Wei Ho

1 problem set per week: not awful, and she made it a point to emphasize the availability of the math help room. Probably took me about 2-3 hours per week (20%) Midterm 1: fairly easy (20%) Midterm 2: more difficult (20%) Final: definitely the hardest exam, difficult (40%)

10 homework sets, moderate difficulty, 2 extremely hard midterms, 1 straight out of hell final.

Very clear lecturer. She was very straightforward, organized, and receptive to questions from the class. She made it clear the resources that existed on campus to help us (ie the help room and her office hours), and she genuinely wanted the class to do well. I really enjoyed having her as a professor. The subject matter is hard. It starts out pretty simple, but about a month in becomes conceptually hard to understand, though the calculations never get too crazy. That being said, she puts mostly conceptual questions on her exams, and the questions are often not straightforward and require you to think. Though her exams were hard, the average was usually fairly low (~60%), and her curve was generous. I wound up getting an A in the class, and while I was higher than average on the exams, I did not have over 85% on any exam. tl;dr: given the chance to do it over, I would take this class with her again. If you do the problem sets and study some, there is no reason you shouldn't be able to get a B+ or above.

I’ve been told to take Culpa with a grain of salt. After a semester of Calculus I with Wei Ho I understand why. Wei Ho is not a good teacher. This might come as a surprise, after reading the other ridiculously good reviews she has. Actually, it led me and some of my classmates to believe that these reviews were not written by other students… There are many things to consider before taking a class but for the sake of this review I’ll consider only the most obvious two: The teachers’ pedagogy and your ability to get a good grade. Calculus I is not such a hard subject. Self-studying from the book (good), utilizing Khan Academy (God), and the help of friends and the math help room will put you in a perfectly fine position. Wei Ho is exceptionally smart but in the end she didn’t really contribute much to my knowledge. On the rare occasions I could’ve actually used a bit of help and went to her office hours, which she’s exceptionally stingy with, all I got was an alien look followed by her directing me to the math help room (so why do you have office hours?) Moreover, if you’re struggling with the class and go for advice the only response you should expect is just to drop the class. (I guess she'll also help you cover the fees). Now we get to the painful part; your ability to get a good grade. I’ll actually ignore the homework part, even though many people complained, because that p…

Weekly problem sets, that weren't too bad as they were taken straight out of the very useful textbook. Took me about 3-4 hours per week. (20%) Midterm 1, not too bad but that was because the material was super easy up till this point (20%) Midterm 2, hard (20%) Final, a nightmare. An absolute nightmare (40%)

Homework every week; they are quite long and time-consuming so I do not recommend trying to do them the night before unless you're a calc whiz who doesn't need sleep. Two easy-fairly difficult midterm and a difficult final. All in all, very doable.

I'll start by giving you the summary of my experience: 1. Wei Ho is a great lecturer. 2. This class is absolute torture and avoid it like the plague if you can. Linear Algebra starts off incredibly easy, which is deceptive because you still have the illusion that it is a manageable class by the time the drop deadline rolls around. The first month or so was a piece of cake: matrix algebra, reduced row echelon form (if you don't know what it is- don't worry, it's high school math), etc. But once the basics are down, this class takes a turn for the ugly and before you know it it's REALLY conceptual. Give me 5 equations and tell me to reduce them? Fine. But don't ask me what happens when you invert shapes in four dimensions and collapse it onto another dimension, because that means nothing to me. The emphasis on conceptual was the one thing about Wei Ho that really tripped me up. Other than that, Wei is a very clear lecturer and an incredibly approachable person. She is extremely patient and teaches the class in a very organized and methodical way that complements the textbook very well. In that sense, Wei is a great instructor: clear, effective, organized. The fact that she is very straightforward in class really does not translate well to her midterms and finals, all of which are designed to make you think conceptually about "the larger picture." None of the questions are straig…

Professor Ho is a really good teacher; I mean really good. She's absolutely brilliant in her field and also when it comes to teaching, which I find is rare in most colleges. She explains the material fairly well and is spot-on when answering questions. I've never had a math professor who answered questions so clearly before. The only thing is that her exams lean on the creatively difficult side. The two midterms were fairly easy but don't expect anything straight forward such as: "derive this" or "integrate the following." There were problems that required a degree of comfort with the material as well as a mastery of it that was a wee bit beyond me. I definitely recommend studying like mad for the two midterms so even if you bomb the final, it's fine. Honestly, I struggled a bit throughout the class but that's just because math and I are like oil and water. I learned a bit but not as much as I thought I would and I found the tests extremely challenging though I've spoken to some people who described them as cake-walks. It depends on the student I suppose. Overall, a great professor. She teaches the material and answers questions and she's super nice to boot. I guess if her tests were easier, she'd be too perfect of a professor. ;)

A very manageable problem set due every week, 2 midterms, and a final.

No complaints about Wei Ho. She is a very intelligent Professor who is skilled at effectively teaching the material of the class. Her classes are very straightforward. She first highlights the new concepts, defines the necessary terms, and then goes through several examples. Pay attention to the more difficult problems because these are the ones that are highlighted on the midterms. The homework is very manageable, but some of the problems can be especially tricky, so I would recommend first trying to complete all the problems yourself, and then going over the problems with a friend or group of friends. The midterms tend to vary. In my experience, the first midterm was very challenging; the class average was around an uncurved 50%. The second midterm was much easier, with the average somewhere around an uncurved 75%, but this was followed by a final that was close to impossible. You will definitely succeed in Wei Ho's class is you are able to fully understand the concepts behind the problems and not just a list of steps to help you solve them. One anecdote about Wei Ho is that, occasionally, she will go over a problem that requires a third of the class time, and all of the chalk boards at her disposal. After ultimately coming to an answer, she will nonchalantly conclude that "This is really just some basic algebra and a little manipulation...you all should be able to do this."