<p>I know a thread asking something like what I'm going to ask has been posted repeatedly, but I thought I might just do it one more time. So please bear with me. </p>
<p>I'm a rising freshman and I plan to be a math concentrator. I've taken both the Calc APs and have gotten 5s in them. I've also taken a Linear Algebra and Multivariable undergraduate level course at a very reputable university in the summer. I got an A in the course. </p>
<p>Over the summer I've been trying to decide whether or not I should take Math 55. Just now, I got done reading this article (Burden</a> of Proof | The Harvard Crimson) and now I really want to take the course. My only concern is that I don't think I'm as comfortable with proofs as I'd like. But I don't want that to stop me from taking Math 55; the course seems like an experience I don't want to miss and to make my decision even harder the math department's website has a Fields Medal recipient listed as the professor for the course. I'm willing to put in the work and I'm told I have a certain aptitude for mathematics.</p>
<p>Should I go for it and take Math 55 or should I play it safe and take Math 25?</p>
<p>if you read the article closely you should know that it is quite easy to switch between the two classes in the beginning. so enter 55 and if it turns out too hard, jump to 25. not harder than that.</p>
<p>Look, Harvard has hundreds of math and applied math majors in every class, and only a handful of them take Math 55. It’s clearly a unique and valuable experience, but Harvard is full of unique and valuable experiences . . . and part of going there is learning how to pick up on some and to let the others pass by. </p>
<p>The stakes aren’t nearly as high as you are making out. Not taking Math 55 won’t doom you to a life of second-class mathdom, and you may even get more out of life if you get a chance to sleep more than the average 55er this year. Taking Math 55 isn’t a Golden Ticket to anything. There is more than one Fields medalist on the Harvard faculty. And, as reptil points out, maybe 2/3rds of the students who start in Math 55 finish in some other course. So all you really risk by trying is a bunch of work to catch up in your other classes, and maybe turning down one or two other really challenging classes because it would be nuts to take them and Math 55 at the same time. But you can survive that, too.</p>
<p>Alright, the average 55er has made usamo, and it takes them 24 to 60 hours a week to complete the problem sets. So, it comes down to how good you are. If you’re getting <7on usamo, you’ll be towards the 60 hours.</p>