- Centrally located 14-room suite houses the program on the MIT main campus
- Core curriculum (GIRs) offered in biology, chemistry, math, physics, and the humanities
- Small class sizes, typically 6 to 12 students
- Interactive/Proactive learning
- Discussion-based and contextualized learning whenever possible
- Exploration of each student’s personal learning style encouraged
- Flexibility of schedule (at least 2 GIRs in the fall and 1 GIR in the spring at ESG, but students can take other classes outside of ESG)
- Population: 55 first-year students, 25-40 upperclass TAs, 11 staff members
- Hands-on, interactive seminars (mostly in the spring)
- TA training program for first-time ESG TAs
- Community activities within and outside of ESG
- Daily opportunities for casual social interaction outside of the classroom
- Accessible teaching and advising staff, all housed within the ESG space
- Community kitchen; weekly ESG luncheons and food for study sessions
ESG at a Glance
The main features of MIT’s original first-year learning community can be summarized by the following:
