3.6
Quality3.0
Difficulty83%
Would Retake96
Reviews83%
Would Retake
96
Reviews
Rating DistributionOfficial
5
29
4
36
3
13
2
12
1
6
What Students Say
“He constantly talks down to students”
MATH1B - 2.0 rating“Some of my friends do not like his teaching, but I think he is great”
MATH203 - 5.0 ratingClass Info
Online Classes
100%
Attendance Mandatory
5%
Grade Predictor
Your expected effort level
Predicted Grade
A+
Grade Distribution
Common Tags
Rating Trend
Declining
-0.56 avg changeRatings by Course
53450
5.0
(1)RESEARCH
5.0
(1)84SOPHSEMINAR
5.0
(1)MATH203
5.0
(1)MATH24
4.0
(1)Difficulty by Course
MATH24
5.0
LINEARALGEBRA
5.0
RESEARCH
4.0
MATH1A
4.0
MATH1B
2.9
Reviews (96)
His notes are messy sometimes, and explanations are hard to follow sometimes. Not a great lecturer, but the one redeeming quality is that he often tells strange but entertaining jokes about what he calls Old Soviet Union
wasn't fun.
I have him for a group theory seminar and he subsequently is foing on to teach quantum theory and linear algebra to us (and we are freshman). He does have a strong accent and can be confusing sometimes, but group theory is a confusing topic.
Didnt learn much.
He was funny and tried to be helpful. He allowed us drop the lower of 2 midterms, and seemed to want us to do well. Overall, a good guy.
Good lectures, made it easy to both understand the concepts and do the problems. I wish he taught Math 53M this semester...
I never went to lecture and got an A in the class. Just do the reading from the book, all the assigned hw problems, and be sure to do well on the quizzes! If you follow that plan, you'll be juuust fine.
He was hard to understand, vague, and often very boring. I didn't learn much from him, the book did a better job. Avoid him at all costs, if you happen to sign up for his class DROP!
accent hard to understand sometimes, but overall very clear, made material easier to understand, easy-going, wanted to help us learn
This prof is hilarious. Made me laugh everyday I went to class. Great guy and a great teacher as well. One of the easiest Math 1B profs too.
Professor Reshetikhin is underrated. Despite his thick accent, his teaching style is quite effective. His lectures are organized, thoughtful, and thorough. He has a great sense of humor. His midterms are fair, bordering on easy. Highly recommended!
Nicolai is my research mentor, and I've been working with him for over a year; I think he's been an excellent teacher, and he's fully accepting of questions - however uninformed. He's extremely helpful and very knowledgeable.
One nice thing is if you miss lecture one day, you'll get very similar material in the next lecture. His midterms and finals were extremely easy, which I'd say is a bad thing. He is unorganized and unable to finish problems, promising to "post on we
this is my 2nd time taking math 1b. believe me- there are worse instructor's(cough-jack wagoner)... this guy's tests are not that hard
He was a smart and easy professor. Tests were very simple but that's not always a plus. I would recommend him to anyone over some other math professors.
very funny teacher...makes math 1b very chill n relaxin...easy to understand most of the time. reasonable midterms and final...not a professor who dwells on proofs, mostly problems which arent too hard, but has a lot of true/false questions that can KILL
Very smart man, who in my opinion is above calculus, if that's possible. He wasn't given respect and people talked when he tried. He couldn't control the class. Also, lectures seemed to be just a repeat of the book, so I started skipping a lot of lectu
Much better teacher than my previous pass at 1b. Reshetikhin took the time to explain problems, was quite friendly, and seemed to be genuinely interested in helping everyone UNDERSTAND what he was talking about.
Excellent prof! he has a wonderful sense of humor, and is genuinely interested in making sure that his students understand what's happening. One of the best math profs that i've had at Berkeley thus far.
He is very good at explaining. His tests are too easy though. The Curve is always screwed up. He's friendly and entertaining and funny. Although, he has absolutely no control over his class. My gsi was awesome, find David Spivak.
