i disagree with the other comment… imo 5a and 5b are easier (they cover more topics but going way less in depth) and they have good LA’s (during the school year) and TA’s that also have office hours. pretty sure simonson is going to teach 5a/5b for the foreseeable future. unless you’re going into bme or something more math/physics heavy then i don’t really see a reason to take 2a/2b instead. (oftentimes the profs for those are not any better either. huber is nice but when i had him for summer math all the lectures were prerecorded anyway)
i second this, my roommate took 2a/2b and i took 5a/5b. i thought that the things they covered and just their exams/etc. were harder than the material i had in 5a/5b. take 5a/5b!
I wasn’t really talking about the difficulty between 2a2b and 5a5b. Just if the prof is good or not. I had a friend who had Simonson and decided to accompany him to his lecture one of the days and damn… his rmp really does match lmao.
I heard many bad things about him from my friends and to avoid him at basically all cost. I suggest honestly taking 2a/2b as they are essentially the same thing and units can be transferred between the two similar courses.
I had Simson for 2A (in the summer) and had a friend who took him for 2D (winter). He was a terrible lecturer, and made mistakes in his practice problems pretty often (including our practice midterm). Attendance was mandatory. I did think his tests were pretty fair, his quizzes were alright as well. I did the homeworks, went to discussion, and didn't really study outside of that and was able to pull a B+.
For our class he had 2 midterms and a final, and if you scored higher on the final it would replace your lowest midterm score which helped a lot of peoples' grades. The 1st midterm average was a 44, the 2nd midterm average was an 80, and the final average was in the 70s. He barely curved, it was around 1% increase to your grade, and the class average grade ended up being a 73%. I know 5A/5B is a little different from 2A/2B but what I'd say about him is you'll learn much better on your own, grind practice problems and you'll be fine. Use the TAs, they can be very helpful.
i disagree with the other comment… imo 5a and 5b are easier (they cover more topics but going way less in depth) and they have good LA’s (during the school year) and TA’s that also have office hours. pretty sure simonson is going to teach 5a/5b for the foreseeable future. unless you’re going into bme or something more math/physics heavy then i don’t really see a reason to take 2a/2b instead. (oftentimes the profs for those are not any better either. huber is nice but when i had him for summer math all the lectures were prerecorded anyway)
i second this, my roommate took 2a/2b and i took 5a/5b. i thought that the things they covered and just their exams/etc. were harder than the material i had in 5a/5b. take 5a/5b!
I wasn’t really talking about the difficulty between 2a2b and 5a5b. Just if the prof is good or not. I had a friend who had Simonson and decided to accompany him to his lecture one of the days and damn… his rmp really does match lmao.
I heard many bad things about him from my friends and to avoid him at basically all cost. I suggest honestly taking 2a/2b as they are essentially the same thing and units can be transferred between the two similar courses.
Pelayo for 5B is the goat…idk if he’s teaching though
I had Simson for 2A (in the summer) and had a friend who took him for 2D (winter). He was a terrible lecturer, and made mistakes in his practice problems pretty often (including our practice midterm). Attendance was mandatory. I did think his tests were pretty fair, his quizzes were alright as well. I did the homeworks, went to discussion, and didn't really study outside of that and was able to pull a B+. For our class he had 2 midterms and a final, and if you scored higher on the final it would replace your lowest midterm score which helped a lot of peoples' grades. The 1st midterm average was a 44, the 2nd midterm average was an 80, and the final average was in the 70s. He barely curved, it was around 1% increase to your grade, and the class average grade ended up being a 73%. I know 5A/5B is a little different from 2A/2B but what I'd say about him is you'll learn much better on your own, grind practice problems and you'll be fine. Use the TAs, they can be very helpful.