MATH405 | PlanetTerp

Information	Review
Adam Kanigowski MATH405 Anonymous 10/27/2024	Amazing prof all around, took 401 with him at the same time and was really good with exams. The textbook choice was really good too (Lang).
Shiferaw Berhanu MATH405 Expecting a B Anonymous 07/08/2024	This was my first 400 level math class and it was a very harsh introduction to rigorous mathematical proofs. CMSC250 exempted me from MATH310, so take this review with grain of salt. Berhanu is clearly a passionate teacher which I appreciated, but following along in class was almost impossible for me. He zooms through the proofs insanely fast assuming students are following. The only time people were regularly asking questions were at the beginning of the course, and when they did Berhanu makes it seem like the answer is obvious and makes students feel stupid (atleast from my perspective). Our ~25 student class only asked MAYBE asked 1 or 2 questions per class. I was expecting a lot more student/prof interaction given the class size. The only way I was able to get through this class was through teaching myself the textbook, and I’ve heard Curtis’ Linear Algebra textbook is among the harder of undergraduate textbooks. The only positive I saw in taking his course were his midterms. The midterms felt very fair and on the easier side. However, the final felt completely different and was measurably harder than the midterms. I had an A- prior to the final and ended the course with a B. Overall the Prof is a good guy but I think his teaching style can definitely demean students sense of intelligence and turn them away from the course.
Shiferaw Berhanu MATH405 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 05/15/2024	Dr. Berhanu is one of the best professors I have had. He has a very clean and concise teaching style and runs his class very well. If you are serious about math and want a rigorous understanding of the concepts in MATH405, Dr. Berhanu should be one of your top choices. He is a very reasonable grader and makes his tests very straightforward--if you go to class and understand the homeworks, his tests should be very doable. Additionally, he allocates a lot of time for test review. Overall, if you are someone who genuinely wants to learn the material for MATH405 and are willing to attend class and pay attention, definitely consider him.
Shiferaw Berhanu MATH405 Anonymous 05/14/2024	Although the content for this course is challenging Professor Berhanu tries to make it easier for you. His content and proofs during the class can be a bit fast but he makes his exams easier. The weekly homework can take some time (if you are like me...) but also is a good review of the content and the exam - he takes some exam questions straight from the homework or the exam review problems he provides. You should probably go to the lectures: he will notice your absence... and the textbook makes no sense sometimes... Overall the course is proof-based and starts off proving things from 240 but goes into other advanced theorems later on. There were some ups and downs but this course taught me a lot and I do recommend 405 with Berhanu!
Shiferaw Berhanu MATH405 Expecting an A Anonymous 05/13/2024	Good and passionate instructor. He is very much into research level math. He taught this course directly out of the textbook, which was helpful. Exams and homework were easy and graded fairly.
Steven Chadwick MATH405 Anonymous 05/03/2024	Worst professor I ever had in the school. The course is way slower and easier than other 405 professors. However, he grades the exam by the criterion "It looks right." Multiple students I heard has the same experience of writing the correct proof and got taken off points because rigorous on proofs
Roohollah Ebrahimian MATH405 Anonymous 01/04/2024	Dr. Ebrahimian is an excellent teacher. He's not particularly easy, but he's there for you if you ask for help. He cares a lot about teaching well and about students learning the material properly. This means his courses tend to be harder, but he also gives you plenty of resources to help them to be manageable. His lectures are quite good. He also makes his own notes, which may follow the text closely but with additional material and examples. He gives additional practice problems in addition to the (fairly sizeable) weekly homework. He pulls from {homework, practice problems} for his weekly quizzes. Attending lectures is important. He holds extensive office hours, holds review sessions before exams, and is available via email. He often gives the answers to the homework, quiz, and even exam questions (modulo some slight modification) between his lectures, review sessions, and rigid study guides. The course grades are typically not curved (or only lightly), so you have a good idea of where you stand throughout the course, but he does drop your lowest few quizzes and homeworks, and your final can supplant a midterm if you did poorly on one.
Adam Kanigowski MATH405 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/23/2023	Kanigowski made the course very manageable. Only 6 home work assignments with 2 drops, and some of those were just reusing 240 concepts, the midterm was~30% and the final was ~45% of the total grade. Agreed with other people that more assignments (or at least proofs in those assignments) would be a good way to prep for the final, but the curve was decent and ended my 90% as an A. Probably important to note that because he give way less work than other 405 sections, there's not as much material that is put in (most classes introduce adjoint matrices and hermitians, how to diagonalize, and some get to Jordan canonical form, none of which we do), which could be bad if you plan grad school or need a more intense linear algebra understanding. As a lecturer, the class is run decently well where he knows how to make the proofs intuitive, gives us time to do exercises in class, and also allows us to provide feedback to how he's teaching which all felt very welcoming. Definitely a chill guy and if you want a nice 405 then take the course with him.
