Learning 4 Years of MIT in 12 Months

Starting October 1st, I’m embarking on a new challenge. Watch the video above or read below to find out more (if you’re reading this twice, don’t worry, I accidentally posted it before the video was finished)

The MIT Challenge — 4 Years of Learning in 12 Months

Over the next 12 months, I’m going to learn the entire 4-year MIT curriculum for computer science, without taking any classes.

Computers have always fascinated me. From finance to Facebook, algorithms are the hidden language that underlies most of our life. The largest transformations of our world are being written in code, and advancements in artificial intelligence allow us to use computers to understand what it means to be human.

Beyond the poetry of the machine, computer science is also immensely practical. Fortunes have been made and revolutions sparked on lines of code.

I’ve always wanted to speak that language. But, I didn’t want to invest four years of my life and hundreds of thousands of dollars to learn it.

I’m embarking on this experiment because I want to show that learning doesn’t require acceptance boards and SAT tests, thousands of dollars in debt, or even the 4-year pace most students assume is necessary to learn a subject.

Will I fail? It’s definitely a possibility—people a lot smarter than myself struggle through immense workloads at institutions like MIT, and I’m attempting to learn the same material at 4x the speed, without the benefit of instructors.

All I can promise is to share what I find with you. Listed here are all 33 classes I’ll be covering. For each of them, I’ll write the final exam and you can compare my answers to the MIT official solutions. I’ll also post any failures, so you can be sure I’m not omitting my mistakes.

Subscribe to my new YouTube channel as well, as I’ll be making regular video updates to the challenge as well as sharing insights in learning faster and self-education.

What are your thoughts? I’d love to hear what you think of the challenge in the comments!