<p>Does anyone know whether there is an Underground Guide to Course 18? I'm seriously considering majoring in applied math but would like to know which professors are good. And in general, how hard are the upper level math courses etc, 18.440, 18.310C, 18.04, 18.100A, 18.701?</p>
<p>Wouldn't it be easier to just find an upperclassmen taking courses in applied math?</p>
<p>those aren't exactly upper level math classes, and where in MI are you from?</p>
<p>River: I assume that by "upper-level", the OP means >= 18.100, which is also the department's definition of non-intro.</p>
<p>To the OP: Those classes you just listed vary a lot in terms of difficulty. In certain cases (18.440 comes to mind), the class itself varies a lot in terms of difficulty from term to term, depending on who's teaching. I'm not aware of a course 18 underground guide - if 18 has a student club or honor society, they'd be the people who would put it out. I can tell you that when I took 18.310 (before they tacked the C on, but we still did the big term paper), it was very difficult and time-consuming...an unpleasant surprise for a bunch of theoretical math people who were there to get an easy A. I liked it though. I think the assistant instructor had something to do with this. Also, I learned more about implementing really weird stuff in spreadsheets (multiple error-correcting codes, for example) than I ever really wanted to.</p>
<p>no one i know has complained about any of the classes you listed w/ the exception of 18.701, which can be difficult for people who are not used to that kind of math. so i hear. once you're an MIT student, you can check the course evaluations for the best class-professor combinations.</p>
<p>i'm in 18.701 right now, and it's a pretty awesome class. prof. artin is a wonderful lecturer. (and it really isn't that hard :/)</p>
<p>Lecturers often change from term to term. When you get on campus, apart from the introductory freshman courses, you should know in advance which professors are teaching your any subject you are interested in taking and whether they are any good (though the math department is traditionally fairly strong). It is usually possible to program a course load to avoid a particular teacher, if you wish to.</p>