#i take multivar calc for what

[twilightkitkat]

Did the ENTIRE FIRST PART OF THE PROBLEM the hard way by just substituting outright and compounding the chain and product rule. I got the actual numeric answer right only for it to go back and ask me to format it differently?

I got it right once I used their method WHICH GIVES YOU THE SAME ANSWER but isn't practical at all since I had to substitute the parametric functions in anyway? I should just write these questions at this point bro I'm actually going crazy.

[turtle-steverogers]

Race vs the hot RA

Or the couple times race pined after the hot RA and the time the hot RA pined back

Hi! im back at school after thanksgiving break, so i decided to write some college fluff.  like for real guys.  its j us t fluff

enjoy!

ship: ralbert

warnings: lots of fucking smiling ;)

word count: something like 3k?

editing: nein

-

1.

“This is BULLSHIT.”

Race takes out an earbud and stares, mildly alarmed, at the bathroom door of their suite.  Abruptly, the shower shuts off, despite having been on for all of thirty seconds and a moment later, Spot emerges with a towel wrapped around his waist, shivering hard enough to rival a chihuahua left out in front of a grocery store in the rain.  He looks angry, scowling hard enough to bare his teeth and eyes narrowed in a way that would probably be murderous if he didn’t also look entirely pathetic.  

Race quirks an amused eyebrow, “Everything okay?”

“No,” Spot growls, “there’s no fucking hot water.”

Race frowns, “Like, none?”

“Yes, Race,” Now Race can see the goosebumps that line Spot’s arms and notes with faint concern that his lips look a little blue, “None.  Like, it’s fucking Antarctica in that fucking shower.  I feel like Steve Rogers after he crashed that fucking plane into the Arctic.”

“Shit, that’s not good.”

Spot scoffs, giving him a ‘no shit’ look and crosses to his drawer to pull out a pair of sweatpants and a sweatshirt.

“Maybe too many people are using the showers?” Race suggests, “and like, maybe the hot water got all used up.  That happens sometimes at home.”

“Don’t think it works like that,” Spot says, padding back towards the bathroom, “M’pretty sure this place operates more like a hotel, so lack of hot water shouldn’t be an issue.  Can you go let the RA know something’s wrong with the plumbing?”

Race’s stomach drops, face coloring a bit at the thought of talking to Albert, their engineering SLO’s attractive resident’s assistant.  Like Race and Spot, he’s a junior, but this was Race’s first year living in the engineering housing, so he hadn’t seen him around before.  Which was weird considering they should have at least had a freshman seminar together or something of the sort. 

But nope.  On upperclassmen move in day, Race was completely blindsided by the pretty redhead coming around to the dorms, introducing himself with a disarmingly charming smile and an overly peppy, “If you ever need anything, I’m in 311b!”

Which was unfair, really, because naturally, Race had to see Albert fairly often at various floor events and as smooth as he’d like to believe he is, Albert made him basically incoherent.

And Spot knows that.

So, fuck Spot.

“Can’t you go tell him?” Race calls, trying not to sound pathetic but missing that mark by miles.

“No!” Spot shouts back, still sounding irritated, “I got class soon, dude, stop being a pussy and go!”

Race groans, steeling himself for a moment before pushing himself up from his desk and crossing towards the door, stopping at the bathroom to yell a quick, “I hate you!” at Spot before exiting and ambling down the hall towards Albert’s single.  The sign outside Albert’s door says that he’s on duty, so he knocks twice and bounces on his toes while he waits, stomach swooping when he hears a, “Just a sec!” from inside the room.

A second later, Albert opens the door, looking relaxed in a pair of running shorts and long sleeved shirt, feet tucked into a fluffy pair of moccasins.  The outfit is stupid and entirely adorable and Race has to forcably log his brain back online.  By the time he’s gotten a grip on himself, he realizes that Albert was saying something and is now looking at him with a mildly concerned and expectant smile on his face.

“Shit, sorry,” Race stammers, “What?”

The easy smile doesn’t drop, but an almost knowing glint flashes through Albert’s eyes, “I just asked what’s up.  Everything okay?”

“Oh,” Race feels himself blush, “Yeah, no, the hot water’s just fucked in our bathroom.  Thought I should let you know.”

