<h2>Has anyone on here taken MIT's 18.014 Calculus with Theory course? What did you think of it?</h2>
<p>I'm just a high school junior, so I really don't have a good reason for asking this question. I glanced at the psets on MIT OCW and the course looks freaking amazing, so I'm just curious to hear your thoughts. :)</p>
<p>I was a math major and knew a bunch of people who took it, and for the right student, it is indeed amazing. But there is also the “Law of the Extraneous Digit”, which states that you never want to take a class with an extraneous digit lightly and without a very good reason. If you do not know precisely WHY you are taking (say) 8.022 versus 8.02, then don’t do it. Most of us do not need to worry that the slow MIT students in the standard course will hold us back.</p>
<p>I never took 18.014, but I always got the impression that it was pretty inviting. Definitely more advanced than 18.01, but it seemed to attract people that were interested in more theoretical math, but had little or no prior experience with it.</p>
<p>I have a friend who took 18.014. She quickly switched to 18.01 because she just did not want to deal with all the proofs and was happy just knowing the applications. Personally I would recommend you to ASE out of 18.014 and take 18.022. THAT class is worth it, a LOT better than 18.02 and has a great balance of application vs. theory. Let me know if you have any more questions about this. </p>
<p>mikalye,</p>
<p>I concur that the Law of the Extraneous Digit is not to be trifled with. I was talked into taking 8.012 and 8.022 as a freshman. While I learned alot, they were the most challenging courses I took. Fortunately it was pass/fail so you could take a bit of a risk. Also Guth taught 8.022 which was pretty cool.</p>
<p>I’ll note that 8.011 and 8.021 are actually slightly easier versions of the normal courses, and 8.01L is an extended version of 8.01 (identical material, but goes more slowly and extends into IAP).</p>