<p>octalc0de, this is apples to apples. Science and Engineering majors at other schools are typically required to take and typically take non-proof-based calculus. Obviously, ma1a shouldn’t be a problem for the math majors, but it sometimes is for other majors.</p>
<p>In other words, the large majority of students coming to Caltech (everyone but math/Acm) are going to have to take a class they would be required to take nowhere else! This is sort of important, and it’s definitely unexpected by most incoming freshmen. I don’t know enough higher math to accurately describe the difference between ma1a and standard calc courses, but I do know enough to know they are different.</p>
<p>(And re: fizix’s note, I have also “actually taken” math 1a)</p>
<p>Edit: It’s very nice that “high schoolers” were able to complete the Math 1a final in fifteen minutes, but the implication you’re trying to make is not only blatantly false but is also dangerous. Many, many students at Caltech have trouble with math 1a, so I can only come to a couple of conclusions regarding your statement.</p>
<p>Because many techers have trouble with Math 1a:
Either
The high schoolers were much brighter than the average techer AND were simultaneously “within the realm of standard” (or lower)
Or
The high schoolers were much brighter than the average techer AND were brighter than “standard”
Or
The final was particularly easy</p>
<p>I’ll let the other readers decide which of these seems most plausible, but in my opinion 2 and 3 make a lot more sense than 1. </p>
<p>Full disclosure: the only class I ever came close to failing at Caltech was Math 1a.</p>
<p>Ooof, I think what I wrote is very prone to being misunderstood. I apologize. It’s dangerous to start conflating “smart” with “well-prepared.” I feel like half of the people taking Ma1a feel like they’ve been pushed off the deep end of the pool and are very overwhelmed with the material; my complaint is not with the rigor in ma1a but with the preparation that the nation’s “calculus BC” classes give. Specifically, some students have seen this material for a year (or more!) and others are rushed through it, seeing it for their first time, in a very short quarter. Not only that–it’s these students’ first quarter at Tech, and they’re of course busy with other things: fitting in to their house, worrying about other classes, etc.</p>
<p>I agree with the gist of “Caltech is different”, though–it is important to indicate that ma1a is a class that a math major would have to take (or pass out of). The same is true of ph1abc, also a series of classes that non-physics majors find challenging (though I won’t get into how much of a joke practical track is this year). This is a requirement (taking the first two years of a in-major track as a non-major) that is found at very few other schools. What I disagree with is that ma1a is specifically harder than other math department calculus courses.</p>
<p>I was an undergrad at CMU and had to take math classes in the math department as part of my engineering degree and there were very few proofs involved. Typically an exam would consist of 3-4 problems and 1 rather light proof (generally something similar to what had been covered in class). I believe math students took the same Calc 1, Calc 2, Calc 3, and Diff Eq classes, but they had a whole bunch of extra discrete courses where they got to redo a bunch of it in a much more rigorous manner.</p>
<p>I think when you’re talking about the preparation Calc BC gives you, you feel it should be teaching different concepts than what it’s doing. Most people out there have little to no use for proving various things in math, they use it as a tool for their work. For the most part they would be ill-served losing out on the applications of the math for the fundamentals behind it (at least, that’s how I feel).</p>
<p>yup,
like at fau math 1a is called “modern analysis,” => 0_0
and it’s a senior level math major class
people do take it,
just not their first year in college</p>
<p>Well, another possibility is the students looked at the exam and reported they could solve the problems or gave ways to approach them that would lead to the solution. That, however, doesn’t mean it would take them 15 minutes to finish the exam. This is only a possibility, so only the high school students looking at the exam would know whether or not that’s the case.</p>