Use of Freshman Grades for Scholarships or Other Purposes

Sometimes freshmen are asked for their first-semester grades when applying for scholarships or internships or for proof of good standing for insurance or other purposes. Since MIT does not release letter grades for freshmen, here are the procedures for obtaining official copies of your hidden grades or providing proof of enrollment.

If you are applying for a scholarship or other purpose that requires you to submit a transcript or proof of enrollment:

• You can get a copy of your external transcript from the Student Services Center, room 11-120. Because freshmen are on Pass/No Record grading, your external transcript will show only a P grade for all subjects passed. (Subjects not passed do not show up on the external transcript.

• You can order an Enrollment Certificate from the Registar's Office, which provides provide proof of your current enrollment and is commonly sent to health insurance, car insurance, or credit card companies.
  

If you are applying for a scholarship or other purpose that requires you to submit actual grades:

Your freshman internal grades are meant to be seen only by you and your advisor for advising purposes. Your first-term grades are unofficial and therefore cannot be released to third parties outside of MIT.

You cannot use the student copy of your internal grades because your name does not appear on it, nor can your advisor give you a copy of your hidden grades. See whether this explanation will satisfy the people asking you for grades.

If the scholarship or organization absolutely requires your internal (hidden) grades, do the following:

You need to go to the Undergraduate Academic Administrator in each department in which you took a class (Physics, Math, etc.) to ask her/him to write a letter. These department administrators are accustomed to doing this for freshmen, so don't worry that you are making an unusual request.

The letter should be addressed to you, and should state, "[Your name] took 8.01 (or 18.01, etc.) under the MIT freshman Pass/No Record grading system. Had an official grade been recorded for you, it would have been an X [whatever grade you received]."

You may then forward a copy of this letter on to the scholarship for which you are applying.