Alexandru Nica - University of Waterloo, Waterloo, ON

Professor: Alexandru Nica

Department: Mathematics

College: University of Waterloo, Waterloo, ON

Rating # 1

Overview:

• Course: PMATH351
• Grade Received: B
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: Yes
• Attendance: Mandatory

Comment:

Best prof ever! Ez midterm, hard assignments, and the final was like a slasher :(

Rating # 2

Overview:

• Course: MATH247
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 1.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: No
• Would Take Again: Yes
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

His exams are trivial. Trivially 100%.

Rating # 3

Overview:

• Course: MATH247
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: No
• Would Take Again: No
• Attendance: Not Mandatory

Comment:

He is the person that lets you question why you have talent in mathematics. And the answer, at least for me, is no.

Rating # 4

Overview:

• Course: MATH247
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: No
• Would Take Again: No
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

OP got deleted. 1. His exams are really hard and makes avg very low for an advanced course 2. Lots of things in this course he didn't cover, not recommended if you really want to learn PMATH. You will have to pick up lots of materials to make up for this course.

Rating # 5

Overview:

• Course: MATH247
• Grade Received: C+
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: No
• Would Take Again: No
• Attendance: Not Mandatory

Comment:

His lecture is very well organized and goes very slow and you thought you have totally understand everything (in fact not) , but the exams are extremely difficult, and do not have curve. It is good to take this course to learn something but do not expect a very high grade like Math 147 and 148.

Rating # 6

Overview:

• Course: MATH247
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: No
• Would Take Again: No
• Attendance: Not Mandatory

Comment:

I literally spent my past week studying math 247 and was still not able to do well on the exam. Except his clear representation in the class, he covered so much less material and expects you to know everything from scratch. On exam, He expects you to be a copier and Gauss at the same time. In addition, He is not reachable most of the time.

Rating # 7

Overview:

• Course: MATH137
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: No
• Attendance: Mandatory

Comment:

Read the textbook before class. He expects you to do this and trust me it helps a lot. Didn't enjoy lectures as much because of his accent, and whenever he lectures he sometimes speaks to the board so it can be hard to hear at times. Nice guy though!

Rating # 8

Overview:

• Course: MATH137
• Grade Received: A+
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: Yes
• Attendance: Mandatory

Comment:

Nica is a funny guy. He goes into great details for certain topics and he really cares about his students. He has a somewhat strong accent but you'll get used to it real quick.

Rating # 9

Overview:

• Course: MATH137
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: No
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

He is a nice prof, but getting his email reply will take you weeks or so. Besides I would say the textbook helps more than the lecture. I don't know it's for the whole MATH 137 course or only for the instructor.

Rating # 10

Overview:

• Course: MATH137
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: Yes
• Attendance: Not Mandatory

Comment:

Nica is an amazing prof. He has quite an accent however it does not take long to get used to it. His notes and explanations are incredibly clear and makes the class fun. He seems like he was a child prodigy in Math so he is very inspirational.

Rating # 11

Overview:

• Course: MATH137
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 1.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: Yes
• Attendance: Not Mandatory

Comment:

He seems too slow and write everything on the blackboard, but his lectures are perfect. He is Simply The Best

Rating # 12

Overview:

• Course: PMATH351
• Grade Received: A+
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: Yes
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

Mr. Opponent gives you an Epsilon.... Great prof. One of the best. Not much else to say.

Rating # 13

Overview:

• Course: MATH247
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: No
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

A wonderful professor. Superb teaching skills. This was my first advanced-level course, and he made it fairly enjoyable and highly satisfying. Moves at a fairly fast pace during lectures, but is super helpful during office hours. Russian accent, but you'll get used to it quickly. The course itself could benefit from printed lecture notes, but w/e.

Rating # 14

Overview:

• Course: MATH247
• Grade Received: A+
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 1.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: No
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: Mandatory

Comment:

His lectures are highly organized (he numbers every theorem and remark), the clearest prof I've ever seen. Lectures are fun. Easy homework and midterm, helpful at office hours. And the homework really helps you understand the stuff. Also he does have a funny accent, but I had no problem understanding him.

Rating # 15

Overview:

• Course: MATH247
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

Very organized! The lecture, the assignments, the exams are all very well-prepared. He went through the material in a very systematic way. Awesome. Highly recommended!

Rating # 16

Overview:

• Course: MATH247
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.5
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: No
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

His teaching is very systematic and clear! He really made my hardest course turn out to be the most enjoyable.

Rating # 17

Overview:

• Course: PMATH351
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: No
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

Absolutely fantastic prof. His course was the best-organized course I've ever taken; explanations were crystal-clear, but he spent too much time reviewing the prev lecture's material. Assignments were somewhat challenging, so were some exam questions. Go to class, do your work, review notes and you will end up with an 85+ in his course. Great prof!

Rating # 18

Overview:

• Course: MATH001
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 1.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: No
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

Definitely one of the best profs I've had. He makes every logical step completely clear, so that you can't fall behind if you're paying attention. Exams were really easy (though I imagine his upper year classes have more difficult exams). Assignments were tough, but he gives a week for each problem set so it's not that bad.

Rating # 19

Overview:

• Course: MATH247
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: No
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

He's cute =)

Rating # 20

Overview:

• Course: MATH247
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 1.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: No
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

Very easy, straightforward class. The first one or two assignments were non-trivial but after that they get progressively easier. Is verbose in his explanations, not as much material is covered as should be. Exams are easy, but there's always one hard question (the 'solve' question). Having taken other advanced classes, it was a cake walk.