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16953 Posts
I seem to have a lot of these, but yeah, I'm just looking for some advice on which fifth class to take. I currently have two substantive classes (statistics and physics), and two joke classes (introductions to geology and anthropology...lol). I'm looking for a fifth class, which would be a third substantive class. The statistics class is a graduate level elective on methods in modern statistics (like MCMC methods/Gibbs sampling, hidden markov models, etc.), and the physics class is an undergraduate elective on 20th century physics. The two joke classes pretty much just need me to attend lecture and do some readings, but the stat/physics classes have some pretty heavy problem sets.
I'm debating between two classes at the moment...I'm planning on applying for some pretty hefty internships, so I'd like a class that would prepare me for those, as well as look impressive to potential recruiters. At the same time, I want a class that won't rape my GPA.
The dilemma is choosing between the following:
The course on applied stochastic processes is only offered once every two years, so this is my only opportunity to take it. The course subject matter fits pretty nicely with my other stat elective, but it's considerably more difficult than the other class I'm debating whether or not to take. The problem sets in this class are very time consuming and very theory-based. I'd probably end up with some sort of B in this class.
The course on differential equations is an introductory course for math majors, so it's also quite theory-based (as opposed to the class for engineers, which is very heavy on numerical methods and is a lot easier). However, this is the only year that it's taught by a very easy professor, so I'm anticipating some sort of high B/low A in the course.
The course on applied stochastic processes counts toward both my stat major and math minor. The course on diff. eq. only applies toward a math minor.
Just for added info, here are the course descriptions for the two classes:
MATH 216 - Applied Stochastic Processes
An introduction to stochastic processes without measure theory. Topics selected from: Markov chains in discrete and continuous time, queuing theory, branching processes, martingales, Brownian motion, stochastic calculus.
MATH 131 - Elementary Diff. Equations
First and second order differential equations with applications; linear systems of differential equations; Fourier series and applications to partial differential equations. Additional topics may include stability, nonlinear systems, bifurcations, or numerical methods.
Any advice is appreciated!
 
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United States24611 Posts
oo what topics are being covered in your modern physics class?
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16953 Posts
"Experimental foundation of quantum mechanics; wave-particle duality; the single-particle Schrodinger equation and the physical meaning of the wave function; methods for studying the single-particle Schrodinger equation; analytical solutions of the harmonic oscillator and hydrogen atom and experimental tests of these solutions; angular momentum and spin systems; and finally the many-particle Schrodinger equation and consequences of identical particles existing in nature."
EDIT: I already have some background in diff. eq., so it won't be that much of a problem. When choosing between classes, that diff. eq. course will be much easier than the course in stochastic processes, but the course in stochastic processes is a grad course and so would look more impressive on my transcript. It's also probably more useful to learn.
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United States24611 Posts
I assume you also have familiarity with partial differential equations? That will of course be helpful when studying quantum mechanics... I'm surprised with the title (is it called 20th century physics?) of the course considering the content... but no worries.
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16953 Posts
On August 13 2010 04:41 micronesia wrote:
I assume you also have familiarity with partial differential equations? That will of course be helpful when studying quantum mechanics... I'm surprised with the title (is it called 20th century physics?) of the course considering the content... but no worries.
It's called Quantum Mechanics I. Rofl.
I suppose my main dilemma is whether or not the greater difficulty of the stochastic processes class is worth learning new content (that I'll probably have to learn eventually) and perhaps a more impressive application to internships.
I'll probably still won't get an A in the diff. eq. class because I never get A's in math courses T_T
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United States24611 Posts
Uh in that case, sorry I'm not really doing a good job advising you on what class you should take... but why did you choose to refer to it as '20th century physics' ?
edit: btw if you are at all worried about your differential equations theory class not being an A then some of the Schrodinger material is going to rock you.
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16953 Posts
On August 13 2010 04:46 micronesia wrote:
Uh in that case, sorry I'm not really doing a good job advising you on what class you should take... but why did you choose to refer to it as '20th century physics' ?
edit: btw if you are at all worried about your differential equations theory class not being an A then some of the Schrodinger material is going to rock you.
I'm not worried about it in terms of content, I'm just worried about it because it's graded on a curve with like 30 math majors and it's going to be time consuming doing the problem sets.
