Professor

Alpar Meszaros

AD
3.4
Overall Ratings
Based on 18 Users
Easiness 2.3 / 5 How easy the class is, 1 being extremely difficult and 5 being easy peasy.
Workload 3.0 / 5 How light the workload is, 1 being extremely heavy and 5 being extremely light.
Clarity 3.3 / 5 How clear the professor is, 1 being extremely unclear and 5 being very clear.
Helpfulness 3.8 / 5 How helpful the professor is, 1 being not helpful at all and 5 being extremely helpful.

Reviews (18)

1 of 2
1 of 2
Add your review...
June 20, 2019
Quarter: Spring 2019
Grade: N/A

32B isn't an easy class and Meszaros doesn't make it any easier.

Helpful?

1 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
June 22, 2019
Quarter: Spring 2019
Grade: C-

Alpár teaches the concepts very well and gives clear illustrations/motivations to the theorems. However, the homework is not enough to succeed in the course. Being able to do the practice exams like the back of your hand and being able to answer those levels of questions is essential because your grade is about 90% exams. I could not answer the exams questions and couldn't show the grader what I had learned. I do not recommend this professor unless you are a math major or have an excessive amount of time to have a very high level of math knowledge for a lower div course.

Helpful?

1 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
April 2, 2019
Quarter: Winter 2019
Grade: A-

Professor Meszaros is an awesome person who genuinely cares about helping students out and making sure they understand the material. This was something I only realized halfway through the course when I started emailing for help and attending office hours.

Lectures are based largely around proving theorems and concepts rather than doing concrete examples.

The class is difficult by nature of its content, not because of the professor. I actually think Meszaros' exams were more straightforward than most other 32B professors' (or, at least his exams had a distinct style that you could pick up on if you practiced enough); plus, he eventually applied a huge curve to everyone's final grades.

Overall, this class lived up to its reputation of being one of the hardest math lower divs but I loved taking with Meszaros!

Helpful?

1 1 Please log in to provide feedback.
March 28, 2016
Quarter: Winter 2016
Grade: A

Meszaros is an awesome professor that I highly recommend for anyone in math. He stresses proofs during lectures but also does examples that make it easy to see the physical intuition behind the concepts being learned. The tests also use this intuition for many of the questions and many questions on the test cannot be solved or would be too tedious to solve without understanding the problem and applying known tricks. The homework is pretty doable, roughly 3-5 hours worth for one week. Sometimes the problems on the homework get very computational and it really does not become about learning the concept anymore, but rather how would you solve this integral and those take a bit of time.

The test questions were very straightforward and easy to follow; the only problem is that they are REALLY time constraining. I think out of the three questions on the first midterm, I managed to make basically every addition error possible and didn't finish the third question and was only able to draw the domains. For the second midterm, I finished in the last 30 seconds and half the people didn't finish. The final was a lot nicer and even though I got stuck on this one question, I had like an hour to figure out the answer. You REALLY want to use the tricks and intuition that he teaches you in class or otherwise you won't finish these!

The lectures are really helpful in seeing where the formulas come from and even though he always says he is a really bad drawer, it actually is pretty easy to connect what he is talking about to what he is trying to show you. He stays on schedule and at a slow enough pace that everyone can follow.

I had other classes in the afternoon during his office hours so I couldn't go, but I heard he is an even better office hours professor which is a plus. His office hours were all in one block though so either hit or miss.

Overall, awesome accent! Take this professor!

Helpful?

1 1 Please log in to provide feedback.
March 23, 2019
Quarter: Winter 2019
Grade: N/A

This was seriously the hardest math class I have EVER taken. I knew 32B was going to be difficult, but taking it with Mezaros genuinely made it so much harder. He teaches mostly in theory, but the tests are primarily major application problems. There are two midterms, a final, and homework due every friday. The homework only counts for 10% of your final grade. The exams were extremely brutal. The class average was usually between 50-60%. No matter how much I prepared for the exams using the textbook, watching youtube videos, going over class notes, doing practice problems I was still never prepared for the questions that were thrown at us on the tests. Also on the midterms, you only get 50 minutes for the whole test which is not enough. The final felt pressed on time too. I would try to take this class with another professor if you can. Mészáros is a super nice guy and will try to help you as best he can at office hours, but the amount of stress and pressure I was under during this quarter specifically from his class was absolutely insane.

