Science and quantitative reasoning are integral parts of a liberal education and Yale College is committed to providing undergraduates with a strong science and quantitative reasoning foundation through scholarship and original research. First-Year Scholars will likewise explore science and quantitative reasoning during FSY. Each scholar will take a half credit course in calculus or statistics; which one depends on students' interests and prior experience with quantitative reasoning.
Students will be placed in one of the following courses:
MATH S1020: Approximation and Prediction: Calculus Methods 1
The objective of this half-credit course is to explore the ideas of approximation and prediction through the methods of single-variable differential calculus. The notions of limit and derivative will be introduced, with some of their physical and geometrical motivation and interpretations. Emphasis will be placed on acquiring an understanding of the concepts that underlie the subject, and on the use of those concepts in problem solving. The intended audience is students planning to start in Math 1100 or Math 1120 during the upcoming school year.
MATH S1050: Approximation and Prediction: Calculus Methods 2
The objective of this half-credit course is to explore the ideas of approximation and prediction through the methods of single-variable integral calculus. Methods of approximating definite integrals, and of approximating functions by polynomials will be introduced, as will the notion of convergence of infinite series. Emphasis will be placed on acquiring an understanding of the concepts that underlie the subject, and on the use of those concepts in problem solving. The intended audience is students planning to start in Math 1150 or Math 1160 during the upcoming school year.
MATH S1190: Approximation and Prediction: Calculus Methods 3
The objective of this half-credit course is to explore the ideas of approximation and prediction through the methods of multivariable calculus. Methods of approximating and optimizing functions of several variables will be introduced, as well as double and triple integrals, and integrals over surfaces. Emphasis will be placed on acquiring an understanding of the concepts that underlie the subject, and on the use of those concepts in problem solving. The intended audience is students planning to start in Math 1200, 1210 or higher during the upcoming school year.
S&DS S1110: Introduction to Data Display and Analysis
The objective of this half-credit course is to explore the ideas of data display, summary statistics, data cleaning, types of data, and basic statistical tests using the R programming language. The emphasis will be on practical data manipulation and interpretation, as well as to learn the fundamentals of R. The intended audience is students planning to start in S&DS 10xx or S&DS 1000 and S&DS 1230 or other introductory statistics courses at Yale during the upcoming school year.
[faq]FSY Quantitative Reasoning Assessment Directions (2025 only)
Please follow these steps to take your QR Assessment:
- Go to https://www.aleks.com/
- Click on "SIGN UP NOW!" in the yellow box.
- Under "Using ALEKS with a class?" enter the class code shared with you via email from Dr. Sara Spear.
- Select "No, I have never used ALEKS before", even if you have used ALEKS.
- To register, enter your name, Yale email, Yale NetID as student ID, and make up a password.
- After registering, select the course "FSY Summer 2025".
- Complete the Tools Tutorial.
- Complete the Placement Assessment. This should take about an hour, and you can use paper and pencil and the ALEKS calculator (where indicated) but no other devices, books, or notes. You will have 48 hours from the time you start the assessment to complete it, but it is best to do it in one sitting if possible. Note that while ALEKS will let you take the assessment up to 5 times (with some specified time gaps in between), we will only be using your first attempt for placement.
- After completing the assessment, you will see your "results" as a numerical score. This score is for internal use only and you do not need to worry about the actual number. Do not click to "find out which class you can place into" as this feature is disabled. ALEKS is only used for QR placement within FSY. If you plan to take calculus in the fall, you will also need to take the math placement exam. Additional info about the math placement exam will be sent out after you complete the QR assessment.
- At this point you are done! There is no need to do more in ALEKS at this point, but if you want to practice more on your own, you can click "next" a few times to select a Prep and Learning Module. If your recommended module is anything other than "Prep for Calculus" you should wait to talk with us before going further.
If you have any questions or run into any problems, please contact Professor John Hall.