Ivy League Fatigue: Harvard Is Now Offering Remedial Math Courses

Harvard: where the U.S. sends it’s best, it’s brightest and…it’s remedial math students?

That seems to be the case as social media has been abuzz in recent days over the university’s choice to offer a new Math course, called MA5, heading into the new year. The Harvard Crimson first wrote about the introduction of the new course back in September of last year, but discussion over the course has caught fire on X in recent days.

The course is called Math MA5, and it is an introductory course addressing gaps in students’ algebra skills, according to Brendan A. Kelly, Director of Introductory Math.

Which begs the question: why are students getting into Harvard incapable of doing algebra, which generally starts in junior high or high school?

Running alongside Math MA and MB, MA5 will have a five-day schedule, with students meeting “one of two instructors all five days” for “a variety of different activities” on Tuesdays and Thursdays, the Crimson wrote last year. 

Kelly cited the Covid-19 pandemic as a factor in students’ struggles, saying, “The last two years, we saw students who were in Math MA and faced a challenge that was unreasonable given the supports we had in the course.” The goal is to “create a course that really helps students step up to their aspirations.” 

While structured differently, MA5 will align with Math M. “Math MA5 is actually embedded in Math M,” Kelly said. “They’ll have the same psets, they’ll have the same office hours, they’ll have MQC, they’ll take the same exams… So if you’re in MA5, you will experience Math M.”

The Crimson says that freshmen placing into Math MA or 1A had to take an additional skills check to guide enrollment recommendations.

Kelly said the department “investigated a number of different strategies” before deciding to enhance Math M rather than add a prerequisite. “What we thought was the best thing to do… was to add more time and support into MA for students who would need it.”

The goal is to help students overcome early challenges. “If the first one doesn’t go well, it can really make these lasting waves in their pathways,” Kelly said. “We want to make sure that students are on a path to success starting from their first day.”

He acknowledged the challenge of MA5’s schedule but defended its benefits. “Five days a week does make it hard for some students’ schedules… but we do really think that five days a week is — in the trade-off — it’s gonna be worth it.”

God forbid students should take a couple days a week to learn…basic algebra…at Harvard.

Harvard had previously abolished SAT scores for admission during Covid, but reinstated the measures for the Class of 2030.