Sungjin Kim
Department of Mathematics
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4.1
Overall Rating
Based on 9 Users
Easiness 3.3 / 5 How easy the class is, 1 being extremely difficult and 5 being easy peasy.
Clarity 4.0 / 5 How clear the class is, 1 being extremely unclear and 5 being very clear.
Workload 3.6 / 5 How much workload the class is, 1 being extremely heavy and 5 being extremely light.
Helpfulness 3.7 / 5 How helpful the class is, 1 being not helpful at all and 5 being extremely helpful.

TOP TAGS

  • Needs Textbook
  • Is Podcasted
  • Would Take Again
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Reviews (3)

1 of 1
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Quarter: Spring 2015
Grade: B
Feb. 3, 2016

I took his Math 32A class in Spring 2015, and I thought his lectures made a lot of sense--to the point that I actually made sure I attended his lectures. Generally, I'm the type to study from the textbook (because I find doing problems more helpful than hearing about the proof), but Professor Kim didn't exactly go "by the book." He followed it enough that you can tell which chapter and which subject you're currently on, but I found his in-class explanations much more profound and easy to understand than anything the book gave me, even in the summaries. A major point is his organization, and his ability to relay that in his lectures: I was able to follow him really easily with the way he labeled things frequently, especially when he's clarifying the topic that we're covering.

I took the course with a few friends, and they seem to think he's just okay. Again, not everyone will like a certain professor's teaching style, but I would recommend trying him out. Especially if you're taking the Math 31A-33B series. The 32AB courses are notorious for being the hardest of the sequence, and if you can find a professor that makes sense, that's a huge plus.

He posts his notes on the class website in PDF format, so it might be a little messy because they're handwritten. My class was podcasted, He has two grading schemes, both of which are variations on how much the homeworks, 2 midterms, and final are weighted. He will drop the lowest two homework scores.

He posts practice midterms/final and solutions before each exam, so he really tries his best to provide as much material as possible to help his students prepare. His homeworks are generally formatted as: two-three problems that he writes himself + additional problems from the textbook. The ones he writes are more conceptual, so they're usually the hardest ones of the homework.

I'm not sure if this makes an impact, but he does have a slight Asian accent, and if you're not used to listening to it, he may be a little harder to understand. However, I suggest that you ignore that factor and learn how to decipher accents since it'll keep coming up anyways.

Helpful?

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Quarter: N/A
Grade: N/A
June 21, 2015

Good job, reviewer below! You got a lot of the technical shizzle wizzle right, so I won't mention much of that.

I had Kim for 32A as well as 31B and he seems to gradually improve. Towards the end of 31B, he started sending out lecture notes around lecture time. He did this all throughout 32A. He also asked for the class to be podcasted in 32A, and overall his practice exams in 32A were much more accurate than those in 32B. I wonder how much more he will change.

My only real complaint is the erratic nature of the homework... it said on the syllabus, "due every Wednesday" but sometimes the due dates were Monday... Friday... sometimes weeks didn't even have homework... I guess this sometimes worked in our favour, but it was still fairly inconsistent.

Helpful?

0 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
Quarter: N/A
Grade: N/A
June 18, 2015

Lectures
He made his class easy to take because he sent out his lecture notes beforehand and also did Bruincast. His lectures were useful when you looked at the notes afterwards for help on the homework. He did a fair number of examples in class. The material itself is not difficult. Having received a C+ in Math 31AB, the new material here was easier to digest. There is some multivariable stuff involving limits, so you should be careful there.

Grading Schemes
Scheme 1
Homework 15%
Midterm 1 20%
Midterm 2 20%
Final 45%

Scheme 2
Homework 15%
Better Midterm 30%
Final 55%

Homework
His homework load was fair (~10 problems per week) and the grader chose three easy problems to correct. If you somehow messed up, he would drop the lowest homework score.

Exams
They were easy. Unlike other professors, he didn't try to trick you with ridiculous functions and whatnot. I got 100% on the first midterm, 88% on the second, and 80% on the final. The medians were 93%, 83%, and 80%, respectively. Unfortunately, I ended with an 89% and received a B+. The class was too easy, so there was a traditional grading scale and no curve.

Office Hours
He had two office hours per week, but I only went once. He was nice about my question, but I preferred to attend my TA's office hours.

Pro-Tip
The only thing you need to study for exams are his practice exams. They are basically the same as his actual exams; don't bother with anything else he suggests that you study. For example, he taught Kepler's laws, but didn't test on them. I was paranoid about the final because I thought he would throw a curveball, so I studied some other things and didn't spend as much time on the practice final. The actual final was basically the same as his practice one. Cue my regrets.

tl;dr Take him for 32A, but make sure you are on top of his practice exams.

Helpful?

