MATH V3020

Not a hard class, but she is genuinely one of the worst professors I've ever worked with. Extremely neurotic, intense, and way too over the top!

1 problem set per week, of about 5-8 problems. They are nearly all proofs. If you don't know how to prove things, this can be difficult, but you quickly get practice. 2 quizzes (announced), which comprise a total of 5 (?)% of the total grade. Surprisingly difficult. Midterm: do 5 of 6 proofs. Average was around 70. Final: do 9 of 10 problems.

I admit I kind of lol'ed at the previous reviewer's statement that all the homework problems could be easily "checked by hand using a simple computer program or applet online". What!? Maybe that will make sense to CS people, but certainly not to me. The homework was extremely difficult, and took hours upon hours to do. The tests, however, are more reasonable because Zhang gives in-depth outlines beforehand, so you'll know what's coming.

2 midterms, 1 final, around 6-7 problem sets for effort. Your worse midterm counts for 20%, the better one for 25%. 40% final, and 15% homework. It is not hard to make an A in the class.

Content of the class is easy, you learn mostly about basic analysis and group theory - but Professor Krishna makes this way too complicated. If you don't do stuff exactly the way she wants, she will deduct points. She's also just not an expert in this (couldn't understand how strong induction worked). DO NOT TAKE!!!

To begin with, this course should be titled "Number Theory" not "Number Theory and Cryptography." Two lectures are spent on "Cryptography," with much of the focus on factoring algorithms. That being the case, the emphasis on Number Theory was interesting. Kerzhner is nice. There's no denying that. But he is not particularly clear as he teaches, and can tend to get annoyed when students arn't willing to participate. On the other hand, participation doesn't seem to be very important, as only 3-4 students attend each lecture. Lectures consist of the professor working through a proof or two, and the tactics behind it. It is interesting to get this insight, however the proofs presented are generally more difficult than those assigned during HW or exams. Overall, this professor is good enough, and besides the stutter, easy enough to understand. He's also willing to be a bit lenient, so one cannot complain too much. Course is mediocre, but not terribly difficult, especially if time is put into each assignment.

one of those professors that are obviously very smart but cannot teach or explain math for students to understand. lecture notes are always messy and he would get frustrated in class when he got confused. lectures are optional and honestly are not that helpful. to me reading through the textbook is definitely an easier way to understand the content. his lecture notes, homework, and exams are 3 completely different things. so unless you are really comfortable with the basics of number theory i would not recommend this class

Zhang is a very difficult professor to write an accurate review for. His class could accurately be described as hell, but I don't really think it was his fault. He is both very smart and very funny. My issue was with the textbook - the thing was horrible; it didn't explain anything well, and the homework problems were abstruse. To be fair, Zhang also hated the textbook, and said he would change it up for next semester. Given that, I think this class will be a lot more reasonable in following semesters. Still, be wary. Zhang is kind of a wild card when it comes to out of class accessibility; sometimes he's nice, sometimes he makes fun of you. If you have trouble with proofs or are short on time, I'd probably advise against this class.

The kindest man. He explains number theory concepts so clearly. He makes even the most challenging of proofs feel simple. Workload is super easy and maneagable. There are about 6-7 problem sets per semester, which are fairly challenging, but I believe he grades homework based on effort. The Midterm is super straightforward. He also uploads a practice midterm that’s fairly similar to the actual one. A lot of people got 100s. Coming to class is pretty important, because there’s no textbook, and it’s hard to learn the material on your own. He is bad at updating courseworks, but he’ll always say in class what’s due when or what even the exams are. He is a fantastic lecturer, and even though you probably need to go to class to get a good grade, you’ll enjoy doing so.

1 assignment per week ------ 2 hours 2 midterms 1 final 2 late days that can be used for any homework