TAKE IT WITH HIM!!!! He will make you laugh and does not come up with confusing stuff on tests.
A really funny guy. His lectures were hard to follow, but my GSI, Jared Weinstein (who is awesome), cleared up things that confused me in lecture,
Reshetikhen is at first hard to understand but eventually you get used to him. His lectures are difficult but he proves everything he writes. His tests are exactly what he goes over in lecture. A great GSI, like Jared (agreed!), is suggested.
He is a very very good math professor. Although he has a Russian accent, yet his passion and humor will make you concentrate in math. And his exams are not hard compared to others.
Reshtiknh has a strong Russian accent, but he seriously takes his time with the students so that they can comprehend the difficult material as much as possible. and his midterms/final are repetitive so studying is easy.
No Comments
This guy is great. He's hilarious and he's a genius and he sure knows how to teach.
I loved this guy, even though I failed the class! His jokes were... to look forward to - but I HATED the 3-4pm time! Afternoon nap-time - avoid it!
Teaches at warp speed - just writes proofs on board for an hour. Tests are not aligned to his teaching. Gave a test prep sheet once - study group spent 30 hours on it. Not one item was on test. Wasted our time and set us up to fail.
Tries to bring humor into the classroom with lame jokes, but eases the tension. Wants his students to do well, nothing out of the ordinary on exams, if you study and do the work you will be fine. At first his russian accent throws you off with fast lectures, but eventually it starts to make sense.
His jokes weren't that funny, but he was a hilarious teacher. He was very passionate about math.
this professor is great. the last time i had math was 3 years ago, but i worked on lots of hw and past exam problems and aced the class.
In the beginning his russian is incomprehensible but it eventually starts to make sense. Tests aren't hard but if you get anything wrong big points off. His jokes are probably the funniest things I've ever heard in my life.
Funny, friendly professor and great lecturer. His accent isn't difficult at all to get used to -- however, he does have trouble articulating what he wants to say on rare occasions. There's no surprises on his tests, but expect to be hurt badly for careless mistakes.
graphs and probablity. wonderful class. sit and chat with an interesting prof about whatever crazy topology and weird advanced stuff he thinks is cool in a no pressure situation. stimulating and fun. no tests. tiny class with lot's of personal attention. what seminars are all about. probably the only reason i'm still considering a math major.
accent hampered learning at first. not very good at explaining things due to his esoteric nature. seems friendly though, and tells pretty funny jokes
Math 1b is supposedly the weeder math class, but Reshetikhin showed that he liked his students to do well. His exams were on the tough side, but if you do the practice exams and ask questions then the class won't be hard to pass. Ask him to tell jokes; he's got some absurdly good ones. Daniel Erman is the sweetest GSI ever!
The rumors of this class being the "hardest math class you'll ever take" are blown out of proportion. If you took some sort of calculus in high school (hopefully BC), and put in a decent amount of work i.e. homework/practice exams, you'll be fine. Plus, this professor knows the material like the back of his hand, recommended!
He is a wonderful lecturer. He knows the material extremely well and his tests and quizzes are manageable. I definitely reccommend him for Math 1B given the rumors about the class.
Very good teacher. Takes about a week or so to get used to the accent and his style, but he's good. If you read the lesson ahead of the lecture things will work out a lot better. Tests are pretty decent, definitely do the practice tests. Good curve. Reshetikin proved that 1B isn't all that scary as everyone made it out to be.
Best teacher ever!... he's hard to understand at first but later everything makes perfect sense. He tells jokes in class, is fun to listen to, and teaches you everything u need to know. Midterms and final are fair.
He knows his stuff, and expects you to know the material he is teaching. A great lecturer that is very organized and provides clear explanations. Exams are very reasonable.
Very good lecturer. Love his corny jokes. Tests are fair, make sure you double check your answers!
The class is pretty straightforward. It isn't usually curved excessively... The questions on his quizzes are usually easy, sometimes they might happen to be tricky but not impossible. Same deal with his midterms. He's definitely fair and he'll provide you with a lot of practice and examples.. Funny too, ask him about his stories and jokes :D
Very fun prof with average tests. Loved his jokes, and his lectures are pretty clear. As long as you do the homework you should be fine (learned that the very hard way).
