I also took this course Fall 2008, his first quarter teaching. The other reviews are correct that the first midterm was excruciating, and he got better on the the second midterm and the final. In general though, I could barely stay awake in his lectures because I found them extremely boring. I also had Vlad as a TA, absolutely horrible. I felt kind of left on my own for this course. The fact that there was no curve on the second midterm, final, or in the class killed me. I needed a 75 on the final to keep my B-, and ended up with a 74 on the final. Teran refused to curve the final or the class and gave me a C+. I ended up dropping out of the math major. Although that's not entirely Teran's fault, it was a contributing factor. Overall, I would try to take this class with Parks instead, who I hear is amazing. If you don't, try to get Sam as a TA. I went to his review session and he was absolutely awesome.

I'd highly recommend Teran if he's teaching this class. Granted, he may not be the best math teacher ever, but he makes a lot of sense if pay attention during lectures and he teaches. He was really good about answering questions and he cared about his students, which always a plus. I ended up getting A's on his midterms (with the help of a MASSIVE curve on the first one), but ended up with a B in the class because I got a C on the final. I barely put in any effort in his class, but with his teaching, I could have done a LOT better. And take good notes in class, I found them pretty helpful when did study before the exams.

I took Teran for Fall 2008 and it was his first quarter as a professor. Agreeing with the user below, the whole class did horribly on the first midterm. The second midterm was not as bad though, and the final IMO was pretty straight forward. I think if he ever teaches a class again he probably has a better idea of what kind of tests to give. He is definitely a smart person and is willing to help you if you don't get the material. I think what happened with the midterms was an error in his own judgement, and probably won't happen again if you plan to take any of his classes. Having said that, I recommend him as a good 32A professor.

This guy is insane, I had to study day and night to barely get a B in his class. It's a good thing I only took two hard classes (his included) and an easy elective otherwise I would have died. He is a VERY caring professor but he is also very young; because of this, I don't think he knows how to teach yet. For example, the first midterm, I think the average was in the low 30's -- he had to give a massive curve because even he thought he messed up on the difficulty level. Basically, if you were to google professor Teran, you will know his calibre of intelligence; and because of this, concepts that are easy in his head cause normal students to cry. If you can't get around taking a class with him, good luck :]!