Professor
Elisa Franco
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Most Helpful Review
Winter 2022 - Tough class. Very tough class. It was the biggest mindfuck I've ever had. Franco is a fantastic professor and she explains concepts clearly. But the homeworks are so bloody difficult. If it weren't for the TA's office hours, I would've actually failed every homework. The midterm was fairly challenging, but the final was fair. I would certainly recommend Franco for 107, but it's a tough class (not her fault - just difficult material)/
Winter 2022 - Tough class. Very tough class. It was the biggest mindfuck I've ever had. Franco is a fantastic professor and she explains concepts clearly. But the homeworks are so bloody difficult. If it weren't for the TA's office hours, I would've actually failed every homework. The midterm was fairly challenging, but the final was fair. I would certainly recommend Franco for 107, but it's a tough class (not her fault - just difficult material)/
Most Helpful Review
Spring 2025 - There's a reason Professor Franco is as adored as she is. She is by far the best professors in the department. She took one of the most difficult classes in the department and made it a joy. The grading curve she applies is helpful, but offering extra credit for showing up makes it so much easier to get motivated about this class. She is super responsive in her Office Hours and over email, and would adjust deadlines when she knew students were struggling. She's so passionate about this subject, even though it's the basic basic math behind the extremely difficult research she conducts. This class covers a lot of topics and a lot of math - it's easy to get mixed up between the different parameters in the system. I wish there was slightly more clarity there, but she did a great job of providing tables and consolidating information as much as possible. I think it's crucial that the class is taken right after 107 so the concepts are fresh - having her in both classes carried me through the midterm. She gave us candy for answering questions during the final review, and it's just one example of her shining character. Her slides can be a bit dense, and having an iPad is basically required to follow along. There's a lot of graphs, and they all have their own quirks that make them difficult to understand. She skips over derivations sometimes - it's nice for when the math would be more distracting than helpful, but it also sometimes makes it hard for me to stay engaged. I wish there were more quizzes so it would be easier for us to check our comprehension. The last assignment is also really difficult - we got launched into the control system software at the end and had to figure out how to use it ourselves. Like any class, there's room for improvement, but this is among the best professors in the department and certainly the best option to take 171A.
Spring 2025 - There's a reason Professor Franco is as adored as she is. She is by far the best professors in the department. She took one of the most difficult classes in the department and made it a joy. The grading curve she applies is helpful, but offering extra credit for showing up makes it so much easier to get motivated about this class. She is super responsive in her Office Hours and over email, and would adjust deadlines when she knew students were struggling. She's so passionate about this subject, even though it's the basic basic math behind the extremely difficult research she conducts. This class covers a lot of topics and a lot of math - it's easy to get mixed up between the different parameters in the system. I wish there was slightly more clarity there, but she did a great job of providing tables and consolidating information as much as possible. I think it's crucial that the class is taken right after 107 so the concepts are fresh - having her in both classes carried me through the midterm. She gave us candy for answering questions during the final review, and it's just one example of her shining character. Her slides can be a bit dense, and having an iPad is basically required to follow along. There's a lot of graphs, and they all have their own quirks that make them difficult to understand. She skips over derivations sometimes - it's nice for when the math would be more distracting than helpful, but it also sometimes makes it hard for me to stay engaged. I wish there were more quizzes so it would be easier for us to check our comprehension. The last assignment is also really difficult - we got launched into the control system software at the end and had to figure out how to use it ourselves. Like any class, there's room for improvement, but this is among the best professors in the department and certainly the best option to take 171A.
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