I am considering taking Math 122L, but I heard that the class is very difficult and graded pretty harshly. I have credit to skip out of Math 111L but I was thinking about trying to self-study and place out of Math 122L to go directly to the higher level math classes. Would this be recommended or is it better to go through Math 122L to develop a more solid foundation?
It depends. If you’re planning to take more math classes at Duke beyond 202 or 212, then I would stick with Math 122L since it will probably serve you better in the long term. 100 level classes are intended to weed out people so they’re intended to be difficult and graded pretty strict on the curve. However, if you’re only planning to take math classes until 202/212 (like if you’re an economics major), it might not be a bad idea to try placing out and skip 122L. It really depends case by case.