Ask MetaFilter posts tagged with math

How do I start tutoring for reals?

Precision — Sun, 20 Jul 2008 17:33:58 -0800

How do I, a soon-to-be high school senior, go about tutoring math as a part-time job? I've been working a retail position (cashier at Target) for the past 18 months. Since I turned 16, or shortly after. Throughout my junior year I pulled 20-25 hours a week, topping 30 most of November/December, and working 37+ immediately prior to Christmas. I get a halfway-decent hourly rate, $7.70. Decent for a part-time high school job.

Now, however, I want to quit. Why? No reason, really. Most of my friends in school all graduated this year (I've been roughly a yeah ahead of my grade since freshman year. So I've taken nearly all my classes with the year ahead of me. I'm only taking 4 classes this year as a result.) and I feel the need to make some close(r) friends in my year. Thirty hour weeks cashiering is not how to do this.

My girlfriend currently tutors a 13-year old (soon to be 8th grader, I think) in math and english. She's Korean, and her (very) Asian mother set the job up for her, with the boy's (very) Asian mother. She gets $15 an hour for it, and I think she's been getting 6 hours a week during the summer, not sure how many she gets during the school year. She's also moving to Wisconsin September 1st. So, when we're done crying, I might steal her client.

Anyway, beyond this, what is a good way for a high-schooler to break into this? Ideally, I want to make $100 a week during the school year. Any rate from $10 to $15 per hour is fine with me.

I certainly know the subjects that I'd think about tutoring in (Math and English). I scored perfect 36's on both of those subjects on my ACT test. I'm ranked in the top 2% in my class. I have practice tutoring on the "amateur" level, or whatever. Meaning, I've spent countless hours helping people ranging from 5th graders trying to find the area of triangles to our class valedictorian's troubles with physics. I know how to explain things with clarity and I'm quite patient.

So how should I go about finding a couple of clients? Put an ad in the local paper? Our school district doesn't have any sort of tutor-student matchmaking game going on, so giving my name to middle school counselors will be pretty much worthless.

Ideally, I'd like to tutor students from 7th-10th grades. I feel quite comfortable tutoring maths from about seventh grade math to Geometry (generally 10th grade). I could tutor through high school trig, but I'd probably have to actively review/relearn some stuff as I go... so way too much work for me. English I figure I could competently tutor at very nearly any level.

Editing math papers for spelling and grammar - worth it?

number9dream — Sun, 20 Jul 2008 13:42:00 -0800

Anyone ever worked as an editor/proofreader for science and mathematics articles not written by native English speakers? I'm a grad student in mathematics. My department sends out lots of emails about job opportunities, and this one caught my eye. I would be editing math papers written in English by mathematicians who want to publish in English-language journals, but for whom English is not their first language. The editing is limited to spelling and grammar, I wouldn't actually be editing any mathematical content.

The pay is per article, and the rates vary depending on the length of the article and the turnaround time (which is set by the client, not the editor). The scale is $10 for an article of < 1500 words with a turnaround time of a week to $30 for the same length with a turnaround time of 12 hours. For articles 1500 - 6000 words, it goes from $25 - $60 based on turnaround time. For articles 6000 - 12000 words it goes from $50 - $80, and for articles longer than 12000 words they pay $6 - $8 per 1000 words.

The person I contacted about the job said that they could do a 5000-word article in under an hour.

My questions are:
1) Does that seem like a reasonable rate of pay?
2) Is an hour for editing a 5000-word article reasonable?
3) Have you ever worked for a service like this? Any thoughts/stories? Was it worth it?

Statistics book for bioscience / medicine?

inbetweener — Sat, 19 Jul 2008 09:58:57 -0800

Can you recommend a statistics book which is appropriate for the stats required for basic bioscience / clinical research? So, my background is I'm a (medical) doctor. I've also just finished the lab research for a (cellular biology) PhD (which I'm still doing data analysis for and writing up).

I know a reasonable amount about statistics but need a wide ranging and pretty detailed textbook on statistical methods, potential pitfalls etc. I'd rather have a book that erred on the side of comprehensiveness, but which is written clearly. Including practical examples along with equations is also a bonus.

