule which is updated regularly on the Registrar's Office website, provides information on subjects outside of the Department of Architecture.

1

Registration Day Procedures

Registration Day: Tuesday, September 4

http://web.mit.edu/registrar/reg/instructions/index.html

Student advisor assignments are available on WebSIS, the Registrar's student information system.

MIT students register online and may access their registration forms just prior to Registration Day at

https://registration.mit.edu

The form is populated with the pre-registered subject selections entered by the pre-registration deadline. The digital registration form will need to be approved by the advisor (registration officer) prior to the registration deadline (the Friday following Registration Day), and it is the student's responsibility to make sure the form is properly submitted by the registration deadline to avoid a late fee. Architecture students must meet with your advisor or registration officer on Registration Day.

Online Registration Information:

http://web.mit.edu/registrar/general/oreg/help/fall11.html

Online Registration Help:

http://web.mit.edu/registrar/general/oreg/help/index.html

All subsequent changes to your program require an Add/Drop/Change paper form signed by your advisor.

1

Cross Registration

Full-time undergraduate MIT students may take subjects for credit at Harvard University, Wellesley College, the Massachusetts College of Art and Design (MassArt) and the School of the Museum of Fine Arts (SMFA) without paying additional tuition. Harvard University also welcomes cross-registration with graduate students. No more than half (49 percent) of the total units for any term may be taken at other institutions. Students who cross-register should not include subjects from other institutions on their MIT Registration forms; there are separate cross-registration forms for each institution with which MIT has a cross-registration program. MIT's deadline for completing cross-registration is Add Date. Students’ MIT academic records will show grades for these subjects. Cross-registered subjects are dropped using the MIT Add/Drop form.

For detailed information about the cross-registration process, visit

http://web.mit.edu/registrar/reg/xreg/index.html

Harvard University

There is a separate Harvard Cross-Registration paper petition form. Both the student and his/her advisor need to sign the petition form. Graduate students may download a PDF version of the Harvard cross-registration petition here:

http://web.mit.edu/registrar/reg/xreg/MITtoHarvard.html

To enroll in a subject at Harvard, all MIT graduate students must cross-register using the new cross-registration petition form available as a PDF. Harvard’s cross-registration deadlines are different from MIT’s; check Harvard’s schedule. Undergraduate students may cross-register for classes at the Harvard Faculty of Arts and Sciences (FAS) or one of Harvard's professional schools through the HASS Academic Office.

Harvard Graduate School of Design

Studios are the only subjects at the Harvard Graduate School of Design (GSD) for which students may not register directly. If room allows, GSD will admit one or two MIT graduate students into studio. To be eligible, students must have completed two option design studios at MIT. To apply, students must submit a portfolio and a brief statement of purpose to the administrator for master’s degree programs in the Department of Architecture’s headquarters. The Head of the Department of Architecture will choose students for places in the GSD studios on the basis of this submission (students receive regular option studio credit for the GSD studio). Due to space constraints, GSD will not accept cross-registration for studio in 2012-2013.

Wellesley College

For the purposes of Registration or Add/Drop forms, each one-unit Wellesley subject is equivalent to 12 MIT units. (There are some exceptions for lab subjects.)

Massachusetts College of Art and Design and SMFA

Undergraduate students are only allowed to register for one subject per term at either the Massachusetts College of Art and Design or the School of the Museum of Fine Arts (SMFA). All subjects are graded pass/fail and cannot be used to fulfill Institute, department or minor requirements.

Cross-Registration Guidelines for the two art schools and can be found on the Art, Culture and Technology program's website. Forms are available online at this site.

1

Independent Study

A student interested in independent study in the Department of Architecture must secure the supervision of a faculty member in this Department. Course 4 students who wish to do independent study in a different department, must secure a subject number with which to register in that department with which to register. The student should submit a proposal to the project supervisor that includes:

  • A statement of the intellectual purpose of the activity
  • An explanation of the relation of the proposed endeavor to the student's overall educational experience
  • A plan for approaching the intellectual problem
  • A discussion of the expected result and its evaluation
  • A statement of the amount of time to be expended in the effort

Before registering for an independent study subject, a student must obtain an appropriate independent study subject number from the degree administrator in the department's headquarters (Room 7-337) using an Independent Study Project Form.

The following information is required to complete the form:

  • Student's name, department of registration, MIT ID number and e-mail address
  • Subject level (graduate or undergraduate)
  • Grading system (grade or pass/fail—to be determined by the supervisor)
  • Credit units to be earned, based on the effort to be expended (generally 6, 9 or 12)
  • An attached proposal
  • Signature of project supervisor

The subject must be added to the student's registration with an Add/Drop form prior to the Add Date.

1

Adding + Dropping

Changing Registration: Adding + Dropping Subjects

http://web.mit.edu/registrar/reg/add-drop.html

Subjects may be added during the first five weeks of the semester prior to Add Date and dropped by Drop Date, which is in the 12th week of the term. Pay close attention to your Status of Registration posted on WebSIS after the second week. Notify the degree administrators if you find errors or have questions.

Changes in registration are made on Add/Drop forms and must be signed by the faculty advisor. Forms can be downloaded from the Registrar's website. Submit a copy of the completed form to Headquarters of the Department of Architecture for your file. Submit the original signed form to the Student Services Center, Room 11-120.

Registration changes after deadline can only be made by petition. In addition, students are fined for each subject added to registration after the Add Date and for each subject dropped after the Drop Date.