Helpful?

3 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
April 6, 2019
Quarter: Winter 2019
Grade: B-

Math 32B has some of the hardest material out of any math class, and Meszaros doesn't explain it well making it 10x harder. He has a strong accent, but it doesn't impede anyone's ability to understand him. Instead, he teaches in proofs and the examples from the textbook. But, that makes this class harder because you can't go to the book for more examples. Also, he never does example problems so you don't know how to approach the homework. The homework itself isn't that much and you have a week to complete it, it's just hard to do because you're never taught how to genuinely solve problems. You're only taught the proofs for theorems or shown very basic, easy examples that don't truly show how to apply the equations. Overall, this was was difficult and the averages on all the tests were F's so he had to curve everyone. I wouldn't recommend this professor to anyone.

Helpful?

0 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
April 30, 2019
Quarter: Winter 2019
Grade: A

This class is definitely really, really hard because the material itself is by nature, tough, but I'd 100% recommend taking Alpar because you will learn a huge amount, the work involved is interesting, and the curve is quite generous.

His lectures are engaging and interesting but are also functionally just highlights of the textbook. But because of this, I found that I could study and learn material better by first going to lecture and then reading the textbook to reinforce concepts. The man does crack some jokes and they're pretty good.

The homeworks are extremely challenging and tough consistently, BUT they prepare you really, really well for the midterms. Having other students to do homework with is VERY useful and a huge component of success.

The two midterms were not actually hard but because you only have 50 minutes it is a huge time crunch and I ended up doing really poorly on both midterms. You will have more than ample time for the final to check answers and fix mistakes allowing you to do well. I had a 30 point difference between my final and midterms and ended with an A so the curve is quite nice.

I never personally went to office hours, but he always was useful after class and over email.

Helpful?

0 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
June 17, 2019
Quarter: Spring 2019
Grade: A

Meszaros is super enthusiastic about the material, and he is also funny and engaging. Granted, it is not the easiest math class, but he really tries to make sure that people understand. He gives out practice midterms and finals so you know what to expect, and the actual exams are indeed similar. I really enjoyed this class, and would definitely take Meszaros again in the future.

Helpful?

0 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
June 26, 2019
Quarter: Spring 2019
Grade: B

This class is probably the hardest math class at UCLA. Meszaros did not make it any easier. Although he seemed like a decent guy and was very nice in interactions, his lectures were not engaging at all, and his tests were near impossible. Most lectures I ended up just reading the textbook, and they were mostly pointless except for to turn in homework on fridays. His notes on the board are very disorganized, and his lecture itself was extremely hard to follow unless you put an extreme level of effort into following every word. The homeworks were not too bad, and were not graded to strenously, but the tests were extremely difficult and all of the problems were mostly stuff we had not done before, or at least not in the way the exams asked it or applied it. Nice guy, but try another professor before you take him.

Helpful?

0 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
July 2, 2019
Quarter: Spring 2019
Grade: B

This was definitely the hardest class I’ve had at UCLA so far. As a person, I like Meszaros a lot and thought he cared about his students. His style of teaching is a little different because he teaches in proofs, and a lot of the examples he uses in class are taken straight from the book. Overall, I found reading the book to be more helpful in understanding concepts. His tests are very difficult. By far the best way to study for them is to look over his practice tests a ton and get used to his patterns of question types. The book problems aren’t really enough to prepare you for the level of difficulty on the exam. I think the class averages for the midterms and final were around 58%, 74%, and 52% respectively. Luckily he curves the class and tests a ton, so you end up in a pretty fair spot. Definitely a stressful class overall but Alpar is really generous with his curve, a good teacher and a good guy.

