I am an applied math major senior student who have taken most of the upper div math courses and here is my individual experience:

Patrick is a kind and approachable(also sweet and cute!) instructor who brings a lot of enthusiasm to the topics he enjoys, making him engaging and easy to connect with if you want to dive deeper into the subject matter. As a senior, I find his teaching style very appealing, as he explains not just what to learn but also why it matters and how to apply it, whether in mechanical physics or more abstract concepts(for me it's necessary for exploring PDE/ODE in future interest). However, his pacing can sometimes feel inconsistent—occasionally moving too quickly or too slowly and occasionally skipping necessary explanations.

The course includes 2 midterms and 1 final exam, and I found his exams to be fair and reasonable, though sometimes tricky(just challenge urself). They are based entirely on the material covered in class, so if you thoroughly review the notes and genuinely understand the homework, you should be well-prepared to earn a good grade(not kidding!). Patrick is also very generous with partial credit, which I appreciated. While some students felt the final exam was particularly challenging, I personally didn’t think it was unfair. In fact, the mean score of around 70 was curved up to 89, which is crazy(in my experience 70 is a normal mean for a math courses and prof only adds 10%) and demonstrates Patrick’s generosity and desire to see his students succeed. I personally think he doesn’t design problems to 'trick' you; instead, they are closely tied to the homework, so consistent effort in completing and reviewing assignments really pays off(in my experience).

The biggest challenge in the course was that the lecture notes often lagged behind the pace of the class. That said, Patrick provided notes in LaTeX format that were clear and helpful. It’s worth noting that this might have been his first time doing this kind of notes so some growing pains are understandable. I believe he’ll improve in future iterations because of how much he genuinely cares about his students’ learning. He is always willing to answer questions via email or during office hours, and he’s great at explaining concepts and providing thoughtful suggestions. On top of that, Patrick has a good sense of humor and does his best to help students relax during stressful times.

The homework typically consists of around 10 problems per assignment, which can be time-consuming, but in my experience, this is standard for math courses. Rather than viewing it as excessive, I believe the homework is essential for preparing us for future challenges, fostering deeper exploration and understanding. At the start of the course, we fell behind on the homework schedule, sometimes by as much as two lectures, which felt chaotic and frustrating. However, Patrick managed to catch up after the first midterm. Hopefully, he will improve his pacing in future courses to avoid such issues.

Overall, you'll really be fine if you 1. do homework 2. go to OH/send email if you have questions, his replies email very fast.

Highlights: Super fun guy! He's sweet and occasionally funny. Lectures are pretty good and he has office hours that are somewhat helpful. Homework is definitely long and took 3-4 hours on average but overall pretty manageable if you have the time.

Lowlights: Genuinely I have no words for how difficult and out of the ordinary the final was. The content up to the first midterm and the midterm itself was exceptionally easy, we averaged around a 90. The content after the first midterm gets harder VERY quickly and the second midterm had average scores of around a C. Keeping in mind that if you didn't do great on either of the midterms the final has a 55% weightage on your grade, that final was ABSOLUTELY brutal. The difficulty of both midterms were pretty okay and it felt like the material got harder but was still manageable, especially as after the first midterm it does kind of theoretical and proof based. The weeks after the midterm, especially week 10 were a shitshow. The material is EXPONENTIALLY harder than the weeks before and was so exceptionally rushed that, despite the very very very difficult nature of the material, you have less time to learn it. The final itself was...no words. He had stressed that the final would weight post midterm 2 material heavier but the already hard questions were made so hard that there was no possible way you could wrap your head around them. The supposed to be easy questions were changed up so badly that even the easiest 1-part question took me almost 15 minutes to figure out. It was SO much harder than the homework, midterms, and even the practice final. Genuinely, there is no way to prepare for the level of that final, coming from someone who only had one actual final this quarter and spend all of their time studying for this. If you make it past midterm 2 and are not doing great, please just drop the class and save yourself the pain. The entire class left that final saying that it was the worst final they've ever taken and I agree (coming from a CS and applied math major mind you).

Overall, if anyone ever says that this class is an easy upper div, please don't listen to them! I personally would not take this class again, but hopefully the curve is good enough to pull through.

This is the first time I’ve ever been prompted to leave a review. The class is fine in the beginning, midterms are fair. By the end the material is completely rushed and confusing. Just took the final and there is no way I would have been able to prepare for that. Three hours was not enough time. Everyone was there until the end and walked out saying that was the worst final they’ve ever taken. Hopefully the curve will be good, but be warned, his final is nothing like the midterms, and far more difficult than the homework and practice final. It also weighed the final two weeks of content the most which is the one he rushed through.

Patrick reminds me of the kid in your math class that would ask a question after learning a new concept just to show off that he already knew how to do it and knows more than everyone else. Take that as you will. If you love getting harder content thrown at you on a final, you’ll do fine. If you’re a normal person, he’ll prob piss you off.

The class content itself is relatively easy, especially the first half (first couple of weeks is just a review of Math 33B). The content of the midterms are pretty easy and I am yet to take the final. However, as likeable and nice as Professor Flynn is, his lectures tend to be tedious, boring, and overcomplicate many of the concepts within the course. Homework is set for you to practice the concepts that you learn in class, but the homework in this class is long, tedious, and many questions are repetitive. Although repetition is usually beneficial for a subject like Math, I'd say its better to prioritise addressing every concept taught in class and saving time, rather than making the student do excessively long integrations that we've done time and time again. Overall, the professor is super kind, articulate, and helpful, but just needs to work on the efficiency of his teaching and homework.

Patrick has super clear lectures and cares about content. The first half is pretty straightforward mathematical applications and the second half is a lot more theoretical and its somewhat not as connected, but if you go to office hours and ask questions Patrick is happy to delve deeper. Exams aren't tedious but do test your knowledge of the course! Definitely take 135 with him if you can

Patrick is sooooo cute hes the best professor ever!!! he has the cutest cardigans and hes really good at explaining things. He made all other professors pale in comparison. love this man. cutie patootie. HES GREAT!!!!!!!

He is just perfect! One of the best professors Ive ever met: Easy exams, super generous curve, low-workload, and well-organized lectures. Also super helpful during office hours! Take Math135 with professor Flynn and that's absolutely an easy free A.