<p>I really have strong background in mathmatics.(Took or studied a lot of college courses, and got a gold medal in IMO.)
Though I’m not sure to skip those because they say they don’t recommend me to skip those.
Is this possible?</p>
<p>You can skip it but only in consultation with Professor Kronheimer, who is the DUS of Mathematics. I know several of my friends who have a special aptitude in mathematics to do this.</p>
<p>If fieldsmedal still wants more information,
<a href=“http://www.artofproblemsolving.com/Forum/viewtopic.php?t=24761[/url]”>http://www.artofproblemsolving.com/Forum/viewtopic.php?t=24761</a>
is a link which gives more information aboutmath 21, 23, 25, and 55.
<a href=“http://www.math.harvard.edu/~elkies/M55a.05/index.html[/url]”>http://www.math.harvard.edu/~elkies/M55a.05/index.html</a> has goodies about math 55, and here’s the syllabus <a href=“http://www.math.harvard.edu/~elkies/M55a.05/index.html[/url]”>http://www.math.harvard.edu/~elkies/M55a.05/index.html</a>.</p>
<p>If you have a gold medal in IMO, they should definitely let you skip.</p>
<p>do we all have to take math?</p>
<p>No, you do not. However, there is a Quantiative Reasoning Core Requirement. You can take a look at the Courses of Instruction at <a href=“http://www.registrar.fas.harvard.edu%5B/url%5D”>http://www.registrar.fas.harvard.edu</a> and see the types of QR Cores that were offered in the 2005-2006 school year.</p>
<p>So if you hated that Pre-Calculus class or Calc class in high school, you won’t have to take it here - that is, unless you’re a science major or something.</p>
<p>Actually, <a href=“http://www.math.harvard.edu/undergrad/Pamphlets/freshmenguide.html[/url]”>http://www.math.harvard.edu/undergrad/Pamphlets/freshmenguide.html</a> is probably more relevant than the other links i posted. </p>
<p>Quote:“Skipping Math 25 and 55: Every year a few freshmen want to skip the Math twenty/fifty level all together and start with a 100- or 200- level course. The Department, based on many years of experience, strongly discourages this. You may learn more advanced material in higher level courses, but never at the same speed and intensity as in Math 25 or 55. Moreover, you are learning more than just a body of mathematics in these courses. You are also learning how to ‘be’ a research mathematician (as opposed to one who only does well in Math courses).”</p>
<p>Well, if you qualify to go to the IMO, chances are you really want to continue your math studies. The thing about math 55 is that there’s “often” a couple of IMO students in the class, so the peer group in there must be amazing. There’s more info on the class in the link.</p>
<p>Just take Math 55. jesus 
have fun your freshman year, you can take other interesting math electives at the same time or in the future
Besides, Math 55 is basically the hardest math class at the school, and while it cover a lot of real analysis, it goes into many advanced topics like galois theory and i dunno algebraic combinatorics who knows</p>
<p>If I were you, I’d check out the course material for Math 55 a and b. </p>
<p>From what I can tell it covers (metric) topology, linear algebra, some multilinear algebra, field algebra, galois algebra, real analysis, a little complex analysis, fourier analysis, and differential geometry.</p>
<p>If it’s too repetitive, then by all means go for the 200 level classes. </p>
<p>I’m personally going to try Math 55, but I’m not so sure how</p>
<p>Hey people…i can offer u some of my knowledge here…</p>
<p>Here goes…
I had a friend attend Harvard University who graduated one year ago. He was summa cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa, and all that good stuff. Basically, he was considered one of the best students in his class (top 5 students) to attend Harvard. </p>
<p>In his career he had an A (strong solid A) in every class (and he took some awfully difficult / soul-crushing classes) but one…Math 55a. In that class he got an A-. However, when i asked him what he thought of the class, he said (and i quote): “it was the most rewarding class i took at Harvard” and that it gave u a strong background in much of undergraduate mathematics. </p>
<p>He also said that he “spent sleepless nights” trying to go through the problem sets. Mind, he probable procrastinated until a couple of nights before they were due…but heck he had the guts and the brains to cope with it. </p>
<p>Anyways…my point is…it was the best class he took (HE DEEPLY LIKED math even though he was a literature/philosophy major) and he did not regret it. If you are like him…meaning that u like math or u think u are ready for such a class…by all means take it. </p>
<p>However…he did say u had to be committed to the class…otherwise u were just paving the road to a very discomfiting first semester at Harvard. </p>
<p>Anyways…hope that helped</p>
<p>By the way…if any of u want to see what the notes / problem sets for the class looks like…say so… i will post the link for last year’s Math 55a/b class.</p>
<p>The link should give u a good picture of what the class looks like.</p>
<p>I would be crazy to try Math 55…I think I’m doing 25, right now.</p>
<p>Well, Tiankai Liu, who I’m sure fieldsmedal has heard of, still took 55.</p>
<p>Usually that class has a few IMO medalists…</p>
<p>I don’t know if I can handle Math 55 with some advanced economics course…</p>
<p>I’m at Harvard right now, not sure what I’m majoring in (applied math? stat? economics/stat or math joint?)- something quantitative. Math 55 is generally considered by almost every grad math program in the US to be the hardest undergraduate math class in the country. IMO gold medalists spend between 25 and 60 hours each week on their problem sets. Trust me, if you’re interested in skipping ahead in order to get ahead in the mathematics world, Math 55 is the most impressive math class to have on your resume, if you can survive it (most don’t, even if they think they can).</p>
<p>If the reason you want to skip is that you’ve already done all of the material in 55 (which would make you absolutely insane), then you should talk to Prof. Kronheimer.</p>