Professor
Amiya Chatterjee
1 of 1
Most Helpful Review
Spring 2020 - He is incredibly kind and caring for his students, but was rarely helpful. When students asked questions in lecture or office hours, the answers were frequently long-winded or merely repetition of confusing initial explanations. He encouraged students to visit him during office hours and to email him with questions, but few, if any, students seemed to find these helpful. There were significant technical issues throughout the quarter: even in a final review, I heard that the professor accidentally left during the middle of the session. Chatterjee lectured using slides that were both disordered and filled with errors. He struggled with pacing, at times speaking too quickly for students to follow and at times moving incredibly slowly. He clearly knows the class material well, but doesn't seem to understand what material students will struggle with or be able to provide alternate explanations. Homework answers are provided with assignments but are frequently incorrect. The homework is generally good preparation for exams, but some assignments were difficult more because of ridiculous integrations than implementing concepts. This class was a lot of stress and I didn't feel like I learned anything by the end of the quarter. The textbook was generally more helpful than lectures in understanding differential equation concepts, but exams often featured conceptual equations answered in class.
Spring 2020 - He is incredibly kind and caring for his students, but was rarely helpful. When students asked questions in lecture or office hours, the answers were frequently long-winded or merely repetition of confusing initial explanations. He encouraged students to visit him during office hours and to email him with questions, but few, if any, students seemed to find these helpful. There were significant technical issues throughout the quarter: even in a final review, I heard that the professor accidentally left during the middle of the session. Chatterjee lectured using slides that were both disordered and filled with errors. He struggled with pacing, at times speaking too quickly for students to follow and at times moving incredibly slowly. He clearly knows the class material well, but doesn't seem to understand what material students will struggle with or be able to provide alternate explanations. Homework answers are provided with assignments but are frequently incorrect. The homework is generally good preparation for exams, but some assignments were difficult more because of ridiculous integrations than implementing concepts. This class was a lot of stress and I didn't feel like I learned anything by the end of the quarter. The textbook was generally more helpful than lectures in understanding differential equation concepts, but exams often featured conceptual equations answered in class.
Most Helpful Review
Spring 2024 - Please please please please do not take it with him. If you can somehow diligently teach yourself everything and have a really good TA, maybe this would be an easy A. But this dude is too old to be teaching, literally bottom of the barrel at UCLA. I don't think it can get any worse. Very first week, I asked him to put the Files tab on Canvas because it wasn't there, and he was too stubborn to realize it actually wasn't there. I had to get the TA to publish the tab. His lectures are absolute snooze fests, all he does is read off the slide. When he tried to do problems on the board by drawing and walking us through them, it was still horrendous. He's actually deaf when you try to ask him questions. Not deaf as in he won't answer your questions, but deaf as in he literally cannot hear sometimes. And the few times someone did ask a question, they kind of got the question asked right back at them. I only learned from the solutions manual to the book and the TA's notes. There's a reason this class is not at full capacity when you enroll. Just don't
Spring 2024 - Please please please please do not take it with him. If you can somehow diligently teach yourself everything and have a really good TA, maybe this would be an easy A. But this dude is too old to be teaching, literally bottom of the barrel at UCLA. I don't think it can get any worse. Very first week, I asked him to put the Files tab on Canvas because it wasn't there, and he was too stubborn to realize it actually wasn't there. I had to get the TA to publish the tab. His lectures are absolute snooze fests, all he does is read off the slide. When he tried to do problems on the board by drawing and walking us through them, it was still horrendous. He's actually deaf when you try to ask him questions. Not deaf as in he won't answer your questions, but deaf as in he literally cannot hear sometimes. And the few times someone did ask a question, they kind of got the question asked right back at them. I only learned from the solutions manual to the book and the TA's notes. There's a reason this class is not at full capacity when you enroll. Just don't
AD
Most Helpful Review
Chatterjee was a good professor in my opinion. Lectures aren't as great, as they are pretty dry and boring (most other reviews on here seem to agree with that); he basically goes over powerpoints that you have access to online. I got much more done studying the book on my own than I did going to class. However, he sometimes will give hints in class about theories, etc. that you should know for the exam. This is one reason you will want to attend class. Although his lectures can be boring, he is nevertheless very helpful if you approach him outside of class with a question. If I went to his office hours with a question, I always left with a clear understanding on the material that I had been confused about before. Quizzes, midterm, and a final were all somewhat tricky, but he grades on a curve and seems to be pretty lenient with grading (I'm guessing at least 30% of the class probably gets an A). Don't be fooled, you will have to work hard in this class to understand everything and do well. But if you put in the time and effort you will do fine and probably leave with a good grade. I recommend this guy and would definitely take him again.
Chatterjee was a good professor in my opinion. Lectures aren't as great, as they are pretty dry and boring (most other reviews on here seem to agree with that); he basically goes over powerpoints that you have access to online. I got much more done studying the book on my own than I did going to class. However, he sometimes will give hints in class about theories, etc. that you should know for the exam. This is one reason you will want to attend class. Although his lectures can be boring, he is nevertheless very helpful if you approach him outside of class with a question. If I went to his office hours with a question, I always left with a clear understanding on the material that I had been confused about before. Quizzes, midterm, and a final were all somewhat tricky, but he grades on a curve and seems to be pretty lenient with grading (I'm guessing at least 30% of the class probably gets an A). Don't be fooled, you will have to work hard in this class to understand everything and do well. But if you put in the time and effort you will do fine and probably leave with a good grade. I recommend this guy and would definitely take him again.
Most Helpful Review
Chatterjee wasn't good by any means but he wasn't terrible. I personally can't understand his Indian accent, so I stopped going to lecture. The test are based on 1)theory and 2)homework. I got an A in the class just by reading and studying the textbook and doing homework. The easy thing about Chatterjee is that he tells you exactly what he is going to test you on. The bad thing is that it is very theoretical - you can never "just wing it" on a test. All in all, if you study hard what he says to, you will get an A. Also, test questions have multiple parts, so its hard to bomb. Chatterjee doesn't throw screwballs - you're not going to be doing well one day and failing the next. I would recommend him.
Chatterjee wasn't good by any means but he wasn't terrible. I personally can't understand his Indian accent, so I stopped going to lecture. The test are based on 1)theory and 2)homework. I got an A in the class just by reading and studying the textbook and doing homework. The easy thing about Chatterjee is that he tells you exactly what he is going to test you on. The bad thing is that it is very theoretical - you can never "just wing it" on a test. All in all, if you study hard what he says to, you will get an A. Also, test questions have multiple parts, so its hard to bomb. Chatterjee doesn't throw screwballs - you're not going to be doing well one day and failing the next. I would recommend him.
AD
1 of 1
