Honors Calculus versus Honors Analysis

Friedmanfreak
Wed, 07 Apr 2010 16:16:14 +0000

First, quick background on my math education in high school. I took pre-calculus as a freshman, BC Calculus in sophomore year with a 5 on the AP, and this weird course that was basically a mish-mosh of linear algebra and multivariable calculus with a sampler of complex analysis (I have no idea what my teacher was thinking) at the end of the year.

Up until BC Calculus I had a decent handle on everything, but my math class junior year was honestly a bit over my head, especially because I found that I had a much harder time grasping linear algebra than multivariable calculus, and my teacher took a fairly rigorous approach of actually going through vector spaces, matrices, linear transformations and all that fun stuff before going into stuff like total derivatives and then making all the connections.

Grade wise, I did fine because our class had insane curves (I usually got from 30%-50% correct on most tests and quizzes and somehow pulled off an A- for the year because grading was entirely relative) but a lot of it was honestly regurgitation. I would blindly memorize formulas and proofs for theorems and hope for the best. It really bothered me that unlike in BC calculus, I didn’t know what I was doing. I think some of this was due to me being lazy in junior year but a lot of was also due to my teacher, who was notorious for being impossible to understand. In fact, about half of my classmates in that class were in the exact same situation as I was - getting fine grades but not having a clue what was going on.

I figured I had enough of that, so I took AP Stats senior year, which, as everyone told me, was WAY easier than any calculus course I’d ever taken, but still, I really enjoy the class and I’ve probably found it the most useful class I’ve ever taken. The thing is, I still feel like the last time I was in a math class where I was really in control of what was going on was in sophmore year.

So then I get into UChicago and I’m not sure what to do about math. Since I have a 5 on the AP I could just take Honors Calc, which I hear is a rigorous course, but part of me wants to push myself and dig back into Apostol (my BC Calculus class primarily used Apostol volume 1 while the class I took last year primarily used volume 2) and see if I can really see what’s going on. I guess my concern is whether or not I’ll be able to handle Honors Analysis IF I get in (I realize that’s a BIG assumption - repeat, I realize it’s big, not trying to be cocky). Still, I’d like to be prepared to make a decision rather than be caught surprised during O-week on the minute chance that I do well on the placement exam.

On the other hand, since the calculus placement exam is all single variable anyway, it wouldn’t be too hard to just try to review all the major theorems. Should I go crazy and try to review multivariable as well? How much does being placed into Honors Analysis help in terms of (1) pursuing a math major (right now I’m looking at doubling in Math spec. Econ and Econ) and (2) career placement (potentially finance)?