Archived Announcements

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Current announcements are available here.

Announcements for (Mon, March 3 - Fri, March 7)

  • The midterm exam will be on Wednesday, March 19, 2025, from 7:30 PM to 9:30 PM. Please review midterm logistics, including about deadline for requesting conflict exam or accommodations, exam room sign-ups, and practice midterms.

  • The Registrar has posted the MIT Final Exams Schedule. The 6.390 final will be held on Monday, May 19, 2025, from 9AM to 12 PM, at Johnson Track. The Registrar will also schedule a Conflict Exam for 6.390, and will announce that schedule after Drop Date. For cross-registered 6.390 students who have a schedule conflict with the May 19 final exam, we expect to make the 6.390 conflict exam time (as scheduled by the MIT Registrar) available to them as well.

  • For both Monday and Wednesday class meetings, you are expected to attend your assigned section only. Section self-signup is open via this form.

Announcements for (Mon, Feb 24 - Fri, Feb 28)

  • The midterm exam will be on Wednesday, March 19, 2025, from 7:30 PM to 9:30 PM. Please review midterm logistics, including about deadline for requesting conflict exam or accommodations, exam room sign-ups, and practice midterms.

  • The Registrar has posted the MIT Final Exams Schedule. The 6.390 final will be held on Monday, May 19, 2025, from 9AM to 12 PM, at Johnson Track. The Registrar will also schedule a Conflict Exam for 6.390, and will announce that schedule after Drop Date. For cross-registered 6.390 students who have a schedule conflict with the May 19 final exam, we expect to make the 6.390 conflict exam time (as scheduled by the MIT Registrar) available to them as well.

  • For both Monday and Wednesday class meetings, you may attend your assigned section only. Section self-signup is open via this form.

Announcements for (Mon, Feb 17 - Fri, Feb 21)

  • Monday Feb 17: No class meetings, no office hours (President's Day).

  • Tuesday Feb 18: Follows Monday schedule. Recitation at usual Monday section times/rooms here. Monday office hours will be held.

  • Tip: Use Google Calendar view to track schedule shifts like this.

  • For both Monday and Wednesday class meetings, you may attend your assigned section only. Section self-signup is open via this form.

  • Headsup: The Registrar has posted the MIT Final Exams Schedule. The 6.390 final will be held on Monday, May 19 2025, from 9AM to 12 PM Eastern Time, at Johnson Track. The Registrar will also schedule a Conflict Exam for 6.390, and will announce that schedule after Drop Date. For cross-registered 6.390 students who have a schedule conflict with the May 19 final exam, we expect to make the 6.390 conflict exam time (as scheduled by the MIT Registrar) available to them as well.

Announcements for (Mon, Feb 10 - Fri, Feb 14)

  • Tip: Keep an eye out for 6.390 announcements on the 6.390 Home Page right here.

  • If you missed the Lab for week 1 on Wed, Feb 5, do not worry; you can still work the questions on the lab and have a checkoff in Office Hours for full credit before the lab checkoff due (Tue, Feb 11 at 9pm).

  • For both Monday and Wednesday class meetings, you may attend your assigned section only. Our section times/rooms can be found here. Section self-signup is open via this form for students who might wish to make any section changes.

  • Use the Progress page for keeping track of assignments completed and partial progress.

Announcements (semester-start matters)

Welcome to 6.390! We’re excited to work with all of you this spring!

  1. First Class Meeting

    Our first class meeting will be a Recitation on Monday, Feb. 3. Please attend your registrar-assigned section. You can find your section assignment next to your Kerberos after logging in. (Here's a demo showing what it looks like.) If you have a conflict or if no section is listed next to your Kerberos, you may attend any section for this first class. Section times and locations are listed here. Sections 1, 3, 5, and 7 may have more space.

    After this first class, you will be expected to attend only your assigned section. If you need to switch or sign up for a section, see below for switching instructions.

  2. Section Self-Switch

    Self-signup for section changes opens Monday, Feb. 3, at 5 PM via this form. There is no need to contact the course staff to request a section change—all adjustments should be made through the self-signup system.

  3. Course Syllabus, Info, and Policies

    Please refer to the Calendar page for the syllabus and course events. The pages linked from the top menu contain lots of important information about the subject. Please read them carefully.

Pre-semester Information

👋 Hi there! Welcome to 6.390!

