Reviews of professor Daniel Balague

Rating: 4.0/5, difficulty: 3.0/5
He's a very nice guy who really cares a lot about teaching. He tries to make lecture engaging, although he follows the textbook. Weekly homeworks are helpful and can earn you extra credit. Attendance is mandatory, especially because of weekly pop quizzes, but if you do the homeworks in advance, you'll be fine. Midterms are also very straightforward

Rating: 5.0/5, difficulty: 3.0/5
I was initially scared to take Balague because of the harsh reviews but I ended up taking him since he was the only professors available but let me tell you, it was the best decision ever. Yes there is a lot of HW but it really prepares you for the exam. He also gives out extra credit for completing HW early. Tests are very fair & straightforward.

Rating: 3.0/5, difficulty: 4.0/5
Lectures are ok, homework helps you learn the material, tests are pretty fair. He's helps if you go to office hours. But EXTREMELY DISORGANIZED and inconsistent. No specific schedule for when homework is assigned or how he gives lectures. Grading is really harsh (not always clear what he wants or how he grades). Avoid if possible.

Rating: 1.0/5, difficulty: 4.0/5
He's the worst. I spent more time coding and having syntax errors in sagemath than I did learning math. Yes, his homework is in python. His homework has almost no correlation to the exams. He has annoying pop quizzes. He thinks his exams are easy, then has D average on exams and pretty much blames it on the students. He's a pretty rude guy

Rating: 1.0/5, difficulty: 3.0/5
Never graded things on time. Tests were not based on review problems or homeworks. Homeworks were long, challenging, brought grades down, and required coding software to be understood to complete. He also showed frustration and a lack of patience with our class. And this was while we were at school and during online classes.

Rating: 1.0/5, difficulty: 5.0/5
DO NOT TAKE. Although Professor Balague knows the material very well, he expects way to much from his students. Had to code homework into a program to complete which often took hours to figure out while the problem itself took a few minutes. Tough AND extremely slow grader, unclear on feedback. Provided no details with what to expect on exams.

Rating: 1.0/5, difficulty: 3.0/5
It is 2 hours until the final exam and we have gotten no information from him about what is on the final, the format, and how long it is. This behavior has been the same the entire semester and it is ridiculous that he has behaved like this given the circumstances. He expects the most from his students yet doesn't even care about the class

Rating: 3.0/5, difficulty: 4.0/5
He clearly had difficulty this semester after catching a severe illness and going online. That said, his lectures are very well structured and you will learn from them if you pay attention and take notes. His homework does require very basic coding knowledge. Returning homeworks and exams on time were a struggle the entire semester however.