Summer School Credit: Linear Algebra?

<p>Hey guys, I had a question about summer transfer credits. I'm pretty sure that my grade over the summer doesn't get computed into my GPA, and I don't think the transcript shows it either.</p>

<p>That said, I'm contemplating taking Linear Algebra over the summer at a state university near my home. I want to do this because it makes my schedule work so much better--I can take Algebra I & II next year, which opens more room for taking other upper level classes the year after that. I'm also doing it because the Linear teacher for next fall is a terrible teacher, and last semester not a single person in his class got an A.</p>

<p>But do you think graduate schools will mind? I have a 4.0 finishing up my freshman year...do you think that they will hold it against me if they can't see my grade for Linear Algebra? (I guess it's better than a B, right?)</p>

<p>No, it’s not better than a B. GPA is not most important factor when it comes to grad school admissions.</p>

<p>Go ahead and take the course over the summer.</p>

<p>If you take the course at your current institution, the grade will most definitely appear on your transcript. If you take it elsewhere and the grade does not show, you will probably have to request a separate transcript from that institution when you apply to graduate school. Most programs request transcripts from every college you have attended. </p>

<p>You are in much better shape than me linear algebra wise. I audited the course at a local university when I was in high school and never retook it for credit. My current college will let me graduate without credit for linear algebra because I obviously know the material (in fact, the course I audited was more rigorous and comprehensive than the course at my own college). I highly doubt that graduate schools will care because I have completed much more advanced coursework since.</p>

<p>Thanks b@r!um ! I’ll have to check with the department chair to make sure I can get approved to transfer credit but I’m pretty sure I can.</p>

<p>Speaking of bad pasts and graduate schools caring/not caring, I just took Discrete 1 (and no Calc 1, because I tested out of it and they recommended I wait a semester and fill it with a CS requirement instead…dumbasses) and then Calc 2 and Discrete 2 this semester. I got all A’s, but do you think this will raise any eyebrows for grad schools?</p>

<p>They’ll be looking at my transcript and saying “Hmm okay…he took Discrete 1 and no Calc…then Discrete 2 and Calc 2…and now he transfered a summer course in Linear Algebra, and here he is taking Abstract Algebra the fall of his second year…” I assume that things like good grades in advanced coursework (algebra, complex, real, top/geom, pde, algebraic&analytic num theory) and REUs are much more important than trivial arrangements of my classes during my freshman year…but I still worry a lot! Lol</p>

<p>Are they a terrible teacher because no one learned the material, or are they a terrible teacher simply because no one got an A last semester? Maybe no one earned an A last semester.</p>

<p>I think with math it makes sense not to take the lower courses in a sequence if you’ve already qualified for them in other ways (testing out, taking AP credit, etc.) Grad schools care less about the constellation of classes on your transcript and more about whether you appear to know your stuff, like you said. If you’re getting As in calculus II and III then I think it becomes obvious that you also know calculus I.</p>

<p>No one got an A because no one learned the material. The teacher is a harvard phd, and is very brilliant, but he just skips a lot of steps, and is generally inept at communicating his ideas. To make it worse, he usually doesn’t follow the book, making it more difficult for students to even learn on their own. I can attest to his teaching style a bit because he’s teaching my putnam problem solving class (just extracurricular) and he’s pretty difficult to understand–even in office hours.</p>

<p>I definitely hear you on the calc thing! If I get an A in calc 2 and 3, clearly they’re fine with me not taking calc 1. I do wonder if they’ll ask “why didn’t he take calc 2 the first semester instead of waiting?” But hopefully such a question is trivial compared to more important things in the future like gre scores, grades in the 10 or so graduate courses ill be taking, reu publications, letters of recommendation, etc.</p>

<p>

No, it’s fine. I’ve tested out of a lot of intro classes too, so I know it’s perfectly A-OK.</p>

<p>You are seriously…seriously underestimating Linear Algebra.</p>

<p>Assuming it’s a theoretical class0, and not a number crunching one, you’ll be developing mental muscles you’ve never used before, and assigning a whole section of your brain to the universe that is vector spaces/proofs.The content simply takes time to sink, in study habits aside. Forcing it into a summer course will kill any chance you have of walking away from the class with a masterful understanding of the material (IMO).</p>

<p>For reference sake, I was 1 of only 2 students my professor ever passed in 20~ years who didn’t take integral calculus before linear algebra. Linear algebra is a gauntlet. Exhausting, but if given enough time, very mathematically empowering.</p>

<p>topgun70009, do you absolutely mean “no one” learned the material?</p>

<p>You can’t really expect every one to understand the material. I concur with Nukewarm.</p>