“Ah, fuck,” Even disgruntled, Albert looks easy-going.  It’s unfair really.  For someone majoring in astrophysics, Albert always look entirely too relaxed, “Yeah, Mush came to me earlier about that.  I called in a ‘fix-it’ and they said someone should be coming to look at it around 5 o’clock.  Sorry, though.  I know cold showers are fucking awful.”

“Oh, it’s okay,” Race says, “Spot was the one who got the brunt of it, not me.”

“Bet he was thrilled,” Albert says, “Kid’s a ray of sunshine.”

Albert even manages to make biting sarcasm sound entirely welcome.  Race isn’t convinced he doesn’t have super powers or something.

“Yeah, he was super chill about it,” Race plays along, “Kindly asked me to let you know and everything.”

“Mhm, I’m sure.”

There’s a small lapse of silence and Race starts to feel the nerves in his stomach come back, suddenly overwhelmed again by Albert’s alluring nature.  He’s about to turn and leave when Albert opens his door wider.

“You wanna come in for a bit?” He asks, “Was just making some ramen if you’re interested.”

“Oh,” Race’s heart soars for a second before dropping again, “Fuck, I’d love to, but I can’t,” Albert’s face falls a fraction and Race tries not to read too deep into that, “I have to finish studying for that astro 212 exam.”

Albert lights up again, “Oh! I gotta study for that, too.  We can study together?  If you want, I mean.  Like, you totally don’t have to if you, like, study better alone or something, I just thought it might be fun to-”

“Albert,” Race cuts him off, feeling oddly elated to see Albert flustered for once, “No, that’s perfect.  I’d love to eat ramen and study with you, just give me a minute to go grab my notes.”

“Sweet!” Albert says, smiling again, “I’ll keep my door open, so just come on in whenever!”

Race gives him a thumbs up and tries not to run back to his room.  Once he’s inside, it’s a mad dash to grab his things, cursing as he drops his graphing calculator twice.  He doesn’t even notice Spot on the floor, tying his shoes, until he laughs.

“Got a hot study date?” He quips.

“No,” Race says, “Shut up.  RAs aren’t technically allowed to date residents.”

Spot holds up his hands in the universal sign of surrender, “Rules can be bent.”

Race rolls his eyes, rushing back out of the room.

2.

Race fucking hates calculus.  Well, actually, that’s a lie.  He fucking loves calculus.  Numbers have always made sense to him, theorems and equations melding into one beautiful web of logic that always pulled him into a comfortable rhythm.  But right now, surface integrals were fucking him in the ass.  

Which is why he’s holed up in the library on a Sunday morning, staving off a wicked hangover and trying not to vomit as he stares dejectedly at his textbook, praying that the words on the page will magically make sense.  Sighing probably too dramatically, he pulls his notebook towards himself and copies down another problem, working through it at a snail’s pace before checking the answer in the back of the book…

...And it’s wrong.  Again.  Fuck.

He groans, dropping his head down and thumping it a few times against the table.  It makes his head hurt worse, so he stops, inwardly reviewing all the ways he’s a fucking dumbass who shouldn’t be in college, because college is hard.  

And fuck multivariable calculus.

Just kidding, sorry, Race thinks, I love you, multivar.  

“Doing okay?” 

Race looks up too fast, groaning again at the movement.  Albert’s hovering across the table from him, backpack slung on his back and iced coffee in hand, an amused smirk resting on his face.  He looks entirely too awake for a 10 am on a Sunday, but then again he wasn’t drinking last night.  

“Depends,” Race answers, apparently too hungover to be too affected by Albert’s presence, “Are surface integrals really worth my sweat and tears?”

“For our major, yes,” Albert says, “Mind if I sit?”

Race waves him off, dropping his head back onto the table, “Go ahead.  What’re you doing up so early?”

“Same as you it seems,” Race can hear him taking out his books, “Guess we all got a little behind on calc homework.”

“Guess so,” Race forces himself to sit back up, “I don’t get it.”

“What don’t you get?”

“Any of it,” Race feels his stress start to peak, “I haven’t gotten a single fucking problem right and I’ve been here since fucking 8 and really, I don’t know why I did that to myself, ‘cause I was up ‘til god knows when last night dri-” He cuts off, eyeing Albert warily.  

