Hello to my current non-existent readers. Hopefully there will be more followers after I actually start giving out more information on my blog. Anyways, there has been some new excitement towards the Budapest program. I have received my Gilman scholarship funds- a whopping $5000! I have sent in (even) more official documents, and I have begun the packing process. The most exciting news at this point is about my plans for classes in the fall. Just yesterday the program posted all of the syllabi for students to view.
Reading over the syllabi of classes I'd like to attend has made me so excited for the program. I'm realizing that I do know quite a lot in the world of math and that I will not be going in as blind as I had expected. It seems that my foundations classes with Lawrence professors Alan Parks and Scott Corry have given me a strong basis to work from. After looking over the classes, I am planning to take four courses: Set theory, graph theory, number theory, and probability theory. I am uncertain about wanting to take the probability course and may instead take a course on geometry or statistics.
I have reasoning for taking these classes and would like to explain myself. I am taking the set theory course because I fell in love with set theory during my foundations of analysis course. I loved it so much that I put in extra hours of work multiple times just to do more set theory problems than were assigned. It seems that I will have a bit of a head start with this course because the syllabus seems very similar to that of my found. of analysis class. I will be taking the graph theory course because it will be helpful to my studies of anthropology (I am currently a math major with an anthropology minor; however, I intend to go to grad school for anthropology [at least that's my plan at this point in time- it may change]). Graph theory is very useful for the study of social networks through modeling- a vital new aspect of anthropology that is in need of more efficient students. I will be taking the number theory course because Hungary is known for its abilities in number theory and I would like to learn more about the subject, so I figure that I should take advantage of the opportunity. I have heard that the probability courses are easier than most and because I will be taking four math courses, I would like to take one that is a bit easier. I have always struggled with the thought processes related to probability, so I expect that this class will be relieving yet challenging enough to be enjoyable. I'm also considering taking a geometry course over the probability course because, although it will be more difficult, I have really enjoyed the study of geometry before and I think that I would enjoy it again.
One thing that is great about this program is that I will have the first two weeks of courses to take as many courses as I would like to in order to better choose which classes I would like to study. Having the syllabi posted, however, has made me very excited about this program and a bit more confident in my abilities to do well.
If you would like to see the syllabi you can go to the following link: http://www.bsmath.hu/CURRENT/schedule_of_classes.html#syllabi"
Chelsea
No comments:
Post a Comment