MATH 3100

You.are.on.your.own. The only grades for that class are computer tests which you can take multiple times; don't be deceived: there's a reason for that. the first time you take the tests you'll get a very low grade, but the highest grade is the one thats counted. He doesn't lecture and he didn't have office hours at first.

Gromoll is an EXTREMELY intelligent man. BUT he absolutely cannot teach. He does not lecture. You go to class sit with a group and do the book problems so you could be doing them all completely wrong. He does not respond to email and is absent from class frequently. You can take the test multiple times, which is deceiving because there are so many glitches and they are so hard the average on all 5 was still a 75. In addition the TAs cannot answer any question. You use an online forum, which the teachers rarely answer question so you are left to rely on the hope that other students are doing it right and not leading you astray. I would not take this class unless you need it or the offer it with a different teacher in the future.

I wouldn't take this class with professor Gromell again. The first day you might think it's a pretty sweet deal, you don't really have to go to class because theyre basically the same as office hours (he walks around the room and answers questions), you can take the tests on your own time, you don't have weekly problem sets you have to turn in. But if you arent a person who is really proactive about studying, it is easy to shoot yourself in the foot with this class. The mathmatica tests are ridiculous (each one has 9 or 10 questions, no partial credit) and of you wait until the last part of the semester to take all the tests, you will be seriously sorry. The final wasnt that bad though. I would say take the class with a different professor if you really want to get a good hold of the material.

This class is the biggest joke since Hillary Clinton's reset button.

My question is...if your class is all about a program for taking tests, wouldn't it make sense to make sure that shit worked before the class started?

This dude literally starts class without making sure this program works. After screwing around with Wolfram until late October, he finally gets around to having it work SORT of.
There is no manual given for the program. The entry method for inputting answers was probably contrived by some blackout drunk on Rugby.
The testing center was more ineffective than the Democratic Party in the 1984 Presidential election.
This guy is something straight from out of the 6th sense because I tell you this....
He may know his shit but I be damned if he knew how to communicate it. The analogies that he came up with made me think that he was some rapper. They simply didn't make sense...
Also, He must be one of the biggest tools that I've seen since the cranes used to build the New New Dorms. This guy spazzed out over chairs, bugs, a cell phone alarm going off, chalk, breathing too loud, water pressure, high altitude moisture. I mean whatever you name, he had some insane reaction to it.
On top of that, he would frequently come in looking absolutely crazy. I mean, mathematics and math research is by no means an easy occupation. But damn, take a lesson from Professor Sherman. Dr. Sherman always presented himself well.
Grommoll often would show up looking like a stunt double for Tom Hanks in "Saving Private Ryan"
It was bad enough that people in the course actively commented on it during the lecture. I just didn't see that as professional at all, especially coming from a member of the research community at the University.

He means well, but has no idea how to help his students attain better results. I asked him for help, and his advice was to spend more time reading the book and doing the problems. Unless you already have some sort of understanding of probability, do not take this class with him.

Really good guy who genuinely cares about his students. Took Calc 2 with him over the summer. The only issue was the exams, and sometimes, his expectations seemed a bit too high for an intro course.