Albert shakes his head, “It’s okay, call me a bad RA, but as long as you all are being safe with it and there are no complaints, do what you want.”

Race nods, “Well, then, yeah.  So, I was up ‘til god knows when and now I’m hungover, but I gotta spend more time on this fucking class so I don’t fail this unit, because I’ve never failed a unit of math before and I don’t wanna start now, because then I’ll fail everything and fail out of college and-”

“Whoa,” Albert reaches across the table and places a hand on Race’s forearm, “Slow down, dude, breathe,” he waits for Race to take a deep breath, “It’s going to be alright, man.  Everyone’s got a bad unit, doesn’t mean you’re gonna fail it all.  Just gotta make a game plan.  I’m decent at this stuff if you want some help? I can’t say I’m as good as a TA or something might be, but I can help you get this assignment done.”

Race takes another deep breath, trying not to focus on Albert’s lingering grip on his arm.  Albert seems to come back to himself though, because he clears his throat, coloring a little as he squeezes Race’s arm and lets go.

“Sorry,” Race says sheepishly, “Didn’t mean to lose it there.”

“Happens to the best of us.”

And there’s Albert again, putting Race at ease with the tone of his voice alone.  Fucking magic, Race swears.

Maybe it’s an RA thing.  They all seem to have that scarily open demeanor.  Race could never.

“You don’t gotta help me, man,” Race says, “I’d feel bad making you-”

“Don’t,” Albert says, smiling.  Jeez, does he ever stop smiling? “You’re not making me do anything, I offered.  Plus, I gotta get this shit done, too.  We’d really just be doing it together.  It’s better practice to go in depth anyway.”

A swell of admiration grips Race and he has to look back down at his notebook to keep from doing something stupid like kiss Albert or something.  

“C’mon,” Albert prompts lightly, scooching so he’s next to Race instead of across from him and knocking their knees together.  Race tries not to lean into the touch, “What’s the first problem? 34?”

They work through the math at a steady pace, and with Albert’s instruction (which lacks a certain condescending air that Spot always gets when he tries to help Race out), Race starts to understand the content better.  He’ll still need to go to office hours, probably, but for the moment, he feels less panicked.  

By the time they’re finished, their bodies are pressed together from shoulder to thigh, both of them hunched over their work only inches apart.  Race tries not to stare, but he can’t help but notice the way Albert bites his lip and narrows his eyes when he’s focused.  Even with his guard down, he’s magnetic- effortlessly charming.  He must feel Race looking, because he glances up from where he’s completing the final problem.  They’re very close- too close, really and Race can see him flick his gaze down to his lips for a second before locking on his eyes.  In his peripheral, Race can see his ears color.  He’s a blusher, Race has come to realize.  It’s kind of precious.

“Thanks,” Race says, unable to stand the growing tension.  

Albert blinks a couple times, eyes clearing, “Yeah, no prob.”

“Like, really, thanks.  I get it more now and I’m infinitely less stressed.”

Albert grins, “I’m really glad.”

It’s quiet for another second, then Race shifts, glancing at his watch and realizing he’s done with homework and it’s not even 1:00 pm yet.

“Shit, what time is it,” Albert asks, leaning in again to look at Race’s watch, “Fuck, I have duty in a half hour, I gotta go.”

Race tries not to feel disappointed at the prospect of Albert leaving, “Yeah, I might try to go back to sleep to be honest.”

Albert laughs, “Good plan, drink water.”

“Will do.”

They pack up in silence and walk out of the library, pausing again when they get back to their hall.  

“Obviously fuck math, but I had fun hanging out with you,” Albert says.

Race feels his heartbeat pick up, “I had fun too.”

There’s another pause, this time a little more loaded, then Albert claps him on the shoulder, “Catch those Zs, bro, I’ll see you around.”

“See you.” Race says, waving as Albert begins to head down the hall.

“Don’t forget to eat!”

“I won’t.”

Albert turns around, fixing him with a playfully serious glare, “Promise me, Higgins.  Can’t have any residents sick if I have something to do with it.”

Race laughs, “I promise.”

