<p>Would it be advisable to take both Analysis and hon. linear algebra (MAT 215 and 217) fall semester freshman year, or just get acquainted with the school your first year and not push yourself too much (not that either course individually is a cakewalk) in a totally new environment? The thing is, the option to take multiple math classes later will still be there...</p>
<p>there are two honors math sequences at princeton. </p>
<p>The 214, 215?, 217 sequence is for people who think that they want to be math majors. They are proof based, and are very rigorous. </p>
<p>Then there is honors multivariable and honors linear algebra (203,204) which is more in depth than the regular (201, 202, but still quite difficult, even for those who were good at high school math, speaking from experience) sequence, but applied instead of proof based. </p>
<p>Lots of people switch between 201 202 sequence and the 203,204 sequence during the first few weeks of each semester.</p>
<p>does one take 214, 215 and 203, 204? Does the order matter.... and do the prerequisetes for higher level classes require 214,215 as oposed to 203, 204</p>
<p>Usually, if you've taken Calc BC you can do one of three things:</p>
<p>MAT 201 (Multivar.) in the Fall, MAT 202 (Linear Alg. w/ Apps.) in the Spring: This is pretty much the only math sequence you'll find at Princeton that's roughly as difficult as your Calc BC class in HS (assuming, of course, that your class was decent). It shouldn't be a joke, since there are plenty of kids in here that got 5's in their Calc BC exams and since the material moves at a reasonable pace. Yet at the same time, there are enough kids in the class who're just in it because they want to satisfy some sort of prereq. or another that the curve is a pretty nice cushion. The professors at this level are mostly not that great...an exception might by Prof. Andre Neves...see if he's teaching it next year.</p>
<p>MAT 203 (Advanced Multivar.) in the Fall, MAT 204 (Adv. Lin Alg) in the Spring: The course, from what I hear, is similar to MAT 201, except it delves more into the theory and moves faster. This class can be fairly challenging, even for decent math students (I know people with 5's on the Calc BC exam, 800 on SAT II Math 2C, who've taken Multivariable in HS who dropped down to 201 after a week or two). To get a high B or an A in the class means you've got pretty decent math aptitude. Unfortunately, the professors here aren't terribly amazing either. Try Prof. Thomas Chen, though.</p>
<p>MAT 215 (Single Var. Analysis) in Fall, MAT 217 (Multi. Var. Analysis) in Spring, MAT 218 (Honors Lin. Alg) in next Spring: Remember how you learned Calculus in high school? Well, this sequence essentially asks you to forget all that and reteaches it to you in a far more rigorous manner. It's extremely theoretical in nature (you stop thinking in terms of numbers and start thinking in terms of greek letters). It's hard to say exactly who belongs in this sequence instead of the 203/204 sequence. A general rule of thumb is that if you did pretty well at national math competitions, this is the course for you. Even then, the course should prove to be fairly challenging. Of course, there are people in the class who were never big into math competitions but do just fine because they have interest in and experience in theoretical math. Since the class is supposed to be a springboard into the math major, the professors the department puts in this sequence are usually big-name, really good professors. </p>
<p>MAT 214 (Number Theory and Proofs): This really isn't part of any particular sequence, but tends to attract theoretical math people. I'd put the difficulty somewhere in between the 203/204 sequence and 215/217/218 sequence. A good thing is that a lot of the people who're strong enough in this area before they come to Princeton never take the course, making it less difficult.</p>
<p>So which should you take? As a general rule of thumb, the 201/202 sequence has kids who have close to no interest in math in its bottom half, and engineers who are decent at math but not really interested in theoretical math on the top half. 203/204 has a lot of the physics majors as well as engineers who are interested in delving into the theory. Unless you're from Exeter or TJ, 203/204 is full of the kinds of kids that would have been really good math students at your high school (the kids who qualified for and did decently well on the AIMEs, and occasionally a USAMOer). And it goes without saying that 215/217 has some extremely bright people - the kids who've been really into math from the start, the kids who did go to TJ and Exeter and were really good math students there, lots of USAMO qualifiers, people who've published papers in math, etc. (Disclaimer: I shouldn't stick to "achievement labels", since there are definitely kids in the 215/217/218 kids who had no math honors to their name who did very well there because they were just really good at math). Fortunately for all of us, the IMO gold medallists and USAMO winners usually start of in 217/218 or above.</p>
<p>Unless you absolutely hate math, I personally would recommend starting off with either 203 or 215, depending on what kind of challenge you want/how good you think you are. Switching down is definitely not a problem (and you'll have company if you do).</p>
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does one take 214, 215 and 203, 204? Does the order matter.... and do the prerequisetes for higher level classes require 214,215 as oposed to 203, 204
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<p>I think I should've addressed the first question. The order does matter...it'd be very bizzare to go from a higher sequence to a lower one, or to take 217 before 215. As for prereqs, I'm not entirely certain since I took the 215/217/218 sequence, and that's pretty widely accepted. I'd recommend you look in the Undergraduate Announcement in the department that interests you.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.princeton.edu/pr/catalog/ua/%5B/url%5D">http://www.princeton.edu/pr/catalog/ua/</a></p>
<p>Keep in mind that in most cases, prerequisites are only formalities; if you can prove that you know your stuff, Princeton will let you do pretty much anything.</p>
<p>Thank you very much (from a potential math major hopefully going to Princeton next fall)!</p>
<p>If I want to apply to math major while at the same time there are also so many others applying to that, will I be put in a very competitive pool? Will the admission officers take that majoy thing very seriously? like, for math majors they only admit 30 people or something?</p>
<p>THANK YOU SO MUCH.... that was an amazing post. I cant tell you enough how helpful that post was. Happy holidays and best of luck.</p>
<p>My opinion on Math at Princeton. </p>
<p>Princeton math is absolutely ridiculous. If you're a math contest type, then get onto campus and immediately talk to the other math majors regarding where you should start.</p>
<p>IF YOU JUST DID REALLY WELL IN AP CALCULUS BC OR STATS AND THINK YOU WANT TO BE A MATH MAJOR PLEASE READ THIS</p>
<p>There are A LOT of kids who come in and start taking 215 and just get totally screwed. Those who get over the initial hump tend to do fine by their sophomore year, but you should be really into it.</p>
<p>Even 203 is a very hard class, my roommate has a D+ in it right now...please take it easy your first semester. I mean VERY easy.</p>
<p>Thank you FitzRandolph for a very informative post.</p>
<p>Thanks for a TERRIFIC post. My son is planning to major in math and your description of the various levels and difficulty was what we wanted to know. He loves proofs (thanks s-m) and is looking for programs that will let him focus on pure math and theoretical comp sci. Any current students doing theoretical stuff? Does it happen in the math dept. or comp sci?</p>
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Any current students doing theoretical stuff?
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<p>My school's college guidance office has a pamphlet Princeton sent out which describes the senior theses of recent students and the process of writing them. There was a three page section on a recent math grad who had proved something fairly important. The math was way over my head, but it convinced me that students are definitely doing research in pure math with one on one attention from professors. Contact the admissions office and see if they will send you a copy; it's definitely worth the whatever they charge you.</p>