APMA 3120

I was kinda scared by this class at first because Lark starts by laying out a bunch of strict rules that make it seem like he's a hardass, but once you sit through a few lectures and do a couple homeworks, you'll realize it's not scary at all. Lectures are just straight-up chalk and blackboard lectures and he repeats material from previous lectures often, so even though I went to all of the lectures on required content, you're probably fine with using the recorded lectures and slides instead. Homework is 50% of your grade and collaboration isn't allowed, so make sure you give extra care to it. Good news is, if you do the homework properly, the test problems will be a breeze. If you can memorize some formulas and procedures, this class will be straightforward for you.
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Professor Lark is a very knowledgeable professor, and he is very good at explaining the material. One thing I will say about the class is that it can feel very drab at times. Professor is a great person, but he lectures at a low voice, and it can be hard to stay awake at times. Office hours aren't that helpful as they will not give you answers if they think the question will get to the heart of the problem. If you get something wrong on the homework, it can have a pretty big change in the homework grade, and the tests are not very forgiving if you miss one question. Each question on the midterm is 25% of the exam, and the midterm is 20% of your overall grade. Make sure to either attend class, or watch the pre-class videos. You don't necessarily have to attend class if you don't want to since the videos cover everything. It is not a hard class, but it is easy to miss one thing and to wreck your grade based on the way the tests and Homeworks are set up.

Professor Lark is a kind and approachable instructor who occasionally tries to add humor during lectures. Lecture attendance is optional. In my section, attendance gradually declined from a few students skipping to about 1/3 of the class, including myself. He releases a recorded video a few days before each lecture that covers the same material, so it is very feasible to skip lecture and rely entirely on the videos.

There is a textbook listed, but no assigned readings. I never used it, as the videos and lectures were enough. During lectures, Professor Lark explains concepts on the chalkboard and then works through example problems. He teaches at a slow pace, which can make lectures feel dull at times. There are 2-3 lectures with supplementary material that is not tested, and he clearly announces when this happens.

The final grade breakdown is 50% homework, 20% midterm, and 30% final exam. There are 7 homework assignments, about one every two weeks. Each homework consists of about 7 textbook problems and typically takes a few hours to complete. The exams were mostly memorizing how to do specific tests and specific formulas. The midterm takes the full time and is mostly on word problems and problem-solving. The final exam is similar but covers about half midterm material and half post-midterm material.