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Overview

There are many reasons to visit or contact the Eliot House Office. If you have questions about specific College policies, are having difficulty with a course, are applying to graduate programs, or have a housing question, you should consider us as your first stop.

Your student file is housed in the Eliot Office while you are a resident and for an additional four years after that. If you've been gone for longer than that, there is no need to worry because we can still help you get information from your student file or otherwise.

The House Office also has a number of forms that you might need while you are here. Unless otherwise stated, we will take care of sending the form to the Registrar's Office (20 Garden Street). Just bring your forms to the office for the Resident Dean's signature afterit has been signed by all other required parties. Below are some guidelines for filling out the most requested academic forms.

Add/Drop/Withdraw
Pass/Fail
Cross Registration
Change of Concentration

To submit add/drop petitions you should:

  1. Pick up a form from the House Office or the Registrar's Office
  2. Complete the form with a Number 2 pencil
  3. Get the signature of the course instructor (if you are adding a course)
  4. Get your Concentration Adviser's signature
  5. Bring the form back to the House Office for the Resident Dean to review and sign.

To submit pass/fail petitions you should:

  1. Pick up a form from the House Office or the Registrar's Office
  2. Complete the form using a ball point pen
  3. Get the signature of the course instructor (if changing the course from letter-graded to pass-fail status)
  4. Get your Concentration Adviser's signature
  5. Bring the form back to the House Office for the Resident Dean to review and sign.

Cross-Registration

The College allows you to enroll in courses at other Schools within the University and at MIT. To submit a Cross-Registration petition to the FAS Registrar:

  1. Get a form from the House Office or the Registrar's Office
  2. Complete the form entirely and sign it using a ball point pen.
  3. Get the course instructor at the other school to sign the form
  4. Get the signature of the other school's Registrar (some schools use a stamp)
  5. Bring it to the House Office for the Resident Dean to review and sign

Change of Concentration

The form to change your concentration is available on your advising portal website and is named "Plan of Study".

  1. To change concentrations, you will need to first meet with an adviser in the department you wish to switch into, so that you can be sure that you can fulfill all of the requirements in your remaining time at the College.
  2. Once the you have had that conversation with the new department, you use the Plan of Study tool on the Registrar's website and update it to reflect your change, following the same steps you took when you declared your concentration initially.
  3. Print out your new Plan of Study and get required signatures before bringing to the House Office for the Resident Dean to review and sign.