Daniel Alcantra - Modesto Junior College

Professor: Daniel Alcantra

Department: TBD

College: Modesto Junior College

Rating # 1

Overview:

• Course: MATH173
• Grade Received: D
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

Probably the worst professor I've taken so far in my college career. As someone who grew up loving math and science Alcantra made me hate it. Class is excessively hard and you will have to teach yourself EVERYTHING. One thing I can say is this was during COVID so maybe he's better in person. I went to a different college to avoid taking him again.

Rating # 2

Overview:

• Course: MATH70
• Grade Received: B
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

Let me start my saying math is far from my strongest subject, however he hardly taught us and if we needed help he told us to watch videos we find on YouTube. He would post another professors lectures instead of making his own. He expected us to know the material before teaching it. He would bring up the election every class instead of teaching.

Rating # 3

Overview:

• Course: MATH173
• Grade Received: WD
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 1.0

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

Comment:

If you're enrolled now, drop him and don't look back. Lectures are for people who already know material, he grades based on if he thinks you're an A/B/C/D student. Allows his prejudices to come out and does not care to help. He's an awful professor who shows off instead of lecturing. RUN. DON'T. WALK. FROM HIS CLASS. You've been warned.

Rating # 4

Overview:

• Course: MATH173
• Grade Received: C
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

I heard many peers talk about how terrible of a professor he is, and I was naïve enough to ignore the warnings and take his class. His lecture are completely disorienting with no direction. He goes off the top of his head and does not care if students are following along. Grade is 100% based on tests and he chooses the conceptually difficult ones.

Rating # 5

Overview:

• Course: MATH173
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

This is the worst professor I have had thus far. He only grades exams, which is understandable, but his exams are too difficult and can't even be compared to the homework. It's like swimming in a pool and then trying to swim up a waterfall. Also, his lectures are disorientating. He doesn't organize his notes well either.

Rating # 6

Overview:

• Course: MATH173
• Grade Received: C
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

You will barely pass this class. I was a 4.0 college student until this class, I have put in more than enough hours to pass this class but yet I'm still barely passing this class. Go take calc at Merced community college and not this college. I taught myself everything this semester and even stopped taking notes on the lecture. Grade is 100% tests.

Rating # 7

Overview:

• Course: MATH171173
• Grade Received: F
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

If this is your only choice for a professor, just dont take the class. Please save your time and hope for an earlier registration date to choose anyone except this professor. I did all the homework and showed up to every single class and tutoring and still failed. He blames the students for not passing! He is rude and just doesnt care if you fail

Rating # 8

Overview:

• Course: MATH122173
• Grade Received: WD
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Professor Alcantra is an extremely smart man, but his gatekeeping attitude for the math department is harmful to students. He expects you to learn the subject matter as if you are going to be a mathematics major, rather than prepping students for engineering majors. Taking a math course in the UC system vs with him is such a breath of fresh air.

Rating # 9

Overview:

• Course: MATH30
• Grade Received: B
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

This was the worst teacher I have ever had. He frequently went off-topic, going on tangents about how much he hates liberals, telling jokes about minorities, and his personal life. His lectures are just plain confusing and I only passed because of the book, I learned EVERYTHING from the book and nothing from him.

Rating # 10

Overview:

• Course: MATH173
• Grade Received: WD
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

Dan is a friendly guy and a lenient grader. It won't help you. The exams are really tough, and that's all he grades. He's also a very proud conservative, and he will make offensive remarks without reserve. I wish he didn't spend half his class talking about politics or Adam (who came here LEGALLY). He will humiliate you with irrelevant quizzes.

Rating # 11

Overview:

• Course: MATH173
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

I have a lot of respect for him as a mathematician; he's clearly passionate about his work. He grades generously and almost entirely by conceptual understanding, which I also think is great. However, he's impossible to follow during lectures; I learned almost nothing from them. Your grade is 100%-based on exams, which are incredibly difficult.

Rating # 12

Overview:

• Course: MATH171173
• Grade Received: WD
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

Do not make the same mistake I did by taking this class. Unless your a math major/genius he could care less about you. Grading was totally unclear. I got a pt. higher for getting concept right vs. someone who didn't answer on an exam. Take math elsewhere unless you're a genius. Nobody cares about what Margaret Thatcher had to say about socialism!

Rating # 13

Overview:

• Course: MATH173
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

Daniel Alcantra is clearly very passionate about his work, but it ends up hurting his lectures. He'll go off on 5 different tangents because he gets distracted trying to tell you something vaguely to do with the topic. You'll have to basically teach yourself since his lectures are so incomprehensible. He's a super lax grader to make up for it.

Rating # 14

Overview:

• Course: MATH173
• Grade Received: WD
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

Very difficult class no doubt, but he really knows math, and will make sure you do too. He is very willing to help, he is not lazy. Tests are BRUTAL so be ready. He grades very fair (40% on tests just for writing your name). Grade is solely based on tests. Yeah he talks politics, but its always brief get over it. I dropped to prevent lowering gpa

Rating # 15

Overview:

• Course: MATH173
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

TERRIBLE PROFESSOR. Thats all I have to say

Rating # 16

Overview:

• Course: MATH173
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

Honestly the worst professor at MJC. Makes you feel bad for not remembering things from algebra and trig classes that were taken long before calc 3. His tests are RIDICULOUSLY hard, no correlation to the homework. Talks about politics a lot. Overall, terrible professor. Do not recommend unless you enjoy suffering.

Rating # 17

Overview:

• Course: MATH174
• Grade Received: B-
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

Alcantra's 173 and 174 are the big leagues. His reputation precedes him, and while they will be the hardest courses you take at MJC, they will also be the best. Buckle up, DO THE HOMEWORK, and you can be successful in his courses. You get out what you put in, and all the horror stories are from people that didn't put in. Have fun. He grades easy.

Rating # 18

Overview:

• Course: MATH173
• Grade Received: WD
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

Worst prof I've ever had. If you want to do well you need to have all of calculus memorized off the top of your head. Extremely political and unprofessional. His reputation is true, you are better off not taking him, or dropping and taking it somewhere else. For reference I got a high B in Calc1 and 2. This class with him is not worth the stress.

Rating # 19

Overview:

• Course: MATH173
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Tough professor, but if you know how to take control of your education and put the time in, you will learn a tremendous amount. A few of us created a study group and used to meet in the cafeteria in the mornings. Mr. Alcantra would stop by with a cup of coffee and check in on us to see if we had any questions. You get out, what you put in.

Rating # 20

Overview:

• Course: MATH30
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

One of the worst professors Ive taken at Mjc. He does a lot of math in his head and doesnt even do it step by step. Wastes time ranting about random things and goes off topic, and gets upset if you ask a question because he expects you to know it already. Be prepared for tests as well.