Professor

Richard Wong

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3.9
Overall Ratings
Based on 94 Users
Easiness 3.0 / 5 How easy the class is, 1 being extremely difficult and 5 being easy peasy.
Workload 3.9 / 5 How light the workload is, 1 being extremely heavy and 5 being extremely light.
Clarity 4.1 / 5 How clear the professor is, 1 being extremely unclear and 5 being very clear.
Helpfulness 4.2 / 5 How helpful the professor is, 1 being not helpful at all and 5 being extremely helpful.

Reviews (94)

3 of 6
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March 23, 2023
Quarter: Winter 2023
Grade: A-

Such a clear lecturer and understanding person. He sees so much more in his students than their grades, and his main priority is helping you grow as a student. Was a nice change from my 31b course last semester. If I could have a math professor like this every quarter, I would.

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March 20, 2023
Quarter: Winter 2023
Grade: N/A

MATH 32BH is probably the most exciting and worth-taking class among all math lower divs - even if you are not a math major, haven't taken 32AH, or are not interested in math(because you will hopefully be interested in math after taking this course anyway :) ). This is one of the few classes I enjoy doing every homework or report.
Again, as the comments in 32AH said, the instructors are supportive; the lectures are recorded; the lecture notes are typed; the grading is lenient; the workload is light. Everything about this class (except that it's a 9 am class) is so fantastic.

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0 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
Feb. 3, 2023
Quarter: Fall 2022
Grade: C

If you are good at understanding math concepts, you will probably like this class. The grading system is very nice. However, if you know you struggle to understand math, spare yourself. I cried before and after every exam, and during every challenge problem set. I think I popped a blood vessel in my eye from crying so much before my final. Every time I went to office hours I left more confused than I arrived. I would think I maybe understood something, and then I'd get to the test and the content would be leagues harder than anything I had done in class or to prepare for the test. If you are good at math, the grading scheme of this class is good because you don't have any weekly homework, only an assignment in discussion, 2 challenge problem sets, 2 midterms, and a final. If you understand the content, you don't have to spend too much time outside of class studying. If you don't understand, prepare for this class to take over every waking moment of your life. You'll go to sleep confused about challenge problems and be haunted by dreams of floating vectors and a 50% midterm score.

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0 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
Dec. 22, 2022
Quarter: Spring 2022
Grade: C+

Please save yourself and do not take Professor Wong for this course. I have always loved math and performed well in all prior math classes. Multi variable calculus is very humbling. Reminds me of physics kind of. Won’t was not helpful at all and his exams were absolutely terrible. I got a 77 on the first midterm and a 49 on the second. I studied for days, using the material from lectures and practice exams. The questions barely had to do with what was taught- I copied down all of the practice exam questions onto the single index card he allowed as a cheat sheet, and none of the information helped. Neither did any in-class questions. The final was even worse. I studied for weeks, doing old final exams I found online and made my cheat sheet include EVERYTHING possible that was taught in class. I still barely got a C- on the final.
The challenge problems were terrible. I am not a writer nor have I ever been taught how to write answers and solutions to problems as though they are in a textbook… No guidance was given for these assignments, and it did not help that my TA didn’t know how to do anything. My TA also left halfway through the quarter and we got a new one who was slightly more helpful.
This class made me sob, I seriously did not think I was going to pass. This class was torture.

Helpful?

0 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
Dec. 15, 2022
Quarter: Fall 2022
Grade: A

Richard Wong is an excellent teacher in the math department. For his lectures, he creates slideshows which he uploads the night before and then annotates, and uploads his annotated lectures afterwards. He also posts lecture recordings. People complained about his lectures being boring, but this is really just due to his somewhat monotonous voice. He packs a lot of info into his lectures, and if you are paying attention and taking notes they go by quickly.

He is also very open in office hours and is willing to address student concerns. He is willing to take students' questions after lecture, and once stood for 20 minutes answering questions about a tough problem set. Also, I emailed him to set up a private office hours meeting to ask about a grading issue on my midterm, and he was super responsive and helpful.

