<p>What kind of material is tested over specifically?</p>
<p>I am interested the most in math. Is it similar to the AP Calc test? </p>
<p>How about the language test? Is that similar to anything I may have experienced in AP/IB?</p>
<p>You will complete your language exams online if you known one of the more popular languages. The math exams are pretty similar to the AP Calc test.</p>
<p>But seriously. I studied so hard for my math placement exam and I did place into a better math class but now I think of it, studying for the placement exam was totally NOT worth my time… I should’ve gone out and play during the summer…</p>
<p>I took my Princeton Review book for AP Calc and spent an hour with it on the drive up here and managed to place out of the math requirements for the Core (i.e. I placed into 153). This, after not doing any serious math for a good two years. (I took AP Stat, which everyone knows is not a math class, in junior year and no math class in senior year of HS.) So, you’ll be fine. It’s really not that difficult.</p>
<p>Phuriku is a good guy to talk to if you’re interested in learning about placing into the higher math sequences [like Honors Analysis].</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.math.uchicago.edu/undergraduate/placement.pdf[/url]”>http://www.math.uchicago.edu/undergraduate/placement.pdf</a></p>
<p>This should answer your question.</p>
<p>After talking with a couple math majors:
there’s a multiple choice section and a free response section. The multiple choice places you up to/into 161. The free response section (like proofs) places you into 199 or 207. if you want to get out of 161-163, then you need to learn enough proofs to get through the free response section, which means going through you calc textbook and finding the basic proofs and learning them.</p>
<p>I’m more concerned about the organic chem test.</p>
<p>One thing that is very poorly elaborated upon before O-week is how much different Honors Calculus 16100 is from the AP Calculus classes you’ve taken in high school, which leaves some very solid math students, who’ve gotten 5s on both calc AP tests, thinking that they’re bound for Honors Analysis in their first quarter.</p>
<p>So, to clarify: Honors Calc is absolutely NOT a step down, or even on the same plane (ha ha) as Calc AB/BC.</p>
<p>As one who went through the 160s sequence having gotten 5s in both AP calc tests, I found Honors Calc 161-2-3 to be ferociously difficult at points. It exposes you to aspects of math that you might be completely unfamiliar (or only marginally familiar) with. The class is 98% proofs and features some very tricky problem sets and exams. And the proofs are certainly different from the kinds of proofs you’ve been exposed to previously. </p>
<p>The standard text book for the Calc 160s sequence is Calculus (3rd edition) by Michael Spivak. Any folks who fancy themselves potential math majors would do well to, at the very least, find a copy of this book and flip through it in the next 6 months. That said, the vast majority of math majors start by taking Calc 161. And, to give you an idea of how far you can go starting with that, I have a friend whose path through UChicago math was Calc 161-2-3, Analysis 203-4-5, and then whatever followed, and she’s now on a full ride at Cornell getting her PhD in mathematics.</p>
<p>That said, somewhere between 10 and 15 first year students place into Honors Analysis (MATH 20700) each year, which is pretty phenomenal, considering that I’m certain that there are more than 15 math geniuses per entering class. In fact, the majority of math majors never end up taking Honors Analysis in any year. It’s not an insult to anyone’s intelligence - it’s just that advanced of a class.</p>
<p>Also, I know “it’s just that advanced of a class” might sound enticing, but Honors Analysis is really not worth even wanting to take in your first year unless you honestly consider yourself to be in the top 1% of UChicago’s entering class in math. Unless you’re in that 1%, there’s a good chance that 207 would be a bit over your head, you’d get frustrated, end up being asked to drop down, or fail and then <em>have</em> to drop down.</p>
<p>That said, I assure you, if you’re meant to take Honors Analysis your first year, you’ll place into it. </p>
<p>Just so I’m not all gloom and doom however, if you want to have a good shot at placing out of 160s (expanding upon kitkatkatie’s advice), you’ll find the 160s textbook - the aforementioned Spivak’s Calculus, a portion of which is on googlebooks - learn it all, and do all the problem sets at the end of each chapter. You have to be comfortable with all that material as well, because the math placement test is timed, and they don’t just ask you to recite proofs on the free response section…</p>
