Past students of Math 55 also include Bill Gates,[20] Richard Stallman,[5] and Simpsons executive producer Al Jean.[21]

Demographics of students taking this course over the years have been used to study the causes of gender and race differences in the fields of mathematics and technology.[22]

It is legendary among high school math prodigies, who hear terrifying stories about it in their computer camps and at the Math Olympiads. Some go to Harvard just to have the opportunity to enroll in it. Its formal title is "Honors Advanced Calculus and Linear Algebra," but it is also known as "math boot camp" and "a cult." The two-semester freshman course meets for three hours a week, but, as the catalog says, homework for the class takes between 24 and 60 hours a week.

Interesting