<p>Math fanatic or not, this article in The Harvard Crimson gives a fascinating inside look at the dynamic of one of the hardest math courses around and maybe even of Harvard College - JUST LIKE A FRAT?</p>
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<p><a href=“http://www.thecrimson.com/article.aspx?ref=516216[/url]”>http://www.thecrimson.com/article.aspx?ref=516216</a></p>
<p>Already posted in the Harvard Forum, with interesting comments in the thread.</p>
<p>thanks for pointing that other thread out, tokenadult. I agree that the comments in that thread are interesting, but I have to tell you that the reason I posted excerpts in the parent forum was because I was struck by the incredible quality of intellectual vibrancy, dedication and comraderie - or the "wow’ factor - that infuses the piece. I suspect that these same qualities transcend the math 55 course and even Harvard and would be interested in further comments along that vein.</p>
<p>My school has a math class a little like that called Honors Analysis. I don’t know much about it, but I’ve heard people compare it to Math 55. I don’t know enough about either to know if that’s a fair comparison. I think there are two sections taught by the head of the math department. I don’t know if it’s a 50 hour/week class, but one of my friends is in it and will do a problem set until 7 am or will wake up early on Saturday morning to go to the library and work. It’s incredibly difficult to be accepted into the class, but this friend still got a 6 on the first midterm, and it wasn’t the lowest grade in the class. Though it’s wonderful for students to experience a class like Math 55, I worry about first year students taking a 50 hour/week class. Hopefully that number is exaggerated, because at 50 hours/week there would be little time for meeting people (outside the class!), socializing, studying other classes, getting involved, working part-time, etc. I think Marite’s son took this class, so I look forward to her comments.</p>
<p>I was WOWed!</p>
<p>I wonder if Harvard has the equivalent of Math 55 for other areas of study?</p>
<p>“I wonder if Harvard has the equivalent of Math 55 for other areas of study?”</p>
<p>They have a rough equivalent in some languages. Accelerated introductory Japanese and Chinese each cover a typical four-year language program in one year. I don’t know whether the bonding is as intense, though, because so much of that kind of class is memorization.</p>
<p>Marite, where are you when we need some first-hand (ok, second hand, since it was your son who took it) input! It’s amazing how there are so many kids who were considered “math wiz’s” in their high schools, and/or regions who get a harsh dose of reality once they get to Harvard.</p>
<p>Second hand information coming up.<br>
Indeed. A real humbling experience for S.
The class did not require 50 hours of work, though S is not a perfectionist like so many students. He does say that his current math classes are much less work than Math 55 was. S says that the problem sets are not as long as in Math 25( the next level down) but they are much more difficult.
Last year’s students gave themselves the name “morituri” which, once you’ve gone through it, probably morphs into “Survivors.”
Last year’s group was larger than this year’s, and included 3-4 women (compared to none this year). The year before, the number of students was similar to this year, and the group included two female students, both of whom are real stars (international medal winners).
The students are indeed known as 55ers, and there is a sense of camaraderie that persists in later years, born, I assume, from shared misery and intense study groups that also become social groups. It’s the same bonding experience as in summer programs such as RSI, PROMYS, ROSS and MathCamp.
I have not heard of anyone from that class p…ing on John Harvard’s foot. I doubt S would engage in such behavior, but then, I doubt he would tell his parents if he did.
Many of the 55ers I’ve heard about are extremely talented in other fields. Several are accomplished musicians and perform regularly in various Harvard ensembles. There is life besides and after Math 55!</p>
<p>Corranged: There’s some discussion about Math 207 vs. Math 55 in the Harvard forum. The basic conclusion seems to be that it’s more equivalent to Harvard’s Math 25, the next step down at Harvard (meaning that about 30 people a year take it, about half of whom were reasonable candidates for Math 55 but dropped down from it after a few weeks).</p>
<p>I just looked through that thread. Marite said that Math 25 is for students who don’t know proofs yet, so I would say Math 25 is more like the 160s (Honors Calculus). The 160s at Chicago are very difficult; they need to prove everything they use as they go, but the class does not assume students know proofs coming in to the class. There is also 199 which preps students to take Analysis. Students in Honors Analysis (207) must know proofs and everything coming into it. The class is invite-only based on student responses to the hardest questions/proofs on the calc placement test. Math 55 and Honors Analysis seem pretty comparable from a difficulty standpoint.</p>
<p>Marite, One of the women in last year’s class was actually an IBO medalist. She has seen the light and is a math concentrator now.</p>
<p>Oh! Here she is–
<a href=“http://www.thecrimson.com/article.aspx?ref=516237[/url]”>http://www.thecrimson.com/article.aspx?ref=516237</a></p>
<p>I took a German class my first term at Harvard where I was the only woman, it was a slightly weird dynamic feeling like you had to represent your half the human race.</p>
<p>I took a Feminist Literary Theory class where I was the only man. I was in grad school, though.</p>
<p>Corranged: the guide Marite referred to significantly understates the
mathematical maturity needed for Math 25, or rather, it gives way much benefit of doubt to the aspiring student. For example: the very first weekly problem set of 18 problems had one problem for which you had to figure out certain properties of cyclotomic polynomials, and another that essentially required proving the Cantor Bernstein theorem. In a previous year, the professor started the first lecture by proving the compactness of [0,1]. So yes, in theory, someone who hasn’t seen proofs >>>could<<< take the course, but in practice, it would be exceedingly unusual to survive this course without having done some nontrivial proofs already.</p>
<p>The classic “Baby Rudin” is the textbook for the analysis component of the course, and practically every problem in chapters that were covered ended up being assigned for homework. Math 25 is, in its own right, among the handful of the most difficult freshman math classes in the country. Math 55 is of course still tougher.</p>
<p>Interesting. That reminds me a lot of Stanford’s 50H series, except we don’t spend 40 hours a week on problem sets. We also have slightly higher numbers, but a similar retention rate.</p>
<p>Even the Connect Four part: We once challenged our prof to a game of Connect Four. He declined, but added, “But if you’d like to challenge me to a contest of ODE’s…”!</p>