Linear algebra or differential equations

[VikingLegacy]

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[circulus vitios]

I'm taking them both next semester. E-mail the professors and ask if it's taught as theory or application class, and if it's applied what is it applied to. Physics and engineering applications are cool; economics and finance are boring as hell. Find out if it's a proof intensive class, too. If you're good at writing proofs then go for it but if you're bad or have never taken a proof based class before then caveat emptor - you GPA might suffer.

 

[circulus vitios]

http://aix1.uottawa.ca/~jkhoury/app.htm
http://www.stewartcalculus.com/data/CALCULUS%20Concepts%20and%20Contexts/upfiles/3c3-AppsOf2ndOrders_Stu.pdf

 

[235009]

i took both in undergrad...my vote is for linear algebra. it has more applications. it also has applications in statistics which could be useful in analyzing research down the line.

 

[common man]

this is one of those things where the opinions of others don't directly apply to you...i'd look at the textbooks and the grading for the syllabi to decide.

i thought linear algebra was conceptually more difficult from beginning to end...

differential equations was manageable for the first 2/3 of the course...just doing a lot of quadratic equations...the last 1/3 had linear algebra in it (where you do many diff-eqs at a time in a matrix)...then it got hard for me.

ymmv

 

[235009]

this is one of those things where the opinions of others don't directly apply to you...i'd look at the textbooks and the grading for the syllabi to decide.

well this really depends on whether you actually care about learning useful material or only care about what grade you get at the end. My sense was that OP wanted to know which was more interesting/useful not which would yield a higher grade for the least amount of work. For the record i found linear algebra to be more manageable than differential equations and did better on it grade-wise.

 

[PreMedder]

well this really depends on whether you actually care about learning useful material or only care about what grade you get at the end. My sense was that OP wanted to know which was more interesting/useful not which would yield a higher grade for the least amount of work. For the record i found linear algebra to be more manageable than differential equations and did better on it grade-wise.

who says these are mutually exclusive? course-difficulty varies significantly from school to school. i took diffeq last semester and it wasn't anything that difficult although it's known at my school to be a lot worse than linear. and i found the diffeq material to be pretty interesting - especially towards the end with qualitative approaches

 

[common man]

well this really depends on whether you actually care about learning useful material or only care about what grade you get at the end. My sense was that OP wanted to know which was more interesting/useful not which would yield a higher grade for the least amount of work. For the record i found linear algebra to be more manageable than differential equations and did better on it grade-wise.

fair point...

it's been quite a few moons since i've taken diffeq & linear algebra but...

you run into differential equations all the time in math and engineering applications so its useful to know how to solve them. differential equations describe the real world...the gradient of heat dissipating near a window...the density of the ocean with respect to depth...the voltage and current of a circuit with respect to time...etc.

linear algebra is useful because it trains you do do many operations at once in a matrix...the real world consists of many parameters...and those for example, consist of many differential equations...just think how many differential equations you'd need to describe the air flow pattern around an airplane...that's a real world application that doesn't just rest on one or two differential equations that we do in school...a computer needs to calculate 1000s of equations in a matrix...we may even have to transform them into a different set of parameters...computer does the laborious stuff...you focus on the design / creative aspect in linear algebra.

i personally liked diff-eq a lot better

 

[Cleavername]

intro to diff is calc 4 ist it? linear should be easier than it.

 

[Healer of Ills]

I have taken both courses and i can tell you that differential equations was the most relevant and interesting calculus course i have taken as an engineering student.

Real world issues and problems are solved using ODE's and PDE's. Many mathematical/biological models are based on differential equations and their solutions.

 

[getright]

At my university the class after calculus 3 is called "Linear Algebra and Differential Equations"...

 

[mcgyver]

Well, I have the choice of taking either linear algebra or intro to differential equations as my final math class.

Which is cooler? Which do you guise recommend?

linear algebra with white and young professor = win
linear algebra with chinese/indian/old white professor = lose

 

[235009]

linear algebra with white and young professor = win
linear algebra with chinese/indian/old white professor = lose

this is true of ANY math class honestly

the white and young linear algebra prof was awesome btw ...I hope you were lucky enough to have him too

 

[RocketSurgeon]

At my university the class after calculus 3 is called "Linear Algebra and Differential Equations"...

I would highly recommended you stay away from that class it is an upper div class for math majors and builds on knowledge from Intro to Diff Equations (Calc 4) and Intro to linear algebra (Eigen Vector,values...optimization)...but is more theoretical not for the average pre-med unless you're a math major

 

[VikingLegacy]

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[mcgyver]

this is true of ANY math class honestly

the white and young linear algebra prof was awesome btw ...I hope you were lucky enough to have him too

i had both... and had to drop out from the chinese prof's class cus i did terrible on the midterm. signed up for the young white prof's class. got A.

 

[cwwm]

linear algebra is more applicable to the real world and most of what you will be doing

differential equations is a really interesting topic

take your pick

 

[lorenzomicron]

diffEQ was really easy, fun, and very very useful.

 

[LoveTheRunner]

do you want to learn how to mix brine? if so, diff eq for the win

 

[n3xa]

linear algebra with white and young professor = win
linear algebra with chinese/indian/old white professor = lose

Awe I liked my old white discrete math professor! He wore knee length shorts and socks that went up to his mid-calf. He was awesome.

I'd go with dffeq, but that's because I couldn't fit that math class into my schedule as an undergrad and was

 

[HolySmokes]

Do you know if the Linear Algebra class is proof based? I loved Linear when I took it because I learned how to write proofs instead of just memorizing a bunch of formulas like I did for DE.

 

[rafflecopter]

Where's the option for "neither"?

 

[biodreamer]

If you go the Linear Algebra route, http://www.khanacademy.org is pretty comprehensive with it. He also has differential calc. Oh, not to mention, http://ocw.mit.edu.

 

[StudyShy]

Diffy Q and linear algebra are for babies. Go for the abstract algebra.

Khan academy rocks.