MATH 118B
Carlos Garcia
1.9
94 reviews

94
1.9
MATH118B . 7 Months Ago

Lectures are recordings with notes (both handwritten and more polished typed-up notes) available online, while class times are used to go through practice problems. I prefer this format to standard in-class lectures (though ymmv), and the in-class practice problems helped me develop my intuition for real analysis. Tests are take-home over 24 hours.

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MATH3B . 2 Years Ago

Horrible professor so learn from the textbook and go to CLAS. Really easy to do well in the class though because it is completely online, even the exams and final. If it is in person, avoid taking this professor.

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MATH3B . 2 Years Ago

Tough to understand him and his notes, Had about double the homework compared to other professors and they were very hard problems as well. If you have to take him, find another resource and take CLAS to survive this course.

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MATH3B . 2 Years Ago

online saved me and was the only reason i got an A. homework was really hard and his lectures were useless. he makes things way harder than it has to be. i didn't watch them and solely relied on self studying. get quizlet x slader. its the only reason i survived. loved cooper as my TA though, he was very helpful and nice overall

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3B . 2 Years Ago

Class was asynchronous, and it was the worst mistake I've ever made. Taking this class made me feel like I was taking a graduate level class. Go to CLAS because it is literally the only help you can get. If possible, avoid taking his class, because you WILL regret it. I cannot stress how difficult the homework is and how he overall can't teach.

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MATH3B . 2 Years Ago

Lectures were async. Sometimes, the lectures were hard to follow, but in general, they were alright. There are a lot of recorded lectures coupled with a lot of webwork HW problems and a quiz each week. The professor was accomodating, delaying a midterm bc of a holiday. You might need to self study the material, if you find lectures unhelpful

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MATH3B . 3 Years Ago

Honestly just such a difficult professor, his lectures are long and hard to follow and he assigns a ton of homework which makes it hard to actually learn the course content, I recommend just teaching yourself on Khan Academy or avoiding at all cost

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MATH3B . 3 Years Ago

He is very hard to understand because of his accent, and his lectures are hard to follow. I stopped watching the lecture videos after week one but I did fine. I would not recommend taking his class, but everything including the tests and final was online so it is doable. Youre better off teaching yourself with the textbook.

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MATH118 . 3 Years Ago

UD students!! Garcia is the man for 118 series! You know the higher level math profs always get a bad rep w LD. Professor Garcia is the best math professor I've had at UCSB. He provides so many resources, and works so hard to ensure we have what we need to succeed. His lectures are illuminating, and the work is hard (118 is hard) but achievable.

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MATH4B . 4 Years Ago

His lectures made absolutely no sense. He would present the material but would not connect the dots to make any logical sense. It was difficult to understand.

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MATH117 . 4 Years Ago

Dont know what all the fuss is about, this guy worked reeeeally hard to make sure we understood the material.

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MATH6A . 4 Years Ago

Pros: Easy homework; easy exams; lots of extra credits; the textbook was free online and explains stuff well; attendance was not mandatory; Cons: Unnecessarily hard lectures; the professor had thick accents which might be hard to follow; be prepared to pay the ridiculous price for Wiley Plus.

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MATH4B . 4 Years Ago

Lectures are terrible, I haven't been to his lecture a second time since the second week. I understood he tried a lot to make lectures better, however ... hopefully he could make it better next quarter. The textbook is much more helpful, I read the book and took the homework, got an easy A+ with a 119.4 total score...

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MATH4B . 4 Years Ago

Nice guy. Tried really hard to make the class better. I can tell he tried.

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MATH4B . 4 Years Ago

Let's be honest: we all got lucky in professor Garcia-Cervera's math 4B in Winter 2020 due to the optional final because of the outbreak of coronavirus. He speaks fast, and calculates fasts that your brain cannot catch up with. If he posts notes on Cauchospace, do not waste your time taking them yourself. The textbook is more organized and helpful.

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MATH4B . 4 Years Ago

Lectures are hard to understand so I had to teach myself and go to CLAS. He really cares about his students, though. Moved the final online right away when the chancellor suspended in-person instruction due to coronavirus, later made it optional because we have too much to worry about. TLDR: nice person, but I'm not used to his teaching style.

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MATH4B . 4 Years Ago

It's hard to follow his lecture if you have not learnt the content before. Sometimes you feel like he's repeating the same problem over and over again, but sometimes you cannot understand what he is trying to say. I haven't attended a single lecture since midterm and learnt everything on my own; just learn the textbook and you'll be fine.

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MATH8 . 5 Years Ago

Okay, here's the thing with Prof Garcia-Cervera: he is a good person and is accessible in office hours, but his method of teaching is difficult to follow. It did not work for me and made it hard for me to learn. I tried to follow the textbook and learn by myself but it is quite difficult in such an important class like Math 8. His exams are fair.

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MATH108A . 5 Years Ago

His lectures are thorough but I wouldn't take his course again. Homework is fair but the exams are quite difficult. Reading the text is critical, but it is tough to know what he will test you on as exam problems deviate significantly from those on the homework. He is helpful outside of class but his course is far from straightforward.

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3B . 7 Years Ago

Took this class fall 2014 with him. Honestly, if you got a well-rounded grasp of calc in high school, his class isn't anything special. His final was somewhat tough, and midterm was easy. I stopped going to lecture after the midterm, so around week 4/5. CLAS is your best friend.

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MATH3B . 7 Years Ago

Worst professor I've ever had... I got a 5 on the AP calc test and this guy have midterm questions seem like graduate exams. Failed his class and have gotten straight A's so far in college... Plus side no need to go to class because he can't teach.

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MATH104AB . 8 Years Ago

if you see this guy teaching this class, avoid like the plague.

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MATH3B . 8 Years Ago

Lectures weren't too confusing, but I would get lost sometimes and he wouldn't be very helpful in his explanations. What he taught and what he tested were completely different things. He would teach you and give you homework on problems with a difficulty of an 3-7 on a scale of 1-10 and on the final would through out a problem that was a 9.

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MATH3B . 8 Years Ago

This guy honestly was the worst teacher I've had in my life. He literally made the final to where the average was a D- and I went from an A all quarter to a B- just by getting a D on the final, which he did not curve. I got a 5 in AP calc AB, studied for 30 hours for the final and he made it so ridiculous.

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