Reviews for AMSC466

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Maria Cameron AMSC466 Expecting a B Anonymous 12/21/2022	There are plenty of positive and negative things to say about Dr. Cameron, but I think her 2-star average is pretty harsh. Her lectures are very theoretical and she doesn't provide many examples. She also assumes you have a lot of prerequisite knowledge going into the course, and I certainly did not have some of that knowledge. I would NOT recommend taking this class if you don't have much coding experience. I had never used MATLAB before and had only taken CMSC131 before this class, and that set me back a lot from the get-go. However, she is very responsive to student concerns. She would respond to Piazza within ten minutes of any comment consistently, and she was very helpful when I needed to figure out how to even get started doing coding for mathematical problems like the ones in the homework assignments. The midterm exams were pretty fair, but there was a homework due the same night as the exam for both of them, which made it harder to study. The final, however, was considerably harder than either midterm. This class is extremely difficult without a lot of experience in both math and computer science, so I definitely would not recommend taking it until you've taken several classes in both.
Dionisios Margetis AMSC466 Anonymous 05/15/2021	Cruel grader and arrogant.
Dionisios Margetis AMSC466 Expecting an A Anonymous 05/15/2021	Not going to lie, the course sucks. It is not interesting. But if you take my warning you should be warned that AMSC460 is not much better if at all, at least according to my pals. Dio himself as a lecturer is very polarizing; I found I didn't like him at first, along with the content, but eventually I found that he was not too bad. He is very witty and quick on the nose. He tends to be very thorough, although because of the material this meant that class time was a little snoozy. If he was teaching a course that was more interesting I would take him again. The homework was not too bad and neither were the exams. However he chose not to have a final but instead a doubly weighted homework (probably to spare himself the trouble of grading a final), but this is a pro for most students (including me). Feel bad for the grader though.
Dionisios Margetis AMSC466 Expecting an A- jimmyswisher 03/09/2021	Mark my words, this class is death, and Dio is the poison. The material is extremely dry, which is not the professor's fault. I did feel as if Dio was a somewhat dry lecturer, and at times our class fell down the rabbit hole and we were so far off-topic I couldn't understand which way was up or down. While the online-exams were not extremely difficult, the algebra was brutal. He would require us to solve huge algebraic equations, just to get to the next problem which would have us do the exact same thing but even more so (aka orthogonal polynomials). This class was awful, I do not recommend, do yourselves a favor and take AMSC460 instead. For the record, I perform very well in all math classes and this was my first non-A. Avoid, avoid, avoid.
Dionisios Margetis AMSC466 Expecting an A Anonymous 01/18/2021	The last review is spot on. He's sort of intimidating and gets noisy when asked questions, but overall his lectures are extremely organized. Exams were mostly computational which can be annoying if you screw up. He gives more time than if it were in person, but I felt like you have to use the entire time if you want to make sure you answered everything the way he wanted you to. I also think his offering of 466 is probably on the easier side, because I don't think I learned very much. Interpolation is heavily emphasized, while nothing about linear systems is covered. He also really wants people to turn on their cameras which made me a little uncomfortable. People sort of stopped caring after a few weeks though.
Dionisios Margetis AMSC466 Expecting a B Anonymous 01/12/2021	I thought Margetis is pretty good. His (online, synchronous, not recorded) lectures were very organized and he writes neatly using an tablet. He can be mean sometimes so the class wasn't exactly responsive when he asked questions (at least I was intimidated), and those silent moments were awkward. The assignments consisted of ~10 problem sets, 3 midterms plus the final. Homework was reasonable, basically asking to replicate things he did in lectures. Tests were timed, with the midterms basically homework-looking questions and the final slightly more involved than the homework. I found the exams extremely stressful, mostly because of the time pressure, and for that I screwed up a lot of computations. Otherwise the exam problems were fun. The course forced me to relearn calculus, which was good. I don't like my grade :/ But still this is one of my favorite classes taken. I have no complaints...
Dionisios Margetis AMSC466 Expecting a B Anonymous 12/21/2020	arrogant, doesn't explain well
Pierre-Emmanuel Jabin AMSC466 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 05/26/2019	Very engaging, fair professor. Often times, if he's assigned homework that's a bit too tough, you can ask him for some help/hints which is very useful. He grades exams harshly, so make sure you justify every step.
Eitan Tadmor AMSC466 Expecting a C Anonymous 12/19/2018	Professor Tadmor is a very smart guy and is very passionate about what he teaches. The material is already difficult and in addition to his personal views on how/what to teach, learning material was quite difficult. However he is very helpful when asked questions and does his best to ensure that students succeed. You get exactly what you put in to this class so keep that in mind if you decide to take a class under him.
Maria Cameron AMSC466 Anonymous 04/04/2013	I'm not going to say she is awful, I am just going to present my case. We had three grades in her class: homework, midterm, final. The average for the midterm was around 62%. The first couple of homeworks were fine, but then she gave us crazy computational stuff and if you would get it wrong and ask for solutions, she would say please see me. I never went to see her because then I'd have a question about all the things I got wrong because I didn't understand them. Her lectures are basically a recitation of the book. BUT she chose the strangest book. I've never seen a textbook like this. She also lectures off of her own notes on Linear Algebra where she uses completely strange notation. And then does not even explain the notation. I can't believe she is teaching again next fall, and I would not take her again. I regret taking her every day.
Tobias von Petersdorff AMSC466 Expecting a B Anonymous 05/03/2012	Von Petersdorff is prone to panic attacks which sadly interfere with his ability to hold meaningful lectures. Last lecture, he got lost in the middle of a proof which put him in such a state that he twice threw himself on the ground in fits after dropping the eraser. His medical condition is manifested by loud bursts of panting and crying, and overall nervousness. He runs around the front of the classroom, and when he is having trouble reciting a proof will chew on his hand. Because he has panting attacks, students will falsely reassure him that they understand his lecture so he doesn't have an episode, if they think he is about to break down. This problem is compounded by the fact that he does not use a text so the student is reliant on his lectures to learn the material. We took an exam on March 12, and as of May 3, we have yet to get them graded and returned. That exam and 3 homework assignments are all we have done in this class, so he is completely disinterested in providing feedback to students. When approached about this, he always says they will be ready tomorrow. Finals are soon and we have received feedback on 2 homework assignments from March, nothing else.This is not an appropriate review of student performance. To clarify: This teacher has a condition that negates his ability to be an effective teacher during lecture, and outside of the classroom he finds no reason to provide feedback to students or find other methods to evaluate a student's progress. It is hard to be led to any conclusion other than the University turning a blind eye to his troubling condition out of pity. I would not recommend this teacher to any student.
Doron Levy AMSC466 Expecting an A keyoung 12/24/2010	Pf. Levy was a great professor for this class. He explained important concepts very clearly and posted his notes online-which were basically his lectures. The notes were really helpful filling in any holes I had in my notes. His exams were extremely fair. If you were paying attention to what is going on and have an understanding of how to do the hw, the exams will be easy. He is also a very reasonable and approachable man. I would take another class with him again if I had the option.