Concerns over LLM usage cause return to in-person ASEs for Chemistry and Physics departments
The 5.111 and 8.02 ASEs will be held in-person during orientation and IAP 2026, respectively
Colin Clark - The Tech
Colin Clark - The Tech
Concerns about the use of large language models (LLMs) on online Advanced Standing Exams (ASE) have caused the Department of Physics and Department of Chemistry to reinstate in-person exams for 8.02 (Physics II) and 5.111 (Principles of Chemical Science), respectively. The 8.02 ASE will not be offered until the end of IAP 2026. The 5.111 ASE will be held in person on Aug. 25, the first day of Orientation. The departments consulted with the Office of the First Year regarding this decision.
Up until 2019, ASEs were held in-person during Orientation. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, ASEs were held online in the 2020-2021 academic year. In summer 2020, ASEs and the math diagnostic test required students to use ProctorTrack, a test proctoring software using webcam video and audio. However, many students saw the software as an invasion of privacy, leading to its discontinuation.
Although MIT returned to in-person classes in the 2021-2022 academic year, every General Institute Requirement (GIR) ASE (5.111, 7.012, 8.01, 8.02, 18.01, and 18.02), along with the 6.100A ASE, have continued to be administered online. On the other hand, higher-level ASEs (5.12, 8.03, 8.04, 18.03, and 18.06) have returned to an in-person format and happen on Registration Day.
Chemistry Department Head Troy Van Voorhis stated that the department began considering an in-person 5.111 exam last summer. This change was partially due to concerns over the distribution of exam questions through online mediums such as screenshots. “For an online ASE, we must assume that 100% of the problems are ‘out there’ online, which can complicate the process of setting up a fair ASE in future years,” Van Voorhis wrote in a statement to The Tech. The department was also concerned by the potential use of LLMs, such as ChatGPT, on the exam.
Shannon Larkin, the Academic Administrator for the Physics Department, also mentioned LLM usage as a primary reason for the department’s choice to delay the in-person 8.02 ASE to IAP 2026. The department has found LLMs “increasingly able” to solve problems from 8.01 and 8.02 over multiple tests. “We have been seeing responses to [exam] problems that indicate usage [of LLMs], although it is difficult to prove,” Larkin wrote in an email to The Tech. The department did not use LLM detection software for recent online ASEs.
Larkin stated that the department “would have preferred” to offer both the 8.01 and 8.02 ASE in person during Orientation, but the schedule was too full to do so. They decided to offer the 8.01 ASE online so incoming first-year students could obtain credit, while moving the 8.02 ASE to the end of IAP 2026. “We strive to do our best to both accommodate students wishing to take the test while at the same time acknowledging that the temptation to cheat on a high-stakes exam is ever-present,” Larkin wrote.
Other departments (Biology, EECS, and Mathematics) will hold their ASEs online from late July to early August before the start of the 2025-2026 academic year.
The Department of Biology plans to continue offering the 7.012 ASE online. Biology Department Head Amy Keating stated that the department has not noticed a change in student performance on the biology ASE and does not currently plan to change the exam’s format.
Although the Mathematics Department plans to hold the 18.01 and 18.02 ASE exams online this summer, Associate Department Head William Minicozzi shared that the department will look into the performance of LLMs on the ASEs and changes in student performance. “This is part of a larger issue about assessments in general,” Minicozzi wrote. “The LLMs are constantly evolving and our policies will be evolving as well.”
On the other hand, the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science (EECS) has discussed plans for the return of an in-person 6.100 ASE, but no changes have been made yet. According to Senior Instructor Ana Bell, the pass rates of tests up to spring 2025 are “comparable at first glance,” but statistical analyses have not been conducted to confirm any significant differences.