<p>I was recently admitted to Northwestern's MMSS program, and I was just wondering how hard it is. I'm sure I'll do well on the economics portion of it, but I'm really worried about the math part. I am decent at math, and I can usually keep up when I'm in a higher level class. I was looking at the curriculum on the website, and it says that MMSS students start with linear algebra and then multi-variable calculus. I'm only taking AP AB calculus (and I don't like it that much, nor do I think my teacher is the best), however, so would it be recommended that I study and review a good amount over the summer? Are there any tips to prepare for MMSS? </p>
<p>Also, is it possible to defer my acceptance to the program (but not the university) for a year, so I can enter during my sophomore year and feel more prepared? I honestly don't feel that prepared for such a rigorous program, and I find it hard to believe I got in. However, I do really want to do the program as it will help me in my career goals and such (unless it totally kills my GPA, since GPA takes precedence in my career plans xD). So will it be extremely hard to the point where I'm going to have to study all the time unless I'm a math-genius? I wouldn't consider myself amazing at math, but I will say that if I try hard and take the extra steps I'm sure I can do fine.</p>
<p>Finally, I was wondering if I could defer my acceptance to the sophomore class. I know people can enter/apply to MMSS after their freshman year, so I was wondering if I could wait until sophomore year before actually starting the MMSS schedule. This way I'll be able to get more used to college academics and be better prepared for the rigor.</p>
<p>Recently admitted to MMSS too - and interested to hear the response! I’m also more heavily inclined towards the Economics aspects of the program, so I wanted to know how math-oriented it is? I don’t have any problems with Math, I definitely really enjoy it, but I don’t want to spend the vast majority of my time just doing Math.</p>
<p>But that doesn’t matter anyway, since I’m almost 99% sure I’m accepting the offer :)</p>
<p>It was due March 1st, though. They take late applications, but it’ll be like applying to a waitlist since the decisions are already out, and they’ll only give you a spot if not enough people accept the offer (MMSS freshman admission hopes to get 20 people per class, so it’s not that much). I only applied a week ago, so I have no idea how I got in so late, but I imagine it must be a lot harder with decisions out… You might have better shots at applying next year (though it is 10x harder because of a lot more competition), but I would still try. I didn’t think I had a chance because I applied so late, yet I somehow got in, so you never know…</p>
<p>Congratulations to all of you on your admission to MMSS. I personally wasn’t part of it but it’s very prestigious and is definitely an awesome path to get on a prestigious fast-track career. It’s very marketable not just to top firms but really any sector of industry where data analysis/quant skills are highly valued (including non-profits, schools, NGOs, governments, etc.). If for some reason you are sure you will not attend, kindly withdraw soon so the spot can be given to somebody on the waitlist.</p>
<p>hi! congrats all of you on getting into MMSS! I’ve only heard great things about it I was recently accepted into medill at NU and do you think it’s possible to transfer into MMSS? Or is it possible to do both medill AND MMSS? :)</p>
<p>Thanks for the congrats
I just got an e-mail from someone who is currently a senior at MMSS, and is offerring to answer questions about the program and the university. I’ll post his answers here when he replies.</p>
<p>@c0llegeb0undd
I’m not sure if you can do Medill and MMSS. From what I have heard Medill is pretty intensive, so doing that and MMSS might not work out, but you should call and check. Also, it will be administrative hell transferring into Weinberg, AND trying to get into the MMSS program (it is a lot harder sophomore year). If you really want to do journalism I’d say stick with Medill and just take some econ and math classes with your electives.</p>
<p>It isn’t too hard. Workload wise it’s more learning than it is homework. So your mileage will vary but I don’t think the material is too difficult.</p>
<p>Classes are curved to B+/A-s since the average caliber of the MMSS class is higher than the average caliber of the econ major group as a whole, meaning GPA for MMSS students tends to be a bit higher than most. </p>
<p>AB is plenty for your first couple of classes. You’ll learn multi eventually but again you’ll be taught that. Preparation? Ha. Well you can teach yourself the classes, but if you don’t want to do that, there isn’t anything you can do. I sort of taught myself linear algebra the summer before and it made it easier.</p>
<p>I don’t know about deferring admission but if you were accepted you’ll probably do okay. We only had 1 out of 26 students drop out this year. </p>
<p>Thanks for the input! That definitely makes me feel a bit better about MMSS. I’m not sure if I’ll go that far to try and teach myself linear algebra, but in case I do, I’d like to know what you used to teach yourself some linear algebra. Did you just get a textbook or something? And if so, which one?</p>
<p>To put it in simplest terms, it defies EVERYTHING you’ve learned about math</p>
<p>For instance, I could create a vector space with an inner product space such that a vector with the dimension “1” would have a magnitude of 2, and I could draw a set of existing axes in which Parallel Lines intersected</p>
<p>For the most part, you REALLY have to love math to like anything about the class at all</p>
<p>Those of you accepted to MMSS - were your math test scores really great? My daughter is planning to apply to the program next year, she does very well in her math classes but her SAT math was 720 and Math SAT II 740. She is wondering if that would be a negative on her application.</p>
<p>@EskieLover
Oh god Sounds pretty hard, but at the same time interesting (i guess xD).</p>
<p>@mamabear1234
I had an 800 on the math section of my SAT I and 780 on my SAT II. Even if she does pretty well in math (and is hopefully taking AP AB/BC Calc at the least next year), I suggest trying to get that score up. From what I’ve read freshman admission to the program is mainly based on test scores. The good thing is that math is pretty easy to improve in my opinion, so it shouldn’t be too hard to improve both scores. If she doesn’t have time to take or prepare for more tests, then I would suggest finding other ways to show that your daughter is good at math (eg. taking AP courses, course at a local college, self-take AP test, etc.)</p>
<p>Thanks AJB, she was thinking about retaking one of them. Her ACT Math was also her lowest section score (34). I think she would do well in the MMSS program, her understanding of math concepts is good, she just makes an occasional stupid error. She will be in BC Calc next year. She has taken the AMC tests and done well for our high school, but not on a national level.</p>
<p>@mamabear1234
it seems like her ACT math score is pretty good (not very familiar with the ACTs, but I always thought 34+ was good…). And the fact that she is good enough for BC calc is already a huge boost. Maybe just retake the Math IIC, I’m sure the 34 in ACTs are fine, and I’m pretty sure the math on the ACT is slightly harder than the math on the SAT I (correct me if i’m wrong).</p>
I was recently accepted into medill at NU and do you think it’s possible to transfer into MMSS? Or is it possible to do both medill AND MMSS? :)</p>
Sounds pretty hard, but at the same time interesting (i guess xD).</p>