And I referred to it as 20th century physics for the same reason I referred to my other class as modern statistics. I just didn't feel like using the course title was necessary, just a description of what the class covered. <_<
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take stochastics, from what i know its used a *ton* in real-world statistics, especially anything finance related. also differential equations is really e-z, you'll probably be bored.
imo the content of both courses is stuff you probably should know, and diff eqs takes a few days to learn how the equations work while you could get a lot of valuable information from the stochastics lectures.
p.s. diff eqs doesn't have much theory involved, especially as a first year math course. Although you won't be doing as much number crunching as an engineering course, a lot of the formulas don't have rigorous derivations (linear first order, for example) and are fairly hand wave-y as to why they actually work.
p.p.s. hi empyrean ^_^
edit/p.p.p.s. you're lucky the stochastics course doesn't include measure theory or you'd really have something to worry about, thats one of if not the hardest topic on my undergrad pure math curriculum.
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16953 Posts
Thanks for the advice; that's what I was leaning toward anyway.
And hai2u2 
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United States24611 Posts
On August 13 2010 04:49 Empyrean wrote:
And I referred to it as 20th century physics for the same reason I referred to my other class as modern statistics. I just didn't feel like using the course title was necessary, just a description of what the class covered. <_<
I actually appreciate you trying to do that... but I think the title you came up with is very misleading. Just feedback for your own personal growth!
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The first one, just based on the fact that it's only offered once every two years. You don't know if that professor will flake the next time it's offered and just drop the course all together. I always hated scheduling, but the one thing I learned was to ALWAYS knock off classes that are infrequently offered first.
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United States24611 Posts
Yes that's a very good point Hawk makes haha... it comes up a lot more in grad school in my experience... always knock of things in college that could be more difficult to make up later! It seems obvious but it's so easy to paint yourself into a corner and not be able to take the classes you need/want in time ._.
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16953 Posts
On August 13 2010 05:38 micronesia wrote:
Yes that's a very good point Hawk makes haha... it comes up a lot more in grad school in my experience... always knock of things in college that could be more difficult to make up later! It seems obvious but it's so easy to paint yourself into a corner and not be able to take the classes you need/want in time ._.
Yeah, but at this point I don't even know if I want to do grad school or not.
<_<
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I think you should do grad school. I think it's been mentioned numerous times that a masters/doctorate will get you a lot further in life. It looks a lot better (i.e. when applying for a solid full-time job), and you'll learn more anyway!
You don't have to if you don't want one, but that's what I think!
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On August 13 2010 06:01 Z3kk wrote:
I think you should do grad school. I think it's been mentioned numerous times that a masters/doctorate will get you a lot further in life. It looks a lot better (i.e. when applying for a solid full-time job), and you'll learn more anyway!
You don't have to if you don't want one, but that's what I think!
Yeah, but I'm planning on applying to a bunch of firms that have fairly high starting salaries, and I don't know if the opportunity cost of missing out on those few extra years of money making is worth going to grad school and all the extra work/stress it entails.
From a purely salary-related point of view, of course.
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United States10774 Posts
Math 216 sounds really interesting, actually haha. Stochastic processes, wow.
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16953 Posts
On August 13 2010 06:08 OneOther wrote:
Math 216 sounds really interesting, actually haha. Stochastic processes, wow.
Definitely take it if you have the math prereq...you need MATH 135 to register, and MATH 135 requires MATH 103 and MATH 104 to register.
By the way, are you taking any more stat classes? I might TA one/some of them next semester rofl.
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It happens a lot in undergrad too, esp for smaller programs. Schools give on opportunity to knock out a class and if you miss you are screwed. I had to do a big research project on it some years ago. Scheduling is such a clusterfuck at most schools and most advisers haven't the slightest clue what they are doin...
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16953 Posts
On August 13 2010 06:14 Hawk wrote:
It happens a lot in undergrad too, esp for smaller programs. Schools give on opportunity to knock out a class and if you miss you are screwed. I had to do a big research project on it some years ago. Scheduling is such a clusterfuck at most schools and most advisers haven't the slightest clue what they are doin...
Yeah. Neither of the courses are required for me to graduate though, they're just electives.
