Patrick Fitzpatrick

This professor has taught: MATH220, MATH410, MATH411, MATH463, MATH630, MATH631, MATH632, MATH858N

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Patrick Fitzpatrick MATH410 Expecting a B Anonymous 12/23/2020	He made some errors but not as bad as some other reviewers claim. He's also a very generous grader. I felt like his office hours were much more helpful than going to class, but some of his lectures were quite helpful for the denser material. I would recommend reading the material a day or two in advance that way you know what to expect. Also if you email him ahead of time he with questions he'll give a bit of extra time towards it in class. If not for technical limitations I would take another course taught by professor Fitzpatrick.
Patrick Fitzpatrick MATH463 Anonymous 10/22/2015	I am sad to say Fitzpatrick has probably fallen out of his prime. He is definitely not the same man as in these reviews. I'd say he is generally very unorganized in class. The way he writes on the black board is just not organized. Most math professors are organized and provide separate discussions of definition, lemmas, and then theorems. He will just write things scattered across the board. Also, he is unable to do any slightly complex proof without making errors. He probably makes at least 1 error for every proof he does which is extremely confusing because you don't know if you can trust what he writes. Finally, I'd say his handwriting is very hard to read at times. He will omit letters in words and words just become scribbles. He's definitely a kind person, I respect him a lot. He's the guy who wrote the MATH410 textbook, which is just excellent. But I felt this section deserved an update. One thing I noticed is that he seems very pale in class. I think his health may be affecting his teaching.
Patrick Fitzpatrick MATH630 amercado 10/11/2014	Let me qualify this review: THE BEST EVER OF ALL TIME was Prof. Seymour Goldberg (who, tragically, is no longer with us). Today, the best in the Math department is Prof. Fitzpatrick. Rigorous and very clear. Very professional, he makes is clear, but does not dumb it down. No surprises on the exams. Sit up front in class, if you can.
Patrick Fitzpatrick MATH220 Expecting an A loganaronhaltfan 05/21/2013	Amazing, amazing, amazing professor! I took this class after Math113 and after having a miserable time with Calculus in High School. He could not have taught the material in a more easy to understand way. So many good examples that were right on the test, always easy to contact via email, and just a sweethearted, nice guy. My TA was bad, but I feel like half the time that is just luck of the draw anyways. Sit in the first couple of rows, I promise it will make the extra difference!
Patrick Fitzpatrick MATH220 Expecting an A america299 12/09/2011	Incredible, incredible professor!!! I'm not a particularly math inclined student, but I decided to go the extra mile and take calculus anyway. The reviews seemed too good to be true, but any praise Professor Fitzpatrick gets is not enough! He is one of the best teachers I have ever had. I have received As on all of my exams! He makes a pretty good amount of mistakes, but never in his practice, only because he will forget what he wrote on another side of the board. The students always catch these minor mistakes though, and he thanks them and continues. He knows all of his math in and out, is incredibly sweet, and his lectures are easy to follow and very thorough. His TAs are also really wonderful. I would recommend this class to ANYONE, but especially to people who need to take calculus and are worried about not doing well. Be prepared to put in some time for Webassigns, but other than that the class was an absolute joy to take.
Patrick Fitzpatrick MATH220 Expecting an A Anonymous 04/07/2011	I loved Professor Fitzpatrick! 2 years later, he is still the best professor I've had at UMD. It was the first Math class I took where I actually enjoyed going to class! He explained concepts so thoroughly and gave you the real world applications so that what he was telling you made sense. Previously, I thought Calc would be hard - but with him, it was easy and enjoyable! I miss him!
Patrick Fitzpatrick MATH220 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/16/2010	If you took calculus in high school, take this class. It is essentially the same thing. He breaks down everything in lecture with such detail, that this class is almost too easy. webassign (100 pts) weekly quizzes(100 pts) 3 tests (100 pts) final (200 pts) Take this class. You want regret it. Put in a little bit of study time, and you'll get an A no problem
Patrick Fitzpatrick MATH220 Expecting an A+ motariq1991 05/16/2010	If the ratings can exceed to infinity then this professor deserves to be rated in infinity. I absolutely love this professor. His teaching style, his sincerity, his right on point attitude, and his sense of humor makes the subject easy to learn. I walked into this class thinking that I would struggle in calculus but he proved me wrong. Instead, he made me love it and now I registered for MATH221 all because of him. BIG TIP: If you want to do well in this class, sit on the first 3 rows. I say this because his hand writing is sometimes hard to understand and he gives more attention to the front of the class like all professors. Assignments Breakdown: Webassign (100 points) Weekly Dis. Quizzes (100 points) 3 exams (100 points each) Final exam (200 points) He randomly drops a certain amount of quizzes and webassigns to make life even more easier.