Another important thing is that he likes to assign challenge problem sets, where students address difficult real world problems with mathematics and then do a formal write up explaining their solutions. For any students pursuing stem, these assignments are great practice for higher level math courses where this type of exposition is necessary. They are time consuming though, and if you aren't going into stem it could be a waste of time. Also, the grading can be kind of finnicky with different TAs, but generally if you are thorough you will do very well.

It seems like many past students of Richard's found immense difficulty with his exams, but it definitely seems like he toned it down this quarter. They were definitely not easy, but the first midterm had an average of 85. The second midterm was definitely much harder, but there is a grading scheme which allows you to drop the worst midterm. The final was definitely tricky, featuring problems which he hadn't explained how to do in class, but he absolutely prepares us well enough to solve them. Overall, I would definitely recommend Richard. You will certainly have to work in his class more than some other 32A professors, but you will walk away having gained some serious knowledge of multivariable calculus.

Helpful?

0 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
Feb. 4, 2023
Quarter: Spring 2022
Grade: A-

Having taken all the lower div maths, I have to say, this guy is by far the worst. His ability to explain material is terrible. And he made us do these 'challenge problem sets,' which literally just involved us getting the answers from the TAs. Not to mention the grading done by the TAs were terrible as well. They graded based on how visually appealing your assignment looked while the content didn't matter. Don't take this class if you want to learn from the professor. Fuck this guy and his saggy tits.

Helpful?

0 2 Please log in to provide feedback.
Jan. 11, 2023
Quarter: Fall 2022
Grade: A

Wong is a very fair professor. If you learn the material, you will be able to do well in his class. Make sure to do lots of practice, because the optional assigned homework problems are quite straightforward. I'd recommend doing the more challenging problems in the textbook or finding old exams as preparation for the midterms. Wong is helpful during his office hours, as well, so if you need help those are a great resource. Wong's lectures were informative. He records his lectures and uploads slides, and his handwriting is clear and he speaks easily. I attended most of his lectures as I found them helpful. The most time consuming part of this class was probably the challenge reports, as they took a long time to write up mathematically, especially if you don't have much experience writing math papers. Overall though, if you put in the work, you will do well. I was able to learn a lot from this class, and I would take this class again.

Helpful?

0 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
Jan. 25, 2023
Quarter: Fall 2022
Grade: B-

The content of this class is very difficult, but professor Wong is your best bet at doing well. He goes at a great pace and explains everything throughoutly. The homework is optional - but I highly recommend doing it and not making the same mistake as me.

Helpful?

0 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
Jan. 21, 2023
Quarter: Fall 2022
Grade: A+

Dr. Wong is amazing! He was amazing this quarter and our whole class adored him. I'm not sure why his Fall 2021 reviews are a bit lower for both this class and 32A - it might be because was his first quarter teaching. Here are a few highlights:

- Dr. Wong is extremely helpful and makes himself very available for questions. He took questions for 45 minutes after every class on top of office hours. He was also very good at CampusWire questions and emails (he normally gets back to you in a few hours).
- He's very kind - he is not judgmental at all, and you never feel stupid asking him questions. He also does his best to understand the essence of the question and increase understanding rather than just quickly doing the homework question like some other professors do.
- He's extremely organized and provides tons of resources. He uploads his lecture slides (which are very organized and beautiful) a few days before class, then uploads the annotated lecture slides and the class recording very shortly after class. He also provides these "class notes" on GitHub which is essentially a textbook he wrote for the class, which also has a ton of extra practice problems he's willing to go over in office hours. He uploads all of the canvas assignments and resources for the entire quarter before the first class even happens.
- He works really hard. Before the TA strike happened, the grades for all assignments/reports/test were released within a week. When the TA strike happened, he didn't change the class at all and just took over and graded all the assignments himself.

Overall, the material is difficult but Dr. Wong works really hard to create a nice and accepting learning environment and genuinely wants us to get a lot out of the class. If you enjoy problem-solving in math, DEFINITELY take this course. I would note that you should be prepared to self-study beyond the homework if you want to take this course - it is fast-paced and conceptually challenging, and as Dr. Wong says, you shouldn't expect to understand everything the first time you hear it. We got thrown in the deep end for the first few weeks and covered 75% of the math 33A syllabus, and we all doubted our confidence to succeed in the class. The first few weeks were definitely the hardest though, and once you get used to writing proofs, it's not too bad at all. I would definitely recommend this class - Dr. Wong is great, the class atmosphere is a lot of fun, and you'll learn so much!