<p>Linear algebra is a very well-behaved area of mathematics with few surprising results. (The trick is to step back from the algebra and look at the geometry of what you are doing.) If you think that’s a gauntlet, you are in for a big surprise!</p>

<p>I concur that linear algebra is a very important area of mathematics and worth learning well. A summer course might actually facilitate that. Spending 6 weeks on a single class can provide much more opportunity for reflection than 12 weeks shared with 3 or 4 other classes. It would be way too much to ask of a student to grasp the significance of the subject on the first pass. There has been much accomplished if students come out of linear algebra knowing the central results and how to write a formal proof. Later (much later) students come to realize that linear algebra is as essential for higher math as the arithmetic of real numbers was in high school.</p>

<p>Unfortunately few universities teach a truly rigorous first course in linear algebra these days. Summer courses are even more likely to be purely computational. On the other hand, a number-crunching linear algebra course is still much more valuable than a poorly taught theoretical course that goes over everyone’s head. </p>

<p>I am still in favor of the summer course!</p>

<p>My first Linear Algebra course was called “Theory of Matrices”. That should probably tell you what the course was about. We were echeloned/linear-independent/Gram-Schmidt to death in that course (I still remember it).</p>

<p>When I took Linear Algebra again in grad school, it was for systems engineering and it was a breeze.</p>

<p>Nukewarm: I get what you’re saying about linear algebra. I hear it’s tough (when it’s a “theoretical” course like you said.) I honestly don’t know what kind of course it will be like. It’s at the University of Louisville, which does have a Ph.D program. (Not a prestigious one or anything, but that might help give it a bit of credibility in the course content they teach)</p>

<p>I feel like I’ll have an easier time absorbing it over the summer though. I’ll literally have this class all day, every day, and while it is more fast-paced than a regular class, it is my only class…which will allow me to solely focus on linear algebra over the summer.
I’ve actually already gotten Gilbert Strang’s book from the library and started working through it while watching his MIT Open Courseware videos online. I figure if my linear course doesn’t end up covering everything I want to know, I can fill it in by teaching myself through that courseware too…
As for Linear Algebra being a “gauntlet,” I don’t know what to say, since I haven’t taken it yet. I know the calc classes I’ve taken have been ridiculously easy, but that doesn’t really have much to do with linear algebra. I’ve heard that I will do better in Differential Equations after knowing Linear Algebra…also, I’m planning on taking a second semester course in Linear Algebra some time in undergrad.
As far as the gautlet is concerned, it seems like linear algebra is very very powerful and useful, but there are certainly harder classes out there. Abstract algebra, etc.</p>

<p>b@rium: It’s too bad that “unfortunately few universities teach a truly rigorous first course in linear algebra these days.” I assume MIT would qualify as one of those universities though, so hopefully watching those videos will supplement my learning! Because it’s important that I get credit so I can get into abstract algebra next semester and move forward…but it’s more important that I really understand the material well, so I’m doing everything I can to soak up all the linear algebra I can get over the summer!</p>

<p>Globaltraveller: yeah I’ve seen some classes like that at other schools. Like I know UIUC has a class called Elementary Linear Algebra, a class called Linear Algebra, a class called Introductory Matrix Theory, and then Abstract Linear Algebra (which I guess is like a second semester course in Linear Algebra? I don’t know)</p>

<p>The linear algebra course on MIT Open Courseware is primarily computational and targeted at non-math majors. MIT teaches another section of linear algebra with more emphasis on theory, but that one does not have video lectures online. </p>

<p>I am not familiar with Gilbert Strang’s textbook but I throughly enjoyed his lectures! I watched a few of them when I learned linear algebra. Seeing some of the computations done out made the theory I learned in class make much more sense. Sometimes the course I took suffered from being too abstract (too abstract for first-year math majors, anyway). There is an argument to be made for learning linear algebra computationally first.</p>

<p>Huh, that’s interesting that they put the computational linear algebra course online…I guess they figure there more engineering/business people than pure math people. Gilbert’s book covers about 3 times what his lectures cover, and it seems to me that his book has a lot more of the “explanation” behind linear algebra, which seems to be omitted in the lectures.</p>

<p>I’m taking my summer course at the University of Louisville, which has a very popular 5-year engineering masters program, so I wouldn’t be surprised if the Linear Algebra course I take over the summer is very computational.</p>

<p>With that said, are there any resources (books, textbooks, videos, websites) that you would recommend that I study after I finish my Linear Algebra course, so that I can learn a lot more of the abstract theory behind linear algebra?</p>