Peter Nyikos - University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC

Professor: Peter Nyikos

Department: Mathematics

College: University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC

Rating # 1

Overview:

• Course: MATH142
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

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

Comment:

Nyikos cares a lot about his students and about the material. This class is an easy A if you work hard and study on your own time too. A lot of people are upset about failing, but they probably didn't put in the work outside of class to succeed. Assessments are easy and test concepts (not tricks), and there wasn't homework for our semester.

Rating # 2

Overview:

• Course: MATH142
• 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:

Pretty bad at teaching but he is also very easy. Textbook not required, but youre gonna want it. I pretty much learned everything from the textbook, and his tests are straight from the textbook.

Rating # 3

Overview:

• Course: MATH241
• Grade Received: B
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

A typical old guy. Hard to follow during lecture. But curves grades!!

Rating # 4

Overview:

• Course: MATH241
• Grade Received: B
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Pretty fair grading system, though this was my only B as a first semester freshman. I had about a 98 after the first test, but almost all of your grade is determined in the second half of the course. Can't say his lectures were very good. He understands the material, but doesn't know how to effectively relay it to the students. Keep up with the HW

Rating # 5

Overview:

• Course: MATH550
• Grade Received: B
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

I took him for 241 and he was fine but he's a lot less clear with the higher level stuff. Not sure if it's just me but he seemed to get lost more than usual in this class. He does genuinely care about his students, though, and will help you if you need it

Rating # 6

Overview:

• Course: MATH241
• Grade Received: A+
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Good: A TON of office hours. Very lenient grading system (could receive most credit for differentiating instead of integrating). Extra Credit assignments. Bad: Terrible at helping students to really understand the material. Only good at answering specific questions, rather than a "how do you do this?" He is also getting pretty old and forgetful.

Rating # 7

Overview:

• Course: MATH241
• Grade Received: A+
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

He's not the greatest at lecturing or teaching in general, but you can tell he knows what he's talking about. His tests and quizzes are based off of practice problems so if you do those you'll be fine.

Rating # 8

Overview:

• Course: MATH142
• Grade Received: B+
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Entirely unstructured class, gives unannounced quizzes and tests, no class schedule, confuses himself on material, arrives late to class, goes past scheduled class time, constantly needs correcting by students, lectures not helpful, all information was learned out of class through textbook.

Rating # 9

Overview:

• Course: MATH241
• Grade Received: C-
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Way too many things going on in his head when he lectures. Smart man, but makes mistakes during every example and has to go back and redo the step which completely changes the answer. If you can avoid taking him, do that but he isn't the worst professor. Very weird grading system.

Rating # 10

Overview:

• Course: MATH241
• Grade Received: B+
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

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

Comment:

Dr Nyikos seems to be one of those guys who has so much going on in his head that he can't find a way to say it. It's hard to follow his example problems with the amount of errors he makes. His tests were straightforward and always curved. When I took him he only did attendance about once a week, but I hear he does it every class now.

Rating # 11

Overview:

• Course: MATH241
• Grade Received: B
• Overall Rating: 2.5
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Very absentminded as previously stated, shows up and teaches the lesson through problems. Write these down as they will be similar to quiz and test problems. Not too hard of a class if you pay attention and do the homework.

Rating # 12

Overview:

• Course: MATH241
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Show up to class to sign the attendance sheet then go home and read the section in the book. He is unorganised, absent minded, and rather snarky if you miss something and need clarification. That being said, his tests are almost exactly like the examples in the book, so no worries there.

Rating # 13

Overview:

• Course: MATH142
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

DO NOT take him. He knows his material but cannot teach it well. He has to be corrected multiple times per problem and makes the material a lot harder than it should be. We didn't have an exam until two months in and now he is cramming the last two exams back to back. If you can switch, do it now.

Rating # 14

Overview:

• Course: MATH142
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.5
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

By far THE WORST math teacher I've had at South Carolina. We had a test and a quiz in the same week back-to-back. He just writes examples on the board and expects us to comprehend the material. I learned more from YouTube lectures and my TA. We had our 1st test 2 months into the semester. Take another teacher. You'll regret it if you don't.

Rating # 15

Overview:

• Course: MATH141
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.5
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

For some reason, he has to make the material he teaches very hard. However, the actual material turns out to be easy when it is taught by a TA or SI. As a plus, he curves his tests. Nevertheless, tests are difficult and he puts a lot of weight on the hardest questions. Nyikos is good for grad-level and not good for undergrad (100 level, etc.)

Rating # 16

Overview:

• Course: MATH241
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.5
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

Bad professor, very hard to understand, and seemed very distant during lectures. I had a very tough time in this class, and had to work very very hard to teach it to myself. Take another professor if possible.

Rating # 17

Overview:

• Course: MATH142
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 1.0

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

Comment:

Although attendance was mandatory, I probably ended up missing almost two months of this class and still managed to get a B. This had to be one of the easiest math classes I've ever taken, and I plan on taking Nyikos again for Math241

Rating # 18

Overview:

• Course: MATH142
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.5
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Taught the whole course to myself through the book. Class lectures are terrible and he has to be corrected multiple times each problem he does.

Rating # 19

Overview:

• Course: MATH142
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.5
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

nyikos is a very slow teacher. our class is so behind. we have only 4 weeks left of class and have had only 1 test. my friend has another professor and they have their 3rd test this week. now nyikos is cramming the last 2 tests into 2 weeks before the final.

Rating # 20

Overview:

• Course: MATH142
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.5
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

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

Comment:

Nyikos is a nice guy...but probably the most boring teacher I've ever had. People hardly come to class. And if they do, they're sleeping. He is so hard to understand sometimes and talks slower than imaginable. Just hope you have a good TA or SI. As a plus, he does love his Calculus...