MIT 18.01 Single Variable Calculus: study plan and how long it takes
The MIT OpenCourseWare playlist is 35 videos and 28.5 hours long. Here's how long it takes at different paces, a week-by-week schedule built from the real videos, and a planner that turns it into your own daily plan.
35 videos · 28.5 hours · MIT OpenCourseWare
MIT 18.01 (Fall 2006), taught by David Jerison, covers single variable calculus: derivatives and their applications, limits and continuity, approximations, curve sketching, optimization, related rates, integration and the fundamental theorem, techniques of integration, and series.
It's a full university course, with exam reviews included in the playlist.
Who it's for: Students taking calculus who want MIT's version of the course, or anyone revising before more advanced maths.
How long does it take?
The full playlist is 28.5 hours across 35 videos. Here's roughly how many days that is at different daily watch times and speeds, counting video time only:
| Daily time | At 1x | At 1.5x | At 2x |
|---|---|---|---|
| 30 min a day | 58 days | 39 days | 29 days |
| 1 h a day | 29 days | 20 days | 15 days |
| 2 h a day | 15 days | 10 days | 8 days |
Make your own schedule
The playlist link is already filled in. Press Plan, set how much time you have each day and your speed, and you'll get a day-by-day schedule with a finish date and a calendar file. It reads the live playlist, so new videos are included.
Week-by-week schedule
A sample plan at 1 hour a day and normal speed, using whole videos so none is split across days. That's 5 weeks in total. For a different pace, start date or speed, use the planner above.
Week 1Videos 1–7 · 5h 48m
Day 1 · 52m
- 1Lec 1 | MIT 18.01 Single Variable Calculus, Fall 200752m
Day 2 · 53m
- 2Lec 2 | MIT 18.01 Single Variable Calculus, Fall 200753m
Day 3 · 50m
- 3Lec 3 | MIT 18.01 Single Variable Calculus, Fall 200750m
Day 4 · 46m
- 4Lec 4 | MIT 18.01 Single Variable Calculus, Fall 200746m
Day 5 · 49m
- 5Lec 5 | MIT 18.01 Single Variable Calculus, Fall 200749m
Day 6 · 48m
- 6Lec 6 | MIT 18.01 Single Variable Calculus, Fall 200748m
Day 7 · 51m
- 7Lec 7: Exam 1 review | MIT 18.01 Single Variable Calculus, Fall 200751m
Week 2Videos 8–14 · 5h 50m
Day 8 · 47m
- 8Lec 9 | MIT 18.01 Single Variable Calculus, Fall 200747m
Day 9 · 52m
- 9Lec 10 | MIT 18.01 Single Variable Calculus, Fall 200752m
Day 10 · 50m
- 10Lec 11 | MIT 18.01 Single Variable Calculus, Fall 200750m
Day 11 · 50m
- 11Lec 12 | MIT 18.01 Single Variable Calculus, Fall 200750m
Day 12 · 53m
- 12Lec 13 | MIT 18.01 Single Variable Calculus, Fall 200753m
Day 13 · 50m
- 13Lec 14 | MIT 18.01 Single Variable Calculus, Fall 200750m
Day 14 · 49m
- 14Lec 15 | MIT 18.01 Single Variable Calculus, Fall 200749m
Week 3Videos 15–21 · 5h 39m
Day 15 · 45m
- 15Lec 16 | MIT 18.01 Single Variable Calculus, Fall 200745m
Day 16 · 47m
- 16Lec 18 | MIT 18.01 Single Variable Calculus, Fall 200747m
Day 17 · 48m
- 17Lec 19 | MIT 18.01 Single Variable Calculus, Fall 200748m
Day 18 · 50m
- 18Lec 20 | MIT 18.01 Single Variable Calculus, Fall 200750m
Day 19 · 50m
- 19Lec 21 | MIT 18.01 Single Variable Calculus, Fall 200750m
Day 20 · 50m
- 20Lec 22 | MIT 18.01 Single Variable Calculus, Fall 200750m
Day 21 · 49m
- 21Lec 23 | MIT 18.01 Single Variable Calculus, Fall 200749m
Week 4Videos 22–28 · 5h 41m
Day 22 · 51m
- 22Lec 24 | MIT 18.01 Single Variable Calculus, Fall 200751m
Day 23 · 49m
- 23Lec 25 | MIT 18.01 Single Variable Calculus, Fall 200749m
Day 24 · 47m
- 24Lec 27 | MIT 18.01 Single Variable Calculus, Fall 200747m
Day 25 · 48m
- 25Lec 28 | MIT 18.01 Single Variable Calculus, Fall 200748m
Day 26 · 49m
- 26Lec 29 | MIT 18.01 Single Variable Calculus, Fall 200749m
Day 27 · 51m
- 27Lec 30 | MIT 18.01 Single Variable Calculus, Fall 200751m
Day 28 · 45m
- 28Lec 31 | MIT 18.01 Single Variable Calculus, Fall 200745m
Week 5Videos 29–35 · 5h 34m
Day 29 · 49m
- 29Lec 32 | MIT 18.01 Single Variable Calculus, Fall 200749m
Day 30 · 49m
- 30Lec 33 | MIT 18.01 Single Variable Calculus, Fall 200749m
Day 31 · 49m
- 31Lec 35 | MIT 18.01 Single Variable Calculus, Fall 200749m
Day 32 · 49m
- 32Lec 36 | MIT 18.01 Single Variable Calculus, Fall 200749m
Day 33 · 50m
- 33Lec 37 | MIT 18.01 Single Variable Calculus, Fall 200750m
Day 34 · 48m
- 34Lec 38 | MIT 18.01 Single Variable Calculus, Fall 200748m
Day 35 · 39m
- 35Lec 39 | MIT 18.01 Single Variable Calculus, Fall 200739m
Tips for finishing
- Do problems from the OCW problem sets after each lecture; calculus only sticks with practice.
- Use the exam review lectures as checkpoints: if a review feels unfamiliar, revisit that unit before moving on.