1

Petitions

Petitions are required when:

  • a student wants to add or drop a subject after the Institute deadline
  • a grade of "I" is changed to a letter grade after the deadline, (Add Date of the term following that in which the "I" grade was given)
  • to correct errors in registration after Add Date
  • to request approval for retroactive actions in unusual circumstances
  • to apply for a dual degree

The petition process for graduate students and undergraduate students is different:

1

English Proficiency

The Department requires that students take the English subject suggested as a result of the English Evaluation Test and continue in the ESL series thereafter to completion. Instruction in areas of English as a Second Language is provided by the Institute. Instructors in ESL will be available for consultation on Registration Day. Generally students who score significantly above 600 (250/computer-based; 100/internet-based) on the TOEFL require minimal work in English language writing skills. Students who score in the low 600s usually require additional help in grammar and writing skills.

Students may not defer registration in any English grammar review subject recommended as a result of the EET. Students must enroll in the English subject recommended as a result of the EET, and must complete the sequence of ESL subjects as follows:

  • 21F.224, Listening, Speaking and Pronunciation (ELS)
  • 21F.219, Workshop in Written Expression (ELS)

OR

  • 21F.219, Workshop in Written Expression (ELS)
  • 21F.227, Advanced Workshop in Writing for Social Sciences and Architecture (ELS)

Registration in the advanced level writing for social scientists and architects subject, 21F.227, should be completed prior to Thesis registration.

Required English subjects do not count for unit credit toward any degree in the Department of Architecture; grades received in English subjects do, however, appear on the students' records

Consultation with ESL Instructors

Instructors in English as a Second Language will be available for consultation on September 4, Registration Day. The office numbers and phone extensions of the instructors are as follows:

  • Jane Dunphy, Director 14N-312, (617) 253-3069
  • A.C. Kemp 14N-228, (617) 253-4747
  • Katie Barker 14N-329C, (617) 452-3030
1

Term of Graduation

All students, graduate and undergraduate, must file a degree application at the start of the term in which they plan to graduate. This is done online at WebSIS. Applications for advanced degrees must be submitted with working thesis titles. The deadline for finalizing the title falls near the end of term. For specifics, consult the Academic Calendar.

Undergraduates must ensure that all General Institute Requirements (GIRs) as well as departmental requirements have been satisfied by the end of the term in which they intend to graduate. The website for graduating students contains a complete checklist and calendar of deadlines. Undergraduates who have questions regarding their eligibility to graduate may contact their advisor or the degree administrator in the Department of Architecture's headquarters (Room 7-337).

1

Non-Registered Students

Failure to complete registration by the end of the second week of the term will result in the loss of student status, and for international students, the loss of their visa status. As determined by the Department Committee on Graduate Students, and consistent with the policy of the MIT Registrar, a Course 4 graduate student who has not registered by the Add Date (end of fifth week) of an academic term will not be permitted to register at all in that term.

The Department will disallow access to departmental space and resources and will cancel that student's departmental employment, if any, after the fifth week of the term. No retroactive academic credit or retroactive payment will be awarded for departmental work done in the term in which the student is barred from registration.

1

Credit for IAP and Summer Travel/Study/Research

IAP and Summer Course Work

To be eligible for unit credit, a travel/study program must be organized and led by a member of the Department faculty and approved by the Department Head before the travel occurs if credit is to be received. It must also have a follow-up component in the next academic term and registration is in the fall term if traveling during the summer term, and during the spring term if traveling during IAP. The maximum number of units possible in IAP is 12. Travel/study preceding or following and part of a regular subject (studio or workshop) earns no additional unit credit.

Credit fulfilling any MArch curriculum requirement other than free elective must be approved in advance by the appropriate member of the MArch Program Committee.

NOTE: This policy applies to group travel/study opportunities. It is not meant to afford academic credit for individual/general student travel.

IAP Internship

Every January during the Independent Activities Period (IAP), the Department of Architecture, organizes an internship program for graduate and undergraduate students to work in local architectural offices. This experience provides students with valuable hands-on training, an opportunity to improve skills and an inside look at the workings of an everyday architectural practice.

Practical Experience Internship

The Department will support practical experience internships for professional, full-time work performed in an architectural, engineering, landscape architecture, or planning office, or directly related to an art, architecture or building technology project. The work must be performed for a minimum of six weeks during a summer break between the first year of enrollment and graduation. Three credit units are received the subsequent fall term upon registration for 4.190, Practical Experience in Architecture. (4.190 may not be repeated for credit.) This is also called Curriculum Practical Training (CPT) for International Students. A letter from the Department has to be submitted to the International Students Office (ISO) so that the visa issue will be addressed. The deadline for application for the practical experience internships or Curriculum Practical Training is May 1. The application must be submitted to the Department of Architecture (7-337).

Summer Registration for MIT Employment for Course 4 Students

Students who plan to receive an RA appointment over the summer must preregister and then register for subject number 4.299, Summer Research Topics. Download and complete the form "Summer Registration for MIT Employment" and submit it to Architecture Headquarters (7-337) prior to the start of the summer term in order to initiate summer payroll. It requires the signature of both the RA supervisor and your advisor. This form is not to be used for summer thesis research unless the research is with someone other than your thesis advisor. It is not to be used for a summer internship. Students will receive 3 credit units, however, it may not be used towards the degree.

1