PS: Dr. Wong told us that everyone last year ended up with an A, and I'm pretty sure it was the same this year. If you do the work, you'll definitely get the grade you want! He's a super generous grader on tests.

Helpful?

0 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
Jan. 12, 2023
Quarter: Fall 2022
Grade: A

I really enjoyed Professor Wong's class. His lectures aren't exactly exciting, but he makes it as easy as possible to get the material. He posted the lecture slides a day before each lecture and posts them with the annotations from lecture again afterward, along with a recording of the lecture. His workload was extremely manageable: homework was never collected or part of the grade so it wasn't required. Doing these problems was definitely helpful for the midterms, but you have the flexibility to do it (or not do it) whenever you want to and at your own pace depending on how good you feel with the material.

The more difficult thing about the class is his exams. They are challenging but very doable and on par with some of the more difficult homework questions. As long as you do the homework consistently, the tests won't be that bad especially since the grading scheme for his test questions is very generous with partial credit. Before each exam, there were plenty of resources to review including a practice midterm made by him with the key posted and another practice midterm by LAs. Additionally, he allows notecards on the exam which was always sufficient for all the material you need to remember.

Discussions were generally pretty smooth. Usually, our TA would review some problem or concept and then let us do the quiz individually, then get us to our groups to finish. Basically, the quiz section of your grade is always free because you get to work with your group plus the next 24 hours after discussion to finish and submit. Our TA's office hours were right after our section so we could always ask him to work through the problem for us.

The most unconventional thing about Professor Wong's class is that one of the main grade components were challenge problem reports, typed up solutions to a set of contextualized math problems. It is a good amount of work and time, but the actual difficulty of the math problems is not crazy. You have two during the quarter and he lets you revise the first one after you get your grade. He thinks of this as a good counterbalance to your grade if you are a weak test-taker, and you should take your time to do well since it really will offset a bad test score.

Helpful?

0 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
MATH 32A
Quarter: Winter 2023
Grade: A-
March 23, 2023

Such a clear lecturer and understanding person. He sees so much more in his students than their grades, and his main priority is helping you grow as a student. Was a nice change from my 31b course last semester. If I could have a math professor like this every quarter, I would.

Helpful?

0 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
MATH 32BH
Quarter: Winter 2023
Grade: N/A
March 20, 2023

MATH 32BH is probably the most exciting and worth-taking class among all math lower divs - even if you are not a math major, haven't taken 32AH, or are not interested in math(because you will hopefully be interested in math after taking this course anyway :) ). This is one of the few classes I enjoy doing every homework or report.
Again, as the comments in 32AH said, the instructors are supportive; the lectures are recorded; the lecture notes are typed; the grading is lenient; the workload is light. Everything about this class (except that it's a 9 am class) is so fantastic.

Helpful?

0 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
MATH 32A
Quarter: Fall 2022
Grade: C
Feb. 3, 2023

If you are good at understanding math concepts, you will probably like this class. The grading system is very nice. However, if you know you struggle to understand math, spare yourself. I cried before and after every exam, and during every challenge problem set. I think I popped a blood vessel in my eye from crying so much before my final. Every time I went to office hours I left more confused than I arrived. I would think I maybe understood something, and then I'd get to the test and the content would be leagues harder than anything I had done in class or to prepare for the test. If you are good at math, the grading scheme of this class is good because you don't have any weekly homework, only an assignment in discussion, 2 challenge problem sets, 2 midterms, and a final. If you understand the content, you don't have to spend too much time outside of class studying. If you don't understand, prepare for this class to take over every waking moment of your life. You'll go to sleep confused about challenge problems and be haunted by dreams of floating vectors and a 50% midterm score.

Helpful?

