<p>We are planning to visit Ann Arbor over Spring Break. Anything we should definitely see/do in addition to the tour? Is it possible to sit in on a class or two? Does this need to be arranged with the Admissions Office or by contacting the professor?</p>
<p>Anyone who has knowledge of Math 296 -- would like to hear about it!</p>
<p>Check out this website:</p>
<p><a href="http://www.annarbor.org/visitum/%5B/url%5D">http://www.annarbor.org/visitum/</a></p>
<p>For sitting in on classes, if it's a large lecture they won't notice. If it's something smaller, you probably want to contact the professor ahead of time.</p>
<p>I have knowledge of 296 from previous years.</p>
<p>If you are visiting on Campus Day, then I believe that sitting in on a class is part of the rigamarole. You would have to sign up for that if you haven't already...</p>
<p>Walk around Ann Arbor. It's great. :)</p>
<p>DS is a HS junior, so we won't be attending on a Campus Day. On the other hand, he is finding that sitting in on a course or two in his intended major is proving very helpful in his assessment of schools. </p>
<p>Dilksy,
How was 296? Is it proof-based? Did the instructor assume you knew how to write proofs at that level or is that where it really begins? Is it taught by an prof or a grad student? Did you take a calc sequence at UM first or did you place in? How are they about placement beyond BC Calc? </p>
<p>Thanks!</p>
<p>The theoretical math sequence goes 295-296-395-296. The entire sequence is proof based. I wouldn't say they assume you can make perfectly sound proofs from the start, but they also don't spend time specifically on how to do proofs. It's just the kind of thing you pick up from lecture/homeworks. Apparently after the first day of class, my friend went up to the professor and asked "was I supposed to know what any of that meant?", since he had never seen the math notation before (but he still ended up being one of the 10 or so who went the whole way through). I had taken an Introduction to Mathematical Thinking course at a summer math program 2 years before I started the honors sequence, so I had no problems with proofs.</p>
<p>The class is taught by a professor. In addition, the grader for the course (always an honors sequence alum) runs a weekly problem session where they go over additional topics (things that are interesting/related to the course, but not important enough to be something covered in lecture) and can answer questions about the homework.</p>
<p>Personally, I went into the Honors Sequence after doing Calc BC in high school. It's not the kind of thing you have to place in to. In my experience, the math department is very flexible to let students do whatever they want, and if they're not qualified they'll just drop the course. </p>
<p>I'm pretty sure most of the people who take 295 are freshmen who have already taken calculus while in high school. It's not necessarily a requirement, but 295 basically consists of proving everything you just assume to be true in normal calculus, ie introductory analysis. I'd assume it would be possible to do 295 without having taken calculus, but since most people who are adept enough at math to do the Honors sequence took calc high school, it's usually not an issue. As far as the Calc III/Diff EQ part of the calc sequence, after doing the Honors sequence that stuff doesn't seem terribly difficult in comparison. Calc III is just applying all your knowledge of vector spaces and linear algebra to three dimensional space. Most people who want to learn differential equations for physics/econ/whatever either take 286 (Honors differential equations), or skip straight to 454 (partial differential equations).</p>
<p>I'm not exactly sure what you mean about "placement beyond calc BC". If you mean what kind of classes you're allowed to take assuming you got a 4/5 on Calc BC, the answer is pretty much anything. The math placement test is really only to determine if people should be in 105,115, or 116. Beyond that, it's up to you what course you choose.</p>
<p>As far as what the Honors sequence covers, how it's done can change depending on who is teaching, but the main path is
295 - Introductory Analysis
296 - Linear Algebra (/Algebra/Toplogy)
395/396 - Differential Geometry (and all the stuff you need to learn to understand it)</p>
<p>After the Honors sequence, you've basically covered all of undergraduate mathematics and are ready to start taking the introductory graduate courses.</p>