Reviews for Frances F. Gulick
Average Rating:| Anonymous Course: MATH115 Grade Expected: March 1, 2012, 7:17 am | Terrible. Her lectures are 90% uninformative and she talks as if we already know the material. If I know the material I wouldn't be in the class. She doesn't focus on why something is a done a certain way and just runs through problems. That isn't really that big of a problem EXCEPT she gives us problems that are almost nothing like what's shes lectured on so when I try to use the processes, it never works out. The teaching method for this class is very poorly designed. In my experience very few people actually learn this way. In the end this class sucked dick. Just a bunch of mindless work. I asked her what I could do to improve myself. She told me to read the book. |
| Anonymous Course: MATH140 Grade Expected: December 25, 2011, 8:36 am | Horrible. Tests are way too hard, don't gauge how well you understand the material, and she's just plain mean. avoid at all costs. |
| Anonymous Course: MATH140 Grade Expected: A October 19, 2011, 9:26 am | calc 1 is not hard. frances is decent at teaching, you will understand material easy enough. even the white paper quizzes arent that bad. but frances grades terribly. you always get points off here and there because she doesnt like your notation or the way you do a problem. theres almost no partial credit. even if you know your calc you still get random points off. so unless youre the most careful and meticulous problem solver, it will be pretty hard to get an A. Ive been getting 100 on all the webassign homeworks and the worksheets, but when it comes to the test I end up with a B or a C. And when you contest any points you got off, she somehow makes up some explanation about why its wrong and doesnt give one bit back. when it comes to points on a test, shes always right and youre always wrong. another thing is, she HAS NO CURVE. the averages for tests will be in the 50-60 range, and she wont do anything about it. even the TAs dont seem to be able to make her curve. dont take her unless youre neat and careful in your writing. her husband is supposed to be much better. I was thinking about taking her for math141 (calc 2) but instead im gonna take 8am with her husband. Its worth the sleep sacrifice, i cant deal with these unreasonable bad grades anymore. |
| Anonymous Course: MATH140 Grade Expected: May 5, 2011, 8:41 am | She's okay. I took her for 140 in my first semester and came out with an A. I've always loved math and I took ABcalc in high school and got a 5 but I still retook it. She teaches to her tests- the practice ones that you get are ones that she's given out in the past. If you can do the practice tests you should be okay for the actual test. And by okay, I mean like a C at least. The webassigns are confusing... they purposely make them difficult. It's more conceptual. It's not bad though. They're always due the day of the discussions. They're not terrible though. My only complaint is that she jumps around from topic to topic when teaching so it can be hard to follow her. She also skips the simple steps that people end up needing to ask her about anyway. If you do go to office hours, she is helpful. Also, contact your TA when you need help. And make sure you have a good TA. |
| Anonymous Course: MATH140 Grade Expected: C- January 25, 2011, 11:41 am | Avoid her!!! Whatever you do, stay away!! Take Denny or anyone else for 140, she's nothing but bad news. Like many others, I took BC calc in high school and got a B so I thought I could do with a refresher when I got to college - big mistake to do it with her. Webassigns and tests were horrible and she was very unhelpful (and rude sometimes) whenever asking for help at her office hours or via e-mail. I was a student used to getting a lot of work but this was just terrible - I would study for hours and still bomb her exams. Her lectures went way too fast and she sets the speed of the class to match the students who she likes in the front row of the lecture. Her TAs were understanding at least and helpful with problems. Quizzes were annoying and she would grade pretty harshly taking off major points for silly mistakes like forgetting a negative that caused you to get an incorrect answer (even if your methods were good). I guess it's the kind of thing where you either love her or you hate her - I surely knew what camp I was in. If you take her for 140 (which is okay material wise with any other prof), just know what you're getting into but please consider someone else!!!! |
| eddie Course: STAT400 Grade Expected: B December 17, 2010, 4:21 pm | Avoid Frances Gulick at all costs!... Lectures are a waste of time; she spends the entire time deriving equations and proving theorems, and rarely ever makes time to fit in an example. You will do all of your learning on your own, which makes the weekly homework assignments and quizzes in discussion significantly more difficult. On top of that, she gives pop quizzes and graded classwork assignments during lecture to make sure people are attending. Maybe all of that is necessary to keep freshmen up to speed in Calc I, but this is a 400 level class, and she definitely doesn't teach it like one. The extra work will only drag you down; take this class with a professor who grades you on your exams, not your attendance. And if you're still not convinced, just compare her average GPA to the other STAT profs. It's a no-brainer. |
