Calculus of Several Variables

Lecture, three hours; discussion, one hour. Enforced requisite: course 31A with grade of C- or better. Introduction to differential calculus of several variables, vector field theory. P/NP or letter grading.

Review Summary

Clarity
6.7 / 10
Organization
10.0 / 10
Time
5-10 hrs/week
Overall
8.3 / 10

Reviews

    Quarter Taken: Fall 2023 In-Person
    Grade: B-

    Low maintenance class, hw's are optional, quizzes are group quizzes so you almost always get 100% on them. Challenge reports are manageable if you work with others to figure out the problems and attend his office hours to make sure your solving them right. The only hard part is how unrpedictable his midterms and finals can be. His practice midterms are far easier than the actual midterms, so review textbook problems and quizzes.

    Quarter Taken: Fall 2023 In-Person
    Grade: A

    Professor Wong does a great job being organized in his slides and lectures, making them really easy to follow. He also explains the intuition behind concepts well. However, sometimes he goes too slow in the beginning, explaining concepts from algebra or pre-calc, leading to a super rushed ending where a lot of new material is covered in the last 5-10 minutes of class.

    Besides that, his tests are fair, and I think he makes them easier over time (so MT1 is the hardest while the final is the easiest). He also provides 2 Challenges Reports that are basically a paper write-up (8-10 pages). While these are time-consuming, they should provide a nice grade buffer since you can collaborate and take your time on them.

    The homework is pretty standard and doesn't take too long, but I do recommend reading the textbook before lecture so that those last few minutes of rushed exposition aren't as hard to understand.

    Quarter Taken: Fall 2023 In-Person
    Grade: A

    Wong is probably the best professor to take 32a!! 32a is intrinsically a challenging course, but this class wasn't unnecessarily difficult with Wong since I feel like he made it as easy as possible for anyone to get a good grade, especially with enough effort. The way that Wong structures his class makes it fairly obvious what you need to do to succeed in his class: learning objectives posted for each week; lectures recorded; annotated post-lecture slides; all homework listed from week 1. Because of the challenge problem sets (I got 100% on both) and the reflection assignments, if you're like me and not a strong test taker, you can still finish the class with an A (got a 60.5 and an 82.5 on the first two midterms and an 86.5 on the final). Group quizzes (open note) are fairly easy, especially if you have a strong group and do the readings/take lecture notes--definitely a nice pad to your grade. I know that Wong can be a little intimidating so I went to TA office hours for questions as opposed to his (especially for the challenge problem set).

    Quarter Taken: Fall 2023 In-Person
    Grade: A

    Mr. Wong is a great lecturer that has a lot of passion for the subject. If you are struggling, he offers a lot of resources to get help.

    Quarter Taken: Fall 2023 In-Person
    Grade: A+

    Great class, Wong had amazing lecture notes and it’s live plus recorded on Zoom. Challenge reports take time but it’s worth it and group quizzes are fun! Tests slightly hard but just revise.

    Quarter Taken: Winter 2024 In-Person
    Grade: A

    His lectures are amazing and very easy to follow, the textbook was how I learned best.. doing the textbook problems helps so so much though the even ones assigned don't have answers... though I am sure he would check your work during office hours. Challenge reports weren't super evil (going to office hours helps a lot) and they helped a lot. Midterm and final were very hard... but if you know your content you will do fine.

Course

Instructor
Richard Wong
Previously taught
24W 23F 23W 22F 22S 21F

Grading Information

  • Has a group project

  • Attendance not required

  • 2 midterms

  • Finals week final

  • 94% recommend the textbook

Previous Grades

Grade distributions not available.