0 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
MATH 32A
Quarter: Spring 2022
Grade: C+
Dec. 22, 2022

Please save yourself and do not take Professor Wong for this course. I have always loved math and performed well in all prior math classes. Multi variable calculus is very humbling. Reminds me of physics kind of. Won’t was not helpful at all and his exams were absolutely terrible. I got a 77 on the first midterm and a 49 on the second. I studied for days, using the material from lectures and practice exams. The questions barely had to do with what was taught- I copied down all of the practice exam questions onto the single index card he allowed as a cheat sheet, and none of the information helped. Neither did any in-class questions. The final was even worse. I studied for weeks, doing old final exams I found online and made my cheat sheet include EVERYTHING possible that was taught in class. I still barely got a C- on the final.
The challenge problems were terrible. I am not a writer nor have I ever been taught how to write answers and solutions to problems as though they are in a textbook… No guidance was given for these assignments, and it did not help that my TA didn’t know how to do anything. My TA also left halfway through the quarter and we got a new one who was slightly more helpful.
This class made me sob, I seriously did not think I was going to pass. This class was torture.

Helpful?

0 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
MATH 32A
Quarter: Fall 2022
Grade: A
Dec. 15, 2022

Richard Wong is an excellent teacher in the math department. For his lectures, he creates slideshows which he uploads the night before and then annotates, and uploads his annotated lectures afterwards. He also posts lecture recordings. People complained about his lectures being boring, but this is really just due to his somewhat monotonous voice. He packs a lot of info into his lectures, and if you are paying attention and taking notes they go by quickly.

He is also very open in office hours and is willing to address student concerns. He is willing to take students' questions after lecture, and once stood for 20 minutes answering questions about a tough problem set. Also, I emailed him to set up a private office hours meeting to ask about a grading issue on my midterm, and he was super responsive and helpful.

Another important thing is that he likes to assign challenge problem sets, where students address difficult real world problems with mathematics and then do a formal write up explaining their solutions. For any students pursuing stem, these assignments are great practice for higher level math courses where this type of exposition is necessary. They are time consuming though, and if you aren't going into stem it could be a waste of time. Also, the grading can be kind of finnicky with different TAs, but generally if you are thorough you will do very well.

It seems like many past students of Richard's found immense difficulty with his exams, but it definitely seems like he toned it down this quarter. They were definitely not easy, but the first midterm had an average of 85. The second midterm was definitely much harder, but there is a grading scheme which allows you to drop the worst midterm. The final was definitely tricky, featuring problems which he hadn't explained how to do in class, but he absolutely prepares us well enough to solve them. Overall, I would definitely recommend Richard. You will certainly have to work in his class more than some other 32A professors, but you will walk away having gained some serious knowledge of multivariable calculus.

Helpful?

0 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
MATH 32A
Quarter: Spring 2022
Grade: A-
Feb. 4, 2023

Having taken all the lower div maths, I have to say, this guy is by far the worst. His ability to explain material is terrible. And he made us do these 'challenge problem sets,' which literally just involved us getting the answers from the TAs. Not to mention the grading done by the TAs were terrible as well. They graded based on how visually appealing your assignment looked while the content didn't matter. Don't take this class if you want to learn from the professor. Fuck this guy and his saggy tits.

Helpful?

0 2 Please log in to provide feedback.
MATH 32A
Quarter: Fall 2022
Grade: A
Jan. 11, 2023

Wong is a very fair professor. If you learn the material, you will be able to do well in his class. Make sure to do lots of practice, because the optional assigned homework problems are quite straightforward. I'd recommend doing the more challenging problems in the textbook or finding old exams as preparation for the midterms. Wong is helpful during his office hours, as well, so if you need help those are a great resource. Wong's lectures were informative. He records his lectures and uploads slides, and his handwriting is clear and he speaks easily. I attended most of his lectures as I found them helpful. The most time consuming part of this class was probably the challenge reports, as they took a long time to write up mathematically, especially if you don't have much experience writing math papers. Overall though, if you put in the work, you will do well. I was able to learn a lot from this class, and I would take this class again.

Helpful?

