<p>Hi, I am a high school senior currently awaiting decisions from my colleges. I am planning to major in applied mathematics and assuming I get into berkeley, how would I go about preparing for its intense coursework? I come from a public school located in a poor area, so the course load here is not quite as hard as other places. I am a highly motivated student hoping to apply my analytical skills that I will develop from learning math to the finance industry. Any tips or recommendations will be greatly appreciated and thanks in advance!!</p>
<p>how good at your at math? I got a 5 on the AP Calc BC test and dropped 1B after realizing mathematics at Berkeley shouldn’t be considered “math”. It’s way more intense, logical and, overally, @#$@##$ HARD.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Figure out why you really feel the stuff in the math major => financial mathematics excites you. The fewer the surprises, the better you’ll feel. This is more important than taking a million classes.</p>
<p>Im currently taking AP Calc AB and im acing all the tests, and I know that really doesn’t mean anything since most of the applied math majors going to berkeley have done the same. I think what really appeals to me about math is that it takes tons of logic and reasoning, and I really want to develop that. I also have a hobby of reading books on stocks and investing, so I was thinking about trying to apply to grad school in financial mathematics, like mathboy98 suggested! @mathboy98, have you taken most of the math courses at berkeley? If so, how did you go about studying and developing your reasoning and logic for the coursework? Thanks!!</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Exactly how I said – I made sure every course I took, I was suitably motivated to take, and really thought about what it was going to cover and why I wanted to do it.</p>
<p>alright thanks mathboy!!</p>
<p>In your first year at Berkeley as an undergrad, audit one graduate course in an applied math course. You’ll have a front row seat to witness what mathematics is about, and whether that is what you want to study for four years.</p>
<p>Oh ok awesome, can anyone sign up to audit a graduate course? Also, is it possible to take graduate courses while still in undergrad?</p>
<p>It is, but you should know that you should be <em>really</em> prepared if you’re going to have the maturity to do it. Those classes will be populated by extremely talented people, having graduated with top honors from top notch schools and with 4 years of rigorous mathematics behind them; the professor teaches to the level of graduate students, not undergrads. It will only be profitable if you know a lot of things, because the explicitly stated prerequisites often under-represent what you should know.</p>
<p>oh ok thank you for making that clear mathboy98!</p>
<p>Kinda bumping this thread. I was thinking about double majoring in pre-business/haas and applied math. But from the looks of it applied math seems extremely rigorous? Do you think this combo i had in mind is doable? I just really wanted some quantitative stuff in addition to my business major (which is what I’m mostly interested in).</p>
<p>my friend was going to do Applied Math/Pre-Haas but he dropped the idea after Math 1B.</p>
<p>Maths is not something you can do unless you really are interested in it. It’s not something where you can just do the work – you have to think very uniquely. For some, it’s just a natural step, for others, it’s just not doable because they either can’t appreciate the subtle thinking or don’t have the energy to put in.</p>