Helpful?

0 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
MATH 32B
Quarter: Spring 2019
Grade: N/A
June 20, 2019

32B isn't an easy class and Meszaros doesn't make it any easier.

Helpful?

1 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
MATH 32B
Quarter: Spring 2019
Grade: C-
June 22, 2019

Alpár teaches the concepts very well and gives clear illustrations/motivations to the theorems. However, the homework is not enough to succeed in the course. Being able to do the practice exams like the back of your hand and being able to answer those levels of questions is essential because your grade is about 90% exams. I could not answer the exams questions and couldn't show the grader what I had learned. I do not recommend this professor unless you are a math major or have an excessive amount of time to have a very high level of math knowledge for a lower div course.

Helpful?

1 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
MATH 32B
Quarter: Winter 2019
Grade: A-
April 2, 2019

Professor Meszaros is an awesome person who genuinely cares about helping students out and making sure they understand the material. This was something I only realized halfway through the course when I started emailing for help and attending office hours.

Lectures are based largely around proving theorems and concepts rather than doing concrete examples.

The class is difficult by nature of its content, not because of the professor. I actually think Meszaros' exams were more straightforward than most other 32B professors' (or, at least his exams had a distinct style that you could pick up on if you practiced enough); plus, he eventually applied a huge curve to everyone's final grades.

Overall, this class lived up to its reputation of being one of the hardest math lower divs but I loved taking with Meszaros!

Helpful?

1 1 Please log in to provide feedback.
MATH 32B
Quarter: Winter 2016
Grade: A
March 28, 2016

Meszaros is an awesome professor that I highly recommend for anyone in math. He stresses proofs during lectures but also does examples that make it easy to see the physical intuition behind the concepts being learned. The tests also use this intuition for many of the questions and many questions on the test cannot be solved or would be too tedious to solve without understanding the problem and applying known tricks. The homework is pretty doable, roughly 3-5 hours worth for one week. Sometimes the problems on the homework get very computational and it really does not become about learning the concept anymore, but rather how would you solve this integral and those take a bit of time.

The test questions were very straightforward and easy to follow; the only problem is that they are REALLY time constraining. I think out of the three questions on the first midterm, I managed to make basically every addition error possible and didn't finish the third question and was only able to draw the domains. For the second midterm, I finished in the last 30 seconds and half the people didn't finish. The final was a lot nicer and even though I got stuck on this one question, I had like an hour to figure out the answer. You REALLY want to use the tricks and intuition that he teaches you in class or otherwise you won't finish these!

The lectures are really helpful in seeing where the formulas come from and even though he always says he is a really bad drawer, it actually is pretty easy to connect what he is talking about to what he is trying to show you. He stays on schedule and at a slow enough pace that everyone can follow.

I had other classes in the afternoon during his office hours so I couldn't go, but I heard he is an even better office hours professor which is a plus. His office hours were all in one block though so either hit or miss.

Overall, awesome accent! Take this professor!

Helpful?

1 1 Please log in to provide feedback.
MATH 32B
Quarter: Winter 2019
Grade: N/A
March 23, 2019

This was seriously the hardest math class I have EVER taken. I knew 32B was going to be difficult, but taking it with Mezaros genuinely made it so much harder. He teaches mostly in theory, but the tests are primarily major application problems. There are two midterms, a final, and homework due every friday. The homework only counts for 10% of your final grade. The exams were extremely brutal. The class average was usually between 50-60%. No matter how much I prepared for the exams using the textbook, watching youtube videos, going over class notes, doing practice problems I was still never prepared for the questions that were thrown at us on the tests. Also on the midterms, you only get 50 minutes for the whole test which is not enough. The final felt pressed on time too. I would try to take this class with another professor if you can. Mészáros is a super nice guy and will try to help you as best he can at office hours, but the amount of stress and pressure I was under during this quarter specifically from his class was absolutely insane.

Helpful?