Most of the statistics I've used during my PhD were actually just basic descriptive statistics, T-tests, Mann-Whitney tests and ANOVAs. So there's a huge world of stats out there I don't really get.

Any recommendations?

How to calculate probability of being dealt certain cards?

b_thinky — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 17:44:11 -0800

You're dealt 8 cards face down from a 52 card deck. All values are determined by the number on the card, not the suit. What is the probability of each card being dealt? The first card you're dealt has a 4/52 chance of being any of the 13 values (2 thru Ace). The 2nd card you're dealt has a 4/51 chance of being any of the remaining 12 values, plus a 3/51 chance of being the same value as the first card.

This is where my retard brain ceases to work. How do I know the odds of the 3rd card, given that the 2nd card may or may not be the same as the 1st card? If the 2nd card has a new value, the third card is 4/50 of the 11 remaining cards, plus 3/50 it's the same value as the 1st card and 3/50 it's the same as the 2nd card. But if the 2nd card is a repeat of the 1st value, there is a 4/50 chance of it being one of the 12 remaining values and a 2/50 chance of it being the same as the 1st and 2nd card.

So you see the dilemma I have calculating the odds for the 3rd card to be dealt until the 8th. I know I'm probably looking at this entirely the wrong way but I've always been a math retard beyond basic arithmetic. Anyone care to explain how this works?

Math equation / algorithm for a database

JohnGL — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 20:05:55 -0800

I'm looking for some help with a math equation / algorithm I'm trying to create. I'm a programmer by trade and not very good at math so I'd like some help with this or perhaps a site where I could pay someone to come up with the equation I'm looking for. I considered rentacoder or elance however I'd be concerned if the companies there had the proper math knowledge. A lot of claims get made on those sites that turn out to be false. I'm trying to do is calculate the value or profitability of keywords based on some data that I have. I have a list of about 35 categories and in each category I have 500 keywords that belong to that category. I've provided a small sampling of the data I have (at the end of this post). The sampling has 5 categories and in each category it has the top 5 and bottom 5 from the lists of 500.

The category records have a '~' starting the row. The first field is the category name and the second field is the total dollar amount of products sold in that category in the last 2 weeks.

Under each category are the keyword records that belong to that category. Normally this list has 500 records however I’m only displaying the top and bottom five (records 1-5 and 495-500). These records are always placed in order of popularity. Meaning record one is searched for more often than record two. The first field if the record is the keyword itself. The second field is the number of products sold in the past two weeks that contain that keyword (raw number not dollar amount however I might be able to get that data). Field three is the number of products currently being offered that contain that keyword. In other words how many products are competing for that keyword at any given moment. The last field is a number representing the popularity of the keyword in the regular search engines (Google, Yahoo, etc.). It's a weight figure for how many people search for that term in a given month. I'm not sure how they come up with this number however here is a sampling for reference (sex: 1415948, harry potter: 242471, will smith: 91542, java books 378). I don't have this data but I was also thinking of including how many web sites compete for that keyword in Google to do a supply/demand comparison with field four. I can easily get that data and would like to include that in the computation.

Some thoughts I have about the data. The keywords are ordered by popularity like I said. This alone is only mildly helpful. I was thinking that the amount of product sold in a category could bring some value to that ranking. Meaning position 1 in a category that sells 1 million every 2 weeks is more valuable than position 1 in a category that sells $200,000 every 2 weeks. I also thought the search engine popularity weight number might also bring some value to that order. If the product ranks high in both areas then perhaps it is of greater overall value.

This is the data I have at the moment however I'm open to thoughts or suggestions. I might be able to get additional data if it's important however I'd like to stay with this if I can. I'm certain I have access to this data.

What I would like to do is take this data and compute a value for each keyword that tells me its profitability or value. I'd like to find out what keywords in this massive list are the best. I would place this 'profitability value' in the final field of each keyword record for someone to review. The category data (dollar amount sold in that category), keyword order (record 1 is more popular than record 2), and the data in record field 2 and 3 are the most important. The search engine information is less important (lets say 3 times less important).

Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks so much for your time. Have a great day.

