Grades are in

[algeh]

I got an A in Abstract Algebra II. I think this is my first straight "A" in a math class (as opposed to, say, a CS class with math numbering or something) since calc II, although I can no longer remember my discrete math grade at all. Anyway, it's not going to really count for anything or impress anybody since my transcripts are already sent off to the grad program and everything, but I'm just happy that I actually managed to keep up my streak of doing all the homework and turning it in on time going all term and that the material kept making sense (these are probably related, but it also helps that this is a fun part of math that makes sense to me). Also, last term he let the people with A's the previous term out of the final if they did extra stuff during the term. It'd be pretty cool if I could get in on that this time, since then I could have finals week as a vacation (important since if I get in the grad program I'll be in school for the summer). We'll have to wait and see.

I have this horrible problem with math wherein certain parts of it are very interesting to me so I keep thinking I like math. Then I take classes like differential equations and remember that I don't. Now I'm trying to decide if I want to spend extra money and take number theory next term as well, even though I really don't need to. I think common sense will prevail, even though it looks shiny.

Comments

[clipdude.livejournal.com]

Yay! Congrats!

When does the teaching program start? I think there is normally a week between the end of spring term and the start of summer term.

Number theory is definitely closer to abstract algebra than diff eq. I don't know what that particular course is like, but when I took number theory at LC, we spent most of the time dealing with congruences.

I guess with this you might get a two-week vacation!

[algeh]

I haven't the foggiest idea when the teaching program starts! They've vaguely and ominously hinted that it tales more time than the regular summer session, but I have been unable to find any kind of timetable online. I'm hoping this will be resolved if I get in the program, but I'm pretty annoyed that I can't find it out now.

I don't think I'll take number theory, just because I should probably be saving money right now and also I don't want to add stuff in and get burned out right before I start up School That Actually Matters For My Future again this summer.

Duck Hunt might tell you

[clipdude.livejournal.com]

If you go to Duck Hunt for the Summer and find a class you are taking, it will tell you when it begins and ends. For example, this Math 243 meets from 20 June to 15 July, while this Math 243 meets from 20 June to 10 August.

Re: Duck Hunt might tell you

[algeh]

Alas, it fails to be any help, as the classes are basically all "TBA".

Re: Duck Hunt might tell you

[clipdude.livejournal.com]

I'm totally confused by this.

The ones that are TBA are the "field studies" and "practicum" classes. Aren't these the ones where you observe or teach in classrooms? Are they even offered in the summer? (Most K-12 schools in Oregon shut down during the summer, right?) Of course, I'm guessing, as the catalog fails to provide any description of "field studies" whatsoever. For all we know, it is a math class about finite fields or a film studies class about the use of force fields in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (although I admit these interpretations are highly unlikely to be correct).

Furthermore, I fail to see even a "required classes" list anywhere online! Neither their web site nor the catalog seem to be able to answer the fundamental question of "what classes would I need to take in order to get a degree from you?"

Re: Duck Hunt might tell you

[clipdude.livejournal.com]

At any rate, I seriously doubt that their classes begin before 20 June, which is the beginning of summer session for everyone else except for law students (who are on the semester system). Hopefully, they will send out some info which clears up the confusion before the beginning of summer term.

This page might be more helpful as it lists all the teaching classes, not just the MSEC-specific ones.

[heraldmon.livejournal.com]

I have never spoken to anybody who has ever liked diffy qs. Not even math teachers. I think it's a fact of life that diffy qs are suppose to be loathed. So don't blame math because diffy qs suck. Blame the person who came up with diffy qs.

[algeh]

See, the problem isn't even the person who came up with diffyQs, since they then presumably went on to prove stuff about them and think about them in a theoretical and non "long series of algorithms for doing stuff you'll need later in a physics class" sort of way. I just have problems with remembering lots of algorithms for doing stuff that I don't really care about, especially in a bunch-of-letters-and-symbols-and-stuff context like math.

I'm pretty good at either flat-out memorization, like in choir, or in grasping the underlying concepts, like in fun math or most of the papers I wrote for my communication classes. It's the in-between stuff, where I need to basically apply memorized cruft to a set of problems, that I fall down. This makes foreign language and lower math not some of my best subjects...

[pmb.livejournal.com]

Y'know, one of the two major schisms in math is continuous vs discrete. It sounds like you know which one you prefer.

Now all you have to do is figure out applied vs theory.

[algeh]

Actually, I figured out the second one during my (brief) stint at computer science grad school, in which I lost all will to do anything even related to schoolwork except for automata by about the 5th week. Theory all the way!

See, the real reason I won't go on in math even though I'm liking it again (and I'm not actually that bad at most of it) is I already know my tolerance for taking hard classes that I don't enjoy is very, very low and that they won't let me end up with any kind of useful degree from just taking the fun stuff.

bad math joke

[clipdude.livejournal.com]

Some mathematicians do it discretely. Others do it continuously.