Ten Things to Learn During Math Camp

[asquare]

...besides math.

 

1) The names of everyone in your class.

2) Who you study well with and who you don't. Your study partners don't have to be your best friends.

3) The university's network structure. How can you save things, put up a web page, and run analysis over the network?

4) Places where first years can study.

5) Who in your class you can count on to have access to everything: solutions manuals, out of print text books, and working papers that haven't been put up on the author's web page yet.

6) The bars where econ grad students hang out, and at least one bar where you can go and be pretty sure you won't see anyone in your department.

7) The names of the graduate program secretary, the department IT people, and the professors in your fields.

8) LaTeX. You actually have more time during math camp than at any other point in the year. Get in the habit of writing up your problem sets in LaTeX and save yourself a headache later on.

9) The best cheap lunch spot within walking distance of the department.

10) How your funding and health insurance work, and what you have to do to start direct deposit of your stipend, if you have one.

[economicus]

How do you find your best study partners? I suppose that not by asking everyone about their GPA... :)

[asquare]

economicus, I guess if you ask everyone about their GPA, then you will find people who have the same priorities as you will be the only ones willing to study with you!

 

Seriously, I think the best thing is to work with a lot of different people on the math camp assignments. Don't committ to one group and only one group at the very beginning. Instead, see who you work well with. Study groups during math camp tend to be big and social and informal, kind of like math camp itself. U-Mich actually distributes lists of pre-assigned, "suggested" study groups to sort of break the ice. My class completely ignored those and formed our own groups, but the class ahead of us kept those groups for the whole first year.

[ekonomiks]

How does one study in a group? Division of labor? Synergy?

[economicus]

What are your experiences from assignment groups during 1st year core courses? In general, from my underg. /MA experience, I like duscussions of homeworks but hate when the assignments are common, which means that the whole group receives one mark.

[Golden Rule]

Good list/thread. I'd also explicitly add trying to get to know a few upper-year students who are still around for the summer. It's not as important as getting to know your own class, but it will happen less naturally and require more effort. This is loosely related to #6 (the "grad student" bar may be the best place to socialize with them), and I also think an upper-year would be more likely to provide the materials listed in #5. They can also give you the best heads up for what to look out for in the coming year. Some programs will have a mentor program pairing upper-years with first-years, but your mentor might not be around until the school year starts.

 

As for group study, first start with forming groups. I agree it's good that people start with groups that are large and informal. Such groups won't all work together, you'll end up naturally dividing into smaller groups within the large group based on who's sitting next to each other on a given day, and people might bounce around to different locations depending on where they are in a problem set. Eventually this will probably give way to more formal groups, as people find out who they work well with, especially if classes permit group submission of solutions.

 

As for the how to, I mean you can do a lot of different approaches for group work. Some would prefer to try do as much as they can on their own, then meet up later to check answers and resolve discrepencies. Others might prefer to work on a problem set or a particular problem independently but simultaneously, and then interact when someone is really stuck or has an answer. Others might actually prefer to work together on a problem from the beginning, though I can't really stand to have someone looking over my shoulder when I'm writing equations in a 100% exploratory phase. You can, of course, mix and match such techniques. Again, you'll probably match up with people whose mix of techniques matches yours.

 

One the benefits of groupwork derives from the fact that a problem set question or two will inevitably be subject to multiple interpretations, and your classmates can help guide you. You may not interpret the question in the way the professor intended or the way the TA will grade it -- sometimes this is because you're interpretation is actually wrong, and sometimes your interpretation is fair, but it may not always be worth the trouble to convince a TA otherwise. Of course, TAs and profs are the ultimate arbitrators of such issues, but they can be less accessible than your classmates. Such issues can often cause more stress than the challenge of the problems themselves.

 

Lastly, regarding division of labor -- I think division of labor is generally good when it involves people helping each other out when they get stuck. I really don't like division of labor when it means different people work on different problems and share answers before others have had the opportunity to start approaching the problems themselves. And the absolutely worst kind of division of labor is mindlessly copying of answers, regardless of the source -- you will inevitably copy something that is wrong, or totally inefficient, if you do this, and you certainly won't be helping yourself for exams at the end of the year.

 

I also strongly dislike group submission of answers. I prefer courses the encourage colloboration but only allow independent submissions. Some courses I've had (though not in grad school) asked you to list the handful of people you most closely colloborated with, and I think I liked that approach the best.