Adam Kanigowski MATH405 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/20/2023	Was very nice and helpful. If you ask questions hell do his best to answer, cares about students. Wish there was more homework to help with understanding. We use the textbook Linear Algebra by Serge Lang, all the homework is from the textbook, you can also find solutions online which is helpful in understanding the content. Exam questions are pretty fair as well. Think there was a pretty good curve on the final as well. This class was hard for me since I had bad preparation (first proofs class, only took CMSC250, no MATH410 either), but taking it with Kanigowski helped a lot.
Roohollah Ebrahimian MATH405 Expecting a B Anonymous 10/25/2023	The ideal math teacher in every aspect. Clear lecturing, clean handwriting. Expanded office hours based on student feedback. Detailed and comprehensive typed notes cover everything in lecture. Quizzes are taken from HWs. Exams closely follow the study guide. Dr. Ebrahimian is committed to teaching well. The class itself is a hard 400-level math class (part of the heavily theoretical 403-405 sequence). Spent 10hrs/wk on average. If you are a good math student you will love his style of teaching.
Michael Laskowski MATH405 Expecting an A Anonymous 08/31/2023	I loved his class. He is a great lecturer. Everything was always so clear after he explained it. Exams are, okay, dare I say easy, compared to others in the department. The exams are always very similar to homework (which are sometimes a bit long but reasonable still). You will never be shocked. I hope to take another class with Professor Laskowski, because he is just such a great professor.
Adam Kanigowski MATH405 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 04/30/2023	This course is pretty tough (I mean it's a 400-level), though the assignments are not too hard. I honestly wanted more homework because I didn't feel prepared for the exam, but it was fine. This was my first 400-level math class (taken concurrently with 406), and it definitely took some effort. The textbook is pretty poorly written and unhelpful, but you can find free textbooks for proof-based linear algebra online. If you have already taken 403, I imagine this class is significantly nicer just because the notation learning curve is steep. Adam is pretty responsive to student feedback. You just have to speak up.
Adam Kanigowski MATH405 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 04/25/2023	Makes this class a way less stress experience than any other 405 professor. 6 homeworks worth 20 points each that consist of 5 problems from the book, 1 midterm that's 100 points, and 1 final exam that's 200 points. 2 homeworks are dropped. I've spent maybe 15 hours on this class in total throughout the entire semester. Superb lecturer and really puts in effort into ensuring students understanding of material.
Harry Tamvakis MATH405 Expecting an A fiftyseven 12/25/2022	Harry is a really good lecturer who you can tell enjoys the subject he teaches. Lectures are rather quickly paced and in-depth, but he'll be happy to answer any questions whenever. As others have said, the homework is rather difficult. It took me a quite a bit of time per homework, but the homework was very good at reinforcing the concepts learned in-class. His content mostly matched that of the textbook, but he did diverge in places and he doesn't give out notes so if you're one to skip occasionally, make sure you have a way of ensuring you get all the content. Overall I'd highly recommend him if you're comfortable with the class not necessarily being the easiest thing in the world as he teaches it very well. In case the difficulty dissuades you, I'd like to also note that the homework grading was always pretty chill and he seemed to curve a pretty large amount at the end.
Harry Tamvakis MATH405 Expecting a B- Anonymous 12/22/2022	His lecturing is mediocre. He goes through topics at high speed, pausing for a second and asking if people have any questions like a student that is lost will have enough time to formulate a question. He isn't willing to give out notes before or after lecture. He isn't willing to tell you what section of the book he is going to cover before lecture. These things give the impression that he just wants to come to class, write on the board for an hour, then leave. Not good. His homeworks are extremely difficult but thankfully he gives you 2 free late passes which were very much appreciated. I would not take this class with Harry alone, having a friend to talk to about homework problems is essential to doing well. He also doesn't pull any punches with his exams. It was so bad that I spent the time before the final terrified and in tears that I would fail the class. Never has an upper level math class put me under so much stress. In conclusion I wold not recommend taking 405 with Harry unless you are doing so with a friend, and/or feel comfortable with the topics covered.
Harry Tamvakis MATH405 Expecting a B Anonymous 11/13/2022	His lectures are great, but first note that he sometimes went really different from the books, not only one chapter but multiple chapter. while he doesn't have any notes available on elms. You have no place to go back to check and you have to have pretty good notes. The HW are brutal. It it really difficult and you have to spent so many times to finish it. Also no answers key. Exams are really hard. There is no study guide and most of the exam problems aren't any hw problem nor class example we did. However, his lectures are very straightforward and he answers questions in the office hour. So if you are a student who is determined to put your times to study math, Tamvakis is great.
Jeffrey Adams MATH405 Expecting a W Anonymous 12/30/2021	While I dropped this course halfway through the semester Adams is a great professor. MATH405 is extremely difficult and I quickly learned I was in over my head. In class Adams does a good job explaining the theorems/definitions as well as providing examples. My only complaint is that sometimes he uses different variables compared to what's in the book when explaining concepts. The homework is extremely difficult compared to in-class examples and time consuming. The midterms however are much easier and straightforward the averages are still low but he has an insane curve, post curve the average for our first midterm was a 90. Honestly to do well in this course memorize the theorems/definitions and go to office hours to get help whenever you feel you need it.
