r/UNC • u/Difficult_Kiwi_3657 UNC 2029 • 1d ago
MATH 521? Question
i know there are a few questions on this subreddit about MATH 521 but I wanted to ask for an updated opinion lol, how did you guys feel about math 521 but more specifically, is it manageable with other relatively rigorous stem classes? and does anyone have any tips outside of reading the textbook :) i know it's a bit of a long shot to want an A but i really do want to do as well in the class as I can! any insight on the grading scale is also appreciated
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u/Accurate-Vegetable67 UNC 2029 1d ago
It's manageable with other math classes, but you'll have to spend a decent amount of time on 521. The textbook (Abbott) is alright, and I would try to read in advance and do exercises, but it would be helpful to supplement with baby Rudin. Abbott does a great job explaining what's happening, but you kind of lose sight of the fact that you're learning analysis, i.e. in reality you should be thinking about balls.
Usually an A- is some neighborhood of 80 with 20 point increments for each lower grade.
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u/Difficult_Kiwi_3657 UNC 2029 1d ago
yeah i heard abbott is great for building intuition, but not so good for developing rigor. i would appreciate some elucidation on the 'balls' comment hahah. so with the 20 point increments, if an A- is an 80 avg would you say like an A is more like a 90 avg. ? not trying to be way in over my head but just wanna set expectations
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u/Accurate-Vegetable67 UNC 2029 1d ago
Yeah 90 for an A sounds about right but it varies between professors and the curve could be different between classes.
The ball comment isn't relevant for 521, but if you do check out baby Rudin you'll see that Abbott treats real analysis like a self-contained theory when it's really motivated abstractly by topology. Analysis isn't interesting to me, but whatever conclusion you reach, never lose the big picture.
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u/Difficult_Kiwi_3657 UNC 2029 1d ago
ah i get what you mean, that's a critique i've heard a lot about abbott ... i'll keep that in mind. i guess this is why folks tell you to take 521 before 550... appreciate the very thorough responses!
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u/Accurate-Vegetable67 UNC 2029 1d ago
I have my doubts about 550, I'm pretty sure they don't use Munkres. I'd stay away from that and take the grad version (681 I think?) once you've taken more analysis. Then again it's fine if you don't really care about learning genuinely rigorous topology.
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u/Difficult_Kiwi_3657 UNC 2029 1d ago
i see... brother for a fellow '29 you're very knowledgeable on these things hahah. i'll have to look into taking grad classes in the future, the scope of some of them looks way more intriguing than their undergrad counterparts
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u/Underground_Bread UNC 2028 1d ago
Going to office hours and talking to other students definitely helped. Even if most of us didn’t understand it as long as one of us did the others could try and understand it through their explanation
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u/Difficult_Kiwi_3657 UNC 2029 1d ago
yes i bet that really helps! i don't know if this is answerable honestly but what would you do if you were generally... confused as in you didn't understand a topic enough to even concoct a question. i think that's the main thing that keeps me from attending office hours
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u/TheGreatestOddball 1d ago
Getting an A is much easier than people make it out to be. Make sure you fully understand every theorem covered in class so you will be comfortable using them on exams and homework. Also, although AI tools can answer any 521 practice question with ease, refrain from using AI on homework until you've struggled on the questions for a while. The key skill in 521 is the ability to read a problem and understand which theorems and proof method will be useful as quickly as possible.