My MIT Challenge
Hi, everyone!
I’m Vlad Siriniok, a software engineer and entrepreneur from Kharkiv, Ukraine.
Like many other guys in tech I dropped out of my university after a second year of study. And I have no regrets about that—tech universities in Ukraine is not the best place to actually learn something. But honestly, I’ve always dreamed about receiving a degree from an American university, like MIT or Berkeley.
Fortunately, we’re all living in America. I mean, today, in the era of the Internet, anyone has an access to a world-class education. Massive online courses, online degrees, whatever.
So since I’ve learned about MIT OCW I lived with a plan to complete MIT Undergraduate program in Computer Science using only MIT OCW materials. Later, I found an article written by Scott H. Young about his experience in studying through the entire 4-year MIT computer science curriculum, without taking any classes. He finally motivated and convinced me in attainability of such crazy goal.
And today I begin a new life (finally)! Over the next few years, I’m going to study through the entire 4-year MIT curriculum for computer science with help of materials available on MIT OCW.
My Goals
- Obtain fluency in math.
- Improve my knowledge about software engineering and design.
- Prepare myself to the deep dive into studying AI.
- Improve my ability to read CS papers.
- Develop an ability to write good essays and articles on computer science and tech topics in English.
6-3. Computer Science and Engineering Curriculum
I’ve used the latest MIT curriculum. Also, I used this catalog to get pre- and co-requirements for the courses.
General Institute Requirements (GIRs)
6 subjects for Science Requirement
3.091 Introduction to Solid-State Chemistry
Prereq: None, 12 Units
8.01L Physics I: Classical Mechanics
Prereq: None, 12 Units
Also, I want to read The Feynman Lectures on Physics.
8.02 Physics II: Electricity and Magnetism
Prereq: Physics I (GIR), Calculus I (GIR), 12 Units
18.01SC Single Variable Calculus
Prereq: None, 12 Units
18.02SC Multivariable Calculus
Prereq: Calculus I (GIR), 12 Units
7.013 Introductory Biology
Prereq: None, 12 Units
8 subjects for Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences (HASS) Requirement; at least two of these subjects must be CI-H
21W.755 Writing and Reading Short Stories
Prereq: None, 12 Units. HASS-A
9.00 Introduction to Psychological Science
Prereq: None, 12 Units. HASS-S
9.85 Infant and Early Childhood Cognition
Prereq: 9.00, 12 Units. HASS-S
9.46 Neuroscience of Morality
Prereq: 9.00, 9.01, and 9.85, 12 Units. HASS-S
24.09 Minds and Machines
Prereq: None, 12 Units. HASS-H; CI-H
24.08[J] Philosophical Issues in Brain Science
Prereq: None, 12 Units. HASS-H; CI-H
24.211 Theory of Knowledge
Prereq: One philosophy subject, 12 Units. HASS-H
24.231 Ethics
Prereq: One philosophy subject, 12 Units. HASS-H
2 subject for Restricted Electives in Science and Technology (REST)
9.01 Introduction to Neuroscience
Prereq: None, 12 Units. REST
18.03SC Differential Equations
Prereq: None. Coreq: Calculus II (GIR), 12 Units. REST
1 subject for Laboratory Requirement (12 units) [satisfied by 6.01SC the Departmental Program]
Total GIR Subjects Required for SB Degree 17
Departmental Requirements
6.001 Structure and Interpretation of Computer Programs
Prereq: None, 18 Units
Actually, new curriculum requires modern 6.0001 program. But I don’t want to learn the basics of Python, so I replaced this one with the legendary SICP course. There are two online versions of the textbook: original and modern.
6.042J Mathematics for Computer Science
Prereq: Calculus I (GIR), 12 Units. REST
6.01SC Introduction to EE and CS I
Prereq: 6.001; Coreq: Physics II (GIR), 12 Units. Institute LAB
6.UAT Oral Communication (Management Communication for Undergraduates)
Prereq: None, 12 Units. CI-M
Computer Science Requirements
6.004 Computation Structures
Prereq: Physics II (GIR) and 6.0001, 12 Units. REST
6.005 Software Construction (or 6.031 if available)
Prereq: 6.01, 15 Units
6.006 Introduction to Algorithms
Prereq: 6.042[J]; 6.01, 12 Units
6.033 Computer Systems Engineering
Prereq: 6.004 and 6.005 (CI-M), 12 Units
6.034 Artificial Intelligence
Prereq: 6.001, 12 Units
6.045[J] Automata, Computability, and Complexity
Prereq: 6.042[J], 12 Units
Elective Subjects
6.035 Computer Language Engineering
Prereq: 6.004; 6.005 or 6.031, 12 Units
6.041SC Probabilistic Systems Analysis and Applied Probability
Prereq: Calculus II (GIR), 12 Units
6.172 Performance Engineering of Software Systems
Prereq: 6.004, 6.006, and 6.005, 18 Units
Unrestricted Electives
18.06SC Linear Algebra
Prereq: Calculus II (GIR), 12 Units. REST
6.050[J] Information, Entropy, and Computation
Prereq: Physics I (GIR), 9 Units
6.003 or 6.007 Signals and Systems
Prereq: Calculus I (GIR) and (6.0001 or 6.145), 12 Units. REST
6.803 The Human Intelligence Enterprise
Prereq: 6.034, 12 Units
6.814 Database Systems
Prereq: 6.033; 6.006, 12 Units
9.66[J] Computational Cognitive Science
Prereq: 6.034, 6.041, 12 Units
9. Minor in Brain and Cognitive Sciences
I’ve used the latest MIT curriculum. Also, I used this catalog to get pre- and co-requirements for the courses.
Courses marked with * were included into the 6-3 curriculum.
Core Subjects
9.00 Introduction to Psychological Science *
Prereq: None, 12 Units. HASS-S
9.01 Introduction to Neuroscience *
Prereq: None, 12 Units. REST
9.641J Introduction to Neural Networks (or 9.40)
Prereq: 6.041, 18.02, 18.06 12 Units
Specialized Subjects
9.66[J] Computational Cognitive Science *
Prereq: 6.034, 6.041, 12 Units
9.85 Infant and Early Childhood Cognition *
Prereq: 9.00, 12 Units. HASS-S
9.46 Neuroscience of Morality *
Prereq: 9.00, 9.01, and 9.85, 12 Units. HASS-S
Rules on Exams
I’m going to imitate the MIT’s examination rules to get my self-assessments right. Here are some of them:
- I will write the exams under the same time and material constraints (no looking at the questions or solutions beforehand, no notes or forbidden things). If the time constraints not specified I will try to pass exam in default 3 hours.
- I have to get at least an 80% grade on final exam.
- I will grade the papers myself, comparing them to the actual MIT solutions or answers on the Internet. I’m going to place my exam papers on Github, so anyone will be able to check my answers and grading.
F.A.Q.
1. How much you’re gonna work during the challenge? It depends. I don’t have a lot of time, but I want to study at least 12-16 hours per week.
2. Do you have any plans to get an actual degree (from MIT or other college)? No, and it is not the point of this challenge, I rather have dreams than plans. But if you’re living in the US and you’re interested in getting a DIY degree, as fast as possible, then you can follow this path.