~Antiques,6155459.31
victorian,50984,23124,313
sterling,506010,153977,327
furniture,54095,9618,3605
art deco,18234,13062,424
lamps,182309,56646,580
...
bedroom,11594,3241,709
chest of drawers,194,242,67
cottage,13730,6258,214
photo,1131344,159891,1765
pre columbian,673,246,10

~Art,33651005.64
aceo,4554,3924,40
obey,3365,1072,205
highwaymen,1875,233,136
thomas kinkade,1566,1379,320
florida,51435,11457,4226
...
boston,76336,20618,3296
mother,120329,19159,1857
vermont,7714,1723,593
poland,10018,3604,1210
cherry blossom,3410,1428,497

~Baby,1887275.00
clothes,78160,40211,2226
baby,405388,139070,4956
shoes,465883,245167,6373
winnie the pooh,17721,8714,2899
pottery barn,7237,6054,4391
...
nuk,276,126,38
cover,1884691,262594,1030
cradles,861446,30529,41
butterflies,100523,37077,5900
graco car seat,402,224,51

~Books,99187955.26
easton press,1826,907,63
stephen king,6545,3419,1282
harry potter,22159,7573,7007
nancy drew,4963,1447,757
bible,201307,11721,3081
...
electrical,14574,2904,235
blackjack,334947,9839,967
diary,66830,3756,347
judo,3198,307,356
jane eyre,2981,256,290

~Business & Industrial,203912902.60
john deere,22686,11873,4646
backhoe,979,572,180
tractor,23708,15907,669
bobcat,3999,980,1521
loader,5620,2906,33
...
buffer,2415,1075,64
boring bar,656,262,10
tig welder,763,422,96
rake,2649,625,62
flow meter,856,485,63

How do I create an algorithm to rate products?

william_boot — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 17:47:59 -0800

This will expose my complete ignorance of math, but hey. I need a simple algorithm to calculate and display overall individual grades for similar products. Each product will be judged in four equally weighted categories -- let's call them A, B, C, and D. I'd like to assign a range within each category, and rate each product on it. I'd also like the final grade to be based on a 100 point scale. The goal is to be able to easily rate one product against another. For instance, if I was to use a 1-5 range for each category, it might go something like this:

Product #1 gets a 3 in A, a 5 in B, a 4 in C, and a 4 in D. (16 out of 20, or 80/100)

Product # 2 gets a 4 in A, a 5 in B, a 5 in C, and a 4 in D. (18 out of 20, or 90/100)

The problem with those values, however, is that they yield far too tidy final scores. (80, 90, 55, 65, etc.) I'd like more varied scores, but without fractional numbers. (No 82.5, for example.) The value range can be pretty much anything, but preferably not too large.

Any thoughts?

Help me get my math on

baphomet — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 08:09:27 -0800

I need to brush up on my basic college math skills for a course readiness assessment in a week. What are some good resources online and what should I focus on? I'm going back to school in the fall and have my math course readiness assessment in a week. Unfortunately the last time I took a math class was in high school in 2001, and it was never my strong suit to begin with. I'm thinking that the degree I'm going to pursue (BA in Geography) is going to require basic math skills, and I have to complete at least one college-level math course to graduate anyway.

At this point my math skills are extremely rusty- things like FOIL, order of operations, etc, are all in the dusty nether-reaches of the stuff I forced out of my brain after high school. I know this is really basic stuff I learned in 7th or 8th grade, so it's kind of embarrassing to admit that I couldn't simplify to save my life, but there you have it.

I'm not looking for any advanced placement- I know that I'll need to take a basic college algebra class. That said, my fear is that I'll place below those courses and in the realm of courses that I'll need to pass- and pay for- but not receive college credit for before I can take algebra. I'm confident in my ability to catch up and re-learn this material, but what are some good resources to help me along with that?

