Boyu Zhang

This professor has taught: MATH140, MATH141, MATH410, MATH432, MATH734

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Boyu Zhang MATH140 Expecting a B Anonymous 01/28/2025	BOYU WAS A TERRIBLE TEACHER!!! I'm seeing a lot of reviews saying that Boyu was a really nice guy, which is absolutely true, but that does not mean you will pass the class!!! I had him last fall, and it was actually the worst class I've ever taken in my life. Boyu is super smart, and cares a lot about the hows and whys of calculus. Which would be nice if you were trying to get a PhD in mathematics, but I was just trying to get through my first semester. That class literally sucked the life out of me and took up all the time in my schedule, yet I still would've failed without the curve. Simply put, he does not know how to teach this class. He expected far too much from us, and then tried to make up for it by telling us what all the questions would be on the final. I liked him as a person and I am so sorry if he sees this review, but I would not wish this class on my worst enemy. Do not be fooled by the comments saying "but he's so caring!" ....except for when it comes to your grade. If you're not literally a math major, do not take calc 1 with Boyu. Kendall doesn't curve at all, but it's far easier to pass because he actually teaches the course well, so I would take it with him if you can.
Boyu Zhang MATH140 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/19/2024	Boyu is a really kind professor with a great understanding of calculus. He wants you to understand calculus as well as he does, which is both good and bad (I'll explain later). He teaches exclusively using the blackboard and does not record his lectures, so it may be helpful to attend them, especially since he occasionally drops an example that turns out to be very similar to a question on his exams. His way of teaching can be pretty hard to keep track of, especially at the beginning, as he writes really fast and creates proofs that are sometimes confusing and unnecessary for MATH140. I feel as if he thought we were a lot better at math than we are up until the (very, very hard) first midterm, and that showed in the class average. HOWEVER, since he's a really understanding professor, he adapted his teaching style after that exam and became more clear and concise. The exams were adjusted accordingly, with the averages being significantly higher thereafter, especially on the fourth midterm, where the average was almost 90. If you have taken calculus in high school, and have a solid understanding of the foundations of calc, I would recommend Boyu. If you haven't taken calc at all, maybe consider another professor like Dong Quan Nguyen or Chadwick. Like I said, Boyu is really kind, cares about his work, and he is also willing to meet with you if you need it, which I know I did after the first exam. Additionally, the class had a legendary curve on the bottom end, so much so that even if you do below average on every exam, you probably still have a shot at passing the class with a C-. His curve is much higher than most other profs for this class. If you think his class is hard, you're right, it is, but he really wants you to do well, and the curve is proof of that. Just be prepared for college calculus being much faster than high school or AP calc.
Boyu Zhang MATH140 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/17/2024	Boyu is a really good person but I have never STRUGGLED more in a math class in my life. I had taken Calc BC in high school so I already knew calculus concepts but I had to self-teach every single concept to myself after the lecture. I attended all lectures, went to every discussion, went to gss, and went to office hours only to spend hours and hours reteaching the concepts. Honestly, if it wasn't for my great GSS leader and TA (thank you Zaire), I would've failed the class. I spent countless hours learning using YouTube videos, chatGPT, and the textbook, but if you aren't willing to put in an insane amount of effort, I wouldn't recommend taking this professor. Our class was doing really poorly so towards the 3rd-4th midterm, he ended up giving us a little more help by giving us a relevant practice sheet. The average for our first midterm was like 50% and it slowly got higher (possibly because a lot of people dropped out of the class). The homework was a great pain and was due at 7:30 am so it was really inconvenient if you had other assignments due. He doesn't like word problems so we got out of doing related rates and optimization on midterms but they popped up on quizzes and the final. The discussion worksheets had almost nothing to do with what we learned in lecture but the GOAT Zaire was very generous, but I know that not all TAs were as kind. He ended up giving us a pretty generous curve at the end of the semester and honestly there are way worse professors than Boyu.
