<p>How are the grades distributed in those courses? Strict curve? or are the professor pretty lenient about the grades the grades that they give out?</p>
<p>I know that those courses are pretty demanding and also challenging(some say those courses are among the hardest courses at penn, probably on par with p-chem), but if I put in enough effort, are As achievable in those classes or do you need like those who competed in USAMO level or above?</p>
<p>Well actually the most serious students will take the advanced 500 level versions of those courses (508-509, 502-503 respectively). The grading definitely varies by professor I think. Although these are all very rigorous courses, if you put in a lot of time and effort and have mastered the type of analytical thinking required for math, you should be fine. The kids taking these courses are not all extraordinary geniuses (although some of the people I did know are incredibly smart and one will be starting a math PhD at MIT this fall).</p>