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<p>Half a year ago I would have completely disagreed with you but now I think I can see where you are coming from (I am extremely bitter about the math program at the college I am currently at…)</p>
<p>At the beginning of the semester I was surprised that most of my classmates in abstract algebra were not familiar with basic algebraic structures (groups, rings…), homomorphisms, equivalence relations… until I found out that the college I am currently at offers only computational linear algebra. But matrix groups, dual spaces and Jordan normal forms are definitely a lot more interesting to study than simple matrix multiplication.</p>
<p>Are you familiar with the Putnam exam? Do you think its difficulty is extremely overrated or might math be a challenging subject (depending on how it’s taught) after all?</p>