A math PhD story

ja15 — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 13:50:42 -0800

Should I apply to math PhD programs again? I've finished a MS in math at a big state U this spring, and I will not continue for a PhD here. Last year I applied for PhD (for the third time) to a bunch of places (all top 20 in math), and got in only one of them. This is an Ivy League institution and all that, and even though it's math program is very good, it's not top 10 calibre. Ever since I accepted the offer, I kept wondering whether I should push myself and apply a fourth time, trying to get to Harvard, MIT, Princeton, etc. For me, the most important factors are everything associated with such places: faculty, the quality of the students and the places they go after the PhD.
I am going to this place in August, I'll not quit, but I'm dying inside wondering what to do next. I don't think it'll be Ok in my new place to ask for LORs, but here with the letters I got, it only helped me to have this one offer (I don't know what else to do, I have a 4.0 GPA and a perfect math GRE subject. What I lack is "formal research experience", because in my country there are no REU's and such).
I really, really know that Harvard, Princeton and MIT could offer a similar experience to what I was used to in my undergrad, which is the best place in my country. In contrast, the place I'm leaving was really down, intellectually speaking. I just don't know what to expect from where I'm going.
Truth is, I'm the most academically oriented person I know (no joke), and I live for what I do. And up to this time, I haven't found people as academically motivated as I am, and if you know what I'm talking about, it's really frustrating to be surrounded by people who is conformist, and some times mediocre.
I feel embarrased asking my professors for letters again, as I know they will not be Harvard calibre. Should I ask them? Should I try to explain my dream is to get into top places? Or should I do that in my new place?
Even though there's almost nothing I could do here, as I'm leaving in couple of weeks, I know if I don't do something at least, the ghost of "what if" will haunt me forever.
What a long story...

How can I increase my chances at an 800 SAT Math?

Precision — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 13:34:06 -0800

I've studied for weeks (20 hours per week these past three weeks), I've paid attention in math class for years, and I've taken dozens of practice tests. But how to go from 780 to 800? I just finished my Junior year of high school, and I'm taking my SAT Is for a second time tomorrow. I've been focusing on my math lately, because I scored high enough (for me) on the reading last time. I've managed to bring my math score up a, quite respectable, 110 points from 670 since my last real SAT. I've always been good at math, but I never did any prep for my first SAT. At all.

Now, however, I want an 800. I consistently score 780/800's on my practice tests (the official ones from the blue book). Out of the 8 in the book, I think 2 were 800's and 6 were 780's (missed one).

My question is, how do I increase my chances of not missing one? I really want this 800, if not just for applying to schools, but for personal pride.

I heard someone say one time, in reference to SAT prep, we can pull anyone from 600 to 700 in three weeks, guaranteed, but we can't pull anyone from 700-800 in thirty with the same guarantee. I can tell that the last points are the hardest, at least for smart kids, but how can I increase my odds?

I've done all 8 official tests, 12 in the Kaplan practice test book, 3 in a different book, 500 assorted SAT Math sample problems from another book, and however many came in the Princeton Review book (already forgot).

I've practiced all I can for this, is there anything more I can do? Any advice any of you have?

Me Do Math Good?

Phalene — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 19:32:28 -0800

How can I be better at math? I don't hate it, but I'm not good at it. At some point in high school, round about when linear algebra reared its ugly head, math became hard. I failed grade ten math twice and crept into lower level grade 11 math without completing grade 10. As a result, further math courses, physics and other math based things are arduous. Mefites following my wails for help in previous posts might recall the B- I got in Stats (boo!), and I can't help feeling that this is the fault of poor mastery of the basics.

Whether this be due to bad luck with genetics, crappy teachers, or the fact that I dealt with my teenage mental health crisis by hiding in my sketch book and learning how to draw instead of completing my class work, I'm starting to feel the sting of not getting stuff.

So, mefi, what do I need to do to figure out where I have knowledge gaps and work my way from algebra to calculus? Is there a workbook I could do for ten minutes a day? A super smart website with witty tutorials? I'll take just about anything mefi can throw.

Help me learn math!

btkuhn — Wed, 04 Jun 2008 19:01:38 -0800

What are some good sources to teach myself advanced math in preparation for an econ/finance phd? I graduated last year from a well-regarded university and was lucky enough to get a great job in investment banking. I am genuinely interested in finance and really enjoy what I do. However, the hours are pretty crappy and I have too many other interests to spend my entire life at work.

