APMA 3080

Great class, lots of conceptual thinking involved... Prof. Abramenko is very clear and helpful in explaining concepts and problems.

Good professor, she really cares that you learn the material. She makes herself available to her students either in her office hours or by appointment. Her grading is fair, but her tests sometimes have confusing problems. Overall not a hard class, and she's a good professor.

I took this class as an APMA elective, and never once regretted it. Really useful information, but not as mathematically rigorous as differential equations or calc 3. Monika was one of the best math teachers I've ever had, I really had a great conceptual understanding of the material by the end of the class. TA was great, if you can make workshop hours, it makes the homework x10 easier.

I'm not going to debate the merits of linear algebra because either this is a required course in your major, or you are taking it out of interest. Do understand that Linear Algebra concepts are used in all engineering fields, though.

First of all, Abramenko is one of the best professors in the Applied Math department IMO. She is very engaging and understanding, and is pretty funny at times. The 50 minutes go by quickly. She does have high standards, and expects you to come prepared to class; iClicker is used sporadically and counts towards your participation grade (it can only help you).

At the end of the day if you hate the idea of actually having a working knowledge of the material while you are taking a class, you shouldn't take linear with Abramenko. But if you put in the extra 10% you might actually enjoy this class.

Professor Abramenko is very good at instructing this course. She knows the material well and is fair. That's about all you'll get, she isn't mean but expects respect.

this was the first apma course that i enjoyed taking.
i don't know what it was, but it was the first class i took that i didn't skip a lecture and it was totally wort it. abramenko is an awesome teacher who will bend over backwards to help you understand a topic. she's extremely nice and only wants you to work hard. she follows the book but contrary what someone below said she does not teach straight out of it. more often than not, if there's an easier method/algorithm she will offer her opinion but leave the choice of which one to use up to you.
yes, this class is hard, but it is extremely useful beyond just comp sci, comp eng, etc, systems, etc.
do not let the first few lectures fool you, it picks up pretty quickly and if you're not following along the last unit will floor you with how abstract it is.

Professor Abramenko is one of the sweetest people I've ever met. She's very kind and wants everyone to succeed. She expects that people go over the material before they come to class (so they can ask engaging questions during lecture), and therefore gets kind of upset if the majority of the class doesn't get clicker concept questions correct or when the class can't answer a question in general. But that's only because she wants to be sure everyone is keeping up. That being said, you can learn everything you need to know from her lectures, and coming to class is not hard because she is an engaging teacher and you come out of every class feeling your time was well spent.
As for the class itself, if you've taken differential equations the first half of the semester will feel like review. Which is nice because it will give you more time for your other classes. Don't slack off though, because it will pick up in the second half and that material will be what trips you on the final. The material really isn't hard, but this is one of those math classes where vocabulary is very important (Abramenko will tell you to keep a vocab sheet--do this it's incredibly helpful and can literally be your study guide at the end of the semester). All the actual math that you will do will be very similar with slight twists depending on the problem, hence the majority of any studying you do will be focused on vocab. I found that the tests/exams are very fair and the workload is appropriate (weekly hw online and on paper).

Professor Abramenko is one of the best professors in the APMA department. I did not find the subject matter particularly interesting or exciting but it is clear that she cares that her students succeed and learn.

Linear Algebra is not an easy subject, but Abramenko is very caring about her students and tries to help you as much as she can

Abramenko does a great job of making the relatively abstract course material understandable. She has high expectations, but her class is also relaxed and she's easy to get along with.
My one piece of advice would be to feel like you're over-preparing yourself - it's easy to get too comfortable with the material at times, and your test grades will point that out if you aren't diligent.