0 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
MATH 32A
Quarter: Fall 2022
Grade: B-
Jan. 25, 2023

The content of this class is very difficult, but professor Wong is your best bet at doing well. He goes at a great pace and explains everything throughoutly. The homework is optional - but I highly recommend doing it and not making the same mistake as me.

Helpful?

0 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
MATH 32AH
Quarter: Fall 2022
Grade: A+
Jan. 21, 2023

Dr. Wong is amazing! He was amazing this quarter and our whole class adored him. I'm not sure why his Fall 2021 reviews are a bit lower for both this class and 32A - it might be because was his first quarter teaching. Here are a few highlights:

- Dr. Wong is extremely helpful and makes himself very available for questions. He took questions for 45 minutes after every class on top of office hours. He was also very good at CampusWire questions and emails (he normally gets back to you in a few hours).
- He's very kind - he is not judgmental at all, and you never feel stupid asking him questions. He also does his best to understand the essence of the question and increase understanding rather than just quickly doing the homework question like some other professors do.
- He's extremely organized and provides tons of resources. He uploads his lecture slides (which are very organized and beautiful) a few days before class, then uploads the annotated lecture slides and the class recording very shortly after class. He also provides these "class notes" on GitHub which is essentially a textbook he wrote for the class, which also has a ton of extra practice problems he's willing to go over in office hours. He uploads all of the canvas assignments and resources for the entire quarter before the first class even happens.
- He works really hard. Before the TA strike happened, the grades for all assignments/reports/test were released within a week. When the TA strike happened, he didn't change the class at all and just took over and graded all the assignments himself.

Overall, the material is difficult but Dr. Wong works really hard to create a nice and accepting learning environment and genuinely wants us to get a lot out of the class. If you enjoy problem-solving in math, DEFINITELY take this course. I would note that you should be prepared to self-study beyond the homework if you want to take this course - it is fast-paced and conceptually challenging, and as Dr. Wong says, you shouldn't expect to understand everything the first time you hear it. We got thrown in the deep end for the first few weeks and covered 75% of the math 33A syllabus, and we all doubted our confidence to succeed in the class. The first few weeks were definitely the hardest though, and once you get used to writing proofs, it's not too bad at all. I would definitely recommend this class - Dr. Wong is great, the class atmosphere is a lot of fun, and you'll learn so much!

PS: Dr. Wong told us that everyone last year ended up with an A, and I'm pretty sure it was the same this year. If you do the work, you'll definitely get the grade you want! He's a super generous grader on tests.

Helpful?

0 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
MATH 32A
Quarter: Fall 2022
Grade: A
Jan. 12, 2023

I really enjoyed Professor Wong's class. His lectures aren't exactly exciting, but he makes it as easy as possible to get the material. He posted the lecture slides a day before each lecture and posts them with the annotations from lecture again afterward, along with a recording of the lecture. His workload was extremely manageable: homework was never collected or part of the grade so it wasn't required. Doing these problems was definitely helpful for the midterms, but you have the flexibility to do it (or not do it) whenever you want to and at your own pace depending on how good you feel with the material.

The more difficult thing about the class is his exams. They are challenging but very doable and on par with some of the more difficult homework questions. As long as you do the homework consistently, the tests won't be that bad especially since the grading scheme for his test questions is very generous with partial credit. Before each exam, there were plenty of resources to review including a practice midterm made by him with the key posted and another practice midterm by LAs. Additionally, he allows notecards on the exam which was always sufficient for all the material you need to remember.

Discussions were generally pretty smooth. Usually, our TA would review some problem or concept and then let us do the quiz individually, then get us to our groups to finish. Basically, the quiz section of your grade is always free because you get to work with your group plus the next 24 hours after discussion to finish and submit. Our TA's office hours were right after our section so we could always ask him to work through the problem for us.

The most unconventional thing about Professor Wong's class is that one of the main grade components were challenge problem reports, typed up solutions to a set of contextualized math problems. It is a good amount of work and time, but the actual difficulty of the math problems is not crazy. You have two during the quarter and he lets you revise the first one after you get your grade. He thinks of this as a good counterbalance to your grade if you are a weak test-taker, and you should take your time to do well since it really will offset a bad test score.

Helpful?

0 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
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