2.6
Quality4.0
Difficulty29%
Would Retake122
Reviews29%
Would Retake
122
Reviews
Rating DistributionOfficial
5
25
4
18
3
17
2
15
1
47
What Students Say
“If yes, David McNeilly is the prof for you”
MATH114 - 1.0 rating“If you have a textbook, don't go to his class”
MATH102 - 2.0 ratingClass Info
Online Classes
100%
Attendance Mandatory
35%
Textbook Required
36%
Grade Predictor
Your expected effort level
Predicted Grade
B-
Grade Distribution
Common Tags
Rating Trend
Declining
-1.11 avg changeRatings by Course
340
5.0
(1)MATH228322
5.0
(1)MATH228
5.0
(3)MATH324
5.0
(1)MATH101
4.0
(2)Difficulty by Course
113
5.0
114
5.0
MATH228322
5.0
MATH229322
5.0
120
4.5
Reviews (122)
Very fun course. Believe it or not, a math class doesn't necessarily have lots of numbers! Helps with homework. Final a tad difficult.
Fast teacher i thought, very helpful, even the next semester when i went to him for help with a different class. i would take him again
excellent and interesting prof...explains things quite clearly
didn't mark us on a curve///for whatever reason..so i got 0.3 pts less than i should have gotten...other than that he is a good teacher, interesting, quick paced, midterm is easy, final is difficult...
The class was hard as hell, but he did a great job teaching it and gave the class a head start on the next level algebra courses. If you're going to follow algebra at any higher levels, this is the prof to be taught by.
He is a very fast paced teacher. It is impossible to write notes and pay attention in class. But you can learn most of the material from the textbook. Although, He is very helpful outside of class. If you have a choice between math 120 and 12, I stongly recommend that you take math 120 .
He does teach very quickly, and has a tendency to give too many examples of even simple concepts, also does not like to answer questions during lecture. midterm is easy enough, final was from hell.
helpful but impatient if you dont understand it right away. midterm really long but not that bad...final was from hell. note: if he says he will give you the formulas for area and volume for the more complicated ones HE DOESNT!! but other than that he's nice.
Great prof!!!
He never looks at the students, so he rarely notices if someone wants to ask a question, but when someone asks something he explains it very clearly. He was helpful with assignments, he talks clearly, andhe is organized on the board. Not a bad prof at all (or at least better than the rest of them!)
hes clear but math 120 is supposed to be a breez, he made it much harder! assignments hard, mid exam very easy, final was literally from hell, he said it'll be similar to assignments,i think he was jokin!makes u "verify"theorems and do true and false questions and "verify"! even on exams...if ur tak
Class is quite difficult, but he is clear and I wasn't dosing off. Sometimes he spends a little too much time on the obvious stuff and not a lot on the complex ideas. One of the best prof's I've had at U of A.
Amazing teacher, if you want to pursue math go to him. If you just need good marks in a math course. RUN!!!!!!!!!!
to me he is one of the worst teachers at u of a in math... he just keeps on writing notes at a fast pace that you can't even pay attention to waht he is talking, i would never take a calls with him ever.. eventhough he is a nice guy... his midterms are easy ... however the finals are the hardests... and contain only the 2nd part after the midterm
He's a jerk, he talks too fast, gets offended when students have questions, and gives assignments that are 100x more complex than the material he has taught. i'd rather be dead than have him again.
He is the most condescending teacher I've ever had. Refuses to answer questions asked about homework with anything other than a question asked right back. He is a genius, but refuses to share that brilliance with his students. Seems to enjoy being that step ahead of everyone. I will never take another class from him.
Assignments were way to hard, and you're not sure what he's expecting on them.. He writes really small on the whiteboard, so it's difficult to tell what he's writing.
Very robot like: starts writing at :00 and goes nonstop for 50:00 minuets. Boring classes, I don't think he has any emotions, always seems on the verge of a mid-life crisis. Assignments are challenging but not impossible. Explains topics well, problem is no one's awake to listen to what he's saying. Midterms are suspeciously easy so beware the fina
I have to agree with my fellow students that he is emotionless! He cares and wants everyone to do well but he also wants to be reminded that he is WAY smarter than you are.. If you see him as your professor RUN!!!!!! Please take my word for it.. you will want to change career paths after having him as a prof.
absolutely ridiculous. final was impossible. I'm still bitter that in a noncurved class the avge was a 2.1. and most ppl had taken math 31. so it was basically a repeat course for most ppl.just take it with someone else. message: if you are good at math, don't take him. if you are bad at math, don't take him. you'll do bad either way.