Jeffrey Adams MATH405 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/23/2021	Great prof, very good instruction, reasonable homeworks and exams. A high-quality course where you'll learn a lot about advanced linear algebra.
Yihang Zhu MATH405 Expecting an A Anonymous 09/23/2021	I took him when he was new. Wasn't very interesting or engaging in lecture. 2 midterms were easy, but he made a very difficult final to "compensate", and the curve hurt me (I was on the borderline). He's very slow to respond to emails if you have these kinds of issues.
Yihang Zhu MATH405 Expecting an A Anonymous 09/23/2021	New professor at the time, midterms and homeworks were fair but final was incredibly hard. Perhaps he is better now but at the time there was nothing too special to write home about
Adam Kanigowski MATH405 Expecting an A Anonymous 05/22/2021	Great professor, really cares about his students
Nathan Manning MATH405 Expecting a B+ Anonymous 05/21/2021	Fantastic professor. You will need to be comfortable with abstractions should you decide to take his course because he is (surprise!) an abstract algebra researcher. Can be difficult to get an A but the grades themselves are fair and apt. Handled going online very well and uses ELMS/Gradescope in a good way. Based on the MATH240 students it sounds like he cares more about upper level classes than lower level ones, so it might be worth being careful about that, too.
Allan Yashinski MATH405 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 06/14/2020	Dr. Yashinski is a very good professor at upper-level math courses. You learn a lot in his lectures.
Patrick Brosnan MATH405 Expecting an A- Anonymous 03/29/2020	He's a really nice guy, but he has this really annoying habit of deciding he's "bored" halfway through a proof during lectures. Harsh grading in exams but curves at the end of the semester. I would recommend him overall for 405 since he's an algebraist so he has a lot of interesting things to say about the subject.
Matei Machedon MATH405 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 02/03/2020	Professor Machedon is by far one of the nicest professors one could ever take at the university. I think he really takes time to help you succeed if you ask for it. Even so, there were some things that could be improved about the course. I think he lectured a little too slowly. The exams were also really easy, which concerned me, both the people who scored abysmally on them and the people who did well on the exams and did not understand anything that went on in the class. The textbook he uses for 405 (Curtis) I feel is pretty crummy as well.
Matei Machedon MATH405 Anonymous 12/19/2019	Super nice guy, maybe even too nice. He made the class very easy, and gave us exam questions beforehand for practice. We spent a lot of time on basic linear algebra topics, but overall still covered a fair amount of new and challenging material.
Matei Machedon MATH405 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 12/10/2019	He's perhaps the nicest professor I've taken a class with in the math department. One complaint I have about the class in general is that it was too easy. Before the exam he would post "practice problems" and then when we got the exams we would discover that the exams basically had the exact same problems word for word. Essentially by the end of the course we have some students left who do not understand the basics very well as to ask questions which are either straight up incoherent or seemingly "are you seriously asking that at this point in the course?" The textbook for the class kind of sucks. He was very willing to entertain some of my brief after-class discussions of some alternative and wacky ways to prove certain things.
James Schafer MATH405 Expecting a B Anonymous 10/03/2019	After speaking with others, Schafer seems to be a truly polarizing teacher. Personally, I liked his informal and socratic style. It was a breath of fresh air from the oft pedantic teaching found in the department. He's visibly passionate about teaching and isn't one to provide a text-to-speech rendition of the book. If you'd like an eccentric professor who speaks on material that goes beyond the book, then take Schafer. If you're on the fence, register for two professors: you can immediately determine if Schafer is for you or not by the end of the first lecture.
Dipendra Prasad MATH405 Expecting a W cnaka 01/24/2018	Professor did not understand or care for students with no experience with abstract algebra (it was not a prerequisite), and skipped over important topics like group theroy.
Jeffrey Adams MATH405 Expecting an A- alexf 12/12/2013	Adams is a fantastic professor. He always comes prepared to class and does a great job helping his students through difficult problems. I would recommend him highly if you get a chance to take one of his courses.
Giovanni Forni MATH405 studentXYZ 02/11/2012	Well, people below do make a quite-true comment on him. However, I have to say something else. Don't expect the teacher to teach you everything in the classroom, especially in the math class. If you don't do homework, don't read the text carefully, don't go to his office hour, then don't blame at last. I took MATH405 with him. I believe 405 is the most or second most difficult math class for undergrade(you guys can confirm this with anyone in math department or any students who have ever taken this class). His lecture is "terrible", full of abstract content and lots of stuff that presume you have already known. But, he is patient both in and out of classroom. You can bring your homework to his office, he will do every single one for you step by step. And he curve a lot, as long as you got a score above the average, you can guarantee to get a B. And usally, this B finally turns to an A- or even A on your transcrept, because he really CURVES a lot. Guys, don't blame how fxxxxxx bad the professor he is if you don't attend lecture, nor do homework. Blame yourselves, cuz you are students, you are supposed to be responsible for what you have ever done. Last, I want to say, if you devote your time into it, you really learn a lot, far more than the course coverage, from him. He is knowledgable and smart. You know, he was a Ph.D. from Princeton U. xD

