18.032

Table of contents

  1. Course Info
  2. Realistic Prerequisites
  3. Subject Matter
  4. Course Staff
  5. Lectures
  6. Problem Sets
  7. Exams
  8. Resources
  9. Grading
  10. Advice to Future Students

Course Info

Class Size 23
Hours/Week 7.9 (8 responses)
Instructors Tristan Ozuch-Meersseman (Lecturer), Fedyk, Maria-Sophia (UA), Large, Tim (TA)
# of Responses to Course 18 Underground Questions 7/23

Realistic Prerequisites

  • 18.01/18.02 is necessary
  • Mathematical maturity: some prior proof-writing experience is helpful. 18.100 suffices for proof-writing experience.
  • 18.06 isn’t necessary but makes the course easier.

Subject Matter

  • Theoretical: the course content was very theoretical. There wasn’t much emphasis on solving differential equations.

Course Staff

  • Caring and approchable: the staff were always willing to put in the time to explain things.

Lectures

  • Mixed opinions about pace: some students found lectures fast, and some found lectures slow.
  • Lectures were theoretical whereas recitations were about applying things learned in lecture.

Problem Sets

  • Interesting: Students found the problems sets interesting!
  • The problem sets were structured with subparts and hints per problem, and the problems were greatly related to lecture content.

Exams

  • Practice tests were made avaliable and were useful.
  • Challenging: the exams were challenging, but grading was lenient.

Resources

  • There was no textbook for the course.
  • The instructor published lecture notes for each lecture.

Grading

  • It was not clear how other students were doing.
  • Students either found grading fair or very lenient.

Advice to Future Students

  • If you just want an overview of differential equations then take 18.032. If you are interested in the theory then this class is great.
  • Some prior experience with proofs and/or analysis is recomended.