Linear Algebra with Applications

Description of Course Goals and Curriculum

From the perspective of person (whose only prior math experience was Calc BC) who got C's or below on MAT 201/202 midterms (but killed the mat 202 final freshmen spring): The MAT 201/202 Sequence is for people whose only math experience is Calc BC (no math competitions or proofs).

Learning From Classroom Instruction

Make sure you shop around lecturers. I switched lecturers about halfway through the semester; I really should have done it in the very beginning. My first lecturer made almost no sense to me. But I didn’t realize it until it was too late. Whereas my 2nd one was so clear that it enabled me to bounce back from that C- midterm...

Learning For and From Assignments

This isn't high school. Studying the book and looking over old homework problems is nowhere near as effective as doing practice quizzes and exams to prepare for tests. For example, I got C's or below on the midterms using strategy #1 (e.g. high school strategy). Using strategy #2, I managed to demolish the final exam and raise my final grade by a whole letter. Nevertheless, my GPA still took serious hits from those midterms. Don't make the same mistake as me! Nothing beats practice problems.

External Resources

Mathematica is free for Princeton students. It’s basically Wolfram Alpha Pro. It is very very useful to check your work with and get guidance with problems when you can’t go to office hours. I've also heard good things about Adrian banner videos: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ncu9Pks3AJQ&list=PLGqzsq0erqU7w7ZrTZ-pWWk4-AOkiGEGp

What Students Should Know About This Course For Purposes Of Course Selection

Possibly consider taking MAT 202 your first semester. It’s required for COS, unlike MAT 201. Less people will be taking it, so you might get more attention. Also, you know everyone who took multi in high school will be taking 201 first semester.