Advanced Standing

Advanced Standing Examinations (ASE)

ASEs are offered four times a year: during Orientation Week, at the end of IAP, and during final-examination weeks of the fall and spring terms. See the Office of the Registrar site for details, ASE applications/petitions, and general MIT procedures.

  • You may take an ASE in each subject only once.
  • A passing grade on an ASE confers full credit for the subject.
  • Grades for IAP exams are posted to the spring record.

For Incoming Students

The Mathematics Department administers ASEs for 18.01, 18.02, 18.03, and 18.06.

The 18.01 ASE is divided into two parts. Passing the first part completes an entrance requirement for 18.01A. Passing both parts earns credit for 18.01. No pre-registration is required for incoming freshmen to take the orientation-period exam(s) in 18.01 and/or 18.02. The ASE exam schedules for 18.01 and 18.02 are included in the "freshman packet" sent to you by the Admissions Office and on the First-Year website.

For 18.03 and/or 18.06, you must apply for permission to take the exam and complete the required homework which is to be turned in at the time of the exam. For permission and homework packets, contact Galina Lastovkina, galina@math.mit.edu.

If you fail the exam, no record will be kept other than an internal notation that you attempted the exam. If you pass the exam, the notation on your permanent record will be a "P."

Units for ASEs passed in the orientation and end-of-January exam periods do not count toward your credit load limit. Units for exams taken at the end of fall and spring terms do count toward your credit load limit. This means that, as a first-year student, you most likely cannot take ASEs at the end of the fall or spring term because the 12 credits earned would cause you to exceed your credit limit for that term.

For Sophomores, Juniors, and Seniors

You must petition to take an advanced-standing exam. The petition requires your signature and that of your advisor and someone in the Math Academic Services (MAS) office. Submit the approved petition to the Student Services Center, room 11-120, or to the Registrar's Office, room 5-111, by the deadline listed in the MIT Academic Calendar. Deadlines are at least three weeks before the exams. You will be notified about the status of your petition by the Registrar's Office shortly after the submission deadline. This notification will include the time and place of the exam. If you decide not to take the exam after your petition is approved, notify the MAS before the exam takes place.

Your letter grade appears on your permanent record but is not incorporated into your term or cumulative rating.

In addition to 18.01, 18.02, 18.03, and 18.06, some other Mathematics Department ASEs are offered occasionally, for example 18.04 and 18.05. Contact the Math Academic Services Office for information.