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NJKO GM Insane Facts About "Math 55," the Hardest Math Class at Harvard
IT'S MORE A RITE OF PASSAGE THAN A FRESHMAN PRE-REQ.

Those who enroll in Math 55 might wonder whether they are actually able to handle it. Well, it becomes clear pretty quic...
16/12/2021

Those who enroll in Math 55 might wonder whether they are actually able to handle it. Well, it becomes clear pretty quick, thanks to a diagnostic exam for enrollees. Students scoring more than 50 percent are encouraged to enroll in Math 55, while those who score less than 10 percent are advised to take Math 21. If you fall in between, the choice is yours.

In Williams' book, he describes Richard Stallman's Math 55 ending the semester with 20 students, eight of whom would go ...
16/12/2021

In Williams' book, he describes Richard Stallman's Math 55 ending the semester with 20 students, eight of whom would go on to become future mathematics professors. One eventually went on to teach physics.

Most Math 55 students produce 15- to 20-page problem sets each week. They have to produce so much, that students are som...
16/12/2021

Most Math 55 students produce 15- to 20-page problem sets each week. They have to produce so much, that students are sometimes discouraged from showing too much of their work.

"It is definitely a cult," Raymond T. Pierrehumbert, a professor at the University of Oxford and former 55er (he took th...
16/12/2021

"It is definitely a cult," Raymond T. Pierrehumbert, a professor at the University of Oxford and former 55er (he took the course in the '70s), told The Harvard Crimson. "I view it as more of an ordeal than a course. People who have been through it don't really forget it….It's like changing fraternity rings. It identifies you."

By all accounts, those who make it through the first five weeks—the end of Harvard's add-drop period—become thick as thi...
16/12/2021

By all accounts, those who make it through the first five weeks—the end of Harvard's add-drop period—become thick as thieves. They have to; the coursework demands it. So they hang out together, they party together, they do homework together.

You can expect to see students bailing from Math 55 on a regular basis. The class size shrinks to half its original size...
09/12/2021

You can expect to see students bailing from Math 55 on a regular basis. The class size shrinks to half its original size or less before the semester is over. According to one student who took Math 55 in 2005, and kept a running tally of attendance, "We had 51 students the first day, 31 students the second day, 24 for the next four days, 23 for two more weeks, and then 21 for the rest of the first semester after the fifth Monday.

As author Sam Williams describes in Free as in Freedom, his biography of free-software pioneer (and Math 55 graduate) Ri...
09/12/2021

As author Sam Williams describes in Free as in Freedom, his biography of free-software pioneer (and Math 55 graduate) Richard Stallman, the course is "four years' worth of math in two semesters."

According to a freshman guide to Harvard's Mathematics Department, there are two first-year math courses, the hardest on...
09/12/2021

According to a freshman guide to Harvard's Mathematics Department, there are two first-year math courses, the hardest one being Math 55. You could take Math 21, which is taught by graduate students and where homework usually takes a reasonable three to six hours per week. Or, you could opt to take Math 55—which gives you 10 times the amount of homework.

One former Harvard student, a self-described "Math 55 groupie," told The Harvard Crimson, "These guys are my role models...
09/12/2021

One former Harvard student, a self-described "Math 55 groupie," told The Harvard Crimson, "These guys are my role models." And a 55er (that's what Math 55 students call themselves) could confirm: When people find out, they "just spontaneously combust, swoon, faint, turn bright red, start giggling."

To get a sense of the kind of brains it takes to get through Math 55, consider that Bill Gates himself was a student in ...
09/12/2021

To get a sense of the kind of brains it takes to get through Math 55, consider that Bill Gates himself was a student in the course. (He passed.) And if you'd like to sharpen your brain like Microsoft's co-founder, here are The 5 Books Bill Gates Says You Should Read

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