Steven Kou

Professor Kou was a very clear and easy to understand professor. Simulation was a hard class, but he had an incredibly lenient curve - if you were half a standard deviation above or below the average you got an A-. SERIOUSLY WHO DOES THAT IN SEAS???!? He posts lecture notes and basically just goes through them word for word in class on the blackboard. This makes it easy to follow along and to study later on.

The Good: -Gives out copies of lecture notes before class -Lets you hand in HW AFTER he goes over half of the problems -Tests based entirely on problems from HW, class, and sample tests -Very approachable for questions after class -Extra long office hours before tests -Curves to an A- -Lectures flow well; he is well prepared -Takes some lectures to teach application of Stoch (ie. stock pricing, options pricing) The Bad: -Accent sometimes hard to follow; sometimes stutters -The subject material is hard--you won't understand it even after the final -No lecture notes if you don't show up to class -In class quizzes can be difficult if you didn't pay attention Overall: probably the best teacher you could have for Stoch in the IEOR department. I've had Sigman for ProbStat before, and I consider Kou an easier A and an equally well organized teacher. The paper lecture notes he hands out are a huge help, though he doesn't lecture as well as Sigman.

Not a very good instructor, but the advantage is that you don't have to pay any attention in class and its the same as if you sit in the front row center. You have to go to class though because there are about 10 pop quizzes over the course of the semester. Kou is a very nice guy, but he moves quickly and doesn't really relate the material well. The Stochastic Models topic itself is very difficult and not very interesting. The way Kou conducts the class though makes it much easier than it could be.

I agree that Prof Kou doesn't care much whether he is teaching 100 or 2 people. But actually, if you went to class and made some effort to listen to him and copy his slides, things aren't that bad. Exams are based strictly on homeworks, case studies and recitation problems. So if you took some effort in reviewing those before the exam, you will do great. He won't ask anything he hasn't mentioned in class. I agree, he can be boring and hard to understand but he is quite a nice guy in general, his curve is so good that you will be in the A range quite easily. If you have a choice, you should probably take someone else's class, but if you are stuck with Kou (as most of us are) then make sure you go to class and it's really not that bad.

Weekly problem sets, and roughly-weekly (sometimes twice a week) in-class homeworks (these are not announced, so you have to actually attend, or at least make it to class 15 mins before the end), 2 midterms, a final

1 midterm (3 problems), 1 final (~8 problems), weekly HW (half of answers from recitation, half given in class by Kou the day they're due)

Good guy, but can be hard to understand. He's young, eager, and can be strict. The class sucks and Kou doesn't make it any easier to understand. Of course, the book is even worse. But if you get the material, or get half of it, everything will be fine. Go to class, study the homeworks & practice test, and don't worry if you get a 40% on a test because it's probably still an A.

DO NOT TAKE THIS CLASS!!! I do not know how to say this more clearly. The reason is that you will learn nothing although you may get a "not too bad" grade on the class. This guy cannot teach. If he did not take attendance not even one student would go to a single lecture throughout the semester since the lectures are so pointless. His exams are not that hard; because everything is from problems that were solved before. You will never be able to understand the material completely. So, sometimes (or all the time) you will need memorize how problems are solved. Furthermore, his homeworks are tedious and long since you do not know how to approach the problems. Therefore, you have to read everything on your own and teach the material to yourself. In other words, there is no point in having Kou as a teacher. Exams are not that hard but towards the end of the semester you will reach a point where you will ask yourself "Do I really have to do this?" or "Is it Kou's job to teach at least one thing?". If you have the chance take this with someone else since the material is in fact interesting and a good teacher may make you like it which would help you a lot in the future in courses like Stochastic Models or Econometrics...

I disagree with most of the reviews of Professor Kou. Sure, English is not his first language, but it is very comprehensible. Professor Kou shows his enthusiasm for the material during his lectures, which are quite organized and comprehensive. In addition, he is very nice guy, helpful during office hours and often asks for feedback on how the class is going. Prof. Kou's grading curve is almost too good to be true; with a little effort, it's quite easy to get an A-range grade. Be sure to study in-class examples, case studies, "in-class homeworks," and problem sets before each exam as almost all exam problems are verbatim from these sources.

DO NOT TAKE THIS TEACHER. he is the worst teacher i've ever had. period. i've never heard so many complaints about a teacher. Because he's such a horrible teacher and nobody went to his class last year, he forced attendance this year and started doing daily quizzes. On the last exam, he tested us on this trivial, obscure formula that was briefly mentioned in 1 of the homework questions. Not only that, but if you did not know it, you lost 25% of the exam. If you have photographic memory or are not afraid of unfair grading and horrible teaching....go for it. otherwise, tell everybody you know to steer away from this teacher.