3 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
MATH 32B
Quarter: Winter 2019
Grade: B-
April 6, 2019

Math 32B has some of the hardest material out of any math class, and Meszaros doesn't explain it well making it 10x harder. He has a strong accent, but it doesn't impede anyone's ability to understand him. Instead, he teaches in proofs and the examples from the textbook. But, that makes this class harder because you can't go to the book for more examples. Also, he never does example problems so you don't know how to approach the homework. The homework itself isn't that much and you have a week to complete it, it's just hard to do because you're never taught how to genuinely solve problems. You're only taught the proofs for theorems or shown very basic, easy examples that don't truly show how to apply the equations. Overall, this was was difficult and the averages on all the tests were F's so he had to curve everyone. I wouldn't recommend this professor to anyone.

Helpful?

0 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
MATH 32B
Quarter: Winter 2019
Grade: A
April 30, 2019

This class is definitely really, really hard because the material itself is by nature, tough, but I'd 100% recommend taking Alpar because you will learn a huge amount, the work involved is interesting, and the curve is quite generous.

His lectures are engaging and interesting but are also functionally just highlights of the textbook. But because of this, I found that I could study and learn material better by first going to lecture and then reading the textbook to reinforce concepts. The man does crack some jokes and they're pretty good.

The homeworks are extremely challenging and tough consistently, BUT they prepare you really, really well for the midterms. Having other students to do homework with is VERY useful and a huge component of success.

The two midterms were not actually hard but because you only have 50 minutes it is a huge time crunch and I ended up doing really poorly on both midterms. You will have more than ample time for the final to check answers and fix mistakes allowing you to do well. I had a 30 point difference between my final and midterms and ended with an A so the curve is quite nice.

I never personally went to office hours, but he always was useful after class and over email.

Helpful?

0 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
MATH 32B
Quarter: Spring 2019
Grade: A
June 17, 2019

Meszaros is super enthusiastic about the material, and he is also funny and engaging. Granted, it is not the easiest math class, but he really tries to make sure that people understand. He gives out practice midterms and finals so you know what to expect, and the actual exams are indeed similar. I really enjoyed this class, and would definitely take Meszaros again in the future.

Helpful?

0 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
MATH 32B
Quarter: Spring 2019
Grade: B
June 26, 2019

This class is probably the hardest math class at UCLA. Meszaros did not make it any easier. Although he seemed like a decent guy and was very nice in interactions, his lectures were not engaging at all, and his tests were near impossible. Most lectures I ended up just reading the textbook, and they were mostly pointless except for to turn in homework on fridays. His notes on the board are very disorganized, and his lecture itself was extremely hard to follow unless you put an extreme level of effort into following every word. The homeworks were not too bad, and were not graded to strenously, but the tests were extremely difficult and all of the problems were mostly stuff we had not done before, or at least not in the way the exams asked it or applied it. Nice guy, but try another professor before you take him.

Helpful?

0 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
MATH 32B
Quarter: Spring 2019
Grade: B
July 2, 2019

This was definitely the hardest class I’ve had at UCLA so far. As a person, I like Meszaros a lot and thought he cared about his students. His style of teaching is a little different because he teaches in proofs, and a lot of the examples he uses in class are taken straight from the book. Overall, I found reading the book to be more helpful in understanding concepts. His tests are very difficult. By far the best way to study for them is to look over his practice tests a ton and get used to his patterns of question types. The book problems aren’t really enough to prepare you for the level of difficulty on the exam. I think the class averages for the midterms and final were around 58%, 74%, and 52% respectively. Luckily he curves the class and tests a ton, so you end up in a pretty fair spot. Definitely a stressful class overall but Alpar is really generous with his curve, a good teacher and a good guy.

Helpful?

0 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
1 of 2
ADS

Adblock Detected

Bruinwalk is an entirely Daily Bruin-run service brought to you for free. We hate annoying ads just as much as you do, but they help keep our lights on. We promise to keep our ads as relevant for you as possible, so please consider disabling your ad-blocking software while using this site.

Thank you for supporting us!