“Good,” Albert winks and Race feels himself blush down to his chest.

3.

“Albert?”

The situation feels oddly flipped when Race walks into Panera to find Albert slumped at a table, head in his hands and knee bouncing rapidly under the table.  It’s a Tuesday afternoon and Race figured he’d grab his weekly cup of broccoli cheddar soup before english.

Albert lifts his head from his hands and Race feels his concern grow when he notices the red that rims his eyes.  He’s only ever seen Albert cool and collected, but he supposes even freakishly bubbly people have bad days, too.

“Hey, Race,” Albert tries to smile at him, but it falls short, “What’s up? You okay?”

“I’m good,” Race says, “Just grabbing a bite.  What about you?  Are you okay?”

Albert deflates a little, dropping his eyes down to his laptop, “I’m alright.”

“You sure?” Race ventures.  Fuck it, he thinks and sits down, “You’re looking a little stressed.  Is something up?”

He sincerely hopes he isn’t pushing boundaries here, but Albert looks like he needs a friend right now.  Or maybe a shot of really strong tequila.  Or both.

Albert shrugs, letting out a breath.  It sounds shaky and shallow.  He fixes Race with a self-deprecating smile.

“Shouldn’t this be the other way around?”

“Hey, man, just because you’re an RA doesn’t mean you can’t ask for help or some bullshit.  I’m not gonna make you talk to me or anything, that would be shitty, but I’m here for you and so’s everyone else on the floor.  If something’s bothering you, then it’s valid and you deserve support.”

Albert has such a starkly vulnerable look in his eyes that Race almost has to look away.  The corners of his lips are turned down and his eyes are wide and almost pleading and he looks so goddamn defeated and beautiful at the same time and Race really wants to hug him.

Albert’s jaw shifts and he turns his gaze down towards his hands.  His voice cracks a bit when he says, “I’m technically here on a hockey scholarship, right?” Race nods and Albert continues, “And our team is losing national ranking, ‘cause our new coach fucking sucks, so I might lose aspects of that scholarship and my parents can’t pay for my tuition on their own and-” he stops, shaking his head, “I’m scared, I think.  I don’t wanna have to drop out or something.”

Race takes a moment to mull over a good response and reaches across the table, hoping he’s been reading their interactions correctly as he places a hand over Albert’s.  To his relief (and delight) Albert flips his hand so their fingers are laced together.  

Race squeezes it encouragingly, “I can’t promise you that everything will be alright and I can’t make you false reassurances, but I bet if you talked to the financial aid office, they could help you figure out a plan?  But throughout all of this, I’m going to be here for you, alright?  Anything you need, just let me know.  If that’s a place to talk shit out, I gotchu, but I’m also here if you just need a friend.  I’m here for you, Al.”

Albert’s looking at him again, that same vulnerable look on his face, but something else is there a well.  Something softer underlying the worry lines on his face.

“Next semester I’m not going to be an RA anymore.” He blurts.

Race blinks, “Alright?”

Albert huffs out a laugh, “Sorry, I mean like,” he shakes himself, starting over, “I like you, Race.”

Race’s stomach jolts, “Wait, really?”

“Yeah,” Albert says slowly.  They’re hands are still linked together and Race can feel Albert’s hand sweating.  Or maybe that’s his.  Fuck, they both seem keyed up.

“Fuck, I mean, Albert, I like you too.  Have since the beginning of the semester,” Race knows he’s talking too fast, but the smile on Albert’s face tells him it doesn’t matter.

“Yeah?” And Albert looks so damn appeased that Race laughs.

“Yeah.”

“So, if I’m not an RA next semester, then we could…”

“You tryna ask me out, Dasilva?” Race asks, a teasing lilt to his tone.

“Eventually, yes I am,” Albert says.

On a whim, Race lifts Albert’s hand to his lips, kissing the knuckles.  

“After Winter break, I’m taking you to that thai place in town.”

Albert’s smile takes on a genuinity that Race hasn’t seen before, “I’d like that.”

A month later...

“Feels good to actually be able to, like, do this shit publicly.”

Race leans in, pressing a kiss to Albert’s chin.  They’re in the library, trying to get ahead of their physics homework before it picks up too much.  Technically, they’d gotten together after admitting to liking each other last semester, but they weren’t allowed to have a relationship until Albert was out of his RA position.

