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4th year independent study

 
Old 06-10-2012 at 01:53 PM   #1
Chimmy
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4th year independent study
I'm considering taking an independent study course for my last year. Can anyone who's done one tell me more about what exactly this entails? Are there classes? Do you conduct research? How are you graded? etc....
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Old 06-10-2012 at 04:17 PM   #2
Mahratta
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I took an independent study ("reading") course last year.

Basically, if you're interested in a particular area of your subject and a prof is willing to supervise a course in that area, you take an independent study course with that prof.

In my case, I wanted to take a grad course, but Mac doesn't let undergrads do so (one of the many ridiculous bureaucratic problems here) explicitly; so I had to take it as an independent study course. In such a case, you don't need to know the prof too well to take such a course, since a grad course was being offered; the prof didn't have to take extra time out just for me. Grading here was the same as for the rest of the students taking the course.

Another case is when one takes such a course to finish up summer research, or to help the prof with their own research. This is also doable, since you don't need to know a prof too well to tag along with their research group. In this case, you'd probably get a good grade if you pulled your weight.

There is also the possibility of taking an independent study course tailored to your interests, but you will need to know the prof very well for this. A prof is not going to spend a semester of their time teaching a student if they have no experience with the student's abilities. In the case that you do get into such a course, again, you would get a good grade if you showed the prof that you understood what was going on, took the initiative and looked stuff up for yourself, etc.
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Old 06-10-2012 at 04:27 PM   #3
oranges
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Mahratta View Post
In my case, I wanted to take a grad course, but Mac doesn't let undergrads do so (one of the many ridiculous bureaucratic problems here) explicitly; so I had to take it as an independent study course. In such a case, you don't need to know the prof too well to take such a course, since a grad course was being offered; the prof didn't have to take extra time out just for me.
Did you have to email the department for permission or did you just ask the prof teaching the course? I've considered taking a grad course as an undergrad but I never thought about taking one through a reading course.

Out of curiosity, which course did you take?
Old 06-12-2012 at 11:02 PM   #4
Mahratta
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Quote:
Originally Posted by oranges View Post
Did you have to email the department for permission or did you just ask the prof teaching the course? I've considered taking a grad course as an undergrad but I never thought about taking one through a reading course.

Out of curiosity, which course did you take?
I took math 711 (model theory). I knew the prof beforehand so it wasn't too much of a problem, I just asked. If you don't know the prof, it may be more difficult (i.e. you have to convince them that you won't slow the class down too much). It may seem intimidating, but it's not too bad; the prof was very accommodating and cut me some slack.

Let me also add a potential downside: grad schools see "Math 4W03: reading in mathematics" instead of the grad course name. So, unless you tell them otherwise, they may think that you've taken an easy course rather than a challenging one. That said, I think this is minor compared to what there is to gain from taking such a course.
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