0 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
Quarter: Spring 2015
Grade: B
Feb. 3, 2016

I took his Math 32A class in Spring 2015, and I thought his lectures made a lot of sense--to the point that I actually made sure I attended his lectures. Generally, I'm the type to study from the textbook (because I find doing problems more helpful than hearing about the proof), but Professor Kim didn't exactly go "by the book." He followed it enough that you can tell which chapter and which subject you're currently on, but I found his in-class explanations much more profound and easy to understand than anything the book gave me, even in the summaries. A major point is his organization, and his ability to relay that in his lectures: I was able to follow him really easily with the way he labeled things frequently, especially when he's clarifying the topic that we're covering.

I took the course with a few friends, and they seem to think he's just okay. Again, not everyone will like a certain professor's teaching style, but I would recommend trying him out. Especially if you're taking the Math 31A-33B series. The 32AB courses are notorious for being the hardest of the sequence, and if you can find a professor that makes sense, that's a huge plus.

He posts his notes on the class website in PDF format, so it might be a little messy because they're handwritten. My class was podcasted, He has two grading schemes, both of which are variations on how much the homeworks, 2 midterms, and final are weighted. He will drop the lowest two homework scores.

He posts practice midterms/final and solutions before each exam, so he really tries his best to provide as much material as possible to help his students prepare. His homeworks are generally formatted as: two-three problems that he writes himself + additional problems from the textbook. The ones he writes are more conceptual, so they're usually the hardest ones of the homework.

I'm not sure if this makes an impact, but he does have a slight Asian accent, and if you're not used to listening to it, he may be a little harder to understand. However, I suggest that you ignore that factor and learn how to decipher accents since it'll keep coming up anyways.

Helpful?

0 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
Quarter: N/A
Grade: N/A
June 21, 2015

Good job, reviewer below! You got a lot of the technical shizzle wizzle right, so I won't mention much of that.

I had Kim for 32A as well as 31B and he seems to gradually improve. Towards the end of 31B, he started sending out lecture notes around lecture time. He did this all throughout 32A. He also asked for the class to be podcasted in 32A, and overall his practice exams in 32A were much more accurate than those in 32B. I wonder how much more he will change.

My only real complaint is the erratic nature of the homework... it said on the syllabus, "due every Wednesday" but sometimes the due dates were Monday... Friday... sometimes weeks didn't even have homework... I guess this sometimes worked in our favour, but it was still fairly inconsistent.

Helpful?

0 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
Quarter: N/A
Grade: N/A
June 18, 2015

Lectures
He made his class easy to take because he sent out his lecture notes beforehand and also did Bruincast. His lectures were useful when you looked at the notes afterwards for help on the homework. He did a fair number of examples in class. The material itself is not difficult. Having received a C+ in Math 31AB, the new material here was easier to digest. There is some multivariable stuff involving limits, so you should be careful there.

Grading Schemes
Scheme 1
Homework 15%
Midterm 1 20%
Midterm 2 20%
Final 45%

Scheme 2
Homework 15%
Better Midterm 30%
Final 55%

Homework
His homework load was fair (~10 problems per week) and the grader chose three easy problems to correct. If you somehow messed up, he would drop the lowest homework score.

Exams
They were easy. Unlike other professors, he didn't try to trick you with ridiculous functions and whatnot. I got 100% on the first midterm, 88% on the second, and 80% on the final. The medians were 93%, 83%, and 80%, respectively. Unfortunately, I ended with an 89% and received a B+. The class was too easy, so there was a traditional grading scale and no curve.

Office Hours
He had two office hours per week, but I only went once. He was nice about my question, but I preferred to attend my TA's office hours.

Pro-Tip
The only thing you need to study for exams are his practice exams. They are basically the same as his actual exams; don't bother with anything else he suggests that you study. For example, he taught Kepler's laws, but didn't test on them. I was paranoid about the final because I thought he would throw a curveball, so I studied some other things and didn't spend as much time on the practice final. The actual final was basically the same as his practice one. Cue my regrets.

tl;dr Take him for 32A, but make sure you are on top of his practice exams.

Helpful?

0 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
1 of 1
4.1
Overall Rating
Based on 9 Users
Easiness 3.3 / 5 How easy the class is, 1 being extremely difficult and 5 being easy peasy.
Clarity 4.0 / 5 How clear the class is, 1 being extremely unclear and 5 being very clear.
Workload 3.6 / 5 How much workload the class is, 1 being extremely heavy and 5 being extremely light.
Helpfulness 3.7 / 5 How helpful the class is, 1 being not helpful at all and 5 being extremely helpful.

TOP TAGS

  • Needs Textbook
    (1)
  • Is Podcasted
    (1)
  • Would Take Again
    (1)
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