| Anonymous Course: MATH140 Grade Expected: A December 15, 2010, 1:25 am | Despite all the negative reviews on this site, I took Frances Gulick for Calc I, and came out with an 'A'. It took a decent amount of work, but overall I think that she's a quite effective lecturer. IMO her tests are graded quite fairly, and she's a really nice lady if you talk to her during office hours. She does go a little overboard on the proofs during lecture, but after a few classes you learn to only key in on the pertinent information. The only other quipe I have with her was her placement of quizzes on very inopportune days, such as the day after Halloween, the day before Thanksgiving, and nearly every Friday. If you have her for a 9 am lecture, this kills any prospects of going out on Thursday night. Overall, I'd recommend her. But expect to work hard. |
| Anonymous Course: MATH140 Grade Expected: B November 20, 2010, 2:42 pm | I love her! She teaches well and makes sure you understand what's she talking about. On the hard subjects she goes a little fast in class because she has to cover everything but if you go to her office hours she'll help you and is patient. When I went to talk to her about my grade she was nice and talked to me with the familiarity of a high school teacher. She wants hard-working students to do well in her class and tries to help. Yeah, webassgin sucks but everybody who takes math has to deal with it, not just in her class. And yeah, white papers are a pain especially if you come late but you can talk to your neighbor and ask her questions about it-- how can you not ace them? She's energetic and funny in an awkward way and hers is the one class I don't sleep in at all (and I sleep through ALL my other classes except for my labs b/c I'm standing). She does exam reviews (in class and maybe out of class) and usually gives you an old one to study. Her test questions change but the format and the type of question basically stays the same though there may be a proof type question on there. And if you mess up on the exam, she will go through it with you after the fact so you understand what you did wrong. If you don't study, and don't come to class you won't do well (white papers/quizzes do count). If you want an easy teacher, find someone else (people love her husband). If you want someone who will push you and make you learn this stuff, take her. I'm pretty sure I'll take her for 141 |
| Anonymous Course: MATH140 Grade Expected: C November 8, 2010, 8:40 am | Shes moves along too fast, without really reviewing the material. Get Denny. |
| Anonymous Course: MATH470 Grade Expected: October 27, 2010, 4:38 pm | I avoided taking math classes my whole career here at Maryland because of what people told me about Frances Gulick. And then, my senior year, I'm forced to take a class with her. You know what? I literally have no idea what people have against her. Yes, she's a tough professor. She actually makes you do WORK in COLLEGE! WOW! And I see people complaining about all the homework she gives. Umm. It's called practice. You need it to not only pass but UNDERSTAND the material. I don't understand why someone would take a math course and expect an easy A with minimal work. She's actually one of the best professors I've had to be honest. You can't pass her class by sleeping through it and casually glancing at the textbook the night before a test. She gives out a lot of work, but it's for your benefit. Her teaching style is very visual, and it works for me. The lectures are very proof heavy but you need that knowledge to understand why things work they way they do. So if you want a class that you can skip every day and still pass with a C, this isn't it (and I suspect college isn't really for you if you expect things to work out like that in life, is it?). If you want a challenging and ultimately interesting class with a professor that KNOWS how to teach, take her. Also, she is not still in the math department because her husband runs it. She's in the math department because she's great at teaching math and is very passionate about it. Sounds like a lot of reviewers here need to grow up. |
| Anonymous Course: MATH140 Grade Expected: F October 20, 2010, 10:54 am | I took calculus BC in high school and decided I wanted to retake it in college to make sure I fully understood it. If it I hadn't taken it before, I would have NO idea what was going on! The webassigns are awful! Yeah they test your skills but they often have little relevance to what you actually need. The discussion sections are by far the most helpful! The TA's are personable and knowledgeable. The lectures on the other hand are terrible. She goes over proofs for the longest time and then does these little white paper quizes right afterwards. Yes you get to correct your answers at the end of the quiz but she will take off large amounts of points if you forget an = or add a negative or forget a parentheses. Then on the tests, she grades equally frustratingly. My last test I got a 46%. All of the math was right, and I had all the theorems and ideas correct. I got a 46 because I worked through the test and left off little things like a limit or an equals sign or added a negative or left off an x from a little part (and the next line down the x was there! so it didn't even change the answer!!!!) All in all, I recommend taking this class with another teacher... Which is probably what I'm going to have to do next semester... |
