Professor
Paul Balmer
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Most Helpful Review
He is a pretty clear Lecturer, and his tests are not hard. But I did not understand why he cared about brackets and those details so much! I missed two points during the whole quarter because of not writing the brackets and not indicating which one is Q and R for QR factorization. Because of this I missed A+ by 0.3%!!!! He is a harsh grader, he made 94% to be A and 98% to be A+. Just be careful about those brackets when you take him he is a fun of brackets!
He is a pretty clear Lecturer, and his tests are not hard. But I did not understand why he cared about brackets and those details so much! I missed two points during the whole quarter because of not writing the brackets and not indicating which one is Q and R for QR factorization. Because of this I missed A+ by 0.3%!!!! He is a harsh grader, he made 94% to be A and 98% to be A+. Just be careful about those brackets when you take him he is a fun of brackets!
Most Helpful Review
Spring 2019 - While the class is definitely doable if you have the time and the will to really learn the material, Professor Balmer is definitely not a professor I would recommend for Math 115A. His lectures were meh (definitely not the most engaging things in the universe and his delivery of the material was definitely awkward at points), and the homework was really time consuming if you actually do it (it's only marked for completion, and you don't have to do all of it). Exams in the class were pretty awful as many of the reviews below suggest. To put things into perspective, the first midterm had an average of 50%, the second midterm had an average of 30%, and the final had an average of 47%. The class culture is pretty depressing as a result of these scores and Balmer's poor read on student understanding really shows in this respect. If you get stuck with Balmer, here's some advice: (1) He's not joking when he tells you to read the book. The book is 10x better at explaining the concepts than he is and if you read the assigned material beforehand, lecture will become somewhat useful for you. (2) Do not waste your time studying with mechanical proofs because Balmer makes you complete more elaborate tasks on the exams. For example, you are much more likely to provide an example of some obscure linear transformation rather than verifying a linear transformation is indeed a linear transformation. (3) Don't be hard on yourself after exams. No one really does well. Take a shot of vodka and let life go on. (Top score on one of the midterms was a 60%) While I definitely survived this class with a higher grade than I would've ever dreamed of, I don't think I'll be putting myself through another Balmer class ever again to keep my sanity haha...
Spring 2019 - While the class is definitely doable if you have the time and the will to really learn the material, Professor Balmer is definitely not a professor I would recommend for Math 115A. His lectures were meh (definitely not the most engaging things in the universe and his delivery of the material was definitely awkward at points), and the homework was really time consuming if you actually do it (it's only marked for completion, and you don't have to do all of it). Exams in the class were pretty awful as many of the reviews below suggest. To put things into perspective, the first midterm had an average of 50%, the second midterm had an average of 30%, and the final had an average of 47%. The class culture is pretty depressing as a result of these scores and Balmer's poor read on student understanding really shows in this respect. If you get stuck with Balmer, here's some advice: (1) He's not joking when he tells you to read the book. The book is 10x better at explaining the concepts than he is and if you read the assigned material beforehand, lecture will become somewhat useful for you. (2) Do not waste your time studying with mechanical proofs because Balmer makes you complete more elaborate tasks on the exams. For example, you are much more likely to provide an example of some obscure linear transformation rather than verifying a linear transformation is indeed a linear transformation. (3) Don't be hard on yourself after exams. No one really does well. Take a shot of vodka and let life go on. (Top score on one of the midterms was a 60%) While I definitely survived this class with a higher grade than I would've ever dreamed of, I don't think I'll be putting myself through another Balmer class ever again to keep my sanity haha...
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Most Helpful Review
Fall 2023 - Professor Balmer uses his own lecture notes. You start out with fundamentals of category theory, such as the Yoneda lemma and adjoint functors, and move on to group theory and ring theory. For group theory and ring theory, you will be covering similar material from Math 110AB, except for the facts that (1) you will use the language of category theory often so you'll wrap your head around familar concepts but in different language, and that (2) the pace of the course is three times faster. Professor Balmer's tests are hard - the average grade for the midterm was less than 50% and the average for final was around 60~70% - but he curves. As category theory is covered in a very short amount of time, you may find the first two weeks of Math 210A, which is all about category theory, challenging. However, know that you will and can get through it, and that everyone else in your class is also struggling to learn category theory in such a short amount of time - so I would not be discouraged. I would definitely reach out to your peers to study together. Whether or not it's Professor Balmer who is teaching Math 210A, I would not take this course if you don't have familiarity with all or most of what's covered in Math 110AB; you'll be crushed if you are taking this as your first abstract algebra course. Again, it's expected that you already know the Math 110AB material. I would make sure that I am being courteous and respectful when I am engaging with Professor Balmer; he is very much approachable once you know that he appreciates courteousness. He is a very funny person, I laughed several times during his lectures. There is no attendance but his lectures go so fast. His lecture notes can be terse at times, so I would not hesitate to confer different books on abstract algebra as supplements if his lecture notes confuse you. I would like to thank Professor Balmer for his teaching this course.
Fall 2023 - Professor Balmer uses his own lecture notes. You start out with fundamentals of category theory, such as the Yoneda lemma and adjoint functors, and move on to group theory and ring theory. For group theory and ring theory, you will be covering similar material from Math 110AB, except for the facts that (1) you will use the language of category theory often so you'll wrap your head around familar concepts but in different language, and that (2) the pace of the course is three times faster. Professor Balmer's tests are hard - the average grade for the midterm was less than 50% and the average for final was around 60~70% - but he curves. As category theory is covered in a very short amount of time, you may find the first two weeks of Math 210A, which is all about category theory, challenging. However, know that you will and can get through it, and that everyone else in your class is also struggling to learn category theory in such a short amount of time - so I would not be discouraged. I would definitely reach out to your peers to study together. Whether or not it's Professor Balmer who is teaching Math 210A, I would not take this course if you don't have familiarity with all or most of what's covered in Math 110AB; you'll be crushed if you are taking this as your first abstract algebra course. Again, it's expected that you already know the Math 110AB material. I would make sure that I am being courteous and respectful when I am engaging with Professor Balmer; he is very much approachable once you know that he appreciates courteousness. He is a very funny person, I laughed several times during his lectures. There is no attendance but his lectures go so fast. His lecture notes can be terse at times, so I would not hesitate to confer different books on abstract algebra as supplements if his lecture notes confuse you. I would like to thank Professor Balmer for his teaching this course.
Most Helpful Review
Winter 2024 - Professor Balmer's 210B is tough, but I think it can be worth it if you are into abstract algebra. It covers everything from the middle of 110B to the end of 110C. It also covers Morita theory, projective and injective modules, tensor-hom adjunction, etc. The midterm is hard - the average was around 17-19 out of 50 - and the final's average was around 70%. He curves though. I would definitely work together with your peers. I like his kindness - I would take care to be courteous when I am interacting with him as he appreciates that. He uses his own lecture notes, which can be terse at times - if you find it a little difficult to understand his lecture notes, I would recommend Atiyah and MacDonald's textbook as a supplemental textbook.
Winter 2024 - Professor Balmer's 210B is tough, but I think it can be worth it if you are into abstract algebra. It covers everything from the middle of 110B to the end of 110C. It also covers Morita theory, projective and injective modules, tensor-hom adjunction, etc. The midterm is hard - the average was around 17-19 out of 50 - and the final's average was around 70%. He curves though. I would definitely work together with your peers. I like his kindness - I would take care to be courteous when I am interacting with him as he appreciates that. He uses his own lecture notes, which can be terse at times - if you find it a little difficult to understand his lecture notes, I would recommend Atiyah and MacDonald's textbook as a supplemental textbook.
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