The MIT Challenge -- Learning 4 Years in 12 Months (Without Taking Classes)

Over the next 12 months I plan to learn MIT's entire 4-year curriculum for computer science, without taking any classes (or even being enrolled at MIT).

If you want to get updates on how the challenge progresses, as well as the learning insights and free self-education material I'm using, subscribe to this YouTube channel.

Here's a full list of the courses I plan on taking (although these may change slightly as I progress):

8.01: Physics I -- Classical Mechanics
18.01: Single Variable Calculus
18.02: Multi-Variable Calculus
6.01: Introduction to Electrical Engineering and Computer Science I
8.02: Physics II -- Electromagnetism
6.01: Introduction to Electrical Engineering and Computer Science II
5.111: Principles of Chemical Science
7.012: Introduction to Biology
18.03: Differential Equations
6.002: Circuits and Electronics
6.003: Signals and Systems
6.004: Computation Structures
6.042J: Mathematics for Computer Science
6.006: Introduction to Algorithms
6.005: Elements of Software Construction
6.033: Computer Systems Engineering
6.046J: Design and Analysis of Algorithms
6.013: Electromagnetics and Applications
6.041: Probabilistic Systems Analysis and Applied Probability
6.011: Introduction to Communication, Control and Signal Processing
6.450: Principles of Digital Communication
6.034: Artificial Intelligence
6.801: Machine Vision
6.837: Computer Graphics
18.06: Linear Algebra
14.01: Principles of Microeconomics
14.02: Principles of Macroeconomics
24.222: Decisions, Games and Rational Choice
24.241: Logic I
24.244: Modal Logic
14.23: Government Regulation of Industry
14.20: Industrial Organization and Competitive Strategy
14.48J: Economics of Education

[Genghiskaran]

Im with you man. Im teaching myself chem physics and math. In a year i see myself doing algorithms. I know this is possible.

[PepRordas]

omfg fr this video is so motivational you can get whatever you want and this is the proof of it.

[LittleArtisticNook]

This is so inspirational! I have my degree in education and right now I want to study English Literature and creative writing and would love to get a second degree but can’t afford to go back to school or take out more student debt. So, like you, I’ve created my own self-study course that I’m planning on completing in the coming year. I honestly find self-study so much more enriching and educational. I’m really looking forward to seeing how this all came out for you!

[vikrant]

How you don't have millions subs ?!!!
I'm sure this will be helpful everyone, why didn't I found this sooner....
You are absolute MAD LAD !

[lived]

CS is a compact and finite field. The prerequisite classes are universal among all majors. If you already grasp the core concepts in CS such as OO, compiler theory, machine learning, linguistics, etc, then you shouldn't have any trouble accomplishing your goal. In other words, if you've learned this once, or at least have been introduced to it, this challenge is not as daunting as you make it out to be. MIT courses are not any more magical than that of other universities'.

[flwrstrm]

scott, i've been following your blog for about 4 years, and this is the most excited i've been about anything you write, advertise, or just do. good luck, and i'd love to hear how your work goes.

when i first read your blog title, the feel of epic-ness was proportional to epic meal time. that's how epic it is!

[nametakenfan]

Part of the reason why this is a challenge is to push the boundaries of what a person's capable of. If it was easy, why would anyone care? I say if he can pull it off, great. If not, he'll have given it his best shot. At the very least he's helping to inspire people who either can't afford to become a cs student but don't think the degree route is the only way to learn.

[nguoikechuyenlichsu]

Thank Scott, I'm from Viet Nam. I have known Open Courses of MIT long time before, but I have never tried to do anything and haven't known where I could begin. I also watched your clips as well as visited your blog. They deeply impressed to me. Thank you a lots

[joshcovert]

Taking advantage of time and the learning curve, I love the the optimism of the human spirit geared towards infinity

[MomochiZab]

Also Thankyou for the motivation video, got my finals next week, and i been struggling to stay focused. =)

[andreyu]

that's cool, can't wait to see it ! and good luck ofc.

[flipballaz]

what your doing is amazing! i love all ur challenges dude so interesting!

[raefoe]

I'm a senior in CS at MIT, and I can tell you that if you're skimping on the assignments or labs at all, you're not going to learn much. And that's just the bare minimum. The degree is worthless if you haven't been concurrently learning from your own projects. Those classes are just a way to rigorously learn the foundations.

This stunt doesn't sound like it'll be much fun. I'd spend the year independently learning how to code instead...that's what most of us nerds did in middle school xD

[Insanity]

Hey, I saw you completed this on your blog. Congratulations man, much respect from a physics student at KUL (Belgium)!

[alexandrahably]

Hi! I have watched some of your videos, and i find them really helpful! Thanks for sharing!

[premkumarmahanandia]

Scott young I'm really inspired by your hard work and dedication, you proved that nothing is impossible, I want to do the same.

[samsmd]

I enjoy reading your posts Scott, keep it up!

[ScottHYoungVid]

@kunjaan - True, but the goal of MIT CS isn't just to build things, it's to have a deep understanding of how to solve higher level problems, as witnessed by the high % of courses which have over 50% of the grade based on a written final exam, with actual programming assignments being relatively minor. Building things matters, but I'm here to learn CS, first and foremost.

[falconlin]

well i'm doing exactly the same thing LOL. Love to hear somebody did this craze thing.

[TheArakan]

I study at technical university in Czech Republic and am quite surprised about this MIT course.. Seems way too easy - we have three years Bachelors course and do more technical subjects in the same time-span. That's possible because we don't have any economics, which has nothing to do with Computer Science. You can take then as elective subjects if you want. And we have it completely free.. You even get paid, if your average mark is good.. Seems like US education system needs some reforms.

And by the way - good job doing this challenge :)