Easier than the other Math 1B profs, from what I've heard. The class is indeed pretty straightforward; no proofs on the tests, just know how to do the problems and examples front and back. Very fair. Reshetikhin's jokes silenced the lecture hall on more than one occasion.
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Decent lecturer. Awesome/lame math jokes.
He has some of the funniest lame jokes I've heard. His accent isn't hard to understand at all. Very smart man. Good at explaining the derivations of things. Do all your homeworks and you'll get a B or higher.
Make sure to get a good GSI and go to office hours, because section and office hours will help to clear any confusion with the material.
Gotta love his math jokes; sometimes they don't make much sense but the way he sets them up still makes the class laugh. He was great at explaining concepts and liked to prove things during lecture; sometimes you won't completely get the proof but it usually helps anyway. I can't imagine a better Math1B prof. DO THE PRACTICE TESTS: best advice.
Fair. Tests you on understanding and application of the material, not on unfair, random things he mentioned once in lecture. Funny, kind, somehow clear despite his Russian accent. Not too difficult, do your homework, and DO THE SAMPLE FINALS/MIDTERMS. A few questions on the final were heavily based on problems or just lifted from the practice exams
Great Professor. Exams are fair and test the material pretty well. Final was harder than midterms but still fair. Loves his math jokes but can be helpful at explaining some complex issues. Hard class but he is one of the better professors if you need to get through 1B.
Good professor. Tries to be very clear during lecture and puts his lecture notes online. Good GSI is extremely helpful, for me it helped me stay interested in the class. Keep up with the work as always. Tests follow the format of the practice midterms/finals, so look through them. Good prof for an infamously difficult class.
Aw, I loved this man. Totally awesome professor. I hadn't taken math for two years before this, so struggled for a while, but I really feel like I got a grasp on the material. Loved the focus on proofs. He really seemed like he cared about our learning. His jokes were hilarious, though they didn't always make sense.
Reshetikhin is a superb math professor. He really cares about his students' learning and his lectures are straightforward. He is a very funny man and his Russian characteristics are both amusing and distinct. He helped in making my first semester at Cal. I definitely recommend him for lower division math.
It's 1B, so expect it to be hard because this is a weeder class, but he comes prepared and explains everything clearly. He posts his notes online, and gives you tons of past midterms and finals. His exams aren't easy, but they're incredibly predictable because the format is identical to his practice exams. Once in a while he tells a good joke. :)
I don't understand why everyone raves about him. His lectures are not clear and are filled with pointless information you'll never need. His tests are pretty easy if you just do practice problems. I ditched lecture frequently and just read the book on my own. Still got an A
Terrible professor who is hard to understand. Lectures are nearly incomprehensible as he often makes mistakes and writes on the boards and eventually shuffles them around so you can't even tell where he started writing. Earlier ratings misleading, and course policies are unclear.
Other than the previous two reviews, there is a two year gap between the ratings and something must have happened in those two years. He is an awful professor, incomprehensible and makes countless mistakes. His work is difficult to decipher. He is not helpful in answering questions and can be downright disrespectful. Course is very disorganized.
His accent is hard to understand, but he has funny jokes!
Reshitikhin is funny sometimes, but that doesn't make up for the fact that his lectures really are not helpful at all. I stopped going by the end. He complicated even the simplest of lessons. He was a little obsessed with T/F questions.Only passed the class because the final was basically a replica of old ones.He was also very vague about grades.
Not the worst math professor in the world but not the best either. His exams are OK, HW is manageable. My GSI (Arc) was great. Definitely going to need the book, his lectures are at best, decent. He's a funny guy though, and I think he cares about his students enough.
Some of my friends do not like his teaching, but I think he is great! I like how he organized his course materials with his gracefully-written notes on the chalkboards. When he makes mistakes, he apologizes and explains it well. He is a humble man, and I really dislike some students who mocked at him when he makes mistakes. Have some respect!
obsessed with T/F questions. He often makes mistakes while lecturing and explains concepts in a confusing way. My GSI wasn't that great, which didn't help, either. Math 1B, a weeder course if I ever saw one.