| Anonymous Course: STAT400 Grade Expected: October 10, 2010, 6:05 pm | I wonder how she's managed to survive this long at Maryland.. When people say she knows her stuff, that is like saying an NBA player knows how to play basketball.. WAKE UP!! Professors HAVE to know what they are teaching.. that's how they make their living off of.. it's HOW they convey the materials and communicate with students that count toward determining whether the professor is good or bad.. And this lady is NOT a good professor.. I regret taking this course with her.. I should have known about this lady beforehand..sigh** but what can I do.. the two things I can do are.. first leave this review here and.. evaluate her at the end of the course.. hoping that the school will do something about it although I highly doubt anything will be done.. As I am writing this I prepare myself to a sleepless night studying hoping that I'd get an A.. although ourumd is very skeptical about her giving A's.. And someone mentioned that she's like an evil..I do not know her personally but seeing her during the lecture tells me she is indeed someone who'd smile and fail you simultaneously :o |
| purpleeagle Course: MATH140 Grade Expected: C May 16, 2010, 4:12 pm | She certainly knows what she's talking about, but I never did well with her teaching style. She's more into deriving the formulas rather than actually going over the applications. She gives plenty of pop quizzes, webassign HW assignments, and worksheets. The webassigns never helped me to much; I always found myself trying to finish them by the deadline instead of actually learning the material. |
| Anonymous Course: MATH115 Grade Expected: May 1, 2010, 5:53 pm | She is a good teacher, I just find that her grading is too hard. I also feel like she may be a bit bias towards certain people when it comes to grades. Whoever called her the devil was absolutely correct. She will smile in your face and will still fail you. You will have to study every night in this class. You don't really have to go to the lectures. Unfortunately, she has "white papers" and pop quizzes that are part of your grade which forces you to go to class each day. I do not recommend you take her. You are going to struggle and get irritated with how she grades. Being in her class has made me hate the name Gulick. Take a different professor. Since her husband also teaches, I would stay away from him as well. |
| Anonymous Course: MATH141 Grade Expected: A April 19, 2010, 10:34 pm | She certainly knows what she's talking about and expects the same from her students. She'll give in-class problems to do on random days, and there are graded worksheets in discussion so expect to go to class all 5 days of the week. If you've gotten AP credit for this class, do not bother retaking it - you will not learn one new thing in any MATH141 class. |
| Anonymous Course: MATH140 Grade Expected: January 9, 2010, 8:37 pm | If you go to her outside of class, she is very responsive and helpful but her lectures are horrible. She spends most of the time with proofs and "surprise" graded white paper assignments in class than actually going over the important information. It is not impossible to get an A in this class but you do it by speaking with her one on one or through TA's help since the lectures are random and she gets sidetracked easily. I think she would be a wonderful high school teacher. |
| beane Course: MATH140 Grade Expected: A- December 17, 2009, 7:33 am | Frances loves in-class proofs. This makes a lot of sense; they demonstrate clarity of thought and a straightforward presentation of the material. Unforunately, her rigid concern for this sort of order invariably leads to a sacrifice of precious class time which could be used for review and practice. She incessantly emphasizes the importance of the short class time, and then proceeds to waste it with proofs. While I find the proofs interesting and useful, they tend to confuse and frustrate the majority of the class, to the point that while most of them started out fresh and eager to learn at the beginning of class, they were tired and worn by the end of it. She assigns internet homework after every lecture (before and imediately after tests not included), and expects the student to practice a good deal of problems recommended in the textbook. To paraphrase Frances from her class syllabus, you CAN do well in her class but it requires a LOT of work. This is due largely in part to the rather strange format of the tests. There are generally 5 questions, with mutliple parts to each question. Regrettably, the paucity of test questions leads to a proportional increase in point values per questions. If you make a mistake on part of a question, you can easily lose 5 to 10 points. Coupled with the single point losses for careless error throughout the rest of the test (which are common, because they are so thorough and lengthy), the grade for a test that you were well-prepared for can easily slip into the 80's. WebAssign, worksheets from discussions, and in-class quizzes are collectively a huge part of your final grade. Frances compensates for her exams by allowing a great deal of points to be made up elsewhere. MOST IMPORTANT PART: The tests are relatively straightforward, without much mathematical innovation necessary. She is the math teacher for people who work hard, but don't like math (despite the counter-productive proofs during lecture). If you are of a mathematical bent, you will find her class tiresome and frustating, but will likely get an A with work. If you are not such a person, you will find her class thorough and work-heavy, but you can discover that you will be able to scrape up an A or B with consistent effort. |