“Yeah, that was like some star crossed lovers bullshit,” Albert laughs, “Hiding you in my dorm room and stealing kisses in dark hallways.”

“How romantic,” Race teases.

“I know.”

They kiss for real, both leaning into it.  Race feels Albert grip his arm right above his elbow, rubbing his thumb in circles around his bicep.  In turn, he brushes Albert’s hair behind his ears, tilting his jaw to deepen the kiss.

They pull apart and lean their foreheads together, smiling.

“I’m thinking about becoming an RA next semester,” Race murmurs.

Albert pulls back, looking alarmed until he sees the smirk on Race’s face, “you ass, I actually believed you!”

“Pfft, I wouldn’t do that when we just got this,” Race says, pulling Albert back in and kissing him again, “I like you too much.”

Albert smiles, giddy and exultant, “I like you, too, I think.”

“You think?”

“I know, I think.”

Race swats him, “Be serious and love me.”

They both freeze, the weight of the words they have yet to actually say suddenly hanging in the air.

Albert sobers up, taking Race’s hand, “I do love you.  A lot, actually.”

And really, that’s unfair, because sometimes Race still gets so goddamn enamored by Albert and he can’t really believe he actually likes him back and he can feel his face flushing and oh god, he’s not going to revert back to incoherence is he? Oh god-

“Don’t have an aneurysm,” Albert says, kissing his nose, “I love you.  That’s all.”

When Race smiles, it feels too big for his face, “I love you, too.”

END

-

thanks for reading, chiefs

yell at me to start writing again cuz i really been slacking

hmu to be added to my tag

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[sevenfactorial]

Conveniently, I did take a screen shot bc the whole ask wasn’t appearing while I was I was typing which I found displeasing.

I had a bit more math exposure than most people in high school. I was able to go through multivar calc and diff eqs my last year (less intense but still closely following typical university curriculum, in particular, the local university’s which is where I’m at now) and had some proof exposure from doing math competitions. I also didn’t plunge straight into math since I started as a CS major/math minor (multivar first semester, discrete math for cs majors second, both of which definitely were not easy for me even if they went well in the end). The amount of math I took at a time rather steadily increased from there so I never had like, a shock sort of moment which was kind of more luck than anything else.

Just about everyone who does math says it’s very hard. I think that anyone who says it’s easy hasn’t been sufficiently challenged. For one of my friends, it took him going to a top grad program to be sufficiently challenged but most people get it plenty quickly in undergrad. I never had a particularly bad shock but I am definitely of the opinion that Math Is Hard and Absurd but I’m doing it anyways. So you’re far from alone and there are Real Life Mathematicians in my sample so clearly it doesn’t keep you from success.

Basically, I don’t think finding math much harder now than in high school is a reason to quit. Persistence is actually a huge factor of success at research math especially, just as much or more than natural ability. My success in classes and research is less reliant on my natural intuition (what the fuck is natural intuition about higher dim abstract objects anyways? I’m kinda concern if you have any tbh) and more on the fact that I’m willing to work on a problem for 4+ hrs.

That said, if you have been studying a lot but still are having trouble, then yes, trying out new strategies is important.

These are mostly general enough that they can probably apply to whatever class, whether more intro or intermediate and whatever field but I can’t guarantee it. I’m mostly thinking intro-to-upper-level-stuff like linear alg or odes and beginning upper-level undergrad like intro to abstract alg or adv calc.

The obvious, typical, but really useful advice is talk to people. Your professor/TA is a good place to start but talking to other people as well might be a good idea. So this includes classmates, older students, other faculty. I find collaborating with peers extremely important to my understanding because you can help each other find problems and fix them. Getting help from other people can also be useful because they’ll probably explains things a bit differently than your professor and maybe a different explanation will click much better for you. Like I could not understand finite fields and their notation for over two weeks despite the constant lectures until one of my friends (actually a classmate at the time but he had previous experience) explained it to me differently while we were doing homework.

