<p>Ooof, I think what I wrote is very prone to being misunderstood. I apologize. It’s dangerous to start conflating “smart” with “well-prepared.” I feel like half of the people taking Ma1a feel like they’ve been pushed off the deep end of the pool and are very overwhelmed with the material; my complaint is not with the rigor in ma1a but with the preparation that the nation’s “calculus BC” classes give. Specifically, some students have seen this material for a year (or more!) and others are rushed through it, seeing it for their first time, in a very short quarter. Not only that–it’s these students’ first quarter at Tech, and they’re of course busy with other things: fitting in to their house, worrying about other classes, etc.</p>
<p>I agree with the gist of “Caltech is different”, though–it is important to indicate that ma1a is a class that a math major would have to take (or pass out of). The same is true of ph1abc, also a series of classes that non-physics majors find challenging (though I won’t get into how much of a joke practical track is this year). This is a requirement (taking the first two years of a in-major track as a non-major) that is found at very few other schools. What I disagree with is that ma1a is specifically harder than other math department calculus courses.</p>