<p>It’s not very common, but it’s definitely doable because 218 is pretty easy compared to 215 and 217. I took 215 and 217 as a freshman and then took 218 and a 300 level course in the fall of my sophomore year.</p>
<p>In the harder math courses at Princeton, like Math 215, 217, 218, 214, is mathematical background more important or intelligence more important? I mean is it necessary to have done a good amount of calculus, differential equations, linear algebra in high school to do well or it is necessary to be learn things quickly?</p>
<p>Also, is there like course/class websites so we can check out past years’ lecture notes, homework, etc? I would really like to gauge the difficulty of 215 before I commit to it.</p>
<p>Intelligence is much more important than background. 215 teaches you math from the ground up, assuming only that you know how to add and multiply rational numbers. Of course, if you’ve been exposed to proofs before then that will be helpful, but already being exposed to “advanced” topics like multivariable calculus or differential equations will not help. You can check out some old exams on the math department website (<a href=“http://www.math.princeton.edu/undergraduate/[/url]”>http://www.math.princeton.edu/undergraduate/</a>), but I don’t know of any lectures or problem sets available online. If you can get your hands on a copy of Rudin this summer, then you can take a look at some of the exercises since those are where the 215 problem sets come from.</p>
<p>I took 214/217 and I found these courses very challenging, but rewarding. Though I loved 214, I would advise against it in general… it’s just not very useful, while 215 (real analysis) is a fundamentally important topic. However, 214 is easier, so if you want a more accessible, fun introduction to proofs it might work better.</p>
<p>Yeah, I plan on taking just plain old MAT 201. Good enough, for my purposes.</p>
<p>Having taken calc, differential equations, and linear algebra isn’t really going to help you on MAT 215 - it’s more that it requires a certain amount of mathematical maturity. It’s really helpful to already know how to write a proof and generally have some exposure to higher mathematics (like having done a summer math program like mathcamp or hcssim, having read extensively on your own, etc).
They don’t much care what classes you took in high school - I think the form my advisor got said that my placement was into MAT 103 (because I hadn’t bothered to send my AP scores to Princeton after my senior year), but I just told him I was taking MAT 215 and that was that.</p>
<p>Thanks Weasel for the link to past exams. I checked them out and it seems like they are hard to me but not insane. I am going to see if I can get Rudin and see what’s inside it.</p>
<p>hey, do we HAVE to place into certain classes if we have the credit? like if you 5’ed calc bc and have 750+ on Math SATI, you get auto-placed into MAT 203. But can you opt to take MAT 201 instead?</p>
<p>Of course you can place into 201. Calc BC gives credit for MAT 104</p>
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<p>Yes, the math department is very flexible. You can convince them to let you take pretty much any course you want as a freshman, whether it’s 103 or 322.</p>