<p>I'm looking at either majoring in Econ (B.A.) or getting the B.S. in Math with a Specialization in Economics...By the time I enter, I will have taken at least Cal I (currently passing with a 98% average), perhaps Cal II+III if I defer my acceptance...</p>
<p>Clearly, I'm doing well in math at my school...but the course is easy (lots of dumb kids, class average is a 63%) and the teacher marks generously. On top of that, I'm not one of those math geniuses--I have to work doubly hard as some of my friends who are great at math...</p>
<p>Basically, my question is: How hard is it for someone like me to major in Math at Chicago, really? What are the average grades for Math majors? How much studying does the average Math major (B.S.) do?</p>
<p>I actually recently emailed a math major at U of C. He says they have one of the hardest math programs in the country. I'll tell you more information when he sends me another email.</p>
<p>My S is 1st year Math major at Chicago and there are many ways to skin this cat. It all starts with orientation and the Calculus Placement exam. This will place you into the level of Calculus or if you are really good into Analysis or if you are excellent into Honors Analysis. Math at Chicago is extremely theoretical in nature. Honors Calculus is less a Calc course then it is an introduction to Analysis. Honors Calc and the Analysis courses are loaded with proofs. The amount of time on homework depends on the class you are in the the number of problems assigned for the week. Sometimes they are easier requiring less time. My S is now being assigned problems that actually have never been solved before by mathemeticians but Chicago is giving these students a crack at them to see how they do.Taking Honors Analysis either as a first year or second year is kind of a dividing area between hard core students and the more standard student graduating with a math degree at Chicago. I believe to receive an Honors diploma in math you need to take two honors courses and finish with GPA of 3.25 in Math. The Professors teaching some of the honors classes are well known and excellent. Paul Sally the department head is excellent. There is so much to say about the level of math students at Chicago from USA Olympic team members to I believe two Intel Finalists in math expected to join the class of 2009. A Math degree at Chicag is difficult but from what I have heard so far a great ride.</p>
<p>"There is so much to say about the level of math students at Chicago from USA Olympic team members to I believe two Intel Finalists in math expected to join the class of 2009."</p>
<p>So would a good but undistinguished math student be out of place majoring in math, or no?</p>
<p>hey,
i'm a first year who is currently taking honors calc. if you're serious about math and do well enough on the placement test, i would encourage you to do the same. the class is abstract and proof-oriented, but by exhaustively establishing things that i'd taken for granted up to this point, it's given me a new perspective on math. for instance, after almost a year in the class, my professer was finally able to define real numbers last week. we prove a lot of things on our own through homework, so completion of problem sets is really essential to doing well in the class.
the teachers of regular-level of classes are grad students. honors classes tend to be taught by professers. honors analysis is taught by Paul Salley, but honors calc classes, with the exception of an experimental session taught by Paul Salley and Dianne Herman, are taught by younger professors. my current section, however, is being taught by an award-winning grad student. he's wonderful and i would take him over the professor that i had last quarter any day. the professers that i've encountered have been brilliant, but this hasn't always made them very good teachers of intro-level courses.
you don't really need to worry about the econ department. chicago is well-known for econ for a reason, but i do think that most people go on to grad school before going into the business world. in any case, the gateway into that is really through internships. CAPS, our career programming office, is really good about helping students to set those up. all of the econ majors that i know who applied for these internships seem to be happy about the ones that they got.
in any case, good luck, and take a look at the dapartment's website for more info:
<a href="http://www.math.uchicago.edu/%5B/url%5D">http://www.math.uchicago.edu/</a></p>
<p>How long are the problem sets, typically? How forgiving are the profs or teachers if someone falls behind in the material for a class (out of just not being able to "get it")? And is math reserved solely for the math geniuses, or for anyone who is "good" at math but willing to work hard at it?</p>
<p>Will a B.S. with a Specialization in Economics but no honours level courses hold me back from getting great jobs from ibanks, or not?</p>
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<p>Oh, not at all. iBanks will care primarily about your grades for analyst jobs, not individual courses you have or haven't taken. One of my good friends went to GS after graduation and he was a Classics major.</p>
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<p>So would a good but undistinguished math student be out of place majoring in math, or no?</p>
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<p>I don't think you would be out of place. Every department is going to have its superstars, and no department is going to have 100% superstars.</p>
<p>the problem sets tend to take me a really long time (between 4 and 9 hours). they usually have about 5 questions, but many of these questions have multiple parts. this does all, of course, depend on your professor. some assign problems from the book (if you take the class, ask someone about michael spivak and yellow pigs), which is nice because you can check yourself in the solution manual. others write the problems themselves. these problems tend to be a lot more challenging than those in the book. i even know of one that assigns three problem sets a week. it all depends, so it's really important to shop around for a good porfessor.
in terms of being a superstar, it's not totally necessary. people graduate having taken the regular sequence. it's absolutely unnecessary if you specialize in econ. almost everyone in the school seems to be an econ major, and they're certainly not all geniuses. the program is really intimidating because there are a lot of really really smart kids in it that seem to get everything intuitively. if you're prepared for this, the experience can be rewarding, but if not, it can be really devistating.</p>