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I am studying bachelors in mathematics. Currently I am taking the courses Complex Analysis, Differential Equations, and Abstract Algebra (group and ring theory).

I don't find the material itself all that difficult if I actually do all the reading, but we have on average between 6 and 7 hours of lectures each day, so I don't really find time to actually read the material we cover (150-200 pages a week, and problem sets of 40 problems) without dedicating my life to sleeping, cooking food, doing house work, and studying. What do you do in such a situation? We're pretty much "forced" to do the courses in parallel (our bachelors program is a fully planned program, where everyone takes the same courses in the same order). In one way, I feel guilty for not doing the assigned reading, but on the other hand, it does not seem sustainable at all to do all of the reading.

user273531
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  • That sounds like too much time spent in lecture. I would expect 9 hours of lecture per week for three classes. One has to learn math by doing it actively. – littleO Sep 23 '15 at 18:54

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Even if you don't do all the reading, you should definitely try to do some. Alternatively, do some exercises or problems; one of my lecturers always told us that maths is not a spectator sport by which he meant you can't learn it merely by watching other people do it.

Reading lets you do it at your own speed and checks your understanding so if you can do problems then you know you're up to scratch.

Don't forget that you are primarily there to learn maths, so you should definitely do work outside of lectures whether that's reading or problems. However, you are more than entitled to have a life outside of maths so you don't need to read all the time!!

Matt B
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