Marylou Zapf - College of William and Mary, Williamsburg, VA

Professor: Marylou Zapf

Department: Mathematics

College: College of William and Mary, Williamsburg, VA

Rating # 1

Overview:

• Course: MATH213
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

I chose to take MATH 213 purely as an elective. I hadn't taken a math course since high school, and was looking to brush up on my math for fun. Being surrounded by physics and math majors, I felt out of place at first; however, Zapf's innate capacity for teaching made me feel right at home. If you do the homework and take notes, you'll be fine.

Rating # 2

Overview:

• Course: MATH213
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Zapf makes concepts easy to understand & is helpful when people have questions (in class & during office hours). She also has clear expectations for what we should know for exams & is very fair when it comes to grading. Work load is a little less than BC calc. You have to do the homework and attend class to pass, though.

Rating # 3

Overview:

• Course: MATH111
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

If you took Calc I in high school, you're set for an A. If this is your first time taking calc, it's still really manageable. Print her lecture outlines and come to class. She is super sweet although lecture can be a bit boring, but tests and quizzes reflect everything done in class and she is super fair.

Rating # 4

Overview:

• Course: MATH112
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Professor Zapf was awesome! Her lectures are very clear and engaging and she is very willing to help you outside of class as well.

Rating # 5

Overview:

• Course: MATH213
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Zapf is probably the clearest math lecturer here. She puts lecture outlines on Blackboard that you can print out and fill with her class lectures, so there's no ambiguity about the content you need to know. The class is multivar, so it's hard, but as long as you do the textbook hw, you should be fine.

Rating # 6

Overview:

• Course: MATH111
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Professor Zapf is extremely clear with respect to what she expects you to know for all quizzes and tests. She posts ample practice problems and practice tests and will help you learn from your mistakes. There is no ambiguity with respect to expectations or grading. All you have to do is put in the work and you will do great!

Rating # 7

Overview:

• Course: MATH111
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 1.0

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

Comment:

Prof Zapf is very clear. Although some people complain that she goes over things too fast, I was okay with it. Attend classes, do the homework, MAKE SURE YOU UNDERSTAND EVERYTHING, DO THE PRACTICE TESTS because they look VERY SIMILAR to the actual tests. Then this course shouldn't be hard for you. Midterms and final are harder than quizzes

Rating # 8

Overview:

• Course: MATH111
• Grade Received: B
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

To be fair, math is not my forte. But although Zapf is a fairly nice person, and helpful in office hours, I feel that the course itself has a lot of problems. She refuses to curve, she waits until last minute to write our labs, and she skips too many steps when doing problems. Fairly difficult, especially if you didn't take calc in high school.

Rating # 9

Overview:

• Course: MATH112
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

I took Calc 2 with Zapf and am going to take multi with her next semester. She always puts her lecture outlines on Bboard, works through examples in class that are relevant, and assigns homework that relates to the class and HW problems come up on the test often. Since it's calc2 you're gonna have to work for an A but she makes it fair and square

Rating # 10

Overview:

• Course: MATH213
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

She mentions specifically that she won't give curve, and she is a tough grader. But in general she's awesome.

Rating # 11

Overview:

• Course: MATH212
• Grade Received: B
• Overall Rating: 4.5
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

I took Calculus BC in High School, so I thought this class would be a breeze. Beware. College Calculus courses are difficult and are on a different level. Zapf is a great teacher, but her exams are challenging. Do all the HW problems in the book and seek help. Final was very hard. Hey, you can do it though!

Rating # 12

Overview:

• Course: MATH213
• Grade Received: B
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Good lecturer, fair grader, always eager to help. She writes more rapidly than an M249 light machine gun fires 5.56 rounds, which is great for students who want exposure to a lot of useful material, bad for those looking to check a box, and calamitous for wrists made of anything softer than iron.

Rating # 13

Overview:

• Course: MATH111
• Grade Received: Not sure yet
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Professor Zapf is a wonderful professor! She makes you work for your grades, but as long as you go to class, do the homework on your own, and study hard for the tests, you'll be fine. She's super helpful during her office hours and she genuinely wants to help you succeed. You can definitely tell she's enthusiastic about her field.

Rating # 14

Overview:

• Course: MATH111
• Grade Received: Not sure yet
• Overall Rating: 4.5
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Professor Zapf is such a great professor. She is always willing to help students during and outside of her office hours and genuinely wants you to succeed. Her lectures are very helpful in understanding the material, especially since she gives out lecture outlines to help you. As long as you attend class and skim the review problems, you'll be ok

Rating # 15

Overview:

• Course: MATH111
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

I did not take Calculus in high school and I was not strong in math so that is why i think it was more difficult than it was suppose to be. I honestly liked the professor because she was helpful and very understanding (curved my grade...praise God) but still the work was hard. i would suggest taking calculus in high school before taking this class.

Rating # 16

Overview:

• Course: MATH111
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.5
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

This was a hard class. I did not take calculus in high school. She's a lovely teacher and is very thorough. However, its also hard to keep up with the material. Homework is not mandatory, but recommended. She gives plenty of quizzes, and if you study for them they can boost your grade a bit. Exams are torture, but she drops one. final was brutal!

Rating # 17

Overview:

• Course: MATH351
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.5
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Very clear and thorough, great lecturer. Easy to follow, and she made classes enjoyable. Exams were relatively easy with some tricky questions here and there.

Rating # 18

Overview:

• Course: MATH112
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.5
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Professor Zapf's class is very tough. She grades strictly and is tough with partial credit. That being said she is also very consistent with her grading. Study hard for tests using textbook problems and the practice exams she posts. Problems on tests are generally tricky and very difficult.

Rating # 19

Overview:

• Course: MATH01
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

I'm no good in math which is probably why I did poorly. She is a good professor, explains material well, however, she is very hard. She makes sure you know the material well. Unless you're good at math, you'll have to study a lot and do a lot of practice problems. Her quizzes require you to do the homework to do well, so KEEP Up with the work

Rating # 20

Overview:

• Course: MATH112
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Prof Zapf was very challenging. Class was not super interesting. If you want to do well, I recommend working really hard, going to class everyday, sitting in the front row, and asking questions. Even this might not be enough. Her tests do not often correlate with what was learned in class and what was on the quizzes. This being said, she is nice.