Current U of C Freshman taking Questions

<p>Woo hoo! Libertarianism! And lots of math! Oh, what joy...</p>

<p>is that supposed to be a hypothetical question esquared?</p>

<p>I believe so......since, in reality, i'm quiet unattractive</p>

<p>Respond to the following from the Princeton Review: "Typically "wonkish, nerdy, cloistered, extremely studious, and religiously dedicated to academic performance," Chicago students are "brilliant, on par with those at any other school, but not the kind of people that you want to have a casual conversation with." That is somewhat attributed to "personal hygiene and social skills [that] are sometimes lacking," and partly because "we ask seemingly strange questions."</p>

<p>Do you, by any chance, know if any of the Calculus classes use James Stewart's textbooks?</p>

<p>To the Princeton Review:
The first part is generally correct, we're all a bunch of nerds at chicago. Our athletes are definately scholar athletes and generally cool people. As far as "brilliant, on par with those at any other school" i believe that's just wrong, unless you're looking at universities that are on par with Chicago, ie MIT, Caltech, Harvard, etc. Anyways I believe it's incorrect to say that we are perfectly fine to have conversations with. sometimes we can be slightly more intense in conversations, but it's not as if we are completely driven all the time. We still find time to let loose and party, but certainly not to excess like at some other schools. our frats are pretty benign, but there are still parties that happen on campus. It's just a fun that is not found in the general population. For fun, we hang out, go to concerts, go downtown, or go to sports games, either our own or one of chicago's teams. Anyways, at any school with odd people, you'll run into a few that are socially awkward or people who don't bathe as often as others, but they are few and far between. However, once you get to know these people, they're still really interesting and fun to talk to. concerning the last part of the statement, who is the "we" referring to, u of c students or the princeton review people?
Christine, as far as i've seen, we only use spivak books, but i could be wrong on that, i don't generally look at the names on textbooks aside from my own. I can ask around if you would like, just pm me to remind me.</p>

<p>'Tis ok...I was just pondering over if colleges use James Stewart a lot, thus if I should buy my math books from the school.</p>

<p>On the other hand, what do I need to study for the math placement test?</p>

<p>I know that they use the Salas/Hille/Etgen book for some Calc course. I believe this is for the "regular" Calc course, whereas Spivak is used for Honors Calc. At least they did as of a few years ago, but I doubt things have changed.</p>

<p>Studying for the calc placement test? Are you crazy Christine? I think as long as you can integrate and do derivatives you'll be fine.</p>

<p>Shhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh...don't tell me that. I want motivation to really ground Calculus into my mind this second semester of senior year.</p>

<p>I agree with Chrisitne123, but for a different reason. If studying for the placement test might make the difference between taking the honors calc or the regular calc, I certainly think it would be worth it!!!</p>

<p>One of the Calc BC AP study guides is good preparation. Be careful of what you want, you may get it, 16000's Analysis is not for everyone.</p>

<p>Yep, I sort of don't want to get into honors calc since everyone seems to say that it's really hard-core and mostly for math majors.</p>

<p>University of Chicago must be very demanding, but is it possible to have a life/ paint the town on weekends/ have fun in general or are you pretty much limited to life on the campus with the college being yours and your dorm hall mates community?</p>

<p>My S has taken a very demanding course load (in class over 20 hours per week), has done very well, and has not only painted the town, but been in a show, and traveled to CA to compete with his sports club (most of the tab paid by the University).</p>

<p>As another case in point, my son did very well at Chicago and yet reminded us from the get-go that he was living in Chicago, not at Chicago. He made it a point to get well off campus once or twice a week, took in many a baseball game in season (April and May), spent a year abroad in London. He did not set it as a goal of his to maximize his GPA, and yet he graduated with a 3.6 GPA, and learned a lot about a lot of things. Of course your experience and interests are likely to differ from his (and your level of organization, basic smarts, or need for sleep may also differ), but you asked whether it is possible to have a life other than schoolwork/dorm at Chicago and the answer is definitely yes.</p>

<p>If I can ask, what is your son doing now?</p>

<p>Regarding math placement, from the catalog:</p>

<p>
[quote]
Students who wish to begin at a level higher than MATH 15100 must take the calculus placement test, unless they receive Advanced Placement credit as described in the following paragraphs.</p>

<p>Students who submit a score of 5 on the AB Advanced Placement exam in mathematics or a score of 4 on the BC Advanced Placement exam in mathematics receive credit for MATH 15100. Students who submit a score of 5 on the BC Advanced Placement exam in mathematics receive credit for MATH 15100 and 15200. </p>

<p>Students with suitable achievement on the calculus placement test are invited to begin with Honors Calculus (MATH 16100) or beyond. Excellent scores on the calculus placement test may give placement credit for one, two, or three quarters of calculus. The strong recommendation from the department is that students who have AP credit for one or two quarters of calculus enroll in Honors Calculus (MATH 16100) when they enter as first year students. This course builds on the strong computational background provided in AP courses and best prepares entering students for further study in mathematics.</p>

<p>Admission to Honors Analysis (MATH 20700) is by invitation only to those first-year students with superior performance on the calculus placement test or to those sophomores who receive a strong recommendation from their instructor in MATH 16100-16200-16300.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>Interestingly, one can place out of 161-3 and still NOT place into honors analysis. That happend to my D. In an aveage year, about 8% of all first years place out of all calculus, BTW.</p>

<p>If you DO want to place out, studying the BC calc curriculum is NOT enough - see the note in the quote above. To really place well, you need to know your proofs. If you had a somewhat theoretical HS course, review your notes on proofs or plan to be in honors calc.</p>

<p>One other reason to prep for, and do well on, the placement test is that it influences your placement in physics.</p>

<p>I am like Christine123. I took calc as a junior and am now in my gap year before college (although I am still studying, perhaps more than before . . .). I don't want to place into honors calc, although I might major in math. I simply would like a firm foundation in calc when I enter college and an even firmer foundation after I take the regular calc sequence. Everything after my freshman year math courses will simply be building on what I have learned, and I don't want to rush and become confused right off the bat if I don't have to, especially if confusion will only steer me away from liking math.</p>

<p>I wonder if it is best for all of you non math majors not to study for the placement test. You don't want to be placed in analysis if you can help it.</p>

<p>Actually, I know someone who took analysis her freshman year. Needless to say, she is a math genius, graduated with her math degree in '05, and is now at MIT working on her PhD.</p>

<p>idad, I, too, would like to know what your son took last quarter (and what he will be taking next).</p>

<p>I'm a transfer and never really took calc =O</p>