Doing Engineering Mathematics in semester 2 vs doing it in summer?

[Fantasia94]

For those who have done Engineering Mathematics, could you please provide your opinions on which is better:)

Thanks.

[hobbitle]

Well probably noone will have done it both semesters (unless they failed) - for purposes of comparison. I would do it semester 2 but then I'm a firm believer that you only do core science subjects in summer if you have no other choice. For the most part they are much too difficult to cram into Summer. Save breadth for summer semester.
If you needed to though, eng maths would be possible to do over summer for sure. There wasn't anything conceptually difficult that needs time to 'settle' if you know what I mean. You could cram it in. You might not get the best understanding but it would be possible to do well still.

[LeviLamp]

I actually think intensive classes are much easier; focusing on one subject only is far far easier and you retain a lot more information, provided you actually study (and to my knowledge, ~*~*science*~*~ backs up my opinion on this). Also, Engineering Maths is a six-week "intensive", so you'd have MORE time to study for it than in semester, when you're typically juggling multiple subjects. Just my two cents, but it seems like an absolutely fine option to take it over summer, with lower stress and more continual exposure with fewer large breaks between studying the subject (both due to the doubled number of weekly classes and the fact that you don't have to focus on anything else). I certainly found my Lv 2 summer class a lot easier to conceptualise, and it ran for only two weeks, not six, with an equivalent amount of content to an ordinary biology subject (though it was conceptually simple, I don't think it could be any worse with three times as long to complete a somewhat more complex class).

So, if you don't have space you want to give up in semester two, or want to lighten your load, I reckon summer semester is a perfectly fine option, if you don't mind losing some time from your holidays over the six-week period.

[chysim]

I wouldn't be put off by doing a subject in summer. I kind of got forced into through poor course planning in first year and I dreaded it at first, but it ended being by far my best result for an MAST subject and I really enjoyed it. For Calc 1, 2 and Eng Maths (all completed in the normal semesters) I got H3s and for Linear Algebra (over summer) I got a H1. It sucks having to be at uni when you could otherwise be at the beach, but the campus is pretty awesome in summer and very tranquil.

However, it's only two days a week so its not too much time commitment. Below is my timetable for the 6 weeks, and I imagine Eng Maths would be similar (but without the lab class). You basically have a week of content each day.


Overall, I think the sort of intensive, vignetted learning that you get over summer suits maths really well in general. It gets you into the right frame of mind as you can give it your entire attention and effort rather than having to juggle 3+ other subjects at once.

However, there is the risk of getting stuck with a bad lecturer. Eng Maths normally has two lecturers during normal semesters. When I did it there was Christine Mangelsdorf (really, really good) and Marcus Brazil (really, really bad). I don't know who does it over summer, but if they are bad you can't just vote with your feet and go to the other stream (although a lot of the Eng Maths content is covered really well on Khan Academy). I was lucky in that Alex Ghitza took Linear Algebra that summer and is one of the best lecturers in the department (IMHO).

So there are positives and negatives to both. If you are willing to somewhat ground yourself for 7 weeks I'd highly recommended summer as you'll likely get a better understanding of the content and will find it easier, but if you want to travel/work full-time/relax over summer, it'd be best to do it in Sem 2.

Lycka Till!

[Fantasia94]

Thanks guys that was really helpful. I'll certainly have a good think about both options during this mid sem holiday.