<p>Are there any past or specimen papers we can look through, just to give us an idea of what to expect?</p>
<p>To the best of my knowledge, there are no past tests floating about. </p>
<p>That said, even if past exams were available, would you really want to try to “beat” a test that’s supposed to be an honest assessment of your math skills? (it’s not a test that you can fail)</p>
<p>You can expect, to the best of my recollection, 75ish multiple choice questions, and several free response questions following that. Don’t remember what the time limit is, but the test moves along at a good clip.</p>
<p>No, fair enough. I didn’t think there would be, thanks for letting me know for sure. I’m just trying to gage their relative difficulty, and the style of test. I’m terrible at ‘ticking boxes’.</p>
<p>Sadly schooling in the UK conditions you to make your maths all about putting stuff down on paper for method marks, a habit which SATs haven’t really helped me kick. Out of interest, if anyone has any idea, how easy are these limits and the epsilon-delta business to pick up from that Spivak fellow’s book? I’ve never covered it on-syllabus, and what’s more regurgitation of proofs doesn’t happen on UK exams (much), which is all making me a tad nervous.</p>
<p>I know two people that placed into Honors Analysis as 1st years. They book took a class in high school that used Spivak Calculus for their second year of Calculus. Neither of them stayed in the class more than a couple weeks after finding the 35 hours of homework (per week, mind you) daunting.</p>
<p>Currently, I’m taking the IBL sequence of Honors Calculus and absolutely loving it. The class is not for everyone, but it is a really interesting (and fun) approach to mathematics.</p>
<p>The placement test for math is split up into two parts. The first is a 75? multiple choice questions where the non-calculus questions were similar to what you would find on a SAT exam and the calculus questions similar to those found on an AP BC Calculus exam. The second portion of the exam is written and tests basic knowledge of epsilon-delta proofs, sequences and series and some field theory if I remember correctly. The questions seemed hard at the time, but I could probably do them in my sleep by now.</p>
<p>I highly suggest Honors Calculus unless you have a solid background in proof-based mathematics.</p>
<p>Bloody hell! That’s the legal limit on how long you’re allowed to actually work per week in France. This on top of how much in lectures and other homeworks?</p>
<p>Overall, Honors Analysis is roughly 35-40 hours of stuff per week (including lectures). Don’t worry, not all classes are like that. IBL Calculus has been ~10-15 hours per week, including discussion sections and classes. [And comparing to core humanities (I’m taking Greek Thought and Literature) which only take up 5-6 hours per week, including readings.]</p>
<p>Fair play. Honours Analysis: serious business. Still, the humanities courses’ work hours sound encouraging… not a stream of essays each week, is it?</p>
<p>For humanities, most of the classes are required to write three essays during the quarter. Most of them have been 4-5 pages (not just talking of my personal experience but also of my friends).</p>
<p>For social science and civ, things can be all over. Some Civilazation courses don’t require essays at all (all tests) while others have all essays but most having a mix. Social Science, depending on the sequence will have 1-5 papers per quarter (with an average of 3).</p>
<p>I’ve found the average class to have ~5-10 hours per week of commitment unless the word “Honors” is attached.</p>
<p>How many do you tend to juggle? Is there some kind of limit beyond time-table clash, or is there wiggle room to cram things in?</p>
<p>Right now I’m in:</p>
<p>IBL Calculus: I typically spend 10 hours on this class a week. Sometimes a little more when I have the time to spare.</p>
<p>Physics: Meh, I just recently dropped from honors physics (~15 hours per week…part of this is 4 hours per week of lab) to regular physics where I plan to spend ~10 hours per week (including the 4 hours of lab per week).</p>
<p>Greek Thought & Literature: ~6 hours per week. You could easily get away with less but I enjoy the readings for the most part.</p>
<p>Social Science Inquiry: ~6-ish hours per week. Last quarter I spent more like 3 hours per week on the class but I have a much better (but at the same time more demanding) teacher this quarter.</p>
<p>Add in an additional ~20 hours for student organizations, and it’s enough to keep me busy =)</p>
<p>That sounds to me like a nice mix, actually. I’m doing Greek, Physics and further Maths at A-level, so I sympathize with that combination. What do you want your major/degree to be?</p>
<p>I’m thinking Mathematics with possible combination of double/minor in Visual Arts and Philosophy.</p>