Do you have a dumb question that you're kind of embarrassed to ask in the main thread? Is there something you're just not sure about?
This is your opportunity to ask questions. No question too simple or too silly.
Culture war topics are accepted, and proposals for a better intro post are appreciated.
Jump in the discussion.
No email address required.
Notes -
Meet Bob. He's in his late twenties, and has not done any math since high school, where he was a B- student in STEM-related subjects and moderately disliked most of them. Bob is of above average intelligence, but not exceptionally bright (think +1 SD, midwit extraordinaire territory). One day Bob decides to renounce his wordcel ways and try to learn enough math in his spare time to leave his fake e-mail job and join a rigorous quantitative PoliSci program.
How many hours of intensive study do you estimate it would take Bob to get to the level of mathematical prowess of an average incoming first-year grad student in such a program?
Claude seems to ballpark that number at 600-800 hours (200-300 to relearn math up to Calculus, and 400-500 hours for undergrad math). To me this feels like a real lowball (there are like half a dozen videogames where I have twice as many hours, surely learning an extremely valuable skill must take a lot more time and effort – otherwise everyone would do it, right?), but maybe math is that easy, and Bob, like many people, just never really tried.
Ok, so college algebra at my local community college is 5 hours a week for a sixteen week semester, and let’s approximately double that time for homework/out of class study/whatever. That’s 160 hours to get through high school minimum math, minus geometry. Precalculus is a four hour/week class, so that’s 96 hours. So for everything up to but not including calculus that’s 256 hours, towards the high side of Claude’s estimate. If we assume that calculus is approximately the same amount as getting ready for it, we’ve blown Claude’s estimate out of the water. But, Claude’s estimate seems reasonably accurate for solely class time, so that’s probably what it counted.
More options
Context Copy link
More options
Context Copy link