> many of our students come in with a weaker mathematical background than MIT st...

> many of our students come in with a weaker mathematical background than MIT students;

Maybe this would be a better first couple of weeks introduction:

More information about BookBoon:

  http://bookboon.com/blog/en/bookboon-com/our-mission-and-concept/
  http://bookboon.com/blog/en/bookboon-com/about-the-concept-and-books/

Note, I have no affiliation with BookBoon, I've just found their textbooks/books very useful.