I'm seriously considering going for a Phd in Business or Economics and pursuing a career in academia. I had a very high undergrad GPA, was Phi Beta Kappa, etc. and I do very well on standardized tests. However, my degree was in Biology/History so I don't have anywhere near the math required to get admitted to a good business school (I don't think - acceptance rates to business programs are very low). I haven't taken any math courses since senior year in high school (Calculus BC).

I'm really not sure what is the best way to proceed to improve my profile for admissions - I could get a master's in finance or math, then apply, but I really don't want to go into debt to fund a master's program and I don't know if most master's programs in finance/math are funded (I doubt it). An alternative would be to take math classes at a community college, and hope that that is sufficient.

At this point, though, I simply want to make sure that I "have what it takes" to do an econ/finance PhD. I've always been good at math and did well in calculus, but I know that finance is very math-intensive and I don't know much about how difficult higher-level math is as compared to calculus. Also, I want to see if I "enjoy" higher-level math, or can at least tolerate it. I don't want to enroll in a PhD program if I end up hating the math. I don't remember particularly liking or disliking calculus; I was kind of indifferent to it.

So after all that buildup, here's my question. Please recommend good sources to teach myself math, so that I can see whether I can do it and like it. With most subjects I would just buy a textbook or something and self-teach, but math seems to be the one subject where it really helps to have things spelled out by someone (or something) who knows what they're talking about, since math has it's own language that isn't always easy to pick up. Free online sources preferred, but book recs are appreciated also.

Thanks!

Math students, you are getting such a raw deal.

skryche — Wed, 28 May 2008 19:23:41 -0800

Why doesn't Moore's Law apply to graphing calculators? When I was a freshman in college (1994), my parents bought me a TI-85 graphing calculator (6Mhz, 32k RAM) for (I think) around $130. 14 years later, for about the same price, I can get a calculator with about 4 times the speed and 4 times the RAM.

Shouldn't today's calculator be vastly more powerful (or at least much cheaper) -- in line with advances in home computers?

Can I skip college math?

Dreamcast — Sat, 24 May 2008 16:04:25 -0800

Is it possible to bypass a math course requirement at a community college? I'm considering going to a community college (the only college that's in my area) because I'm interested in becoming a composer, however, I've been told math is a required course. I'm terrible at math, and I always have been. I just don't seem to comprehend anything more advanced than addition, subtraction, and multiplication. Teachers, tutors, parents, and acquaintances have all tried teaching me the more advanced math (fractions, long division, etc.), and I've never been able to comprehend it. I've even tried recently, on my own, to learn some of the math that will be on the basic arithmetic portion of the ACCUPLACER test so I could at least pass that, but I didn't understand any of what I read. In short: I just don't get math.

Is there any way I can bypass the required math course, and perhaps do something else in its stead? If I take the ACCUPLACER, and fail the math, I'd probably be put in some kind of remedial math course, and they'd eventually expect me to take and pass a real math course. This is definitely going to be a problem.

Does anyone have any ideas in regards to this? I'm not sure how appropriate this question is for this site, but I'm hoping someone here has some experience with these kinds of things and can help me out.

How to find domain and range on graphing calculator?

meta.mark — Thu, 08 May 2008 20:37:54 -0800

How (if possible) can you find the domain and range of a graph on a graphing calculator (which in my case is a TI-84 Plus)?

How to make mathematical animations?

wireless — Fri, 02 May 2008 22:52:01 -0800

What software can I use to create mathematical animations? I am interested in creating animations of mathematical concepts, and am wondering what the best software package is for this purpose.

For instance, something like the following:
Area of a circle
Various animations

Most animations I have seen are of calculus-type concepts (surfaces and volumes); however, I am also interested in making other animations, like linear algebra (e.g. matrix operations, vectors) and computer science (graph algorithms, etc).

Some of the pages I found mention the software they used; however, I'm wondering what other people find to be the best. (By the way, I own Mathematica, Matlab, and Maple.)

Please Rock My Boat

cashman — Fri, 02 May 2008 05:00:57 -0800

Trying to find similar songs like these: electronic-ish with math-like beats. I love electronic or other genre songs with beats that seem almost mathematical. They often have numerous sequences and parts weaving in and out.

