Before I start off, I’d like to introduce myself. My name is Kenneth. I am currently a Sophomore in High school taking an honors Geo/Trig math course. I have a passion for computing/coding, and I truly want to get into Stanford.
Alright. So I have a HUGE dilemma.
Over the summer I either have the choice to advance my math class (advancing Math Analysis to take AP Calc) or I can focus my efforts during the summer to pursue coding algorithms and doing research for a possible algorithm Idea. Now, the stipulation with this is that I can’t do both at a time. The pros of pursuing mathematics is that I will have an AP course Junior year, but with the coding algorithm, it looks better for college applications (especially Stanford). So it’s either the 5.0 or the pursuing of coding. I don’t know which one Stanford will like better?
Please Help?
Do you guys think I can do both?
TL;DR Should I take AP math or do research over the summer.
@KennethS I’m curious to know what ideas you have (I am a TA for an algorithms class).
However I might suggest that you take the math courses first, such as the ones you listed. Coming up with and analyzing algorithms usually requires strong mathematical maturity since you will often have to analyze different things such as the running time, space complexity, number of cores/processors needed, why the algorithm is correct, or if it’s a probabilistic algorithm, prove that it returns the correct answer with probability >p, etc.
Most algorithms courses at universities require some sort of discrete mathematics or proof-based course, and likely calculus, so it might be a good idea to have those under your belt before tackling any research problems.