<p>Is it necessary to take Math 55 before taking upper division math classes like Math 110 and Math 104/105?</p>
<p>The course catalog doesn't list Math 55 as a prereq or a recommended class for Math 110, 104 and 105, so I was wondering how important the material covered in 55 is with regards to upperdiv math classes.</p>
<p>From what I understand, the material of Math 55 has very little to do with Math 104, but it’s in math 55 where you start learning proofs. You can think of Math 55 as a transition course from solving problems in Math 53/54 to writing proofs in upper division math. Also, most people who take Math 53 and 54 aren’t math majors but engineers or science majors. In Math 55, you’ll have a larger concentration of Math majors than in the other classes (unless u took the Honors versions of 53 and 54)</p>
<p>The first portion of 54 tends to have rather a lot of proofs, if I remember correctly…</p>
<p>Would you say taking Math 54 is enough to provide a good basis for writing proofs? I intend to take Math110 and 104 and I would like to avoid taking any extra math classes (such as 55) if I can avoid it.</p>
<p>It’s not necessary to take Math 55 before Math 104/110. The course material is really interesting and it’s to help prospective math majors get acquainted to proofs, but it’s not necessary. </p>
<p>Are you a math major? (I’m guessing since you’re taking 104). If so, 55 is still required for you.</p>
<p>Thanks for the answers. I’m an intended stats major, interested in doing the Math option. Math 55 is not 1 of the pre-reqs for declaring stats as a major, so I was hoping to skip it if possible.</p>
<p>bump. I want to take 110 next semester but I haven’t taken Math 55 or CS70 yet.</p>
<p>From what I can tell, it would be very inadvisable to take 55 next semester.</p>
<p>I’m not exactly a quitter on this, too, so if these reviews turned ME away…</p>
<p>Yeah, I was wondering if CS70 would be a better call before Math 110 in general since Math 55 and CS70 are comparable. But I wanted to take Math 110 in Spring because the teacher is supposedly pretty good and I really like Math 54 right now.</p>
<p>Thanks for reminding me about CS70.</p>
<p>Whee.</p>
<p>So are you taking CS70 before Math 110? I would do that, but the Math 110 professor next semester is a good upper div teacher and he isn’t a harsh grader. I was probably going to take CS70 during the summer.</p>
<p>BTW are you in EECS, jonnos?</p>
<p>I’m BioE, but I want to take Discrete Math.</p>
<p>I may go computational BioE, though. Taking E7 this semester has reminded me of how much I love programming, so I’ll probably take a few courses from CompSci before I graduate.</p>
<p>I’m not sure how hard it is to get into CS70 as non EECS/CS. For OP if you haven’t taken stat 134 that might be a good idea. It’s not that much proofs, but there are some, and it is also like the first stats class to take anyways. Unfortunately, next semester’s lineup doesn’t look very good.</p>
<p>is CS70 an adequate substitute for Math 55 in terms of preparation for say, Math 110? I’m aware they are credit equivalent.</p>
<p>you really don’t need either to take 110. There are enough non math-majors in the class that they don’t assume you have a strong proof background. However, in 104 and 113, the professors pretty much assumed we knew the basic proof techniques.</p>
<p>As an EECS major, math minor, I just have to say: you just have to do one of the following sequences:</p>
<p>MATH54 (must have top notch understanding) -> MATH110
MATH55 / CS70 -> MATH110, MATH113, or MATH104</p>
<p>The idea is that you need to have solid proof techniques to survive in the upper-div math classes. MATH110 is a little less intense, so if you’re really good, you can probably push your way through. Just keep in mind: even in 110, it’s 80% proofs.</p>
<p>I’m in Math H110 currently and I haven’t taken 55 yet. I went straight from 53/54 in the summer to H110 as a freshman. It is a bit hard in the beginning learning proof techniques and some notation by yourself, but after a month or two of enduring, it got much easier. I’m doing well in the class and I’m taking H113 next semester. However, I will end up having to take 55 at some time and it seems a bit of a downgrade to go from an upper div course to a lower div, especially since I already know some of the core elements of 55 simply by being in an upper div. However, I’m a math major who spends a LOT of his time in his H110 class and I would really not recommend taking 110 (especially H110) before 55 unless you really want to challenge yourself.</p>
<p>eyeheartphysics: If you’re still wondering, I took CS70 and then Math110. It is DEFINITELY an adequate preparation. In fact, CS70 is often viewed as a tougher class than Math55, and compared to my friends that took 55 I feel like I got a much more rigorous training in mathematical formalism and proof writing techniques. That being said, its still a CS class. There’s no coding assignments, but everything in the class always came back to “so this math is all great… but what computer science applications and algorithms does it allow?”. So unless you are interested in the CS applications of the math, and have at least a basic ability to write code, you will probably be rather lost.</p>
<p>Math 55 is definitely not required for any upper division classes. It was only made a requirement for the math major pretty recently.</p>
<p>After taking math 55 I have to say that the “learning to write proofs” portion is totally over stated. I would recommend not taking Math 55 and instead, reading the math textbook for the course you plan to take ahead of time. If you plan on being a math major, you can test out of any lower div reqs.</p>