The Hardest Math Class

<p>Combinatorics or "real" linear algebra</p>

<p>lol @ Gee I'm a tree.</p>

<p>Complex Analysis....I hated it</p>

<p>complex analysis, fourier, advanced calulus with proving...</p>

<p>I dont' think linear algebra is that hard.</p>

<p>^ we're not talking about high school linear algebra.</p>

<p>what high schooler takes linear algebra?</p>

<p>
[quote]
what high schooler takes linear algebra?

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</p>

<p>y=4x+7 appears to be linear.
y=3
By algebra, I rock enough to know that x=-1, therefore I know linear algebra! :D</p>

<p>(People who haven't had exposure to collegiate-level math can be confused as to what exactly linear algebra is... As I recall, this is a site where people probably haven't had a ton of collegiate-level math.)</p>

<p>ahhh, well in that case it seems like jmilton90 is giving chaoses the sass mouth</p>

<p>im taking linear algebra (2nd course)
omg.
let S be span (s1, s2, s3)
and v NOT in span S.
prove that the set {s1, s2, s3 ,v}
is linearly independent.</p>

<p>omg omg omg omgadsfjkdasf
hahahaha
its hard but its alright i guess,</p>

<p>Linear Algebra is really kicking my butt right now... I suppose a good professor could make all the difference though. I don't think the subject matter is that hard but (at my school, at least) nobody really knows how to teach it, and everyone teaches it in their own way, which is different from the book, which is different from other books, which is all only really understandable by mathematicians anyway, whose perception of reality is screwed enough to begin with. phew...</p>

<p>Understanding and implementing 3-D finite element method (not using a fancy FE package, but with Matlab, Fortran, etc.). This pretty much combines linear algebra, PDEs, and optimization methods all into one.</p>

<p>since I was a math major for a while, I've taken</p>

<p>calc 1, 2, 3
diff equations
linear algebra 1 and 2
geometry
abstract algebra (ring theory)</p>

<p>and a couple other joke math courses. The hardest one conceptually was probably ring theory, but it still wasn't that hard. After that, maybe diff equations. I found linear algebra to be pretty easy.</p>

<p>I'm taking complex analysis and optimization this spring... I'll see how those go.</p>

<p>^ I don't think ring theory is practical for most professional engineers..</p>

<p>It's not, but I still took it... but only because I was a math major previously.</p>

<p>Abstract Algebra is no doubt the hardest undergraduate math class offered. Honors engineering math, any calculus, partial differential, any analysis and even number theory do not compare to the horrors of rings and modules.</p>

<p>Real Analysis. There are plenty of harder math classes out there, but I haven’t taken them.</p>

<p>I think it really depends on the school and the professor. There is no limit to how hard you can make a math class. Most people find Calc III somewhat easy, but I really think that’s because it has a lot of formulas and procedures that can be followed. If a professor doesn’t test you on the underlying concepts (they usually don’t) it can feel easy.</p>

<p>Wow…I did not know that this thread had been here this long. Well, my undergrad degree is in Computational Mathematics…and Computational Complexity was the hardest course for me. Why?..</p>

<p>1) All proofs
2) No computer assignments to bail me out of mediocre exam grades</p>

<p>I still cringe just hearing the terms “Church’s Thesis” and the “Halting Problem”</p>

<p>I got a ‘C’ in Computational Complexity and was happy with it since I knew that it was one of only two majority-proof course I would have (One semester of Analysis/Advanced Calculus was the other). Even when I had Linear Algebra and Differential Equations, the profs had somewhere like 35-40% of your grade in computer assignments, so I was good in those courses. Under Michigan State’s Computational Math program (before they added a few more theoretical courses), my upper-level courses were:</p>

<p>Discrete Math I: Combinatorics
Discrete Math II: Graph Theory
Numerical Analysis I
Numerical Analysis II
Mathematical Programming (basically an Optimization/Linear Programming course)</p>

<p>Applied Vector Calculus for Engineers for me.</p>

<p>It wasn’t even a math course to be honest. There were way more electromagnetics in that course than pure math…</p>

<p>First 2-3 weeks was actual vector calculus which was pretty easy stuff. The rest of the semester was all Maxwell’s Equation stuff, which aren’t too fun when you just learned vector calculus.</p>

<p>

I did. </p>

<p>Basically, if you finish the Calculus series by grade 11, some students like to take the rest of the math early.</p>

<p>As for hardest math? Depends on your weaknesses. Math can be so mind-numbingly abstract or arbitrary in so many ways, and you just have to pick your poison. All engineering math classes are pretty reasonable though.</p>