Having taken Unified more recently than when the OCW material was posted (I took it fall 09 to spring 10), hopefully I can clarify more how it actually works. Unified I and II are taken concurrently sophomore fall as a student enters the aero-astro department, and III and IV are taken the following spring. You learn the material equivalent to the four intro MechE (thermo, structures, fluids, and controls), but it is taught concurrently and totally integrated. There are weekly problem sets and labs which combine 2 or 3 disciplines, and then a weekly exam which focuses on a single discipline (imagine having a 2 hour midterm exam every week). And each semester also has a culminating project which combines all of the disciplines as well.
That said, we call it unified because its actual course numbers are unwieldy (16.001-16.004); while the material is challenging, the real difficulty lies in having four classes thrown at you at once. I can't say whether its any more challenging than J-Lab or 100B, having not taken them, but I do know I am so glad to be done with it.
That said, we call it unified because its actual course numbers are unwieldy (16.001-16.004); while the material is challenging, the real difficulty lies in having four classes thrown at you at once. I can't say whether its any more challenging than J-Lab or 100B, having not taken them, but I do know I am so glad to be done with it.