<p>Hello everyone. Congratulations to all who have been accepted as junior transfers into any institution of their choices. I was accepted at LA, Davis, and SD as a Math/Comp Sc major. This thread is for Mathematicians who would like to discuss the transition from lower division courses to upper division courses, areas of Math that interest them(Algebra, Number Theory, Analysis, Topology...), textbooks they use, and anything that would be interesting and helpful to us all. Since all of us will take similar upper division classes, it does not matter which school you were offered admission, but what you learn and understand. Any previous transfers are also welcome to offer their advice, thoughts, and expertise. Please, refrain from arguing about which schools are better. It is absolutely a waste time. Our success depend not on the schools we attend, but on our discipline, our motivation, and our insatiable drive for knowledge. I'm interested in Algebra and Number Theory. For those who have taken Linear Algebra and liked it, Abstract Algebra presents more fun in that we you have more structures which are primarily groups, fields, and rings. I have not studied anything about fields and rings since I'm still reading about groups. I use Abstract Algebra by DUMMIT & FOOTE, 3rd Edition. The exercises are fun--mostly proofs--and hard. Number Theory is a different animal altogether, what with all the unsolved problems, mostly dealing with primes and their distribution. Please note, I am in no way an expert in the subjects, I just downloaded some books(don't know if I'm allowed to say that) that schools like Caltech and Cal use for their upper division courses to acquaint myself with what we will and must face. So, ladies and gentlemen, please share your thoughts.</p>
<p>I’ll probably be taking upper division Linear Algebra since so many of the upper division math and econ courses depend on it.</p>
<p>So will I. Cal actually advises junior to take Linear Algebra as their first Math upper division class.</p>