MATH 118A
Darren Long
3.5
87 reviews
ABDO E
Elie Abdo
4.9
14 reviews

101
4.2
Math118C . 2 Years Ago

Run. Teaching differential topology in undergraduate math analysis class and the final exam is like a nightmare. It is literally the worst class I have ever taken, without exaggeration.

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108B . 4 Years Ago

An amazing teacher. His teaching style made so much sense to me and the way he constructs things in class made the class entertaining. He really loves and understands his subject. Very glad I took this class.

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MATH108B . 4 Years Ago

5-min quizzes are worth 60% and final is worth 40%. Quizzes are really nerve-wracking. It's unclear what grade you have in the class until the final is over since there is no numerical grade for quizzes. If you do the weekly hw and attend lectures, you will do well. Not a bad prof, just didn't like the grading scheme

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MATH108B . 4 Years Ago

Dr. Long helped me understand linear algebra instead of just regurgitating stuff for tests. Attend class(zoom!), do homework, do practice problems you'll be fine. He has a system of five minute quizzes which makes it hard to cheat so dont count on chegg. He tests you on concepts so understand what you are doing and why. Great professor!

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MATH108B . 4 Years Ago

Terrific even though in the era of covid. Posts lecture notes (which are super-clear) and went at a steady pace. Answers all questions and very good in office hours. The 5-minute quiz isn't fun but I understand why he did it.

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MATH108B . 4 Years Ago

Professor Long is a really funny guy but I don't think he understood what being accommodating meant with regards to covid. With weekly 5 min quizzes worth 60% of our grade... I'd say kinda difficult especially online. He's fairly clear with his teaching but his grading scale was awful and unreasonable. I'm sure he'd be better in person

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MATH3B . 5 Years Ago

Prof. Long is mathematically brilliant, is a captivating lecturer, and tells amazing jokes. One highlight: "Life philosophy: It's never too late to beef up your obituary". However, he refuses to answer questions, obfuscates his office hour times, and limits Webwork attempts to three per question, disincentivizing learning. Smart man. Bad teacher.

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MATH3B . 5 Years Ago

Not an easy A. I got a 5 on the AP Calc AB exam and had to work for a B+. 1st half of the quarter is review of AB so I did really well but seriously struggled with new material because lecture is more confusing than helpful some times. Only section is mandatory and used to answer HW questions. Utilizing TAs and CLAS is really important!

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MATH3B . 5 Years Ago

I realy liked this guy. Gave old school lectures on a chalkboard. They went by quickly but the notes were great. Tests very fair, TAs helpful. Tells a joke most classes which helps.

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MATH3B . 5 Years Ago

Sensational professor. Makes tough material accessible and his lectures are funny and engaging. But he expects you to work.

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MATH3B . 5 Years Ago

Also, what bothered me the most was that he literally ended our hour and 15 minute lecture 15-20 minutes early every time by jokingly saying he's exhausted. This is one of the main reasons why we didn't cover some of the most important concepts such as improper integrals and Taylor series. When you add up the lost time, huge waste of tuition money.

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MATH3B . 5 Years Ago

Made students feel stupid after asking a question. Remember how teachers always said, "There's no such thing as a stupid question?", well he made it seem like the opposite, and that every student's question was stupid. Some of these students really wanted to learn. There were most times where he didn't know how to solve a problem. Not passionate.

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MATH3B . 5 Years Ago

I took Long for Math 3b and had a fine experience. The communication between him and his TAs was not great it seemed, as a lot of the things on the exams were not on my TA's review sheets. He told a joke at the midway point of every lecture, which gave something to look forward to. Only reason I got a B+ was because I failed the 2nd midterm lol.

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MATH3B . 5 Years Ago

terrible teacher. wouldnt wear a microphone and was so quiet. he was so sassy whenever asked a question and did problems way too hard and confusing on the board that we werent tested on

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MATH3B . 5 Years Ago

The concepts covered in Professor Long's class are conceptually difficult, but I think he did a great job of providing us with the materials to succeed. This class is not an easy A. You will have to spend time on the homework and put in a lot of effort to master concepts Long presents. His office hours help! I'd take him again.

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MATH3B . 5 Years Ago

The lecture is so boring and useless. The assignments and tests are really difficult than examples in class. Its really terrible.

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MATH3B . 5 Years Ago

Quiet speaker and criticizes students that ask questions. No office hours. He is knowledgeable but does not explain crucial steps in the concepts hes teaching. Im a math major, but he made me hate the subject for a brief period. The exams have the most difficult versions of the problems on it and you dont have enough time to finish the midterm.

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MATH3B . 5 Years Ago

Long is definitely not the worst math professor you could have, but certainly no where near the best. The thing with Long is he is such a brilliant man that he assumes all of his students know everything that he does, and consistently skips crucial steps and explanations. He would end class early basically every day, good luck with Darren.

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MATH3B . 5 Years Ago

Hes a super nice guy, but not the greatest lecturer. His exam problems mostly come from lectures and the homework, although he seems to pick the most difficult ones. By far not the worst professor, but there may be better ones.

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MATH3B . 6 Years Ago

Long D is not the best professor when it comes to learning everything you need to know in class. He is pretty hard to hear since he speaks so quietly and he isn't exactly eager to answer a lot of the questions we have to ask him during class. His jokes aren't bad tbh but he kinda stops them a few weeks into the quarter.

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MATH3B . 6 Years Ago

Professor Long is a very condescending man who doesn't care to answer questions he doesn't deem worthy. He doesn't wear a mic in a class of 150 students and his accent makes it even harder to hear him if you don't sit close enough to the front. Sections are mandatory and lectures aren't, but the midterms/final are based on in-class work.

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MATH108A . 6 Years Ago

He is a tough grader, and he does not seem to like teaching. His office hours are not useful, but he is an amazing lecturer. I believe that in this class I actually learned how to think like a mathematician, which is still helping me now. His grading scheme for each problem is this: "perfectly right", "right but lacks clarity", "wrong (no credit)".

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MATH117 . 10 Years Ago

Prof. Long is really good at teaching math, very knowledgable, especially felt this after taking a relatively small class MATH 117. But his homeworks are hard, and his final exam is beyond expectations. He is a hard grader. Doesn't use Gauchospace tracking your grade, and the final grade would be confusing. Can't find him after the end of the class

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MATH3A . 12 Years Ago

His sections are mandatory which is really annoying since I found them to be unhelpful. His lectures are dry, he often skims over material that is important later on in higher levels of math. One decent thing though was that he stopped class every lecture to tell a joke.

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