For context, I don't think I ever knew the thing we were studying was called linear algebra, so it took me another 17 years to realize that is the common name f

For context, I don't think I ever knew the thing we were studying was called linear algebra, so it took me another 17 years to realize that is the common name for what we studied in that class. Now I'm wondering if maybe one of the intents of the small engineering-focused school's tightly integrated math-science-engineering curriculum was to avoid an introductory linear algebra class. We had to understand matrices and vector spaces earlier for other classes and didn't do what you call the "applications" of linear algebra until sophomore year.