Adam Kanigowski
MATH405

Anonymous
10/27/2024

Amazing prof all around, took 401 with him at the same time and was really good with exams. The textbook choice was really good too (Lang).

Shiferaw Berhanu
MATH405

Expecting a B
Anonymous
07/08/2024

This was my first 400 level math class and it was a very harsh introduction to rigorous mathematical proofs. CMSC250 exempted me from MATH310, so take this review with grain of salt. Berhanu is clearly a passionate teacher which I appreciated, but following along in class was almost impossible for me. He zooms through the proofs insanely fast assuming students are following. The only time people were regularly asking questions were at the beginning of the course, and when they did Berhanu makes it seem like the answer is obvious and makes students feel stupid (atleast from my perspective). Our ~25 student class only asked MAYBE asked 1 or 2 questions per class. I was expecting a lot more student/prof interaction given the class size. The only way I was able to get through this class was through teaching myself the textbook, and I’ve heard Curtis’ Linear Algebra textbook is among the harder of undergraduate textbooks. The only positive I saw in taking his course were his midterms. The midterms felt very fair and on the easier side. However, the final felt completely different and was measurably harder than the midterms. I had an A- prior to the final and ended the course with a B. Overall the Prof is a good guy but I think his teaching style can definitely demean students sense of intelligence and turn them away from the course.

Shiferaw Berhanu
MATH405

Expecting an A+
Anonymous
05/15/2024

Dr. Berhanu is one of the best professors I have had. He has a very clean and concise teaching style and runs his class very well. If you are serious about math and want a rigorous understanding of the concepts in MATH405, Dr. Berhanu should be one of your top choices. He is a very reasonable grader and makes his tests very straightforward--if you go to class and understand the homeworks, his tests should be very doable. Additionally, he allocates a lot of time for test review. Overall, if you are someone who genuinely wants to learn the material for MATH405 and are willing to attend class and pay attention, definitely consider him.

Shiferaw Berhanu
MATH405

Anonymous
05/14/2024

Although the content for this course is challenging Professor Berhanu tries to make it easier for you. His content and proofs during the class can be a bit fast but he makes his exams easier. The weekly homework can take some time (if you are like me...) but also is a good review of the content and the exam - he takes some exam questions straight from the homework or the exam review problems he provides. You should probably go to the lectures: he will notice your absence... and the textbook makes no sense sometimes... Overall the course is proof-based and starts off proving things from 240 but goes into other advanced theorems later on. There were some ups and downs but this course taught me a lot and I do recommend 405 with Berhanu!

