Buckets
From GradBook
MIT's policies require a distinction between the undergraduate and graduate programs. MIT has a set of requirements to get a bachelor's degree and a different set of requirements to get a master's degree. From the Registrar's point of view, classes can be used to satisfy one set of requirements or the other, but not both. Even though the EECS department wants the MEng program to be an undergraduate/graduate hybrid program, the registrar's office does not have the policy framework to support this. Therefore, each class has to be designated as falling in either the student's graduate or undergraduate program.
Because the EECS department does not care which classes are in which bucket (only the registrar's office cares), an interesting opportunity is given to MEng students: a little GPA tweaking. The registrar maintains separate graduate and undergraduate GPAs. Got a 'B' in a grad class? Depending on what it is and whether you have extra grad classes, it may be possible to put it in your undergrad bucket. Got an 'A' in a senior-level department class? Put it in your graduate bucket. As long as the registrar's requirements per bucket are met, you can move classes around to maximize your graduate GPA. You cannot, however, stuff exorbitant amounts of credit into your grad bucket. But you can move classes in both directions.
Note that classes designated as an undergraduate subject (has a 'U' icon in the subject listings) can often be placed in the graduate bucket. Similarly, classes designated as graduate can be placed in your undergraduate bucket.
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MIT's Requirements
The following two subsections are very simplified summaries of what the registrar needs to see in order to award a masters diploma.
Note that the registrar does not care which classes you take for the department requirements. They check the undergraduate GIRs and the graduate units, and the department is responsible for telling them that you've completed the department requirements by recommending you for a degree.
Bachelor's Degree
- The classes in the undergraduate bucket must cumulatively satisfy the General Institute Requirements (GIRs)
- At least 180 units beyond your GIRs must be in your undergrad bucket.
- The EECS department recommends you for your bachelors after ensuring that you've satisfied your department requirements.
Master's Degree
The Registration checks that you have:
- 24 units of thesis must be in your graduate bucket (you can not receive gpa credit for more than 24 units of thesis no matter how many you register for; you must be registered for thesis in the grading period that you submit it).
- At least 42 total AAGS units from at least 4 classes must be in your graduate bucket.
- At least 90 total units (including thesis and AAGS units and other credit) must be in your graduate bucket.
- The EECS department recommends you for your masters after ensuring that you've satisfied your department requirements.
The EECS Departmental Requirements
The following are the EECS departmental requirements.
Note that the EECS department could care less about which classes are in which bucket. The department only cares about whether the classes you have taken satisfy the departmental requirements.
Bachelor's Only
- VI-1 (Electrical Engineering) requirements
- VI-2 (Electrical Engineering and Computer Science) requirements
- VI-3 (Computer Science) requirements
Both Master's and Bachelor's
Algorithm for deciding which classes go in which bucket
This algorithm should maximize your graduate GPA:
- Compile a list of all of your classes.
- Place those classes that are used to satisfy your GIRs into a bin labeled "GIR". If multiple classes can satisfy a GIR, choose the class with the fewest units and lowest grade letter.
- Place your 24 thesis units into your graduate bucket.
- Of the remaining classes, place the AAGS class with the highest grade letter into your graduate bucket. Repeat until you have placed at least 42 AAGS units (four classes) into your graduate bucket.
- Of the remaining classes, place the class with the highest grade letter into your graduate bucket. Repeat until there are 90 units in your graduate bucket.
- Of the remaining classes, place the class with the lowest grade letter into your undergraduate bucket. Repeat until there are at least 180 units in your undergraduate bucket.
The above greedy algorithm isn't sophisticated enough to know what to do if you end up with 93 units in your graduate bucket but only 177 units beyond GIRs in your undergrad bucket. However, now that you have a good idea of how buckets work, you should be able to figure it out. Just remember that a class can not be split between the undergraduate and graduate buckets.
