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anecdote: I took Multivariate calculus and differential equations while in high school at the University of Nevada. I was easily the top student in my classes.

by cozzyd 4y ago

anecdote: I took Multivariate calculus and differential equations while in high school at the University of Nevada. I was easily the top student in my classes. I had to retake them at Stanford (figuring out how to transfer the credit was too complicated). Despite having "taken" the "same" material before and the fact that the average grade in the class was probably a B or B+, I was below the median in the class on the exams and got worse grades in the classes at Stanford. Of course this is anecdotal, and the University of Nevada is not that great of a school, but no doubt my GPA would have been much higher at a school like that...

TrackerFF 4y ago
Should be mentioned that classes within the same school can vary from year to year, completely depends on the person at charge. The first time I took Calculus 3, I got a D. IIRC, the fail rate was over 50%, and average grade was a weak C. Two years later, I re-took the class to improve my grade. Ended up with a B - and the class average was round B at that time, with only around 15% of class failing the final exam.
somethoughts 4y ago
I think that's sort of what he's talking about. Had you not had the experience of calculus and diff eq at a university and your only exposure to it was at Stanford with middling grades - perhaps it'd probably lead to more existential questions of whether you really wanted to do STEM in the first place.
- cozzyd 4y ago
  Right, I quickly made peace with being a mediocre student at Stanford (and, still ended up getting into MIT for a physics PhD, where I was also a mediocre student but by then I didn't care :) ). I think the people who probably suffer the most at are probably premeds, where it really might be easier to get into med school by going to an "easier" school.
  - strikelaserclaw 4y ago
    If there are dull students at Stanford, i am 100% sure they are not taking advanced math classes or higher physics classes.
  - ghaff 4y ago
    In the grand scheme of things, I was probably pretty good at math as I got through a rigorous Mech E program. But I struggled with the more math intensive classes (Fluids/Navier-Stokes) and I'm pretty sure I could have dealt with an undergrad in physics/math--much less a grad program--about as well as I could have flown by flapping my arms in the air. But things ended up fine.
amluto 4y ago
I don’t suppose you took Math 51H/52H/53H? That series is ridiculous. (I suspect we met, at least briefly, somewhere along the way. Hi!)
- cozzyd 4y ago
  Hah, no, I took 51H and suffered through it for some reason, but just took normal 52 and 53. (And I think I slept at your place when I was visiting MIT as a prospective grad student).
  - deleted 4y ago
    [deleted]
  - amluto 4y ago
    At least my 51H prof had the decency to try very, very hard to scare the students away. It was ridiculous but fairly effective. I hope your visit was fun :). Your Antarctica beard on your website threw me for a loop.

by cozzyd 4y ago

TrackerFF 4y ago

Should be mentioned that classes within the same school can vary from year to year, completely depends on the person at charge. The first time I took Calculus 3, I got a D. IIRC, the fail rate was over 50%, and average grade was a weak C. Two years later, I re-took the class to improve my grade. Ended up with a B - and the class average was round B at that time, with only around 15% of class failing the final exam.

somethoughts 4y ago

I think that's sort of what he's talking about. Had you not had the experience of calculus and diff eq at a university and your only exposure to it was at Stanford with middling grades - perhaps it'd probably lead to more existential questions of whether you really wanted to do STEM in the first place.

cozzyd 4y ago
Right, I quickly made peace with being a mediocre student at Stanford (and, still ended up getting into MIT for a physics PhD, where I was also a mediocre student but by then I didn't care :) ). I think the people who probably suffer the most at are probably premeds, where it really might be easier to get into med school by going to an "easier" school.
- strikelaserclaw 4y ago
  If there are dull students at Stanford, i am 100% sure they are not taking advanced math classes or higher physics classes.
- ghaff 4y ago
  In the grand scheme of things, I was probably pretty good at math as I got through a rigorous Mech E program. But I struggled with the more math intensive classes (Fluids/Navier-Stokes) and I'm pretty sure I could have dealt with an undergrad in physics/math--much less a grad program--about as well as I could have flown by flapping my arms in the air. But things ended up fine.

amluto 4y ago

I don’t suppose you took Math 51H/52H/53H? That series is ridiculous. (I suspect we met, at least briefly, somewhere along the way. Hi!)

cozzyd 4y ago
Hah, no, I took 51H and suffered through it for some reason, but just took normal 52 and 53. (And I think I slept at your place when I was visiting MIT as a prospective grad student).
- deleted 4y ago
  [deleted]
- amluto 4y ago
  At least my 51H prof had the decency to try very, very hard to scare the students away. It was ridiculous but fairly effective. I hope your visit was fun :). Your Antarctica beard on your website threw me for a loop.