Shiferaw Berhanu
MATH405

Expecting an A
Anonymous
05/13/2024

Good and passionate instructor. He is very much into research level math. He taught this course directly out of the textbook, which was helpful. Exams and homework were easy and graded fairly.

Steven Chadwick
MATH405

Anonymous
05/03/2024

Worst professor I ever had in the school. The course is way slower and easier than other 405 professors. However, he grades the exam by the criterion "It looks right." Multiple students I heard has the same experience of writing the correct proof and got taken off points because rigorous on proofs

Roohollah Ebrahimian
MATH405

Anonymous
01/04/2024

Dr. Ebrahimian is an excellent teacher. He's not particularly easy, but he's there for you if you ask for help. He cares a lot about teaching well and about students learning the material properly. This means his courses tend to be harder, but he also gives you plenty of resources to help them to be manageable. His lectures are quite good. He also makes his own notes, which may follow the text closely but with additional material and examples. He gives additional practice problems in addition to the (fairly sizeable) weekly homework. He pulls from {homework, practice problems} for his weekly quizzes. Attending lectures is important. He holds extensive office hours, holds review sessions before exams, and is available via email. He often gives the answers to the homework, quiz, and even exam questions (modulo some slight modification) between his lectures, review sessions, and rigid study guides. The course grades are typically not curved (or only lightly), so you have a good idea of where you stand throughout the course, but he does drop your lowest few quizzes and homeworks, and your final can supplant a midterm if you did poorly on one.

Adam Kanigowski
MATH405

Expecting an A
Anonymous
12/23/2023

Kanigowski made the course very manageable. Only 6 home work assignments with 2 drops, and some of those were just reusing 240 concepts, the midterm was~30% and the final was ~45% of the total grade. Agreed with other people that more assignments (or at least proofs in those assignments) would be a good way to prep for the final, but the curve was decent and ended my 90% as an A. Probably important to note that because he give way less work than other 405 sections, there's not as much material that is put in (most classes introduce adjoint matrices and hermitians, how to diagonalize, and some get to Jordan canonical form, none of which we do), which could be bad if you plan grad school or need a more intense linear algebra understanding. As a lecturer, the class is run decently well where he knows how to make the proofs intuitive, gives us time to do exercises in class, and also allows us to provide feedback to how he's teaching which all felt very welcoming. Definitely a chill guy and if you want a nice 405 then take the course with him.

Adam Kanigowski
MATH405

Expecting an A
Anonymous
12/20/2023

Was very nice and helpful. If you ask questions hell do his best to answer, cares about students. Wish there was more homework to help with understanding. We use the textbook Linear Algebra by Serge Lang, all the homework is from the textbook, you can also find solutions online which is helpful in understanding the content. Exam questions are pretty fair as well. Think there was a pretty good curve on the final as well. This class was hard for me since I had bad preparation (first proofs class, only took CMSC250, no MATH410 either), but taking it with Kanigowski helped a lot.

Roohollah Ebrahimian
MATH405

Expecting a B
Anonymous
10/25/2023

The ideal math teacher in every aspect. Clear lecturing, clean handwriting. Expanded office hours based on student feedback. Detailed and comprehensive typed notes cover *everything* in lecture. Quizzes are taken from HWs. Exams closely follow the study guide. Dr. Ebrahimian is committed to teaching well. The class itself is a hard 400-level math class (part of the heavily theoretical 403-405 sequence). Spent 10hrs/wk on average. If you are a good math student you will love his style of teaching.

Michael Laskowski
MATH405

Expecting an A
Anonymous
08/31/2023

I loved his class. He is a great lecturer. Everything was always so clear after he explained it. Exams are, okay, dare I say easy, compared to others in the department. The exams are always very similar to homework (which are sometimes a bit long but reasonable still). You will never be shocked. I hope to take another class with Professor Laskowski, because he is just such a great professor.

Adam Kanigowski
MATH405

Expecting an A+
Anonymous
04/30/2023

This course is pretty tough (I mean it's a 400-level), though the assignments are not too hard. I honestly wanted more homework because I didn't feel prepared for the exam, but it was fine. This was my first 400-level math class (taken concurrently with 406), and it definitely took some effort. The textbook is pretty poorly written and unhelpful, but you can find free textbooks for proof-based linear algebra online. If you have already taken 403, I imagine this class is significantly nicer just because the notation learning curve is steep. Adam is pretty responsive to student feedback. You just have to speak up.

