Maths Talented Students Program (1 Viewer)

[Dumsum]

Anyone else here in this? I was stoked to get in.. little disappointed that the second tute is on Friday (kind of kills my almost-free day) but hopefully it's worth it.

And for those second year+ people that have done it in first year, what are your thoughts on it?

 

[§eraphim]

I did MATH1151 in 2004 and there was no TSP tutes. However, I remember Tacon streamed the tutes. Lucky non-Commerce students.

 

[§eraphim]

When I was in 1st year (2004), I attended "ordinary" MATH1141 tues in S1 and the talented students tutorials in S2. I hope you're not going to be too disappointed by what I say, but to be honest, unless they have changed the program alot, it is not that different to a normal tute. (Were you aware that most tutes in the Maths department are streamed anyway?) The main difference is that the tutors will spend less time on the routine problems and are more willing to spend classroom time going off on interesting digressions.

What degree are you doing?

 

[§eraphim]

Are you doing Maths/Education? If so, which MATH are you doing this sem?

 

[gman03]

I think Daniel Chan takes one of those tutes .

 

[§eraphim]

I am not doing any MATH subjects this semester! (sob, sob) I am doing my Introductory Teaching Experience, and between that and the deranged things that they have done to the MATH3611 and MATH3711 timetables, I couldn't fit anything in (or at least, not any subjects that I really want to do - I think that if you're going to rack up a big HECS debt, you may as well be doing something that you enjoy). So I am doing 27 UOC in Education and trying, somehow, to maintain my sanity.

Do you know *www*? She does Math/Ed too.

Yeah, they dumbed down the pure Math subjects a lot too. They basically cut out most of Functional Analysis to make it a new 4th yr course *sigh*.

 

[§eraphim]

Yeah, it's probably the Chinese girl. Her name is Wendy.

Apart from her, I know of a guy a yr above me called Si Chun. But that's about it.

 

[§eraphim]

math3901 higher stochastic processes
math3911 higher stat inference

 

[acmilan]

Is there any program like this for 2nd years? I was offered 2nd year SSP at usyd (which they wouldnt let me do 1st year because i didnt do 4 unit maths), a little too late since i had left by then

 

[acmilan]

Yeah, i was thinking of doing some 3rd year subjects this year, but i just wouldnt be able to fit it considering theres 24 uoc of core 2nd year maths units and another 6 of discrete which i need to do. Then the 18 uoc of comp units for 2nd year.

 

[§eraphim]

Yeah, Iruka is absolutely right. You can do any subjects you like (like a 2nd/3rd/Honours yr subjects in 1st yr) as long as you are capable.

It would be wise to accelerate in subjects that don't require a high level of background knowledge, just mathematical maturity. eg number theory, graph theory, combinatorics. So yeah, a lot of the discrete mathematics subjects.

 

[lfc_reds2003]

please.... usyd mathematicians ... as 50 cent wud put it .. "SO MUCH BETTER"

 

[sikeveo]

Yes, when UNSW mathematics is the best in australia.

www.maths.unsw.edu.au

 

[lfc_reds2003]

but u go there.... hows that work> :S:S

 

[sikeveo]

Usyd attracts better maths students, but the programs and courses are better at unsw.

 

[acmilan]

To me it seems usyd definitely goes way ahead of unsw in terms of stats and probability (evident by the fact >50% of the 2nd year higher stats course was taught in first year at usyd) and has the edge in calculus in first year, unsw seems to have the edge in terms of algebra though.

 

[sikeveo]

UNSW combines both 1st yr maths subjects into one subject. Damn unsw.

 

[Templar]

I was told by Stewart Wilcox that if I wanted to do topology, I was at the wrong uni and should go to UNSW instead.

But if I were to leave USyd to do topology somewhere in Australia, it's got to be Melbourne.

 

[§eraphim]

Yeah, Stats at UNSW generally plays catch up in 3rd yr. But Usyd exams are generally easier (especially at Advanced level) and they seem to give out awards and honours like candy (higher %age of HDs, lower standard for 1st class hrs and uni medals. etc).

It's actually good that UNSW combines the calculus and algebra as it means fewer exams for you to study for and often the questions have a crossover between the two so you can appreciate the connections.

USyd attracts a higher number of solid Math students because it markets its Advanced Maths and TSP a lot better than UNSW. However, I've found that a lot of the top Math dudes at UNSW are those doing Actuarial/Maths (at least 3 of the 5 AMSI Summer Scholars are Actuarial/Maths students and over the last few yrs the Uni Medallists have tended to include many Actuarial/Maths students too).

UNSW is strong at Analysis and Financial Maths. Althought Usyd likes to claim it has the best financial maths program, its nothing compared to the new UNSW Master of Financial Mathematics program. Plus, we have Marek Rutkowski who is one of the top guys in the world for credit risk modelling. Not sure about topology.

 

[Templar]

All I know at UNSW is David Chan. But then again, Hugh Miller's graduated, Stewart Wilcox left for Harvard...there seems to be hardly anyone left.

I trust Stewart's word on UNSW and topology, but I would go to Melbourne instead of UNSW. Hyam Rubenstein, best supervisor in topology, ever.