Easily the worst Math Prof I've had. Notes/Ass/solutions = not on web. Be prepared to spend another 25$ on photocopying. Course content was simple, assignments were 1/4 simple/ 3/4 proofs. Midterm questions were either easy or not possible. Hell the last question was pulled from an old final. Of course we hadn't covered that content yet.Avoid
For a class that I thought was going to be easy.. it wasn't.. There was a lot of material to cover, and he expects you to know ALL of it, when there's just too much. He seems like a really nice guy, he replies quickly when emailed. The assignments were hard, and you're not sure what he's lloking for. The final was ok..but some of it was really tric
AVOID THIS PROF His notes are horrible. To understand the notes you need to know the material first. If you ask for help he usually tells you its in your notes. Hey McNeilly, this is univeristy not grade school, step aside and let someone teach who can. If you see him around campus check how he walks, Very Linearly
He doesn't talk about the assignments (won't help you with the assignments) if you have a question. Kind of talks down to the class.
He is just keep talking, and marks really hard, class average on Midtern is 55% for 1-level course. And he is not using a curve. If you want to get a good marks in this course. Aviod this prof. Totally Not Recommended.
excellent teacher. gives lucid, detailed lectures with plenty of examples. gives really challenging assignments, but the test was far easier. guarantees that any mark > 85 is an automatic A. plus he practically bends over backwards to give extra help to people in a class of well over a hundred students.
Good Professor. Very nice and really cool to talk to!!!
Terrible Prof....He may give alot of help but to make a c- an average mark in a second year course is just wrong. He writes very hard exams and the assignments are impossible without help. Avoid with all costs if you value your average.
No Comments
he talks a bit too fast... and writes too much on the board... it takes all time for you to take notes rather than to think... he explains quite clearly and not diffcult to understand though. midterm was easy, and final was a bit harder.
He made the course a bit difficult. Assignments are very hard. Its quite a surprise how he could memorize the whole lecture and writes it out on the board word for word, exactly like the print out notes. Kind of Dull in lecturing but an ok professor.
Great Prof, goes a little fast through lectures but overall, he really helped me understand the material. He's very helpful when you come to him with questions, and he's always willing to help (afterclass in the halls, his office).
If you're up for a CHALLENGE, then take McNeilly. I especially reccommend him if you're a visual learner. If you value your GPA, then do not take McNeilly. While the assignments aren't bad, the exams are near impossible.
Very nice guy but do not take Ring Theory unless you want to devote your semester to it. Study guides are very helpful. Do ALL assignments. Do not fall behind it is very hard to catch up. Exams are very difficult.
he makes algebra disgustingly hard.and u dont know if the questions he is going to ask are a trick or not.his tests are like races with the clock.he is easily the toughest prof in the department. this guy is a wizard. only take his class if u are ready to work ur ass off. BUT he is really good for help and will frequently be seen drinking on campus
worst prof at U
Not very good at all
Dr. McNeilly is fair prof, I did not attend most of his classes for a reason but he is extremely helpful, his exams are fair, just need to practice more problems from the book. Recommend him as he is respectful and helpful.
Run. Just run. He speeds through the notes like he has every place to go, never pausing for a moment through the entire lecture period. He delayed the posting of the marks for an extra 6 days to make sure our class' marks were good; the class average was 1.6. This is not normal.
Not the worst prof ever, but not good. Our class average was obscenely low. Course notes were sped through with much confusing. Midterm and final were very difficult. Avoid if possible.
Greatest prof ever.I don't know what others are talking about, but he is extremly clear during lectures and his exams were quite simple and straightforward. Clearly, people did not try hard in this class.
Really nice guy but not a good prof! his notes make very little sense, they mostly sound like he ate a dictionary and barfed up random words. I came out of classes feeling like I understood much less than when I went in. Made concepts much more difficult than they needed to be, not recomended!
Really nice person, but not a good prof. Really bad at teaching, but helpful if you go to his office hours to ask question. Class avg was 1.2... (Take him for a challenge)
He may be a nice guy, but he is stone cold when it comes to grading. His notes are scribbled all over the board, and you can either listen to him or try to keep up with taking notes before he erases the stuff. I would not recommend him at all. Horrible, horrible prof. I wish I could take back all the time I wasted by going to his class.
Too cold a instructor. Grossy notes, unclear explanation, and tough grading.
If you ask him for help, he will help you, and his notes a decent. His tests aren't too bad when you're writing them, however, he takes marks off for very small things that don't really matter. He had the lowest class average out of all the math 114 sections. If you want to do well on exams, don't take his class.
