Math 1A or Math 1B?

<p>I am a spring admit, and will be doing FPF this fall. I am trying to decide between Math 1A and Math 1B. I took Calculus AB last year and got A's both semesters and a 5 on the exam. However, this year, due to senioritis I've been doing pretty bad in Calculus BC (got a C first semester, and on track for another one this semester). Which course should i take? I am a prospective econ major, if that changes anything.</p>

<p>Personally, i didn’t take Calc BC but I was in your exact situation for AB so I decided to take 1A with Bourgoin (prolly the easiest from the 1A teachers). If you feel comfortable doing 1B, which is BC-level, then go for it.</p>

<p>lol I messed up badly on 1a, but am doing 1b now and I think that while the concepts are definitely harder, I can actually get a grip on them because it’s mainly just actually doing math and memorizing the techniques to do them as opposed to 1a, which for me was memorizing proofs and utilizing them to solve problems (which I couldn’t do to save my life)</p>

<p>Who did you have for math 1A Batman?</p>

<p>olsson 10ch</p>

<p>Well, actually, my current Math 1B professor, Borcherds, will be teaching Math 1A next semester and in the past, his Math 1A class had 52% As so you can take Math 1A with him as a review.</p>

<p>next semester as in Spring? I don’t think he’s available for FPF.</p>

<p>No, next semester as in Fall 2009. </p>

<p>Another thing is, if your major premits it, take the easier Math 16 series.</p>

<p>even if the professor is harder?</p>

<p>Is the professor harder? I wouldn’t know. I wasn’t a spring admit in the FPF program so I don’t know if you get a different set of professors from the Fall admit people, which is what you seem to be implying, HelloAll. All I know is that Professor Borcherds is one of three professor teaching Math 1A in Fall 2009 and that the Math 16 series is normally easier (so long as your not in the FPF program I guess).</p>

<p>And for the record, a hard professor is not necessarily a bad thing. I think I’m one of the few people on this board who enjoyed having Olsson for Math 1A despite the difficulty of the class. I really learned a lot about math from him in a very short period of time.</p>

<p>well, I was just basing it off of the sites that rate the professors and for Math 16 A, its Feldman while there is an option of two diff. professors for 1A so I chose Bourgoin for 1A.</p>

<p>Was this for the semester of Fall 2008? If it is, then I guess FPF students really do get their own set of professors and classes. In Fall 2008, the Math 1A professors outside of FPF were Agol, Hald, and Olsson.</p>

<p>its suppose to be the professors for this upcoming FPF program, least its what is listed in the schedules that they put online.</p>

<p>Hmmm…I kind of wonder how else the FPF program differs from Fall admission. If FPF Math 1A is easier, I guess you can also take Math 1A and then do Math 16B in the spring.</p>

<p>Are all 1A classes based on proofs? Or is it solely based on the professor’s style of teaching?</p>

<p>No, not all 1A professors are gonna need you to know proofs. For example, you were really screwed if you couldn’t figure out how to write rigorous proofs by the first midterm for Professor Olsson. For Hald, you needed to know how to write proofs but they need not be rigorous. If you take 1A with Borcherds next Fall, I doubt you’ll even need to learn about proofs at all. Most 1A classes will attempt to teach you delta-epsilon proofs. This is really material meant for Math 104, but Berkeley math professors feel an obligation to teach their students “real” math even at the lower levels.</p>

<p>if you do 1a then 16 b, i don’t think you get all the credits or something like that</p>

<p>not get all the credit? if youre thinking about going into Haas for undergrad. , do you have to take the entire series (1A then 1B or 16A then 16B)?</p>

<p>Yeah, but its easier and it still fulfills the math requirement regardless. According to the catalog: “2 units [out of 3] after 1A. Two units of 16B may be used to remove a deficient grade in 1A.”</p>

<p>And Haas doesn’t give a crap what you do so long you take some calculus. I also think they take AP credit. Most Haas kids I know take the 16 series.</p>

<p>could you explain what that means? about removing the deficient grade</p>