Resh is a great teacher. His course was not as much of a weeder course as was Math 1B taught by other profs. He is super nice, and when he feels bad about lecturing for too long, he tells Russian jokes. Do the book work and read ahead of time! I learned to really enjoy math on this level because of this class. Take 1B with Resh!!
He is a great professor. He really cares about his students and is a very nice person. He sometimes goes through material very fast but he slows down to clarify when students ask. All of the people that complain about him just never ask questions or ask him to clarify.He is great.
Nice guy and funny, but very unclear and his accent is hard to understand. Frequently skips steps when doing examples.
He's worlds better than the other 1B professors (or so I hear). He's a great lecturer, and generally has charisma and a great sense of humor (something you won't find often with Cal Math). Fair tests with lots of samples, wonderful and personal in office hours. Shame he's stuck teaching 1B though. Highly recommend.
He was very unclear in lecturing and his manner of explaining concepts was very confusing. He is insensitive of his students, and criticizes when you ask questions. He sometimes teaches material that is not in the book and tells you to Google it. He brings material from other math classes, and always makes mistakes in the exams he gives.
The class itself is pretty annoying, but Reshetikhin wasn't that bad overall. His lectures were often very confusing or off track, but he was very responsive and helpful in office hours. Plus, he gave us plenty of practice exams for the midterms and final, and the real tests were always very similar to the practice tests!
Math 1B itself is hard but Reshetikhin is an average professor. He relies heavily on the textbook. Sometimes he spends a whole lecture talking about theory and this can get confusing. His tests have a lot of true/false questions on them that really require you to really understand the material. Sometimes he is funny in lecture.
He's pretty mediocre as a professor. Sticks strictly to the book and spends class deriving things. Lectures only useful around midterms as the reviews tend to appear in test questions. Can be funny at times, but his accent is a bit difficult understand. True and False questions on exams are killer. The final had lots of mistakes.
He constantly talks down to students. Whenthey say they are confused he says, what's wrong? so simple, and then explains something completely not simple. he constantly skips steps and goes too fast and his accent is hard to understand. he can be funny, but i wouldn't recommened him. hw from textbook, but textbook not exactly required.
By far, Professor Reshetikin was my favorite professor at Cal! His class was EXTREMELY organized. Tests were predictable, because it mostly followed the textbook. There is no homework, but he assigned some that were optional. I highly recommend doing the homework he assigns and past exams. I WOULD RECOMMEND HIM SO MUCH!! :)
Lectures are straight from the book. He tells the occasional joke and his accent is often difficult to understand. Tests are very straightforward with few tricks.
Lectures very fast paced and assumes students have already read the chapter in depth. Don't go if you haven't looked at it, you won't keep up. Amazingly brilliant guy, tests are hard but fair. Know the theory and proofs to do well, not just how to do drills, though homework practice is a must.
Math 1B is a difficult course and regardless of the lecturer. I skipped lecture, read the book and went to SLC's study group. Reshetikin's lectures were really not helpful for me.
His lectures are not hard at all! He reviews materials from the previous lecture and then goes into new stuff. He really likes to tell jokes in lectures lol. He is really cute and funny. Tests are fair. I personally think quizzes are harder than midterms.
Pretty easy class IMO. True and false are tricky and test depth of knowledge so beware. His lectures were pretty confusing but if you can teach yourself the class is easy, also Reshetikhin is hilarious and seems like a genuinely great, laid back guy.
Good lectures, but not necessary (he posts lecture notes on bcourses). Read the book, work on the problem sets & keep up with the pace. The section after midterm 1 (tested on midterm 2) is the hardest (sequences/ series). True/ False is hard. Really accessible outside of class, via email or office hours. Discussion helped me the most, though.
