<p>I am a Grade 12 (in September) IB student from Canada , and I have a question about taking undergraduate math courses. Right now, I've taken the Calc AB exam, plus a bit more integration with my math class at school, and I'm really interested in taking Multivariate Calculus and/or Linear Algebra my senior year. I've thought about taking them at a local university or college, but doing that is slightly inconvenient for me. I was thinking I could simply get a textbook and self study these subjects. I've actually self studied a few classes before, so I think this may be a viable option for learning the material.</p>
<p>My question is: If I self-study the material, will universities, like MIT, acknowledge that I've done the course, or will they need to see a transcript to verify that I've done it. Basically, strictly speaking about admission, how different is self studying a course like this from taking the course at a local college?</p>
<p>With that said, I'm not just taking the course to look good on my transcript. I want to take the course just because I like it, but if I can improve my chances on the way, then why not? :)</p>
<p>Dude just self study it for your own enrichment and stop wasting your time
trying to figure out how to make sure MIT knows that you did this and it
was legitimate.</p>
<p>The thing is: I’m going to study it whether it is a class, or if I just self-study it.
I just want to know how much of a difference it will make if I take it in a class. Taking it in a class would probably just take a bit more time than self-studying, and if it looks better to universities, then why not do it? If it doesn’t make a difference, then I’ll just self-study.</p>
<p>Dude who ****ing cares if you take a class or self study something.
You should only do it because you want. Why does it matter if MIT knows
what you did or not. As long as you learn what you wanted isn’t that all that
matters not what some college thinks. And what if it hurt your chances? Then
would you not do it even though it is something you really want and think will be
good for you?</p>
<p>copy, he said he’s going to study it no matter what, so I don’t see where the last line came from.</p>
<p>I’d say take it as a course if you can, but if not, don’t sweat it. It’s probably not a huge deal, especially if the reason was that it wasn’t available to you. (On that topic, why is it inconvenient?)</p>
<p>Be sure to put in your full effort to learn the material though, not just get a grade. ^^ Good luck!</p>
<p>I think you should take the classes, don’t just self-study unless there is some achievement test you could then take. For example, my son (Junior at MIT) self-studied and took the AP Computer Science test. He also took many math classes outside of school (at Duke TIP and at the local University). Showing you took the course or courses, and/or achievement tests if available, show initiative and self-challenge. So does self-study, of course, but this is not quantifiable. Just my opinion.</p>
<p>Right now, I think I’m leaning more towards just taking the class. The inconvenience isn’t huge. I just have to leave class at my school earlier so that I can make it to the math class on time.</p>
<p>And neuron39, thats sort of what I was thinking about when I asked this question. Thanks for your input!</p>
<p>Dad<em>of</em>3, thanks for the site! I actually used it before to study for Physics C, I found it really helpful.</p>
<p>Honestly, MIT is probably not going to care what you do in your free time if there isn’t a way to document what you did in it. So either self study when you are bored, or just take the class. Chances are you will learn more in the class anyways.</p>
<p>^ I think putting down the self-studying is worthwhile if you’re doing it anyway. Better than admissions officers thinking that you were inactive.</p>
<p>Of course not, learning for the sake of learning is the most important thing in life (to me, at least), just saying that telling them you did something in your free time can’t weigh as much as documentation from a university that you did the same thing (with a grade on how well this was actually done).</p>
<p>Most competitive schools do care deeply about what you do in your free time, because they are trying to get a picture of who you are, and that really only comes out in the choices that you make. At a great many schools, you have limited choices as to what you take. So when a candidate worries that he “only” took 3 AP classes because that was all that his school offers, well then they shouldn’t fret. It doesn’t matter as it does not show any student choices.</p>
<p>By contrast what you choose to do in your spare time shows a great deal about a student. MIT is a highly collaborative place, science is generally made up of collaborative fields of study, and most scientific work evolves out of some form of team-working. Scientists and engineers also succeed based on their ability to communicate their ideas, and MIT values communication skills highly.</p>
<p>Given that, I am always curious why a student believes that spending their limited free time alone in their room with a book is something that might impress competitive colleges. A real love of mathematics is a fine thing. I have a decent library of recreational mathematics books myself, but there are other ways to demonstrate this.</p>
<p>If you want to self-study combinatorics, linear algebra, or Fourier transforms in your spare time because you love it, then that is great. You go do that. And put it down. It really does show something about who you are. But don’t do it largely to impress MIT. Not only is that wrong, but it is likely to have the wrong effect.</p>