Mechanics

10+ hrs/week

Hardest course at WashU by so much. Content is challenging, problem sets are harder, and exams are ridiculously hard. Ultimately the course content was interesting and I feel that I learned a lot but was very challenging and stressful to get there

5/19/2024

Don't take a class with Dr. Ferrer unless you feel comfortable teaching yourself the content. He frequently came to office hours without looking at the homework he assigned, so when you ask questions he says he doesn't know because he hasn't looked at it yet.

5/15/2023

Material can be very difficult but Ferrer is clear and intelligible in his math. Problem sets are extremely time intensive and involve an understanding that goes way beyond lecture. Exam difficulty varied from absolutely impossible to pretty easy so you really have to be prepped for anything.

8/25/2013

Had him for mechanics spring 2011. He would cover material in class only after he had assigned and collected homework on it, so class was pretty useless. I ended up reading the textbook cover-to-cover, and the class was still hard. Exam questions came completely out of left field.

4/26/2013

He's got a cool Spanish accent. His lectures focus on proofs rather than example problems, which is a problem, because his problem sets have extremely difficult problems that the textbook can't help with. An easy problem set is one that can be done without any outside help. Exams range from impossible to manageable.

4/2/2013