He has a horrible way of teaching concepts. Skips 6 steps and jumps to the final step so everyone is clueless. Gets distracted and starts talking about abstract theories and no one knows whats happening. GSI was better than the professor. Tough tests and quizzes every week. Made a regular class seem insanely hard
The class mirrors the homework. If you do the homework you will understand the material. If you can take the adjunct at the SLC for Math 1B, you will be beyond well prepared. It helps to skim the textbook the night before lecture because it lets you recognize parts of what he is talking about so you can adapt the way you do a problem to the test.
You definitely get a "dad" vibe from Professor Reshetikhin. His stories are a delight and occasionally very funny. His lectures aren't very clear, however, so you will need to do extra reading. He gives quizzes weekly which is a drag, but overall very helpful. If you have a good GSI or work hard, class will be no problem.
Not a very good lecturer. Confused students and made lots of mistakes. Nonetheless, exams were decently fair and if you know your material you can get an A. Would recommend only if you are strong in math, because you will end up teaching yourself.
Exactly what a professor should be. He explains things clearly, although perhaps a little boring. He does try to lighten up class with jokes. As for his tests, they are very straightforward. His tests are very predictable especially because he gives old practice tests, so as long as you do those and homework, you should be fine.
Tests were very fair, always had practice tests that were nearly identical to the real thing. Going to sections and doing homework is very helpful. Definitely difficult but doable. Be ready for weekly quizzes
Seldom attended after the first few weeks. His lectures are very theoretical and proof-based, which you don't need for the tests. Most teaching was done by GSI and myself. Weekly quizzes were annoying. Exams were identical to the past ones he puts online, although tough due to no partial credit and True/False. Homework was not collected.
His lectures were very clear and he went over previous problems on exams that prepared me well for tests. All of his notes are posted online for reference. I would attend lecture though because his explanations allow you to understand the material in great depth which is essential for the T/F questions. Great, caring teacher!
Super nice, good, and goofy lecturer. Gave us extra credit sometimes. Quizzes are hard as hell but exams are pretty easy. Went off tangent sometimes like teaching us imaginary numbers for 2 days even though it has nothing to do with the class.
He gives easy exams, basically from homework.
Prof. Reshetikhin was very disorganized and inconsistent throughout the entire semester. He changed course policy multiple times and refused to give updates about midterm grading/curves. His lectures are extremely unclear and he is very difficult to understand. He also is very off-putting to students participating in class/asking questions.
This class can be a bit unorganized, but Resh is reasonable and takes feedback. Reading the textbook can be more helpful than lectures. Resh will mostly write proofs that you won't need, but tells fun stories. Weekly quizzes are based on the HW. Take practice exams to prepare for real exams. Resh's T/F questions are pretty tough--need smart brain.
I really enjoyed taking this class, and I learned so much from it. As others have mentioned, the true/false questions can be difficult, but lectures really help with these. The professor explains concepts quickly, but I do think he is a kind and funny professor. He also gave us an credit opportunity!
Very accommodating given the pandemic. No problem with accent. Slow lectures. Quizzes and HW often but not too much % of total grade and not too tough. Good grade bins. Teaches well but a bit disorganized at times. Exams are similar to HW and quizzes with some extremely tough questions. TA team was smaller than necessary. Interesting stories...
Professor Reshetikhin was pretty good. The class overall was not too bad but his exams were tough, especially the True/False questions. He had some good jokes in class as well. I recommend taking the adjunct for Math 1B alongside this course for the most success. Shoutout to Hieu Nguyen, the greatest adjunct instructor.
Class Info
Online Classes
100%
Attendance Mandatory
5%
Grade Predictor
Your expected effort level
Predicted Grade
A+
Grade Distribution
Common Tags
Rating Trend
Declining
-0.56 avg changeRatings by Course
53450
5.0
(1)RESEARCH
5.0
(1)84SOPHSEMINAR
5.0
(1)MATH203
5.0
(1)MATH24
4.0
(1)Difficulty by Course
MATH24
5.0
LINEARALGEBRA
5.0
RESEARCH
4.0
MATH1A
4.0
MATH1B
2.9