[Freakonomizer]

Great post, guys!

 

As someone who is about to start grad studies in Economics, I really appreciate the tips that you gave here!

 

Best,

[mtjsvc]

Good stuff.

[buckykatt]

Great thread.

 

One thing I'd add is that establishing an exercise regimen of some kind, whether it involves the gym, an informal weekly soccer game, finding a racquetball partner, or what-have-you, is also important. Once you get busy with your first-year coursework, it's all too easy to neglect your health for short-term study time gains.

 

Also, in several departments there seems to be a tradition that the second year class throws a party of some kind to welcome the newbies. That's probably a good time to meet some upper-year students.

[Nalfien]

thanks for the advice guys! really appreciate it, seems like it'll be helpful. I'm sure i'll be reading it a dozen more times or so before i get started. and now that i've realized what i have just written i feel a bit of a nerd... no worries

 

Def going to try out the LaTeX thing!:D

 

Thanks again guys

[TruDog]

For programs without math camp, do you have any suggestions?

[treasuries]

Would not attending Math camp affect one's chances of joining established groups? Or are there shuffles at the start of class so that those who didn't do the camp can still have the chance to be in a group?

 

Is the likelihood of failing higher when one is not in a study group?

[asquare]

Would not attending Math camp affect one's chances of joining established groups? Or are there shuffles at the start of class so that those who didn't do the camp can still have the chance to be in a group?

It will depend on what fraction of the class does attend math camp. If almost everyone does, then it will be harder to join an existing group. You probably won't be turned away, but it could be a little awkward and just hard to know where to start. Social and study groups definitely start during math camp. Things shift around, but it's harder when you aren't there at the beginning.

 

Math is NOT the most important part of math camp, though. Getting to know the school and the people is very important. You should think of math camp as an extended orientation. Unless you have a very compelling reason, don't skip it. Already having a strong background in math is not a very compelling reason ;)

 

Is the likelihood of failing higher when one is not in a study group?

I don't have statistics on this, but in my experience studying in groups has been crucial for classes and prelims. I hated working in groups as an undergrad, but in graduate school, your classmates are essential to the learning process. The material is complex and you are responsible for things that may not have been covered thoroughly or at all in lecture. Discussing things with your classmates really does help you understand them better.

 

At the beginning of the year, it may seem like some people are the "tutors" or "teachers" who help out everyone else in their groups, but believe me, by the end of the year, that has leveled out and everyone will do his or her share of giving and receiving help. That is especially true when it comes to studying for prelims. Doing that alone would be beyond daunting, but if you work alone all year, it will be hard to find a group to prepare for exams with.

[Golden Rule]

Would not attending Math camp affect one's chances of joining established groups? Or are there shuffles at the start of class so that those who didn't do the camp can still have the chance to be in a group?

I would agree it probably doesn't help, but I think if you're a person who is easy to work with and get along with, you should be fine. If you were to miss math camp for whatever reason, I'd strongly recommend finding some way to get in touch with your classmates beforehand, i.e. just to introduce yourself and get to know them -- don't act like you're applying for a job.

 

While I'm sure it's possible that people are fully segregated during math camp, it just didn't happen in my class until the second quarter of the year, when we had the first assignments that we actually had to turn in as a group. It also probably helped that we had a bit of a smaller class than average. And I'm glad it worked out that way, because I think we got to know each other better that way. A couple weeks of math camp is way too early to have figured out who you work with best in my opinion, esp. since it's a completely different dynamic once school starts -- real work and a lot more of it.

Is the likelihood of failing higher when one is not in a study group?

I'd agree with what asquare said. That said, it would be misleading to say that people don't ever give and receive help outside of their study groups, and I'd say that kind of interaction most often happened in the 10 minutes or so before class, though it's clearly not a perfect substitute for a group. Of course, if you're someone who always sequesters yourself, arrives 5 minutes late every day, and leaves as soon as lecture is over, you won't have that opportunity.

[treasuries]

asquare and Golden Rule, thanks for the info!