| AmazingReviewer Course: MATH141 Grade Expected: B+ May 21, 2009, 11:41 am | This teacher obviously knew what she was talking about, but she did not care about her students. Her grading methods of her quizzes were a little harsh and her webassigns take a while to complete. The grading of the tests was a little more fair. The TA's graded the majority of the exams and she would grade 0% to 20% depending if there were 4 or 5 problems on each exam. There was no curve in the class and most people seemed to end up with horrible grades. You will struggle in this class. You will. You will. You will. |
| Anonymous Course: MATH140 Grade Expected: F February 7, 2009, 7:31 pm | She is literally the devil. I would say "devil in disguise," but she also looks like the devil. She is the WORST teacher I have ever met. Correction-she is the worst HUMAN I have ever met. Disregarding family deaths as excused absences, religious holidays because the U is "secular," this lady is a completely insensitive heartless devil. I have seen more people cry in her class than a theater full of preteen girls watching The Notebook. Avoid her at all costs. If you have to wait to take calc, do it. If you have to defer your college acceptance, do it. |
| Anonymous Course: MATH140 Grade Expected: B January 24, 2009, 9:41 am | i strongly agree. she is nothing short of a huge ***** and a ****. she spends most of the class writing up long proofs on the board that no one ever needs to know. she doesnt care about any of her students, even gave a quiz the day before thanksgiving. she grades ridiculously unfairly like taking off half credit for missing an equals sign or similar things. often goes on to long tangents during class and im pretty sure i know her whole family history not to mention she told us the story how her son missed his calc final like 80 years ago at least once a week along with the story of how her daughter got her car stolen twice cause shes a fuckin idiot and left it unlocked. if i hadnt already taken calc in high school i would have gotten a D or dropped. whatever you do DO NOT TAKE HER CLASS!! itll be your biggest regret of the semester. |
| Anonymous Course: MATH140 Grade Expected: B December 9, 2008, 5:07 pm | MATH 140 is supposed to be Calculus for engineers, there are hints of this in the class taught by Frances Gulick but overall the class misses the point. F. Gulick attempts force feed her students mathematical proofs throughout the semester and her obsession with notation is enough to convince one that F.Guclick is nothing more than a math teacher harboring a resent against engineers. Her efforts to appear modern by using a projector come out as forced and futile, and lectures can easily morph into useless convoluted time wasters when one of her signature obscure proofs introduced. Those students who hadn't seen calculus before were lead straight to the slaughter, her drop-out rate only tells half the story as some stayed and dragged through the semester like fatally wounded sheep. Overall I would recommend Frances Gulick to anyone who loves unnecessary amounts of work and stress, and strives to build-up a deep hatred for math. |
| babygnau Course: MATH140 Grade Expected: December 8, 2008, 10:18 pm | Frances Gulick is a very tough professor, however you do learn a lot in her class. I thought her exams were fair, albeit rather difficult. Overall go to class, and do all of the assignments. I was amazed how many points I lost by not bringing my clicker to class and participating in the clicker problems. Its a hard, challenging class, but if you put forth the effort you should be fine. |
| Anonymous Course: MATH140 Grade Expected: A December 5, 2008, 11:41 am | Expect a lot of work, but "A" is not impossible. You have to keep up with your Web Assigns and problem sets in the book to do well on the exams. Her exams are challenging and she's very picky with notations. |
| tallboyt Course: MATH140 Grade Expected: A- November 16, 2008, 9:31 pm | People seem not to like her, but she's not bad. She will answer questions and offer help all the time. If you study the prac. exams well and do the webassigns at math success there should be no problem. Clickers were used near the end of the year. People who complain typically don't try in class and blame the teacher -- even if she tries to help. |
| Anonymous Course: MATH141 Grade Expected: B November 9, 2008, 3:20 pm | I actually learned a lot in her class. As long as you goto lecture and do the homework then it is easy to do well on the exams. The exams are straightforward and are based on the homework problems she sets out at the beginning of the semester and webassigns. If you just want an A without doing a ton of work then avoid her, either wise she is a good professor. |
