USAMO and College Admissions

JHS
Fri, 01 Jun 2012 15:41:28 +0000

Well, MIT freshmen are not allowed to cross-register, and Math 55 is only open to freshmen.

I thought I saw something in connection with an earlier discussion of whether MIT students could take Math 55 that said clearly no, one or both institutions forbade it. But I can’t remember what it was I saw.

It’s not necessarily a great loss. Princeton, Stanford, and MIT are pretty good math schools. They don’t offer a Math 55-equivalent course. That’s not because their students or faculty aren’t smart enough, well-enough prepared, and willing to work; it’s because they don’t agree that you learn most that way. Math 55 is basically an amalgam of three different courses and some extra material. Princeton et al. would say, “Take the three courses. Take four. Learn carefully, and at a reasonable rate, and you will do better in the long term.”