I would not have survived this class had I not taking calculus in high school. Dr. McNeilly goes very in depth to proofs of theories which creates additional confusion to the class. Our class average was 20% lower than the other sections. He is helpful if you go to his office hours but his notes in class can be very confusing.
I found his class very long, boring and useless. His notes were essay like and very irrelevant to tests and worksheet questions. Avoid him, he was very callous in office hours when you went to him for extra help. Sets harder tests than other Math 114 sections.
HORRENDOUS PROF. Cannot teach the course properly and only teaches proofs. Not clear at all. On the first day of class he put up a sign leading me and many other students to the wrong class. Many went to the wrong class for a month. And his exams are impossible. It's difficult to get a high mark. He includes questions no other prof would. AVOID.
Horrible prof. If you are registered in his class and can still get out, DO IT!! He is the worst prof I have had so far in my post secondary education. All he does during class is scribbling around confusingly and his tests are extremely hard! My sections class average was way lower than all the other sections. Just bad.
total dude
If you have a textbook, don't go to his class. McNeilly, if you're reading this, for the love of Gram-Schmidt make your notes on your own, and slow down when you write them! I was more focused on transferring your scribbles to my paper than absorbing any actual information.
Overall, he's not too bad. He writes very quickly, so if you cannot write at a quick pace, I would consider another professor. Other than that, I think he helped me understand the material fairly well.
DO NOT TAKE THIS CLASS ! Simple reason; there is no curve with Mcneilly, he's straight as a ruler ! Class average was 1.9, even after getting 92% on the midterm, finished with a B+ because he purposely insisted on not curving the class : Also very unapproachable, and likes to integrate extensive grammar with his examples...
Don't take him. Just don't. His class isn't curved, and the average is very low.
OMG man No help at all, sample final's answer was post like one night before the exam. Wasnt it too late?
WORST PROF I HAVE EVER HAD! He is literally ready to make half of a class fail what's supposed to be a grade booster for many. It's literally a hundred level math course. Even engineering students taking an equivalent course on linear algebra were baffled seeing how hard he makes his exams. His lectures are nowhere close to what he tests studentson
The class average on midterm for a 100 level class was 42% and the was no curve applied. Two-thirds of the class failed the midterm. He is a nice guy who will help you to learn the material as much as he can but A's are non-existent in his class.
Awesome professor. After failing math 100 the first time around, this man changed my view on math. David is the head of the undergraduate math department, and knows everything inside and out. He knows exactly who is paying attention in lectures, and will go out of his way to help the hard workers out. Go for the class and attend, youll be amazed.
I really do not like this man. He tended to go fast in class, so when you're catching up in writing notes, he'll be explaining the content informally then you're just racing to write the notes, not catching anything. His notes online are unclear. Sometimes when he was explaining content to the class, he would only explain it to a side of the class.
If you are a wizard when it comes to math then you will be fine, if not you may aswell not waste the time because Math 114 and Dr. McNeilly are a gross combination, my Math 31 teacher was a better instructor than this man, switch out while you can!!!!
McNeilly if you're reading this, for the love of god, slow down when you're writing down your notes, as a person who has never taken Math 31/Calculus in high school, I can't describe to you how lost I felt. I eventually gave up trying to write down notes. Other than that, you are helpful out of class though.
Lecture content does not prepare you for the exam
Just wrote his final. hardest thing I have ever done and I finished math 31 with a high 90. bad prof. bad attitude. and his lectures are copies of the textbook so dont even bother buying that. His final was an accumulation of exceptions and it was absolutely deadly.
Hey folks, do you have the desire to write down convoluted and illegible notes at mach 50 that lack clarity due to excess difficult grammar? Do you enjoy having a robot with no emotions as your professor? Do you strive to have a professor that is missing from his office hours on more than one occasion? If yes, David McNeilly is the prof for you!
Profs get F's too just saying. Math 114 is homework heavy to begin with. But the midterm and final wrecked my class so hard, I honestly don't think he cares about a single student in his class. If you go to argue for marks, get ready to be immediately shutdown. Lectures are dry as hell and he barely scales the class. TLDR; AVOID AT ALL COSTS
Yeah he's hard. He does write his notes fast, but he also posts them all. He also does say which examples he gives that are good exam questions (and big surprise they're exam concepts). I supplemented the course with the offered pre/post calc class and did well, and worked harder in this class than I ever have had to.
spends wayyyy to much time on proofs for a class that is NOT proof based
I put more work into this course than all my others one's combined. Seems like he likes the dramatic effect of doing complex math without explanation, before he "magically" reveals what he showed you to do. It really is not amusing. They say if you can't do you teach, unfortunately David can actually "do." Pretty cool guy, saw him at a bar once.