Boyu Zhang MATH140 Expecting a C+ Anonymous 12/16/2024	I've never had a professor like Boyu. He obviously has a love for math and is an incredibly smart individual, but he isn't the best teacher. I honestly felt like I learned more from the worksheets we did in the discussion and my TA than I did in the lecture. His exams are often very different from examples given in class and review materials, the exam averages for my class were around the 60s and the last exam had a very high average of 89 or so. I often felt very lost and confused as to what we were even learning in class. I wouldn't recommend Boyu if you tend to struggle in math or have never taken a calculus course before. With that being said, the class is absolutely doable as long as you study hard and teach yourself the material outside of class. The discussion worksheets also really do help give you a sense of where you should be in the textbook. His grading weights are pretty unique: he weighs your lowest exam score out of 50 points rather than 100 like the rest of your exams, and he drops your lowest 7 homeworks and lowest 7 worksheets as well as your lowest quiz grade. Also, in the syllabus, he said that this class wouldn't be curved but ended up giving us a HUGE curve at the end of the year to the point where you could pass with a C- as long as you had a 35% in the class. Oh and also the grade you see on canvas isn't at all representative of what your actual class grade is so pay attention to your scores and calculate the totals yourself! (Idk if that'll still be applicable by the time you read this but he doesn't place the weights for assignments in canvas) TLDR: Boyu is a great individual, not the greatest teacher, requires a lot of self-teaching, hard exams, great final curve.
Boyu Zhang MATH140 Expecting a B Anonymous 12/14/2024	He is very passionate about teaching math. I once missed my midterm because I overslept, but he allowed me to take it later. But in most of the lectures, i would lose him in middle and have to study that topic by myself.
Boyu Zhang MATH140 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/13/2024	READ THIS REVIEW CAREFULLY!! I know I gave him 4 stars but there was a lot a different factors that go into my review. Boyu is one of the most caring and passionate professors you'll probably meet in the math department, and if you're a math major or just someone who's retaking calculus to understand why it works, I'd take this class with him. However, if you're an engineer/want to know just how to do calculus and have no prior knowledge of it, I would think twice. A lot of times it was really hard to follow what he was doing (eventually throughout the semester you get used to it, and exams also did get easier as time went on, a review below covered that well). That being said, he was really good about answering my countless emails which was great when I couldn't make it to office hours. He'll explain the material as slow as you need if you ask outside of class, and welcomes curiosity. If you do take him for 140, you'll be fine but you'll have to teach yourself (though I think that's how many college classes work), and don't stress when he teaches implicit differentiation, it's not hard, it's just confusing with him.
Boyu Zhang MATH140 Expecting a B Anonymous 12/12/2024	Take Dong Quan Nguyen! Zhang is a very sweet man and is truly impossible to hate on. However, his teaching is a bit scattered. He clearly understands higher math, but that makes his teaching of calculus difficult for a non-advanced student. I took calc in high school, so I wasn't totally lost but I still found myself having to watch Youtube videos to teach myself a significant amount of the content. Homework is easy, tests were hard initially but he started giving us study guides that were very helpful. Discussion was super helpful and attendance is mandatory because they have graded worksheets. Overall, they curve significantly and drop a lot of grades, but I don't feel that I truly learned calculus by taking this course.
Boyu Zhang MATH140 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/11/2024	Professor Zhang is an excellent teacher who cares a lot about his students. The lectures can get tiring as he likes to explain the proofs and theorems. However, the discussion worksheets are very good practice, and you get extra practice problems for both the quizzes and the midterms. The lowest quiz, 5 worksheets, 50 points from WebAssign get dropped at the end so there is a significant curve. Also, if you are struggling, Professor Zhang will always be ready to help you. If you go to office hours and ask questions, you are going to be fine.
Boyu Zhang MATH140 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/11/2024	Professor Zhang is one of the kindest teachers at UMD. He is extremely passionate about calculus, and even more so passionate about his student's success. His tests are slightly harder than the average professor's, but his curve 100% makes up for it. He is so open about what will be on the exams, and how it will be phrased, but only if you ask. His office hours were my saving grace. Any question you ask, stupid or not, he always responds in a helpful and supportive way. This class does take some time and effort. However, with helpful TAs and going to his office hours, you will be fine. Take Professor Zhang!!
Boyu Zhang MATH140 Expecting a W Anonymous 12/05/2024	I had to withdraw, take DONG QUAN NGUYEN for math140.
