Hello, I'm a high school freshman and want to get into machine learning. Is it ok to start at 18.01SC if I'm currently in Geometry at my school? We've covered basic trig, and Algebra 2 is next year for me. Is it going to be too hard to understand? Thanks!

Question

Hello, I'm a high school freshman and want to get into machine learning. Is it ok to start at 18.01SC if I'm currently in Geometry at my school? We've covered basic trig, and  Algebra 2 is next year for me. Is it going to be too hard to understand? Thanks!

phi · Answer

You can try, but the course assumes you know all of high school math (very well)
The problem sets will probably be very difficult.

anonymous · Answer

I'm a high school sophomore taking 18.01SC, and I can tell you that without at least a few trig identities and a hefty does of algebra skills, it will be very hard. It's not that the concepts require you to known things from Algebra II/Precalc, it's just the application that can get into some pretty harry algebra. If you really want to though, there's no harm in trying. You can probably fill in some of the algebra on the way. Also, if you want some more general calculus, there's another calculus course on OCW by Professor Gilbert Strang called Big Picture Calculus ( http://ocw.mit.edu/resources/res-18-005-highlights-of-calculus-spring-2010/highlights_of_calculus/big-picture-of-calculus/). I took this course first, and it's a fantastic introduction to the concepts and basic ideas of calculus.