Math was my favourite subject until I had mcneilly. The only reason I had any idea of what was going on was because I took calc in high school. Despite getting a 99 in high school calc, mcneilly made this my hardest class all year. Avoid at all costs. Midterm average was 42%
We got 9 assignments throughout the whole semester. I feel his assignments were harder than the midterm and final, and also in terms of grading standard.
Dr McNeilly is one of those profs who are meant for teaching only 300-level courses and above. He speaks fast and wires a lot, but his classes are still extremely interesting. Give a lot of assignments, but each assignment is generally small. Would take his courses again
I have taken this class if F19, and his lectures were really good. Coming from a CS background, I already knew many of the concepts. His assignments were tough on marking, but satisfying to do. His midterm was fair, the final was hard for me. If you have significant mathematical understanding, the final should not be too difficult.
Did not give any feedback until md is over......
Just don't.
This course was very unorganized since we never got feedback on any of our work until finals were basically over. He is currently trying to accuse many students of cheating on the final when most have not. The course is not set up well, but if you have to take a math course, take it with anyone else, he is very difficult to learn from.
Mr. David McNeilly, whilst an average professor, is the most ethically depraved individual at the U of A. In W2020 he is failing an entire 1/3 of his class due to allegedly cheating on a final, most of which he has scant evidence for. Also, he attempted to force out another prof for criticizing his marking years back (google article on MacLeans).
Dont take his class. Find any professors
I am writing this after completing math 100, 101, 102, 209 and 201 and can easily say he was the worst professor to have for math 100.. I did not like his teaching style nor did i find he actually respected the majority of students. He will choose 2-3 random people and engage with them. Went to him multiple times desperate for help and was rude
The worst prof I have seen in my life. DO WHATEVER YOU CAN TO STAY AWAY!!! His notes are horrible and he skips have the process while doing practice examples in class. Also, all he does is proofs which you don't even need.
I failed the first time I did math 100. But after attending McNeillys lectures I actually started to finally understand what was actually going on in math. I was a little freaked out after looking at his ratings but hes not as bad as he sounds.
Im redoing calc with this prof and although I have a significantly better understanding in math compared to last sem. I cant even get a 60 in any of the exams. That does make some sense since the class avg is low 40s. His exams are some what fair but he dont give enough time. He an aight prof. The online portion of the exam is cancerous.
Thought after failing MATH 100 the first time the second time would be much better, yet our class average is at a solid 40. His assignments never occurred in regular intervals and exams (2 quarter exams, a midterm and a final) did not resemble previous exams or questions in the slightest. He needs to be more organized and provide better notes.
cannot communicate and he wants to compete with youHe does not want that you success to get your degree
Absolutely, most horrible professor at U of a. Constantly making students feel bad for asking questions and failed so many students. Horrible prof please avoid him for your sanity.
If you are able to take a different prof, try too. Very tough grader. The questions he marked on the midterms and finals always had plenty of deductions for reasons that didn't add up and were not fair.
While I failed the class, I respect Dr. McNeilly. He makes himself very accessible after class and during office hours to clarify things. He schedules extra office hours before exams. While he does proofs in lecture, you won't be seeing them on any assignments or exams, unless it's a bonus point.
Lectures were boring and difficult to keep up with, try getting another prof or you will end up teaching yourself a lot.
He was so rude when I went to his office hours back in the fall and his lectures are honestly useless. Never take a class with him, he also skips steps in his examples. Please avoid him, you don't deserve to have him.
Reads off his notes and is very unorganized, assignments are posted at random times and are often due very soon after its posted. No feedback from any assignments either on the week before the midterm.
Very minimal feedback and very boring lectures. Course is basically self learning.
The notes he posts online are very incomplete. However, when you email him for help he will just tell you to read the notes again. Although lectures are easy to follow, but there are minimal resources outside of class.
Boring lectures, tough grader, very unorganized. McNeilly provides minimal to zero feedback throughout the entire course and is completely useless when you ask him for help.
While the class content was manageable and his lectures were clear, Professor McNeilly made no effort to support his students learning. Lectures were just repetition of the class notes with one or two extra examples, he was unapproachable and treated questions like inconveniences, and almost no feedback was given by the end of semester.
try your best to avoid him. try your very best. if your retaking math 100, consider taking math 144 instead (it is an easier course, but you'll need to get a B+ for it to be taken as an equivalent of MATH 100.)
