Linear Algebra

[pauljack]

Hi all,

I am currently taking courses in preparation for a Financial Engineering curriculum. My strategy is to take courses that I know are prerequisites for the FE program, study for the GRE and start applying to schools in Fall 2008 (Baruch included). I finished Calc 3, this spring, just finished Diff EQ. this summer, and I'm starting Calc based Stats and Prob. this coming fall.
My Question involves Linear Algebra. I noticed there are 3 different types of courses to take;
There is a "Linear Algebra and Calculus" course which involves Linear Algebra and Vector Calculus and requires a prereq. of Calc 3, There is "Linear Algebra" that has a prereq. of "Calc 3",
"Discrete Mathematics", and "Bridge to Higher Mathematics", and there is another Linear Algebra class that only has a prereq. of Calc 2.
I'm trying to get these classes completed as quickly as possible, without worrying about addition prereq. courses. I think the "Linear Algebra and Calculus is the best choice, what do you think?

Paul

 

[Andy Nguyen]

Hi Paul,
Long time no see. Glad to hear you're making headways on the road to MFE. The first and third choice look like what you want to take. Any detailed syllabus for those courses ?

 

[pauljack]

pdf file

Is there anyway I can take a snapshot frm a pdf file, and add it to the body of the message on this message board? I've been trying to copy course descriptions out of pdf catalogs.

Paul

 

[Yuriy]

It is hard to say which one is better to take without looking at, at least, the descriptions of the courses.

If Linear Algebra and Calculus gives as much Linear Algebra as the regular Linear Algebra, then it might be a good choice. But it might be the case that (while teaching Linear Algebra and Calculus) they give less Linear Algebra to make some room for Calculus.

 

[Yuriy]

Is there anyway I can take a snapshot frm a pdf file, and add it to the body of the message on this message board? I've been trying to copy course descriptions out of pdf catalogs.

Paul

When you post your reply, there is a button "Go Advanced", from there you can attach pictures or files to your message. Just do a printscreen and attach a JPEG file (for example).

 

[pauljack]

course descriptions

I'm going to attempt to attach a word document with the course descriptions.

The regular Linear Algebra course seem like the correct course. The course with the more "advanced" prereq's seem like it's geared toward overly academic math majors. Even though Financial Engineering is highly quantitative, it's still a "professional" program. My interest lies mostly in the practical applications to finance.

Paul

 

[dstefan]

If you could find a linear algebra course with a numerical flavor to it (the keywords LU and Cholesky decompositions come to mind), that would be best.

 

[Yuriy]

The regular Linear Algebra course seem like the correct course. The course with the more "advanced" prereq's seem like it's geared toward overly academic math majors. Even though Financial Engineering is highly quantitative, it's still a "professional" program. My interest lies mostly in the practical applications to finance.

Paul

Paul,
I see that you are from Atlanta. I looked up a few courses at GSU. They will be offering Math 8620 Numerical Linear Algebra 3.0 in the Fall 2007 (Computational aspects of linear algebra. Matrix factorization, least squares, orthogonal transformations, eigen-values; and methods for sparse matrices.) This is the most relevant to what we do