<p>Hi, my name is Logan and I am a Harvard hopeful. I am currently a "rising Sophomore"(I am in my summer between Freshman and Sophomore year in high school). I am interested in getting into the well known Harvard math 55 course, which is often considered the hardest undergraduate college Freshmen course in the country. I am planning ahead so I figured I should ask what math courses should I take to prepare for "Math 55" (I plan on taking Calculus I and II at my local community college this coming year). I am ready to take whatever courses I will need to be prepared and I was also wondering, since I plan on majoring in math and minoring in political science, philosophy, or history should I take college classes on those subject areas as well? I was not sure however if it would be a good idea though since I have heard time and time again about Harvard admissions that they want depth in one particular subject area, but they still want you to be good in all your other classes obviously. I am also interested in various other tidbits of information that I should know for wanting to get into Harvard. Finally, I wanted to ask would a few Bs in Freshmen year and a C in honors English hold me back? Thanks in advance to anyone who replies.
-Logan</p>
<p>1) What math classes should you take?
The most advanced ones you can, and if you are someone who can do well in Math 55 then you should be able to ace them. One of my roommates this year was a 55er, and he had taken MV Calc, Linear Algebra, Differential Equations, and a class on proofs before getting here.
2) Not really sure about the other subject areas, just go for what you are interested in.
3) Will the grades hurt you?
I don’t want to be too harsh, but honestly they may. You need to be at or very near the top of your class if you want to have a chance to get into harvard. It’ll be important for you to really shine for the rest of high school. I didn’t have a perfect transcript, but it was pretty close and I racked up a lot of AP’s to make up for it.</p>
<p>If you want to do Math 55, you need to do Math Olympiad stsuff. And you realistically have to do damn well in them (MOP-level probably, USAMO at the bare minimum). It’s the hardest freshman class in the world. Do anything and everything you can.</p>
<p>Let’s just put it this way. People who WIN the IMO find Math 55 hard. You should focus on getting into Harvard instead of taking the class. I took diff equation, MV calculus, complex and abstract analysis, linear algebra, discrete math and I still wouldn’t take Math 55. I personally would not take Math 55 unless you are amazing at proofs and want to dedicate your entire life to one class. You might also want to try out the USAMO to see how you do.</p>
<p>I think there’s even a Wikipedia page dedicated to Math 55.</p>
<p>I don’t think you should plan your high school career around taking one class in a college to which you may not (probably won’t, given the statistics) be accepted.</p>
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Most likely, yes.</p>
<p>I started looking at what classes to take and I think I made up the most rigorous schedule I could take at my school here is what Im looking at doing:
Sophomore Year: Biology Honors, World History AP, English II Honors, Algebra II Honors, Geometry Honors(Note: Ive already taught myself Algebra II, Geometry, and Precalc., but I need to finish these 2 classes since college classes don’t count towards graduating credit at my school… how stupid is that), Spanish II, and Theology II. I plan on taking Calc I in the fall, Calc II in the spring, and Calc III(multivariable calculus) in the summer.
Junior Year: Spanish III Honors, Theology III, English III Honors, US History AP, Biology AP, Chemistry Honors, Anatomy and Physiology Honors. I plan on taking Differential Equations and Linear Algebra my Junior year and possibly another course in the summer, but looking at my community college I would have completed the core classes and so I would probably take something like finite mathematics, discrete mathematics, or probability+statistics.
Senior Year: English AP, European History AP, Spanish IV Honors, Theology IV, Chemistry AP, Physics Honors, and possibly a course called the Engineering/Infinity project, but I might switch that course with one of my Junior courses. I might do an independent mathematics study and Im not sure which college courses Ill take if any.
Please suggest anything if possible and tell me if this curriculum should help. Thanks again in advance to anyone who replies.
-Logan</p>
<p>I can see why you suck at English… Has the thought of using paragraphs ever crossed your mind?</p>
<p>Sorry I typically do not write in paragraph format when I post on message-boards.</p>
<p>Is Math 55 only for freshman?</p>
<p>I was going to make it my life goal to take that class. No, I don’t “expect” to get into Harvard…I would’ve gone to college w/e (maybe Harvard, IF i get in lol), taken a ***** load of math classes, worked with professors, then enroll in Harvard Extension and take it. So no…I’m not in over my head, because I know I’m nowhere near ready to touch anything like that class lol.</p>
<p>But is it really freshman only?..That’s disappointing.</p>
<p>^junhugie and harvardbound, I guess you guys must be really good at math :p. I don’t know if math 55 is only for freshmen or not, but I did google the course title and this came up. I thought perhaps you would be interested:</p>
<p>Course notes:</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.math.harvard.edu/~ctm/home/text/class/harvard/55a/09/html/home/course/course.pdf[/url]”>http://www.math.harvard.edu/~ctm/home/text/class/harvard/55a/09/html/home/course/course.pdf</a></p>
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<p>Agreed .</p>
<p>It is not a good idea to plan your life around getting into Harvard. We could all ask ourselves whether we are as strong as this young man.</p>
<p>[Tanya</a> Khovanova’s Math Blog Blog Archive What Does It Take to Get Accepted by Harvard or Princeton?](<a href=“Tanya Khovanova's Math Blog » Blog Archive » What Does It Take to Get Accepted by Harvard or Princeton?”>Tanya Khovanova's Math Blog » Blog Archive » What Does It Take to Get Accepted by Harvard or Princeton?)</p>
<p>I should have mentioned on the brighter side that Curtis McMullen who was the Professor for Math 55 went to Williams College as an undergraduate. So not going to Harvard does not mean that you will not succeed! That is I guess the good news. The bad news is that
none of us is as smart as Curtis McMullen so maybe we need to go to Harvard just so that people think we are smart!</p>
<p>I am surprised that I haven’t seen that link before. Quite surprising rejections!</p>
<p>^As I have pointed out before, all the top schools (except for Caltech) invoke all kinds of subjective criteria in making admissions decisions. Academic superstars are certain to make the initial cut of eligibility, but are by no means certain to be admitted. That is the current state of affairs, though one could debate the merits of it ad infinitum.</p>
<p>^ Yes, I know. Nonetheless, his application was so strong from an academic standpoint that the subjectives would not have to be very compelling in order to make acceptance likely,</p>
<p>^Yes. I also am under the impression, based on the experiences of several people I know, that when academic superstars let it be known (perhaps through interview comments, or references in essays, or other aspects of their applications or experiences) that they have a preference for a certain college, they sometimes are turned down by their other choices. Though that isn’t tragic considering that these kids were all admitted to their first choices, to keep one’s options open I’d recommend that academic superstars visit, or otherwise demonstrate interest in, the other schools as well if they are genuinely hoping for offers from them.</p>
<p>Very interesting, that the boy took Math 55 while in High school, anyone know how I can do that myself? I am a sophomore, finishing up on Calculus BC and am willing to dedicate another 2 years of mathematics, before I get thrown into the threshold of colleges, and their “well rounded” curriculums.</p>