APMA 6548

The course title is "An Introduction to Bifurcation, Stability, and Chaos in Nonlinear Dynamical Systems". If you're taking this course, you're either a grad student or an undergrad who had Dorning for Diff EQs and did well. In any case, this class is probably the easiest A in Applied Math. There are about five homeworks during the semester, which are graded super easily and are often done in class before the due date (!). The material, though, is conceptually quite difficult but nonetheless very interesting and applicable to a wide variety of engineering fields. Dorning doesn't expect you to follow every detail; about half the class material (the hard but interesting half) is not tested on. Definitely a great class if you want to get an Applied Math minor, or need a few easy credits but don't want to be sitting in a drum circle in Old Cabell.

Great class to take. Definitely much harder in recent semesters. Expect written homework assignments to be anywhere from 5 to 20 pages long (5 or 6 over the course of the semester). The reading assignments are optional but will help a lot. If you follow along with the material in class the assignments should be fine.

The class probably changed a lot...
This was definitely not an easy class. Sure, there are only 5-6 homework assignments... but they can range from 3-12 hours in length. On a bad week, this can really destroy you. Amortized time though: I guess it's worth it because there are only 5-6 assignments? The midterm wasn't bad, but be careful... it's really easy to screw up here. The final was EXTREMELY brutal. The class itself was very interesting. The subject is very cool and Dorning is very passionate about this class. He's a great professor, but really expects a lot from you. I really enjoyed the class though and it's great to have a Chaotic Dynamics class under your belt just in case. The class must have had the most generous curve known to man because I'm not sure how half the class got an A.... but yeah.

Don't be fooled by the grading distribution though . If you didn't get an A in Diffeq or you don't love math, stay away.
Have fun!!