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Hyrule19000 Posts
Go with stochastics. Diff Eq, at least a Drexel, was covered in Calc 4 (for us it went Calc I, Calc II, Calc III = Diff Eq, Calc 4).
And yeah, I work for an auto finance company writing an internal loan management system, and I really wish I had taken stochastics. Most of my time now is basically spent researching stochs online instead of writing the damn website.
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i second micronesia. good luck with the quantum mech class, especially if you haven't taken diff eq
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16953 Posts
Thanks for the advice, everyone.
The book for the class looks pretty dense, even though it's not a very theory-heavy book. It's Introduction to Stochastic Processes by Lawler, if anyone's had any experience with the book.
Flipping through it is super intimidating, though. It's one of those LaTeX formatted books that is just hell to read through.
EDIT:On August 13 2010 06:19 LeoTheLion wrote:
i second micronesia. good luck with the quantum mech class, especially if you haven't taken diff eq
I haven't taken it formally at school, but I'm quite familiar with the course material and already probably know all the material in a first undergrad course. I probably wouldn't get an A in such a course, though, but then again, I probably wouldn't get an A in Calc I either :/
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On August 13 2010 06:15 Empyrean wrote:Show nested quote +On August 13 2010 06:14 Hawk wrote:
It happens a lot in undergrad too, esp for smaller programs. Schools give on opportunity to knock out a class and if you miss you are screwed. I had to do a big research project on it some years ago. Scheduling is such a clusterfuck at most schools and most advisers haven't the slightest clue what they are doin... Yeah. Neither of the courses are required for me to graduate though, they're just electives.
I can't read 
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fuck that shit, take swimming
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What is your major/what do you want to do after you graduate? That makes a big difference.
If you're not required to take diff eq and you already know most of the content then don't bother takin that class.
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16953 Posts
On August 13 2010 10:40 Luddite wrote:
What is your major/what do you want to do after you graduate? That makes a big difference.
If you're not required to take diff eq and you already know most of the content then don't bother takin that class.
I'm a stat major, and right now I'm debating between working for a few years for some big company then perhaps going to business school, and going to graduate school for an applied field like biostatistics. Haven't decided yet.
I'm also trying to decide where to apply for internships junior year. Do I want to go the whole consulting route and apply to companies like McKinsey/BCG/etc.? Or do I want to go the research route and apply for things like the Mayo Clinic's biostat summer research internship? T_T
Anyway, I'm going out to see the meteor shower tonight ...I'll check back to this thread in the morning!
Thanks for all the help so far :D
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So I'm in the grad school doing a ph.d. If you want to go for ph.d you better be in love with what you are doing. Don't go for it because you kind of liked it and you just would like to continue what you were doing. In my discipline there is tremendous jump in the difficulty of classes between undergrad or master level and ph.d.
Doing a Ph.D can be super frustrating and often discouraging. I often come to a point when I want to give up as I am so fed up with what I am doing and have to remind myself why I am actually doing it. Currently I am struggling again with my own research after a bit of progress and my frustration is growing again... Ask yourself, would you be able to wake up every morning for a few weeks knowing that you will spend again whole day trying to crack the problem you encountered. To pursue a ph.d your answer should be affirmative.
To be honest both classes seems very useful to me and you should probably take both of them. Given that the stochastic processes are widely applied these days in many disciplines including finance or economics and also taking into account that the class is often very infrequently I would lean towards it.
However, there is one caveat. If you want to go to good grad school (and pursue a ph.d) you must do well in any class you take. A bad grade in a hard class can actually hurt you more than no grade. So bare this in mind.
Finally, given that you are intimidated by the book (all advanced books in maths and stats looks intimidating btw) why don't you take diff eqs? It is a very useful course as well and always knowing more maths is good.
And the last of bit of advice is just to go during the first week to both classes and check how do you like them and gauge their difficulty. Then you will be able to decide having better information.
Sorry for a bit of incoherent post but I hope a perspective of a grad student might be useful.
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16953 Posts
Yeah, it's very helpful. They actually have the same timeslot, so I can't register for both. Should've made that more clear
Anyway, I think I'm going to register for the stochastics class. Thanks for everyone's input!
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EPT
