‘18.906: Algebraic Topology II’

Table of contents

  1. Course Info
  2. Realistic Prerequisites
  3. Subject Matter
  4. Course Staff
  5. Lectures
  6. Problem Sets
  7. Exams
  8. Resources
  9. Grading
  10. Advice to Future Students

Course Info

Class Size 17
Hours/Week 11.2 (11 responses)
Instructors Paul Seidel
Overall Rating 5.7/7.0

Realistic Prerequisites

  • The content of 18.601, 18.101 and 18.905 were seen as necessary prerequisites.
  • Students said knowing some algebraic geometry would be helpful, but not required.

Subject Matter

  • Some students thought that the subject was very broad, and pure.

Course Staff

  • The TA was very helpful and approachable.
  • Students wrote that Prof. Seidel was helpful, but was sometimes too vague when responding to questions in office hours.

Lectures

  • The lectures were seen as fast and disorganized. Students said it took multiple parsing of lecture notes in order to grasp the material sufficiently.

Problem Sets

  • Students found the problem sets challenging, yet enjoyable.
  • Some students parsed the lecture notes multiple times to help them complete the assignment.

Exams

  • There were no exams for this course.

Resources

  • Many referred to Haynes Miller’s handwritten notes, which Prof. Seidel referred students to at the start of every lecture.
  • Some used Prof. Hatcher’s textbook to supplement these.

Grading

  • Students said that cutoffs were not always transparent.
  • Cutoff for an A previously was between 80 and 85%.

Advice to Future Students

  1. “Go to office hours! The psets will be much less painful”
  2. “I would highly recommend this course with this professor!”