<p>I'm going to be heading to Ann Arbor this fall and had a few questions on the math courses. I got a 5 on calc ab my junior, but really didnt pay much attention in calc bc my senior year (I'm probably gonna get a 2 on the exam). I'm a preadmit in the ross program, but I wanted a good math background. I'm hoping to take up to linear algebra. That being said, which of the three calc II's should i take? I don't want anything super hard, cause it's my freshman year, but I've heard that the honors classes are easier than the normal one. Is that true? any recommendations?</p>
<p>I took 116 (regular calc 2) last fall and my roomate took 156 or whatever Applied Honors Calc II was. We are both engineering.</p>
<p>My experience with 116 is that the material was nothing exceptionally challenging, and the homework load was fair. I did feel that I had a poor GSI, I also had an 8 AM class which i was asleep through more than I was not. The exams for 116, for whatever reason, are <em>ridiculous</em>. The median on our first test was a 61%, the second midterm was a 54, and I don't recall the final's median. I don't know why they make them so difficult (and grade them like *******s). I took 216 the next semester and the averages were all much higher (think 80s) and the tests were significantly easier. </p>
<p>However, with the medians being so low in 116 they are forced to throw a huge curve on it. With a 61 median on the first midterm, I think a 66% was good for an A-. That being said, it was not difficult to get at least a B+ or an A- (or an A) due to the curve. You will feel like **** after the midterm but will be relieved after they announce the curve. </p>
<p>As for my roommate, he described Applied Honors as being much more demanding in terms of homework load, but his tests were much easier and I do believe it was easier to pull an A in that class. I looked at his test, and they were far more straightforward than the stuff I was given in 116. That being said, I don't know if they curve those test....</p>
<p>Any more opinions on the honors math sequence v the regular math sequence. I'm having a difficult time deciding, and I have orientation on Monday.</p>
<p>I took 156 first semester freshman year after getting a 4 on the BC test. It wasn't too bad. I got an A. Nice that it didn't require team homeworks or math labs or gateway tests (all of which seem to be time consuming)</p>
<p>If you can, take applied honors. You avoid all the BS of the regular class, but won't have to deal with the challenge of learning theoretical math that now comes with taking regular honors.</p>
<p>156 is really nice. Very little BS, and its nice to have the same person teaching 4 days a week and a reasonably sized class. If you're willing to put in the work, and have a reasonable knowledge of math, that's the way to go.</p>
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what have you guys heard about math 295? i signed up for it, and it looks interesting.
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<p>It's a legendary class. A few people on this forum have taken it and can tell you more about it (me, dilksy, a few others.) What would you like to know?</p>
<p>I took 116 and got an A-...it really wasn't THAT bad, but the curve was annoying...whatever the average on a test is, that score is set as a B-. You usually have to do about 10 points above the average to get an A- or 15 to get an A. The team homeworks can be frustrating as well when you get stuck in an uncooperative group. The gateways really aren't hard at all, though, so I wouldn't worry about them. I was lucky and had an actual professor for the class....it might have been a lot harder with a hard-to-understand GSI.</p>
<p>It's a rigorous introduction to theoretical math. There might be some people in the class who have been exposed to some of the material and might try and show off, but you shouldn't be discouraged. One of my friends who survived the whole sequence went up to Debacker after the first class and asked "was I supposed to understand any of that?", just because there's lot's of mathematical notation many people have never been exposed to (upside down capital A means "for all", backwards capital E means "there exists", and so on). You'll likely need to work with other people to get the homework done (which is allowed, assuming you don't straight up copy). I'm not sure about office hours. I know he has at least one hour per week devoted to the class, maybe more. You'll also have an undergraduate assistant for the class (I forget who at the moment). They'll grade your homework, run a weekly problem session (either help with the homework or go over interesting topics that there's not time for in lecture), and maybe have office hours once a week.</p>