<p>The title says all: which math class do you guys recommend? Real Analysis, multivariate calculus, or linear algebra? Which class is most useful and which is the hardest? Also, which looks more impressive?</p>
<p>If any of you have any knowledge regarding these courses, please respond.</p>
<p>Useful: either multivariable or linalg. I’ve only taken linalg (multivariable next year), and matrixes have quite a few applications. Engineering majors usually requires multivariable or multivariable + linalg. Analysis is more abstract than those two and provides mathematical rigor to calculus.</p>
<p>Hardest: Analysis, especially if you’re not familiar with non-geometry proofs. </p>
<p>Impressive: Analysis. Higher level (upper division) vs. multivariable and linalg (which are lower division courses).</p>
<p>You shouldn’t take Real Analysis before you take multivariable calculus. There’s just no point.</p>
<p>I would say take discrete math, it looks the coolest IMHO, its a 2nd or 3rd year CS student math.</p>
<p>I have to agree with what TCBH said.</p>
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<p>Discrete math is a good class for a high school student to take if they’re interested in Math or CS, it isn’t very useful for most other sciences. That doesn’t mean others shouldn’t take it, but it’s something to keep in mind. You really can’t go wrong with Multivariable Calculus here though.</p>
<p>Thanks for the input! Is multivariate calculus necessary for real analysis, or does it make the material taught in real analysis easier to grasp?</p>
<p>Personally, I think discrete math is more fun than calc or linalg. xP</p>
<p>Technically, you don’t even need to know calculus to do real analysis, but it’s very helpful to have the background. Not sure about multivariable calculus actually being needed for analysis, but I’d suggest taking multivariable or linalg first since they’re more applicable to other fields.</p>
<p>A first class in real analysis is usually just single variable, so multivariable isn’t really necessary and it might not be particularly useful either. But you’re going to have to take it eventually, and at most colleges it’s going to be pre-requisite for almost every upper division math class. It’s also necessary for almost every scientific field, which certainly isn’t the case of analysis. I just don’t really see what’s to be gained from taking Analysis first.</p>
<p>The one thing that would be useful to know is where you’re planning on taking one of these classes. The material that’s taught in a Real Analysis or Linear Algebra is going to vary a lot more depending on the college than a multivariable calculus class will, so it’s better to take those at whatever college you end up attending full time. Though if you end up somewhere like Harvard where most people nominally start over, then having previous Real Analysis experience would be useful and you wouldn’t have to think about how things transfer.</p>
<p>I’m in high school right now, and my school offers these courses. I understand that multivariable calculus will probably be more useful since it is needed in higher-level physics and higher-level chemistry, like p-chem. However, I also enjoy challenging myself and I want to show colleges that part of me. If everyone is taking multivariable calculus, then it wouldn’t really set me apart or show that I’m challenging myself if I take multi. On the otherhand, I’m not exactly sure if I will like real analysis (it does sound interesting, though). But I just don’t want to take the class and end up getting a B or something.
Do you think it would help if I took real first and then multi, since then I would have an understanding of the theroems and whatnot.</p>
<p>@TCHB, you said real analysis would be useful for schools like Harvard. Does that mean Harvard requires you to take real analysis or are the courses more centered around that subject?</p>
<p>It’s because at most schools, if you had taken Multivariable calculus before you could skip it. I doubt you would be allowed to skip Real Analysis though. At Harvard (and some other schools), nobody skips those classes, so you wouldn’t be missing out on a chance to skip anything. Since people are required to retake calculus, they have levels that are very theoretical anyway - much closer to Real Analysis.</p>
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<p>Wow, I’ve never heard of a high school offering Real Analysis. I’m not sure what that means you can expect in terms of rigor. Maybe if you try to find out what textbook the class uses, then a site like physicsforums would be able to give you a better idea of the rigor and how worthwhile it might be.</p>
<p>Take MVC and Linear Algebra.</p>