When you’re studying, sometimes its a good idea to make sure you’re not getting too caught up on details. They are important (for some fields more than others, I’m not sure this advice works for analysis for one) but if you don’t understand the more general idea of a concept or the general structure of a proof, knowing the details probably won’t help that much either (a vague answer is usually enough for partial credit too). I focus on definitions, theorems, and common proof structures (if multiple proofs during a unit feel similar, you probably want to know how it works).

Usually, when I just don’t understand something despite trying multiple times, I will go through the def/theorem/proof/example/whatever very slowly while writing down just everything. Basically my internal monologue as I think through it. I find this very frequently helps me untangle things, at least enough that now I can go to someone and be like, I have a question instead of just, I don’t get this at all. I don’t think this would work for everyone but it’s worth giving a shot.

Some less-solely-academic advice is make sure you have a support network. Multiple preferably. One in your department is the most important in my opinion. I don’t know how I would have fared without other students to commiserate with and faculty to give advice (I’d probably still be a cs double major bc the support I got in the math department was a big draw for me). One of my friends (a MA major at a different uni) isn’t involved in her math department and I do know of a lot of majors I have class with but never really see otherwise but the support has seriously been helpful. Of course, mathblr is also filled with great people and I love it too though it’s definitely different from having something irl. Having friends and family outside math is also important bc it’s probably not healthy to be mired in math 100% of the time.

Another thing is possibly consider getting checked for any mental or emotional things. Obviously I have no clue what your situation is but sometimes it is really tricky to identify genuine problems when you’ve been facing them your entire life but if you can address it, it might have a really big impact. In general, take care of your mental and emotional health. A crisis is most certainly not gonna help anything.

[eigenshit]

apparently the arizona board of regents has a cap on what percentage of faculty can be “lecturers” (ie adjuncts), and my advisor was saying that actually most departments have very few lecturers, EXCEPT for math and english. i feel silly that i’d never thought of that, but it’s true! no other departments do such a high degree of service, because EVERYONE has to take math and english. even if you only have one math class gen ed requirement, there aren’t that many ways to test out of it. lots of hs students aren’t going to get to the level of being able to take ap stats or ap calc, if they’re even available, and that’s to say nothing of whether they pass them. and a lot of the ones that do are going to end up in a stem major where they have to take a full calc sequence, and possibly multivar/diffeq/linalg as well. and god damn everybody has to take a writing/composition course, and universities seem to be reeeeally stingy about letting ppl off the hook for that. i got out of one quarter of it with a 4 on ap english language?

sure, most ppl have to take a foreign language. but even with ppl like me, who had to take one whole first-year sequence - arguably analogous to the calculus or english comp courses - that burden is spread out over all the foreign language departments! AND lots of people test out of all or part of it with ap credit, or get placed in higher level courses (as opposed to the first-year intro course), in which case that’s no longer a service course, y’know? that’s a class that the department’s majors and minors are taking anyway!

science classes are a similar story; even if everyone has to take SOMETHING, the burden is spread between physics, biology, chemistry, environmental science, etc. and a lot of high schools will have SOME ap science option that can get a student out of all or part of their college science requirement.

and then there are the arts/humanities and the social sciences requirements. but, at least at my undergrad, you had to take like two or three classes under each of those two umbrellas, and you weren’t ALLOWED to count two from the same discipline!!!!! a whole slew of ap credits could conceivably cover that - any history class, gov, econ, psych, music theory, studio art or art history - and even without any of that, each department only had to deal with you once! i took ONE psychology class, ONE theater class, one communications, one philosophy, i had credit from ap gov that counted as a polisci class, and that was it!!! done deal!!! the philosophy class wasn’t even an intro, it was like a 2nd- or 3rd-year level elective that majors and minors would take, that’s not at all a service course, y’know?

idk, it’s just something i’m thinking about because i hadn’t before. the us university system is so bizarre in so many ways, and i feel like i’ve inadvertently thrown myself into one of the hottest messes academia has to offer!

[realtalk-tj]

Hi- this message is for Shaklebolt. Thank you so much for answering my question on Atmospheric Sciences. I also want to focus on meteorology and Weather Forecasting. I would love to know what TJ electives you recommend and did you do a mentorship or the oceanography research lab? Any other tips? Did you get into the university you wanted to? Good Luck and THANKS for your help!