Boyu Zhang MATH140 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/05/2024	Is very passionate about calculus, and always teaches like he loves the class. But his way of teaching is often hard to follow, as he goes into very detailed proofs and very specific examples where it gets really hard to follow. I often learn nothing going to his lectures and more than half the class end up skipping. His exams were also tough towards the beginning of the year with averages around 60s-70s, but the lowest midterm is weighed less, and your lowest quiz is dropped. His saving grace is the curve at the end, as he makes sure more than half the class gets an A. As long as you score around the mean on his midterms and you can learn the material in discussion and the homework you will do well in his class.
Boyu Zhang MATH140 Expecting a B Anonymous 12/05/2024	In the beginning, I was afraid of how this semester would go. Most lectures I would sit confused about what was going on. I would be following along and then halfway through the equation, he would lose me and then I would have to sit through the rest of the lecture daydreaming about what he could've possibly been teaching that day. He got better as the semester went on though, a little more clear, and exams seemed to get better as the semester went on as well. Overall, he is a "good" professor in that he is very enthusiastic about the class and teaching students. Most classes he would be running across the room to the other side of the board or jumping up and down to answer a question when someone finally asked one or teaching us by connecting a folktale he was teaching his kid with that morning. Silly guy. If you take this class, you'll probably be alright. Even better if you already know calculus.
Boyu Zhang MATH432 Expecting an A- Anonymous 08/23/2024	Boyu Zhang is a very passionate teacher and wants the best for his students. You will rarely meet another teacher who cares more for his students. He is passionate about math and teaching, and he always seeks to improve his teaching. However, I will admit that he is still inexperienced. He is a young professor, and he likely did not have much experience teaching before. As a result, he sometimes rushes or does not explain stuff clearly, and some lectures may leave you completely dumbfounded. Talk with him outside of class, ask him about math (doesn't have to be related to the class), go to his office hours, and he will take care of you. He is also fair with the curve and curves a good portion of the class to an A.
Boyu Zhang MATH410 Expecting an A- Anonymous 06/01/2023	I took this class in the fall of 2023 - Boyu's first time teaching MATH410. The class initially started off with high hopes, but as more time passed by, it was understood that this class would basically be impossible. The grade split was 20% homework (essentially completion/how much you tried), 25% for each midterm (there were 2), and 30% on the final. Homework was weekly (even on the week of tests). Boyu's teaching was very fast-paced, however, he was good at answering questions and clarifying concepts when needed. However, there would be no review of past sections/theorems every class. Once the topic introduction had passed, you were expected to be an expert in it and recall the definition and be well versed in it. This class covers a lot of dense material in a very short time, and other is no forgiveness for the student who falls behind even the slightest amount. Exams (in theory) were nicely formatted - 75% (3/4 questions) of exams would be directly from the textbook. This sounds nice until you look at the textbook. It is almost unreadable at times, unreasonably dense at times, and often steps are skipped. Furthermore, no solutions were ever given to homework or textbook problems. To get solutions to a specific problem you would have to go to his office hours or send him an email - something that isn't feasible for 300+ textbook problems. Often, we had to resort to trying to find half solutions online and working off of those (we didn't understand them well at all). Giving a practice exam with similar types of problems to the exam coming up would be much better. The lack of clear solutions and explanations to practice problems makes this almost impossible to do. When asked about this at the start of the course, Boyu responded "Well its a proof. You will know if your proof is correct or not". This doesn't make sense and just isn't true. The averages of the exams went 64%, 49% and the average of the final was 47%. Apparently, these averages were "good" according to Boyu. The saving grace in this class was the curve. 75-95 A, 65-75 A-, 63-65 B+, 58-63 B-, 53-55 C+, 49-53 C, 40-49 C-, <40 D/F. Boyu is one of the instructors that believes that the curve is necessary, and would rather curve the class at the end rather than give easier/better exams. Essentially, to see how you're doing in the class, just see how you are doing compared to the average. Overall, I would not recommend taking this class with Boyu unless it really is your only option or you are already a genuis at real analysis (then this class review shouldn't matter to you). It is not a simple or straightforward class, and the only way to do well is to spend 10-15 hours outside of class every single week understand the concepts by yourself and trying to solve textbook exercises. How will you find the answers to those problems? Good luck. Try emailing him or finding a math genuis/tutor that can do all of them.