| Anonymous Course: MATH141 Grade Expected: July 28, 2008, 9:02 pm | Dr. Gulick is a very good teacher, but challenging. It is not an easy A. She will challenge you any way whatsoever. From pop quizzes, to quizzes in discussion, and web assign(241) and homework/web-assign. I took her for two semesters even though I didn't get A's, I actually learned calculus as opposes to just cramming for the test. DO all your home work on time and you'll be fine. Again, It is not an easy A. SHE DOSENT CURVE. I got 89 the two times but still got B's. If you want a stress free semester, DONT TAKE HER |
| Anonymous Course: MATH140 Grade Expected: A July 12, 2008, 11:55 pm | Dr. Gulick is a very good professor, those who write these reviews obviously did not show up to lecture, did not do assigned homework, and actually the funniest point that someone tried to make is that "math comes naturally to them." This is a calculus course for engineers, chemists and a couple other majors, IT IS NOT MEANT TO BE EASY! Dr. Gulick sets out the guidelines and expectations the very first day of class and follows the syllabus to a "T." I learned more in this course than probably any other, because Dr. Gulick will take the time and put in the effort to help any student that actually puts forth an effort. Professor's that hand out grades do not do anything for the students, the University, or society that has to deal with engineers that forget decimal places. If you want a passionate teacher, a good class, and to learn a lot than I say to you, "take it with Francis Gulick," if you want an easy math class than head back to kindergarten children. |
| Anonymous Course: MATH141 Grade Expected: May 22, 2008, 6:36 am | you might learn a lot but end up with poor grade. she is the worst teacher ever.. if you are not good on math, stay away. you received 4 credits but it feels like you ware taking 6 credits class. |
| sccrmic09 Course: MATH141 Grade Expected: May 15, 2008, 2:21 pm | Transfer out of the university before taking her class. Yes its that bad. Exams are completly irrelevant to material in class and web assigns. Grading scale does not exist whatsoever, she just randomly adds points to different catagories at the end of the semester. Her grade distribution compared to the rest of the university is much lower. I'm not just blasting her becuase shes going to give me a bad grade, she dosnt belong teaching anywhere. Don't put yourself through the unnesessary. Heed the Warning... |
| Anonymous Course: MATH140 Grade Expected: May 2, 2008, 4:52 pm | Absolute garbage, if there is a worse professor alive, I have never had them. She is a 100 year old, she-devil ***** who is a control freak and a terrible human being. Homework is assigned constantly, and they don't really teach you anything. Every discussion had new problems that were never seen before, and never would be seen again. There was no flow whatsoever to this class. The class is so disorganized it's incredible. The lectures are a pointless exercise in proofs (which she messed up on every single day), the discussions test really obscure extremities of the material, and the homework is generic, but almost inapplicable to the test. It's pretty clear that the only reason this retard has a job is because her husband runs the department. |
| Anonymous Course: MATH430 Grade Expected: b May 2, 2008, 10:20 am | STAY AWAY... she is a terrible instructor. he lectures are absolutely pointless and you will not follow anything she says because nothing is interactive... her homework is easy to do but she is so tough on grading it that your grade will go down from the homework and it doesn't help you at all. her tests are too long, and she is again a very tough grader... I am usually an A math student and it comes natural to me, but she was just so tough on grading and did no teaching... |
| Anonymous Course: MATH140 Grade Expected: February 21, 2008, 7:46 pm | i think she might be the worst teacher i have ever had in my whole life. she screws up what she is doing constantly in lecture. she is some kind of control freak, she yells at kids when they leave her class early, like she can make them stay! she throws alot of pop quizes to make sure kids show up for lectures. she even yelled at my TA infront of his class, and he was easily one of the best teachers ive had. if i had not already seen calculus before i would have easily failed this course. oh yes, and dont believe what she says about her point scale for grading. i blew off the web assign because she said it was worth 50 points out of 650 total. by the end of the simester it had become closer to 250. im just glad i passed and can move on with my life and never, ever see that woman again |
| jeffreyb Course: MATH430 Grade Expected: A January 26, 2008, 8:38 pm | Her tests are unreasonably difficult and often do not reflect the material taught. Homework is assigned almost every class and she always ran 5 minutes over. Didn't learn much, but I wasn't really interested in the class. |
| egloger Course: MATH140 Grade Expected: C December 15, 2007, 3:47 pm | If you ever take a class with her, be prepared to stress about it a lot. She's good at teaching, but the homework and tests are unreasonably difficult. There's a reason why her drop/fail rates are so high. |
| avigana Course: MATH140 Grade Expected: November 15, 2007, 9:00 pm | She is an extremely tough professor. The averages on her test are always really low but if you disregard your grade you realize that you learn a lot in her class. |