Academic terms

Fall and spring terms: Registration is completed online (https://registration.mit.edu). Students must meet the medical requirements for registration.

Registration must be submitted to the Registrar’s Office by the end of the first week of term. Registration submitted (online) after this deadline is subject to a $50 late fee. Failure to complete registration by the end of the second week of the term will result in the loss of student status.

After the end of the fifth week, graduate students must petition the Office of Graduate Education in order to register. If the petition is approved, a $100 fee is assessed, which includes the late fee and petition fee.

An individual who has not completed registration by the sixth week of the term (the “Add” date) will be considered withdrawn.

Independent Activities Period: Referred to as “IAP,” this four-week period in January, following fall term final examinations, is when faculty members and students are freed from the rigors of regularly scheduled classes for flexible teaching and learning and for independent study and research. Although students must register explicitly for courses offered for academic credit during IAP, this period is not an official term. Rather, it overlaps the regular fall term’s final two weeks and the spring term’s initial two weeks. For administrative convenience, spring term registration follows IAP.

Students should follow directions published in the IAP Guide regarding registration. All subjects giving credit during IAP are to be graded following the grading system approved for that subject number.

Summer term: Many graduate students register in the summer term in order to make more rapid progress toward their degrees. Students who use the summer term to actively work towards satisfying degree requirements must be registered. Details of summer registration procedures may be obtained from the departmental graduate registration officer, or the Registrar’s Office.