Choosing a First Course

There are many options in studying mathematics at Wellesley. Students can begin with calculus (115 or 116), or an introduction to statistics (101), or a course to explore applications of mathematics without calculus (102). Students with an extensive background in mathematics may begin in upper level courses such as Linear Algebra (206), Combinatorics (225), or Number Theory (223). You can learn about our courses from the Wellesley College Course Catalog.

The logical thinking and quantitative reasoning skills you gain in math classes are valuable in all fields, even if you do not end up using the particular course material that you learned.

Calculus is not a required course at Wellesley College, but it is required for many majors, including economics and most pure and applied sciences. In addition, it is frequently required for admission to medical school. Every entering student is sent a brief placement questionnaire to assess precalculus and calculus skills. We use your placement questionnaire and your SAT scores (as well as your AP score, if applicable) to determine the calculus course that we believe is most appropriate for you. Letters are sent out in July with placement information. During First-Year Orientation we are available at "Advising Day" to answer any questions that you have. Our calculus placement FAQs may also be helpful.

All mathematics courses satisfy the Mathematical Modeling requirement and the courses focusing on statistics also satisfy the Quantitative Reasoning Overlay requirement.

Upcoming Events

 

Mon, Apr 29 @ 12:20

The student seminar continues this week when Raissa Antwi and Marjorie Kasten give a joint talk.  As usual, we'll start lunch in room 362 at 12:20, then we'll move over to room 364 around 12:35 or 12:40 to begin the talk. Everyone is welcome to attend!


Tues, Apr 30 @ 4:30

Gerta Malaj, Sookyo Jeong, Sophie Sun, and Elsa Wong (Babson) will speak about their application of Bayesian statistics to quality control management at Boston Scientific. Their talk will be in room 396 of the Science Center.


Mon, May 6 @ 12:20

The student warps up for the year when HyeWon Shin and YeJi Kee give a joint talk.  As usual, we'll start lunch in room 362 at 12:20, then we'll move over to room 364 around 12:35 or 12:40 to begin the talk. Everyone is welcome to attend!


Tues, May 7 @ 5:30

Elize Huang, Rachel Insoft, Marjorie Kasten, Sarika Patel (Babson), and Sophia Guo (Babson) will speak about optimizing the pick-up and distribution routes for BigBelly (they make solar-powered trash compactors; we have two right outside the science center) Their talk will be in room 396 of the Science Center.


Wed, May 8 @ 1:00

Ran Ji will be giving a presentation on her thesis "Towards enumerating C-alt and D matrices." The talk will be held in room 364 of the Science Center, and everyone is welcomed to attend!


Thurs, May 9 @ 4:30

Laura Liu, Shuyu Gao, Farheen Rahimtoola, Ana Casillas, and Karan Kanodia (Babson) will present global pricing models they developed for Boston Scientific using optimization and statistical techniques. Their talk will be in room 396 of the Science Center.