1) Course Overview §

6.390 introduces the principles and algorithms of machine learning from an optimization perspective. Topics include linear and non-linear models for supervised, unsupervised, and reinforcement learning, with a focus on gradient-based methods and neural-network architectures. Enrollment may be limited.

2) Prerequisites §

Concretely, things we expect you to know (we use these constantly, but don’t teach them explicitly):

2.1) Programming §

  • Intermediate Python, including the notion of classes.
  • Exposure to algorithms – ability to understand & discuss pseudo-code, and implement in Python.

2.2) Linear Algebra §

  • Fundamental matrix concepts and manipulations, e.g., rank, multiplication, and inverse.
  • Points and planes in high-dimensional space.
  • Basic matrix calculus, e.g., gradients.

6.1010 or 6.1210 can serve as the programming prerequisite. 18.06, 18.C06, 18.03, or 18.700 can serve as the linear algebra prerequisite.

(For each of these courses above, a link points to a representative syllabus from some past semesters, for reference.)

3) Class Meeting and Sections §

We will be meeting for Lectures on Fridays, Recitations on Mondays, and Labs on Wednesdays.

3.1) Lectures §

Friday lectures focus to anchor the upcoming week's discussion, overview the technical contents, and tie together the high-level motivations, concepts, and stories. Along with notes, they prepare students for the upcoming Monday recitations and Wednesday labs.

Lectures will be held class-wide, in Room 10-250, Fridays 11am-12pm. Recordings will be made available shortly after live sessions. Our first lecture will be on Friday, Feb. 7.

3.2) Recitation and Lab sections §

Monday recitations focus on discussing examples and working through pen-paper problems. Wednesday labs engage students with each other in small teams (typically two to three students per team) and with staff, to explore fundamental concepts.

Recitations and Labs will be held in small sections. We have seven sections planned. Each student will be assigned into one section.

    Section Time Room
    1 Mon & Wed, 9:30am-11am 34-501
    2 Mon & Wed, 9:30am-11am 32-044
    3 Mon & Wed, 11am-12:30pm 34-501
    4 Mon & Wed, 11am-12:30pm 32-044
    5 Mon & Wed, 1pm-2:30pm 34-501
    6 Mon & Wed, 1pm-2:30pm 32-044
    7 Mon & Wed, 2:30pm-4pm 34-501

First class meeting

Our first class meeting will be a Recitation on Monday, Feb. 3. Please attend your registrar-assigned section. You can find your section assignment next to your Kerberos after logging in. (Here's a demo of what it looks like.) If you have a conflict or were not assigned a section (i.e., no section info appears next to your Kerberos), you may attend any section. Sections 1, 3, 5, and 7 may have more space.

After this first class, you will be expected to attend only your assigned section. If you need to switch or sign up for a section, a self-signup mechanism will open Monday, Feb. 3, at 5 PM via this form. There is no need to contact the course staff to request a section change—all adjustments should be made through the self-signup system.

4) Cross-registration §

  • We appreciate your interest in the course. Our space is limited, so cross-registration requests are considered on a rolling basis as spaces become available. To ensure your request is reviewed, please fill out this form to join our course waitlist. If we are able to approve your request, you will hear back from us via email by Friday, January 31. Please note that our approval email is not an official cross-registration; the official request must still be initiated through the Harvard or Wellesley Registrar.

  • We follow MIT's Academic Calendar, and do not have additional extensions or accommodations based on home university calendar. Especially important will be for you to plan ahead for our two in-person exams.

  • We'll have a midterm exam during the week of March 17–21 (exact time and location to be finalized). We'll also have a final exam during MIT's final exam period, Friday, May 16 through Wednesday, May 21; the final exam is to be scheduled by the Registrar.

  • If you're not familiar with MIT campus, you might find the whereis site helpful.

5) Listeners §

Due to capacity and other constraints, we will not accept Listener registrants in 6.390 this semester.

6) Course Number Change§

Since fall22, all MIT EECS (Course 6) subjects have been renumbered (rationale and details can be found here). This subject used to be called 6.036; moving forward, we'll refer to it internally as 6.390 ("six three-nine-oh"). But for registration purposes, please register for 6.3900 (note the extra zero).

7) Other Questions?§

Feel free to drop us an email at 6.390-inquiry@mit.edu. We'd love to hear from you!