Response from Shacklebolt:

No problem! TJ doesn’t offer a meteorology class, but there are other ways where you can pursue things related to meteorology.

Recommended Classes:

Geospatial Analysis (Class on using ArcGIS. Most, if not all, meteorology majors are required to take a class related to this)

AP Physics (All meteorology majors take intense math/physics classes. These are the core of meteorology.)

Computational Physics (Physics modeling.)

Multivar/Differential Equations (Most foundational meteorology equations are multivariable calc equations. You don’t have to take these classes if you don’t feel ready for them; most incoming meteorology majors take AB Calc or BC Calc at most and they’re doing fine.)

APCS/Artificial Intelligence/Computer Vision/Machine Learning (If you’re interested in computational meteorology, especially weather modeling, take these classes. APCS should cover the CS requirement for most meteorology majors. You might want to brush up on Python in your free time.)

AP Chem/Organic Chemistry (If you’re more interested in atmospheric chemistry, take this. Meteorology does have a bit of a chem base because of atmospheric chemistry.)

Astronomy (If you’re interested in space weather, take this elective.)

Marine Bio (The course goes over ocean systems like currents and marine meteorology for a little bit.)

I am in the oceanography/geophysics research lab right now. You don’t need to take marine bio to do this lab. I never took it because it’s not necessary for my research. I did not sign up for mentorship. TJ does have a partnership with NOAA for research mentorship if you’re interested. You can also ask your earth/marine science teachers if there are any related internship opportunities you could do. And yes, I did get into my ideal universities for atmospheric science! 

[realtalk-princeton]

I’m taking eco310 next sem and I have forgotten all of multivar calc since it’s been a full 2 years since I’ve taken it. Should I review some stuff before? What should I even review?

Response from Sushi:

How to take partial derivatives and Lagrange; that’s pretty much all you need to know for the entire class

[realtalk-tj]

Can I accelerate into multi variable calculus next year? I'm a freshman currently in RS1 1st Sem, and Math 4 second Sem. If I took the AP calc test and got a 5, where exactly would I be sophmore year? What would I need to do to get into multivar sophmore year (if possible)

Response from Flitwick: 

... could you maybe perform a stop it?

Legitimately - in theory, this would be a step in the right direction. You’d just take Math 5 over the summer, and sign up for Multi, promising your counselor that you’d get a 5 on the exam. If all of this happens, you’d take it next year, dammit. 

In practice, I think this is a terrible idea. First, it’s really not the end of the world to not be taking Multi sophomore year. (Seriously.) People don’t usually take this class until they’re in college, and mad props for being that ambitious, but it’s not necessary. 

I’d also argue that generally, accelerating past BC (which is already an accelerated course) and self-studying it is not a great idea. Calculus, as a foundational gateway into post-high school science, should not be taken lightly. Granted, it can be done, but definitely not advisable for just anyone to do it. Also, the school has made it really difficult for you to register for tests for which you’re not also taking the class, so I would reach out to Ms. Barnhart and maybe, after quite a bit of negotiating and convincing, you could conceivably take that AP test, but I wouldn’t be so sure that you could. 

Also, multi is a tough class! Taking it sophomore year would likely force you to open all sorts of gates to math that you’re straight-up not foundationally ready for. A lot of the post-multi math classes are either just as difficult, or even more so, and you have to be ready for it. 

Even if you were like one of the super-smart math team kids that could handle all of this/already knows and understands calculus, I would be hard-pressed to believe that this is the best use of your time in the summer. A lot of freshmen spend their time in the summer in summer chem, which has a whole other slew of benefits and drawbacks that you can’t have if you’re taking that Math 5 course. 

In conclusion, yes, it’s possible, but also no. :/

Response from Penelope:

Sweetie, why? This is absolutely unnecessary, and if it’s hard for Barnhart to agree to self studying APCS or APES there’s no way in hell she’ll let you self study BC. The entirety of Student Services is also morally opposed to scenarios like the one you’re attempting to generate, so while, as Flitwick said, it is physically possible to do so, it sounds like smth that will likely end unfavorably, so it is strongly not recommended.

I also personally know someone who did a BC skip, and it’s definitely not an experience they recommended.