I put songs that exhibit this stuff like Dntel's Rock My Boat and Erin Lang's Happy to See You on this muxtape. Listen for a few seconds and see if any similar songs come to mind. I'm looking for specific songs rather than artist recommendations or instrumental stuff.

Got any songs for me?

Correlation measurements of unequal vectors?

Blazecock Pileon — Thu, 01 May 2008 20:07:04 -0800

Can one perform Pearson's correlation or a variant with unequal numbers of rows? Is there a variation of Pearson's correlation (or another correlation measurement) that I can use for two vectors X and Y, which have unequal numbers of rows?

Likewise, if I have two sets of data (genomic sequences) that can be "centered", is it reasonable to throw away data at the "edges" which are in X but not in Y, if the edge data do not contribute greatly to the mean and variance? I see this option in R, for example, but am curious about the real-world side effects.

Fitting multiple curves with a constant sum?

enn — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 20:32:28 -0800

Is there a means of fitting curves to several independent series of points with the property that, if all the points at any given x in the original data have a constant sum, all of the interpolated points at any given x have a constant sum? Is there a means of doing so which generates a set of cubic or quadratic Bezier curves which I can use in SVG rather than a series of points or a function? This may be a very stupid question. My math is an embarrassment. Please talk down to me.

The (naïve, heuristic) interpolation I am using now purely for aesthetic purposes does not have this property.

The underlying goal here is to chart changing shares of a whole over time. Of course, the shares always total 100%; I'd like the interpolated values to do the same.

How do I divide prize money in the fairest way?

shiu mai baby — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 12:58:47 -0800

Arrr. There may be Quizzo booty to divide, but I want to do it fairly. This is more math than I can handle. My friends and I have been involved with a Quizzo (i.e. team trivia in a bar) tournament over the last six weeks, and, unless we majorly screw up in the next three showings, we are pretty much guaranteed a spot for the tenth and final round (which is limited to the top 3 teams overall).

The guy running this tournament opted not to put a cap on the number of people on a team, which means that while our team of 6 or 7 has been doing really, really well, we keep getting creamed by this team that regularly has 12 or more people. Thus, for the final night I'm pondering calling in all favors I can muster to get my friends out so we have an even better chance of winning the whole thing.

The finals also involve cash prizes of a as-yet-undisclosed sum. So far I have a spreadsheet, recording who showed up each week, as initially I was thinking to split the winnings (assuming we win, of course) proportionately, with one point for every week a person showed up. For example, let's say Person A showed up for 5 out of the 10 weeks, and the other six people showed up for 8 out of the 10 weeks. That would mean Person A would get roughly 9% of the final haul (5/53 = 9%), while everyone else would get roughly 15% (8/53 = 15%). It's not the most elegant solution ever, but it seemed to be the fairest approach.

Anyway, here's the problem: if we do have a few extra people show up for the finals, I'm not really sure how to fit them in to the division of the prize winnings. Should I just include them in the above equation? Buy them a beer? If you were one of the last-weekers, what would seem fair to you? What if you were someone who had faithfully showed up all ten weeks?

(Note: since the first prize for the last six weeks has been $50, I'm pretty sure that the finals prizes will be more than that. But damn, it would be high-larious if it weren't, in which case I'm quibbling over, like, five bucks.)

Maybe dyscalculia, maybe badly wired neurons

Anonymous — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 17:17:29 -0800

Does anyone have experience with self-treatment as an adult with dyscalculia? I think I may have it, and that I've had it all my life. Whether or not that's so, are there any tricks to "rewiring" yourself? Like many bookish types, I could never handle math. I wanted to like it, since it made so much sense, but the numbers just never would do what the teacher could make them do. The teachers went on about how smart I was, how well I could do if I really wanted to, and how I "just wasn't trying." Eventually, they were right about that.

Now I realize that I have an awful problem with switching numbers around. Tell me to remember that a house is at 9834 Green Street; I will say to myself, "Right -- 9843 Green Street." This must be why the concepts of math seemed so clear to me, but my grades were terrible. Also, I have difficulty visualizing numerals that a person is reciting, while their words instantly appear in my head.

