<p>What is the difference between 21-127 and 15-151 for SCS freshmen? Is one class a subset of the other, or are they essentially the same content for math vs CS students?</p>
<p>21-127 (Concepts of Mathematics) was previously the discrete math prereq for 15-251, and CS majors before this current year took it for their requirements. 15-151 is the replacement, and it has essentially the same material, but certain things are omitted (number theory, I think?) and some things are added (graph theory). So yes, it’s more targeted for CS majorsto prepare them for the followup 15-251 class.</p>
<p>The course is being taught by a longtime TA for 21-127, and the TAs are (I’m assuming, based on the ones I’m friends with) people who went through 21-127 and/or TA’d 21-127 for a while.</p>
<p>Is 15-151 supposed to be easier for freshmen than 21-127 (which had a C average grade)?</p>
<p>No one’s taken it yet, so can’t say. My informed guess says it’ll be as hard if not harder. Adam Blank does seem to believe that running freshmen through a discrete math gauntlet is necessary to make them strong computer scientists.</p>
<p>But don’t worry about the average grade! From my experience with 21-127, it’s a fun class (I wasn’t a mathy kid in high school but this class made me a convert to the beauty of mathematics). It’ll be very hard the first few weeks if you don’t have discrete math experience, but the style of thinking and proving problems will become more natural.</p>
<p>My first quarter grade was a D or low C, ended up with a B.</p>