Patrick Fitzpatrick MATH220 Expecting an A Sarah Katz-Hyman 05/14/2010	The best professor I have ever had. He is charming and magnificent, but even better the way he explains the math is perfect. I had never taken calculus before in my life and had a general hatred toward math, but after this class I love math and especially calculus. I would consider changing my major to math if I could take all classes with Fitzpatrick, or fitzy is what I like to call him. In addition to his great teaching skills he has a great sense of humor. He cracks jokes and does not even know it and has so many quotable moments you should probably write them down. My friend and I wanted to take a picture with him at the end of the course because we loved him that much and he said "Of course, as long as I get a copy." So he has a great attitude about interacting with students. As far as tests, quizzes and homework go. Quizzes are super easy only got lower than 100 on one, the TAs literally go over the quiz and then give you a quiz in class. Tests are 5 quizzes long and little harder but use lots of example from class. The webassign is actually the hardest part of the class and often takes 45 minutes to an hour but prepares you well for the tests. Overall if you have a chance take a class with fitzy, best decision ever! If you have a spare moment, my friend and I created a video about fitzpatrick to showcase his general awesomeness: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h5s7em0vzaE
Patrick Fitzpatrick MATH630 Expecting an A Anonymous 01/06/2010	Fitzpatrick is a terrific lecturer. His German accent is rarely a problem. He presents and motivates the theory well and is just fun to listen to. The tests were straightforward. The course went more slowly than other graduate courses, but we seem to have covered all the intended material. He seems to have something against abstracting too much, which can make some of the proofs more tedious than necessary. But on the whole his style is very good.
Patrick Fitzpatrick MATH220 Expecting a B Anonymous 12/23/2009	He is awesome. Very professional and made Calculus clear. Very detailed lectures and did a great job of explaining the material. Go to lecture and sit up front (his voice is very soft) and your do well. His test are based off his previous tests and lecture problems. TA's are awesome.
Patrick Fitzpatrick MATH220 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/19/2009	Amazing teacher! He explains everything thoroughly in lecture and is very approachable. His tests are very reasonable and straight forward.
Patrick Fitzpatrick MATH220 Expecting an A elfutbolista 12/18/2009	A must take class.. especially if u dislike calc as much as i do.. awesome teacher... examples used in lecture are identical to those on test...No Tricks.
Patrick Fitzpatrick MATH220 Expecting a B Anonymous 12/16/2009	Fitzpatrick is one of the most thorough teachers i have ever had. I have never taken calc before and i learned sooo much. He is very clear and does tons of examples. His tests are very fair. The only reason i didnt give him five stars is because he is not very apathetic. Like i said it was my first time taking calc so i didnt always do amazing on tests and when i went to discuss some issues i had, he didnt care at all. The other thing is that his webassigns have no order. They are very sporadic and sometimes 2 at a time. I would definitely recommend his class especially if you are to calc. I you have taken calc before, this class is probably a no brainer.
Patrick Fitzpatrick MATH220 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/12/2009	AMAZING calc teacher!! i took AP calc in high school so i guess that could have contributed, but even without it im sure i would have done well in this class. he teaches things step by step, goes through everything with tons of examples, and my TA was excellent as well which definitely helped. his tests are straightforward and pretty easy and he goes over all the types of questions that will be on the test beforehand. i honestly stopped going to lecture after the first few weeks except for the reviews before exams, and im getting an A because his exams/quizzes/webassigns arent too difficult at all.
Patrick Fitzpatrick MATH220 Expecting an A Anonymous 10/07/2009	Best calc teacher ever.. exams are straight forward.. No tricks. Go to class because he reviews problems that are identical to the ones on the test. exams are only 5 problems- all which again are straight from lecture. Also, very good responder to e-mails: something a lot of professors lack.
Patrick Fitzpatrick MATH220 Expecting an A+ jjjohn36 05/22/2009	GREAT TEACHER. I'm not really sure how he could have taught Calculus any better. I've never taken Calc before and I was nervous about how well I would do in this class. Professor Fitzpatrick teaches in a way that is simple and makes sense. Also, each lecture before the exams he tells you exactly what kind of problems will be on the exam. I suggest going to lectures. I actually felt like I was learning something. Make sure you do the webassigns. At the end of the semester the average is the equivalent to a test grade. Also go to discussion because the average of the quizzes are also worth a test grade.
Patrick Fitzpatrick MATH220 Expecting a B shrfu31 05/15/2009	This guy is simply awesome! Once you can get past his German accent and sometimes messy handwriting (like when he writes a "d" thing for partial derivatives) you will be so glad you took him. HE is very patient and he selected some great TA's (Get Doug Galagate if you can) The Bad: He doesn't drop any tests. The GOOD: His tests are 5 questions long and can be done WELL within the hour limit. He drops a random amount of HW's and quizzes (I guess it is cycle dependent). He spends all the time going through equations on the board that you WILL SEE on your web assign and more importantly, YOUR TESTS! I CANNOT stress this enough. I just finished my final and there was not one "trick" problem there! It was all straightforward, the same thing and situations we studied throughout the class were the ones we were tested on. Isn't that kinda refreshing? You have to go to your discussions though. You get a quiz in each one and they count for a hundred points overall in fact... Test X 3 (100pts each) = 300 Quizzes (10pts each) = 100 Webassign = 100 Final Exam = 200 So it is all out of 700pts Anyway, this guy is fair, is super helpful (he responds QUICKLY to email and will adjust your grade within the hour) and really likes what he does. I don't think there is a curve to this class because there is no need for one. Trust me, THIS IS A GOOD THING. PM me if you want to know the reason why teachers HAVE to curve..