So I check, and check, and do my very best to compensate for myself. You can imagine the kind of trouble this issue would allow a person to get into. Is proofreading all I can do? It's beginning to embarrass me deeply and personally. Have any of you addressed this issue as an adult?

Summer classes on differential equations for an LA resident?

fermion — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 22:59:03 -0800

Looking for summer courses in differential equations, online or in the Los Angeles area. Since I got my bachelor's four years ago, I haven't had a lot of opportunities to use my skills in mathematics. I'm starting a Ph.D. program in the fall, which will involve some computational modeling of physical processes, and I would really like to brush up on the rustier bits.

It is proving difficult to find summer courses in differential equations, since it's not a tremendously popular subject. Can someone recommend a school--preferably within a half-hour drive of Santa Monica or Long Beach--that might have such a thing? I've checked UCLA and USC with limited success. Extra bonus points if the same institution has courses in programming (C++ or Java, for preference.)

Online courses would be excellent too, even preferable, but I'm even less sure where to start with those. I'd prefer something with a human instructor, rather than an entirely self-directed option like MIT's OpenCourseWare. Are there any distance learning programs with solid advanced mathematics classes?

Where should I go to grad school?

milqman — Tue, 15 Apr 2008 17:26:54 -0800

Help me choose between grad schools: I am accepted (with fellowships) to the math depts at both UC Davis and Penn State. Where do I go? Question for a friend:

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I'm a math major interested in studying fluid dynamics and numerical methods. I have received offers from two PhD programs: Penn State's math department, as well as the Graduate Group in Applied Mathematics at UC Davis. I have already visited both schools and formed some of my own feelings about that.

but . . .

I’m looking for first-hand opinions and information on any and all of the following:
-reputation of the program
-particular advisors and their respective working relationships
-what possible job and post-doc opportunities the school's network will open up for me
-anything else that doesn’t fit into these categories but you think would be helpful to know

What else am I missing? What else do you wish you had factored in to your decision?

P.S. The fellowship offers I have received from both schools are comparable given living costs, so it is not a very useful point of comparison.

Budding New York City Math Teacher - what's the best course?

pammo — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 17:15:14 -0800

Life after high school? How to decide? My son who is a senior in high school is trying to decide what to do next year. Here's what he knows: he's gay, he wants to live in NYC, and he wants to be a math teacher when he grows up. For now though he doesn't have an idea of what grade level he's interested in teaching.

He has two choices, each of which presents an opportunity to dive right in:

The first is CityYear. This is a year of paid work with elementary school kids in NYC schools, after which he'd go on to college to pursue his career.

Another possibility is enrolling in The Teacher Academy at Hunter College. This looks to be a pretty rigorous but satisfying program, focused on preparing middle & high school math & science teachers.

Anyone out there have any experience with these programs? Help my son make a decision!

How can I get my college prof to admit he is wrong, and give me the marks I deserve?

Tachoh — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 06:52:15 -0800

College prof keeps marking my math tests incorrectly. What do I do? Heya Metafilter,

I am in community college now, planning on going to something a little more serious when I graduate this year.

I am getting a 99% in my math course, doing really well. Recently, however, my mark has taken a hit due to the fact that my math prof marked 2 questions that were correct as incorrect due to the fact that he does not fully understand the answer.

I tried explaining the answer to the question to him in class, but he does not like to be told he is wrong and went around the question. It was clear in his explaination to the class that he did not know how I arrived at the answer I did and said "well, what I do know is that you got it wrong"

Short of actually sitting this guy down and teaching him how to do these problems, how can I get the marks I deserve?

Has anyone else ever had this issue? Should I go to the dean? I really don't want to cause a scene or harm this prof in any way.

Please advise.

Where can I find basic math problem trainers?

SammyIva — Mon, 07 Apr 2008 00:59:10 -0800

Where can I find basic math problem trainers? I'm a non-math kind of person who's been out of school for a while, but I guess after all these years I'm beginning to kind of regret never putting more effort into the subject.

So what I'm looking for is not an archive with complicated or clever problems. I know the best way to improve is to practice over and over so I was wondering if there was any software, java applets, flash apps, etc., that could help me to drill basic arithmetic, or simple algebra problems, over and over.