Adam Kanigowski
MATH405

Expecting an A+
Anonymous
04/25/2023

Makes this class a way less stress experience than any other 405 professor. 6 homeworks worth 20 points each that consist of 5 problems from the book, 1 midterm that's 100 points, and 1 final exam that's 200 points. 2 homeworks are dropped. I've spent maybe 15 hours on this class in total throughout the entire semester. Superb lecturer and really puts in effort into ensuring students understanding of material.

Harry Tamvakis
MATH405

Expecting an A
fiftyseven
12/25/2022

Harry is a really good lecturer who you can tell enjoys the subject he teaches. Lectures are rather quickly paced and in-depth, but he'll be happy to answer any questions whenever. As others have said, the homework is rather difficult. It took me a quite a bit of time per homework, but the homework was very good at reinforcing the concepts learned in-class. His content mostly matched that of the textbook, but he did diverge in places and he doesn't give out notes so if you're one to skip occasionally, make sure you have a way of ensuring you get all the content. Overall I'd highly recommend him if you're comfortable with the class not necessarily being the easiest thing in the world as he teaches it very well. In case the difficulty dissuades you, I'd like to also note that the homework grading was always pretty chill and he seemed to curve a pretty large amount at the end.

Harry Tamvakis
MATH405

Expecting a B-
Anonymous
12/22/2022

His lecturing is mediocre. He goes through topics at high speed, pausing for a second and asking if people have any questions like a student that is lost will have enough time to formulate a question. He isn't willing to give out notes before or after lecture. He isn't willing to tell you what section of the book he is going to cover before lecture. These things give the impression that he just wants to come to class, write on the board for an hour, then leave. Not good. His homeworks are extremely difficult but thankfully he gives you 2 free late passes which were very much appreciated. I would not take this class with Harry alone, having a friend to talk to about homework problems is essential to doing well. He also doesn't pull any punches with his exams. It was so bad that I spent the time before the final terrified and in tears that I would fail the class. Never has an upper level math class put me under so much stress. In conclusion I wold not recommend taking 405 with Harry unless you are doing so with a friend, and/or feel comfortable with the topics covered.

Harry Tamvakis
MATH405

Expecting a B
Anonymous
11/13/2022

His lectures are great, but first note that he sometimes went really different from the books, not only one chapter but multiple chapter. while he doesn't have any notes available on elms. You have no place to go back to check and you have to have pretty good notes. The HW are brutal. It it really difficult and you have to spent so many times to finish it. Also no answers key. Exams are really hard. There is no study guide and most of the exam problems aren't any hw problem nor class example we did. However, his lectures are very straightforward and he answers questions in the office hour. So if you are a student who is determined to put your times to study math, Tamvakis is great.

Jeffrey Adams
MATH405

Expecting a W
Anonymous
12/30/2021

While I dropped this course halfway through the semester Adams is a great professor. MATH405 is extremely difficult and I quickly learned I was in over my head. In class Adams does a good job explaining the theorems/definitions as well as providing examples. My only complaint is that sometimes he uses different variables compared to what's in the book when explaining concepts. The homework is extremely difficult compared to in-class examples and time consuming. The midterms however are much easier and straightforward the averages are still low but he has an insane curve, post curve the average for our first midterm was a 90. Honestly to do well in this course memorize the theorems/definitions and go to office hours to get help whenever you feel you need it.

Jeffrey Adams
MATH405

Expecting an A
Anonymous
12/23/2021

Great prof, very good instruction, reasonable homeworks and exams. A high-quality course where you'll learn a lot about advanced linear algebra.

Yihang Zhu
MATH405

Expecting an A
Anonymous
09/23/2021

I took him when he was new. Wasn't very interesting or engaging in lecture. 2 midterms were easy, but he made a very difficult final to "compensate", and the curve hurt me (I was on the borderline). He's very slow to respond to emails if you have these kinds of issues.

