<p>I have been taking classes at the University of Chicago. How hard is it to place out of classes at Caltech? What are the placement exams like?</p>
<p>Start around reply #36.</p>
<p>for the placement tests, are there sample tests we can look at?</p>
<p>nocloud:</p>
<p>I'm afraid not. Looking at the course website and the problem sets, midterms, and finals is a good way to go, however.</p>
<p>can anybody provide me with a link where i can find the problem sets, etc for the courses that would be relevant to me at this point?</p>
<p><a href="http://www.math.caltech.edu/courses.html%5B/url%5D">http://www.math.caltech.edu/courses.html</a> </p>
<p>thanks for the link</p>
<p>i took a look at this problem set:
<a href="http://www.math.caltech.edu/classes/ma_9/05ma1aSec1Sol1.pdf%5B/url%5D">http://www.math.caltech.edu/classes/ma_9/05ma1aSec1Sol1.pdf</a> </p>
<p>the problems there are pretty scaryyyy</p>
<p>a math professor of mine said it best once a long time ago: "it's very easy. all you have to do is understand."</p>
<p>nocloud-</p>
<p>A few of those problems are harder and very different from what'll you see on the placement exam (Although I wouldn't call any of them "scary"). You want to look at the standard Ma1a sets, not the early 0.9 section problems. </p>
<p>i think im confused.. but is there a typo in the solution for the first problem? shouldn't there be a +(n+1)^2 at the end of the left side of the last three lines? im dont understand where it went!!</p>
<p>Yes, that's a typo.</p>
<p>Does anyone know what the placement tests for more advanced classes are like? I want to test out of Math5, at least two quarters of Math108, and two quarters of Math109.</p>
<p>^ wow (10 chars)</p>
<p>you're right, gilly. there's a typo. that doesn't happen too frequently, but in this case the answer is the same.</p>
<p>neapol1s, in most cases there are no placement exams for more advanced classes, but if you really feel up to it, you could probably ask them to make you take an old final. Make sure you can prove things on a problem set like this first though:</p>
<p>neapol1s -- You talk to the prof. It is usually an oral/short written exam like the problem sets, and the reward is that you get to fulfill the requirement by taking the more advanced course in the same sequence. But be warmed -- the courses are harder than comparable courses at most other institutions (though Chicago might be on par), and the rare frosh who have tried to place out of these courses pretty much always ended up regretting it in 120/110/151. So just keep an open mind to revising your plan if you realize the level of the courses is different from what you expected. See if you can do the problems on the sets posted on the 5/108/109 pages. </p>
<p>Then you should certainly talk to the profs to gauge the level of your preparation.</p>
<p>(Can you do this</a> problem set? How about this?</a>)</p>
<p>In the class of 2009, there's exactly one person (an IMO gold medalist) who has placed out of Ma5. (And at least IMO gold medalist who's taking the class)</p>
<p>Not a single frosh has placed out of Ma108. In fact, there's only two or three freshman that are taking the class.</p>
<p>As for Ma109, I don't know of anyone that's even taking it their freshman year. I'm not saying that it's impossible to place out of or even a super tough class, but math majors typically take this their sophomore years at the earliest. (A lot take it junior year)</p>
<p>Ben is definitely more knowledgeable about this than me, but if one successfully places out of all those classes prior to freshman year, I would assume it would be one of the most amazing, greatest course-related accomplishments in Caltech history.</p>
<p>And that IMO gold medalist ended up regretting it, as far as I know :-).</p>
<p>The professors generally will let you do what you want (modulo some discouragement if you are setting yourself up for obvious trouble), but the most successful math students at Caltech, even those who know a fair bit coming in, tend to pace themselves and try to learn deeply as opposed to trying to skip as much as they can. It is generally much better to be the best student in math 109 than to struggle to catch up things you're missing in 151, so it would certainly be a good idea to make sure you can do every problem set in the former class cold.</p>
<p>i think the thing scary is its unlike any math i've ever been asked to do. i don't think i've been asked to prove anything since geometry so i don't really understand how those work....</p>
<p>if i can't do the section 0.9 problems right now (but can understand the answers), am i going to have a problem with math at caltech?</p>
<p>i looked at the problems here: <a href="http://www.math.caltech.edu/classes/ma1a/index.html#hw%5B/url%5D">http://www.math.caltech.edu/classes/ma1a/index.html#hw</a></p>
<p>those were mostly manageable for me</p>
<p>i'm kinda worried about the proofs thing, are those something i should know and understand going into caltech? how about induction (never heard of that math term until i looked at the problem set today)</p>
<p>nocloud:</p>
<p>Don't be worried. I placed out of all of Ma1 and number two on that 0.9 set was still very difficult for me.</p>
<p>If you can mostly manage the problems on the regular Ma1a set, that's a great sign already; most students spend inordinate amounts of time on it, and have to collobarate to get by. </p>
<p>In fact, the Ma1a sets are considerably harder than the ones in Ma1b, and in my opinion Ma2a.</p>
<p>Edit: But yeah, learning induction and proofs is definitely a good idea.</p>
<p>the majority of students take math1a, right? so if you've had BC that's what youd most likely be taking?</p>