"Problem sets were time-consuming, the lectureswere moving quickly...the breadth of what iscovered in the class is astounding," she says. "Ithink Pavel got reprimanded last year for thesubjects he was teaching. Apparently, they weresomething that no 18-year old should see, forwhatever reasons."

Reflecting upon her decision to drop thecourse, Williams says she is "completely confidentthat my decision was right for me."

"My schedule now is definitely challenging,"she says. "But I feel that I'm getting a strongbackground in the subjects I'm taking. I wouldn'thave had that in Math 55."

Like Williams, Dina Roumiantseva '02 startedout in Math 55 but began having serious doubtsabout the class as it progressed.

Unlike Williams, however, Roumiantseva says shedecided to stay in the class, largely because of areassuring e-mail message the professor sent outto the class after the first exam.

"I was strongly considering quitting after thefirst three to four weeks because the atmosphereof the class was rather antagonistic andcompetitive, but during the week of the add/dropdeadline, the professor sent out the e-mail,"Roumiantseva says.

According to Roumiantseva, Etingof wrote in thee-mail," The required problems will be more orless straightforward and designed to deepen theunderstanding, the definitions and theorems fromclass and sometimes to introduce new notions. Iwill keep the number of required problems asreasonable as I can. "

Roumiantseva says the problem sets aredifficult, too long, and often irrelevant to thematerial covered in class. Problems that introducenew concepts do not explain the concepts well, shesays.

Roumiantseva says she regrets her decision tostay in Math 55a and does not plan on taking ontaking Math 55b next semester.

"I feel like I really haven't learned very muchsince I spend most of the time working on problemsI never really understand and I never develop asolid understanding of the basic and importantconcepts we cover in class," she explains.

Roumiantseva is also taking a 100-level mathcourse this semester. She says she had intended toconcentrate in mathematics but that after takingMath 55, she is strongly reconsidering herdecision.

Great Expectation

Some students say they decide to take andcontinue with the course, however, because theyfeel that it is expected of them.

"Math 55 is a legend. I heard about it in highschool," Stronger, who took the class last year,says. "I would have been ashamed not to take it."

Jared S. Weinstein '01, a current student inthe class, concurs.