Yihang Zhu
MATH405

Expecting an A
Anonymous
09/23/2021

New professor at the time, midterms and homeworks were fair but final was incredibly hard. Perhaps he is better now but at the time there was nothing too special to write home about

Adam Kanigowski
MATH405

Expecting an A
Anonymous
05/22/2021

Great professor, really cares about his students

Nathan Manning
MATH405

Expecting a B+
Anonymous
05/21/2021

Fantastic professor. You will need to be comfortable with abstractions should you decide to take his course because he is (surprise!) an abstract algebra researcher. Can be difficult to get an A but the grades themselves are fair and apt. Handled going online very well and uses ELMS/Gradescope in a good way. Based on the MATH240 students it sounds like he cares more about upper level classes than lower level ones, so it might be worth being careful about that, too.

Allan Yashinski
MATH405

Expecting an A+
Anonymous
06/14/2020

Dr. Yashinski is a very good professor at upper-level math courses. You learn a lot in his lectures.

Patrick Brosnan
MATH405

Expecting an A-
Anonymous
03/29/2020

He's a really nice guy, but he has this really annoying habit of deciding he's "bored" halfway through a proof during lectures. Harsh grading in exams but curves at the end of the semester. I would recommend him overall for 405 since he's an algebraist so he has a lot of interesting things to say about the subject.

Matei Machedon
MATH405

Expecting an A+
Anonymous
02/03/2020

Professor Machedon is by far one of the nicest professors one could ever take at the university. I think he really takes time to help you succeed if you ask for it. Even so, there were some things that could be improved about the course. I think he lectured a little too slowly. The exams were also really easy, which concerned me, both the people who scored abysmally on them and the people who did well on the exams and did not understand anything that went on in the class. The textbook he uses for 405 (Curtis) I feel is pretty crummy as well.

Matei Machedon
MATH405

Anonymous
12/19/2019

Super nice guy, maybe even too nice. He made the class very easy, and gave us exam questions beforehand for practice. We spent a lot of time on basic linear algebra topics, but overall still covered a fair amount of new and challenging material.

Matei Machedon
MATH405

Expecting an A+
Anonymous
12/10/2019

He's perhaps the nicest professor I've taken a class with in the math department. One complaint I have about the class in general is that it was too easy. Before the exam he would post "practice problems" and then when we got the exams we would discover that the exams basically had the exact same problems word for word. Essentially by the end of the course we have some students left who do not understand the basics very well as to ask questions which are either straight up incoherent or seemingly "are you seriously asking that at this point in the course?" The textbook for the class kind of sucks. He was very willing to entertain some of my brief after-class discussions of some alternative and wacky ways to prove certain things.

James Schafer
MATH405

Expecting a B
Anonymous
10/03/2019

After speaking with others, Schafer seems to be a truly polarizing teacher. Personally, I liked his informal and socratic style. It was a breath of fresh air from the oft pedantic teaching found in the department. He's visibly passionate about teaching and isn't one to provide a text-to-speech rendition of the book. If you'd like an eccentric professor who speaks on material that goes beyond the book, then take Schafer. If you're on the fence, register for two professors: you can immediately determine if Schafer is for you or not by the end of the first lecture.

Dipendra Prasad
MATH405

Expecting a W
cnaka
01/24/2018

Professor did not understand or care for students with no experience with abstract algebra (it was not a prerequisite), and skipped over important topics like group theroy.

Jeffrey Adams
MATH405

Expecting an A-
alexf
12/12/2013

Adams is a fantastic professor. He always comes prepared to class and does a great job helping his students through difficult problems. I would recommend him highly if you get a chance to take one of his courses.

Giovanni Forni
MATH405

studentXYZ
02/11/2012

Well, people below do make a quite-true comment on him. However, I have to say something else. Don't expect the teacher to teach you everything in the classroom, especially in the math class. If you don't do homework, don't read the text carefully, don't go to his office hour, then don't blame at last. I took MATH405 with him. I believe 405 is the most or second most difficult math class for undergrade(you guys can confirm this with anyone in math department or any students who have ever taken this class). His lecture is "terrible", full of abstract content and lots of stuff that presume you have already known. But, he is patient both in and out of classroom. You can bring your homework to his office, he will do every single one for you step by step. And he curve a lot, as long as you got a score above the average, you can guarantee to get a B. And usally, this B finally turns to an A- or even A on your transcrept, because he really CURVES a lot. Guys, don't blame how fxxxxxx bad the professor he is if you don't attend lecture, nor do homework. Blame yourselves, cuz you are students, you are supposed to be responsible for what you have ever done. Last, I want to say, if you devote your time into it, you really learn a lot, far more than the course coverage, from him. He is knowledgable and smart. You know, he was a Ph.D. from Princeton U. xD

Reviews for MATH405