Took this class to retake math 100 as I failed in the fall. Very tough grader. Didn't give us our FIRST midterm marks back until after the withdrawal date. Class average of ~40% and I find that I am doing way worse compared to my fall semester. Sporadic homework schedule. Did not provide adequate exam preparation material on time. RUN.
guys he is nice to talk to; but he is extremely boring in class. id rather count from 1 to infinite than sit in his classes. on top of that, he gets very agitated that students don't show up to his boring class. (maybe step up your teaching?) and he is very difficult with marking, makes difficult tests. just try to avoid him as much as possible.
Professor had terrible notes which made no sense. He also spoke way too fast through the content, and just expected us to fill in the steps that he missed. I barely understood his lectures and often found myself teaching myself the math.
please retire
Good Professor, kind and respectful and is good at teaching.
Much better than others would say. He is extremely good 1 on 1. He even took extra time to answer a question of mine before finals. Great prof
Although I found myself teaching the content at times, McNeilly actually did good examples during lectures, and he was good at explaining during office hours. A bit harsh on the marking though.
At first this class was very overwhelming but once I understood the layout of the assignments the in class examples were very helpful and I could work though most assignments with minimal difficulty. The assignments do take quite a bit of time to complete when doing them properly.
Will give zero points for a question if there is even the slightest error, even something as small as an extra sig dig in an answer. There's a reason why his class consistently has a GPA that is 0.7 - 0.9 points lower every single year.
Takes notes at the speed of light during lectures and his printing is basically complete chicken scratch. Good luck, you're gonna need it.
terrible lectures. writes on paper and uses a document projector in a dark lecture hall. messy writing. find what times a different section has lectures and go there. he is fairly accessible outside of class though.
Teaching by solving a good amount of representative example questions. Class is efficient, concise and also full of content. He's very accessible and happy to answer questions.
Amazing person, mid prof
although the examples done in class are done quickly and there is a large bulk of them i would prefer nothing else to have prepared me for the assignments and exams as what was done in class could always be applied in some way, also he had a great personality and was a great lecturer to attend.
For math 100 lecture, buckle up, because he talks fast and writes faster. Interesting and engaging lectures though, just gotta be locked in to not fall behind. Fun fact: he wore the EXACT same shorts, shirt, hoodie and shoes EVERYDAY for almost 3 months straight. Helpful examples and stories too.
David McNeilly, for a lack of better words, is a SHT STAIN on the UofA. Just look up McNeilly on the uAlberta subreddit and see what he put his Math 125 students through. He failed and accused 130. ONE HUNDRED THIRTY students for cheating in 2020. There are also articles of him pressuring other profs to lower the grades of their students.
talks very fast and moves slides very quickly, he has an ipad but chooses to teach off of pen and paper, his handwriting is sometimes questionable, just be prepared to write VERY quickly
Basically skipped over material
Professor with a passion to math. He doesn't have the best reputation as a professor which I don't understand. Understood him very well and I have no gaps from the course. Never skipped over material.
All grading given was very harsh, his lectures were often boring and difficult to read his notes. He was quite accessible if you needed to speak with him though, very nice in person but not a professor that I would actively want. Skipped lectures to go to Jankovic.
Writes very fast and on paper and lectures do tend to get boring but overall still is very helpful and a good teacher
Lectures move quickly, but if you stay engaged, you'll learn a ton. Definitely use Unstuck study and the free textbook to stay on top of the material. Overall a challenging but rewarding class.
Just switch if you have this prof
I have a love-hate relationship with McNeilly. The content of the lectures is very easy, but he goes through problems very fast, skips steps he thinks are obvious and doesn't explain much as he goes. But if you are able to follow, you learn a lot and fast. If you do the problems outside of class, you will have no trouble with this class.
The lectures are fast-paced but easy to follow, as long as you have good basic high school Calculus. He covers both the theory and plenty of examples. Posts all the lecture notes in a timely manner. He doesn't reply to emails, but oddly enough seems to read all of them. So, if you have any questions, go to his office hours - he was always available
Reading your book is better than listening to your professor.
get ready to non-stop writing and taking notes. he is not a tech guy, handwritten everything and no slides posted etc. if you miss one sec in his lecture u will get be hind on the whole segment. but i find my self learning more than I was in Ryan's lecture.
Class Info
Online Classes
100%
Attendance Mandatory
35%
Textbook Required
36%
Grade Predictor
Your expected effort level
Predicted Grade
B-
Grade Distribution
Common Tags
Rating Trend
Declining
-1.11 avg changeRatings by Course
340
5.0
(1)MATH228322
5.0
(1)MATH228
5.0
(3)MATH324
5.0
(1)MATH101
4.0
(2)Difficulty by Course
113
5.0
114
5.0
MATH228322
5.0
MATH229322
5.0
120
4.5