Mathematics — coursework

“In mathematics you don’t understand things. You just get used to them.”
— John von Neumann
“The irreducible price of learning is realizing that you do not know.”
— James Baldwin
“Education: the path from cocky ignorance to miserable uncertainty.”
— Mark Twain


MIT (2026– )

Credits and Placement

Many incoming MIT freshmen have done college-level study while in high school. Some of this study is eligible for MIT credit and/or placement.1 I have obtained the following credit/placements.

High school (2022–26)

During my high school years I have undertaken advanced coursework at Euler Circle2 (2019–26) and at San José State University3 (SJSU, 2023–26) which have significantly enriched both the breadth of my expertise and the depth of my understanding. Or, as von Neumann would put it, they have simply helped me get used to some of mathematics.

Here is a list of my coursework, with grades indicated where available—Euler Circle does not assign grades; they believe that grades tend to set achievement ceilings.

courses

Here are the courses grouped by subject area, along with a short description of each course.

Analysis and Geometry

“logloglog x has been proved to go to infinity, but has never been observed to do so.” — Anonymous
“Analysis is the art of taming infinity.” — Neil Falkner, Amer. Math. Monthly 116

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Algebra and Number Theory

“Structures are the essence of mathematics, and algebra provides the language to describe them.” — Bourbaki
“Number theorists are like lotus-eaters – having tasted this food they can never give it up.” — Leopold Kronecker

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Representation Theory

“The philosophy of representation theory is that it is a kind of linearization of abstract algebra.”
— Fulton & Harris, Representation Theory: A First Course

“The essence of representation theory is to take a complicated mathematical object and study it by looking at how it acts on simpler objects, like vector spaces.” — Michael Atiyah

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I haven’t taken a formal course in representation theory, but I gained substantial knowledge while working on my 2024 project at MIT PRIMES-USA. In particular, I studied the subject through the following books:

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Linear Algebra and Matrix Theory

“It is my experience that proofs involving matrices can be shortened by 50% if one throws the matrices out.”
— Emil Artin (Geometric Algebra, p. 14)

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Combinatorics and Graph Theory

“Counting pairs is the oldest trick in combinatorics… every time we count pairs, we learn something from it.”
— Gil Kalai

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  1. MIT provides credit or placement opportunities for (a subset of) the following courses:

    • Mathematics:
      18.01 Calculus I (Single Variable),
      18.02 Calculus II (Multivariable),
      18.03 Differential Equations,
      18.05 Probability and Statistics, and
      18.06 Linear Algebra.
    • Physics:
      8.01 Physics I: Mechanics
      8.02 Physics II: Electricity & Magnetism
      8.03 Physics III: Vibrations and Waves, and 
      8.04 Quantum Physics I.

    There are three main mechanisms for receiving credit or placement.

    • Advanced Standing credit can be given for successfully passing an exam demonstrating mastery of the material from an MIT course.
    • Transfer credit is given for course work completed at another university if the subject is substantially equivalent to the corresponding MIT subject.
    • AP credit is given for a score of 5 on AP exams in certain subjects.

    The following is a breakdown for each type:

    • Advanced Standing Exams (ASEs) are available for
      • Mathematics: 18.01, 18.02, 18.03, and 18.06;
      • Physics: 8.01, 8.02, 8.03, 8.04.
    • Transfer credit is available for
      • Mathematics: 18.01, 18.02, 18.03, 18.05, and 18.06;
      • Physics: 8.01, 8.02.
    • AP credit is given for
      • Mathematics: 18.01 for a score of 5 on the AP Calculus BC exam
      • Physics: 8.01 for a score of 5 on each of the AP Physics C: Mechanics and AP Physics C: E&M exams.

  2. Euler Circle, run by Dr. Simon Rubinstein-Salzedo, offers college-level mathematics classes, each 10 weeks long, with weekly problem sets to help gain familiarity with new material. At the end of the class we write an expository paper on a topic related to the class material. 

  3. At SJSU, courses run for 15 weeks and typically include 7 to 10 problem sets, two midterm exams, and a final exam. In graduate-level courses, there is often a project and/or presentation in lieu of the final. 

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