[stupidolive]

i want to ask but dont know if i should post here... but anyway, here we go:

I know first year is very busy and we want to concentrate so that we can pass the prelims. But shouldn't we look for the topic for dissertation/research also? some schools also require paper in your specialty in 2nd or 3rd year...

i just dont know where to look for topic either :"> attending workshops... and subscribing to NBER are what i have heard from the forum... is there anyother way?

thanks everyone :)

[asquare]

stupidolive, you should definitely start to think about research during your first year. You should go to seminars, even if you don't understand everything that is being discussed. If your department holds informal or student seminars, try to go to some of those -- they will let you see research in an earlier phase (not polished, published or under submission papers which are typically presented in the dicipline seminars) and be less intimidating. Going to seminars gives you an idea of what the goal is, and what the current thinking in your field is.

 

Seminars aren't always the best source of ideas, though, because you learn about things that have already been done. You may get ideas of how to improve or expand upon something you see in a seminar. Also, you might get some ideas from your classes, especially when you are taught something that is true in theory, but doesn't seem to be true in the real world.

 

The best thing to do is to keep a notebook where you write down all of your research ideas, even if they seem silly or too complicated or like they may have been done. You can go back to them later, and see if they are worth developing further.

 

Also, get in the habit of taking to your professors about ideas and research as early as possible (yes, in your first year). Professors love to talk about research, and they will not think you are stupid if the idea you bring to them isn't well thought out or won't really work. They will appreciate that you are taking the initiative and thinking about research, and they will help you get better at thinking about research!

 

You may have to write a field paper second year and you will probably have to write a third year paper, but you should not panic about finalizing a topic during first year. Realistically, anything you come up with during first year, before you have had field classes and been able to see the current research in your field, probably won't work out as a third year paper anyways. But coming up with ideas that you can revise and expand upon as you are exposed to more theory and research is a very good way to get a head start on your own work.

[snappythecrab]

For programs without math camp, do you have any suggestions?

 

 

Just come to orientation and you'll be fine.

[asquare]

Since it's math camp season again, I'm giving this thread a bump :) Good luck to the incoming students!

[treblekicker]

Very good thread! Hopefully I'll be eagerly awaiting Math Camp in one year.

 

As for study groups, this is one thing that I think my Math major has helped with. I've noticed Econ UGs are very reticent to work together, but in most of my Math UG classes, I either have had a formal study group/ partner or could find someone in the dept. help center/lounge who could help me or I could help them. I think Analysis was the course that really pushed me towards this mentality.

[sonicskat]

While there is lots of mentioning of study groups in here... I would recommend math camp as a great way to learn how to study at this level. While looking back I realized that the pace I went during math camp was pretty darn slow, it can be a nice prep for what's to come.

 

In my math camp, we had assignments every day. It allowed me to get used to having to do problem sets daily and develop a routine to not only study individually or in small groups, but also interact with larger groups to work over problem sets.

[commodore]

11. Have fun. It'll be your only chance until after your comps.

 

In all seriousness, it depends on your school. Here at Yale, math camp was very informal and didn't matter very much. It was mostly about getting to know each other and getting used to New Haven. About learning who to study with, just try a bunch of different groups -- it's not just about study style, it's also about study schedule. If you want to do your problem sets in the afternoons and read or watch tv in the evenings, then find others that do the same thing. Generally, you'll work with the same group all year just for continuity, so this is an important choice, and you don't want to be on a schedule that you don't like.

[pevdoki1]

Here at Minnesota math camp is not very serious at all.. The first couple of weeks was very basic analysis; now we are doing stuff like Kuhn-Tucker conditions that's either familiar or not very hard to pick up. In other news, I found an awesome 2 bedroom apartment with another first year, which we just bought a bunch of Ikea furniture for. This place rules!! I don't know how I feel about Minneapolis in general, but it surely has some nice parts.

[italos]

Here at Minnesota math camp is not very serious at all.. The first couple of weeks was very basic analysis; now we are doing stuff like Kuhn-Tucker conditions that's either familiar or not very hard to pick up. In other news, I found an awesome 2 bedroom apartment with another first year, which we just bought a bunch of Ikea furniture for. This place rules!! I don't know how I feel about Minneapolis in general, but it surely has some nice parts.

 

What about the weather....?My only serious concern if applying there this fall is just I cannot stand cold...I like watching the sea an hanging out in a shiny day (perhaps I am dreaming California.....)

[pevdoki1]

I'll let you know how the weather is in December! Right now it's quite good :)