This info given by Sam Lipoff over cabot-open on 2/6/04
As someone asked, I thought I would provide some information about cross-registering at MIT. Besides the factual information to follow, let me editorialize for just a moment. =)
I've taken a couple of courses at MIT now, and they were both great experiences. Maybe they were the kinds of course you expect people to take at MIT (computational mechanics and crystal physics) but there are really all sorts of interesting courses. Many people do take science and engineering courses there, but many people also take management courses (like accounting) at the Sloan School. Unfortunately, few people look beyond that--there are all sorts of interesting humanities and social science courses offered at MIT, and no one has the right to complain about Harvard not offering Asian-American Studies, film studies, etc. until they've taken all of the (many) courses offered at MIT in those fields!
Looking through http://student.mit.edu/catalog you can take courses like 21F.045 (Kung-Fu Cinema), 24.261 (Concepts of Love and Sex), 21A.211 (Magic, Witchcraft, and the Spirit World), or 21M.292 (Music of Indonesia), as well as lots of interesting science, engineering, and management courses. Of course, Harvard is great, and there are wonderful courses here, but it's always nice to look at MIT, no matter what your concentration is, because maybe you find the one *perfect* course down the street! At least, go down there are "shop" some MIT courses!
The actual cross-registration procedure is a snap. Get the cross-registration form from the registrar's office at Harvard. If you want the course to count towards your concentration (and not just general degree credit) you need to get the signature of your concentration's head tutor. Just go to the MIT class on the first day, get the MIT professor's signature, and turn in one copy of the form to the MIT Student Services Center in 11-120 (that's building 11, floor 1, room 20). They you can come back, get your senior tutor to sign another attached copy, and turn that in at the Harvard registrar's office. You can go the MIT ID card office and get your own spiffy MIT ID, along with a computer account and library privileges.
Getting to MIT for class is also surprisingly easy. Both the Number 1 bus and the LMA (Longwood Medical Area) shuttle leave from Johnston Gate and Lamont Library to MIT very frequently (and the LMA shuttle is free!) but you can also take the T to Kendall (just two stops inbound). It's amazingly fast--once the T comes to Harvard, it makes it to Kendall in less than six minutes. While I wouldn't recommend scheduling an MIT course with no time in-between a Harvard course (realistically, leave at least half an hour), I have walked into the T station on the hour, and been in my MIT course by ten past.
Here are some helpful websites in the quest to cross-register at MIT.
Subject Listings and Schedule (course catalog):
http://student.mit.edu/catalog
MIT Departmental Homepage Listings:
http://web.mit.edu/academics.html
MIT Registrar's Instructions for Harvard Students:
http://registrar.mit.edu/xregi4h.html
Official Harvard Instructions for Cross Registration:
http://www.registrar.fas.harvard.edu/handbooks/student/chapter2/registration.html#xregis
Pay attention to the calendar, as the MIT schedule is a little different. The first day of classes in on February fourth, and the cross-registration forms needs to be in by February twenty first. The MIT spring semester actually overlaps very closely with the Harvard spring semester although the fall semesters are a bit further apart because MIT starts a little less than a week earlier, and final exams are before Winter break. Neither difference is a big deal.
If you want to take a course at the Sloan School it might be a little bit more complicated. They use some sort of a linear optimization algorithm to schedule the MIT students through a pre-registration system so take a look at their website:
There's also a specific website for Harvard students cross registering:
http://sloanbid.mit.edu/bidinfo/HarvardXReg.html
Good luck!
Addition made by Stephen Kargere on 1/25/06:
If you cross-register with MIT, the grade will indeed appear on her transcript, but it will not be factored into your GPA unless you are using the course for concentration credit. You are allowed to take the course P/F if you wish; you just need to have the instructor sign in the appropriate box on her cross-reg petition. You should also be aware that MIT does not record pluses or minuses in their final grades, so if you earn a B+ in the course, it will be recorded as a straight B.