Brian Blank

Really liked having Blank for Calc II! He'll often go on tangents, but he's so funny. He once showed my class the comb he uses when he cuts his hair.

10/26/2018

Very bad teacher. Rambles on about subjects not related to stats(such as cereal from the 1970s) Assigns coding homework that no other professors teaching 2200 assign. Very funny and nice guy if you go to his office hours but not very good at actually teaching the subject. Tests are not too hard if you make a good cheat sheet and use calculator

4/6/2018

Not a good communicator whatsoever. In lecture and his lecture notes, you have a hard time figuring out what he's trying to say, and he goes off topic frequently. When he explains something you end up more confused than you were before.

4/2/2018

I took AP Statistics in high school so i was lucky enough to fare well in this class with no help from Blank. He makes no sense when he lectures. His own notes are over complicated. The third test will hurt and if you have not done well on other tests you will not get a good grade. DO NOT take this class with him.

1/17/2018

Clarification: textbook his own 'class notes' textbook PDF's Also, First President U WashU. Though he seems like a nice guy, his teaching style makes the class appear deceptively easy. Lectures, though not crystal clear, often made sense to some degree. But exams didn't reflect the lectures terribly well. He went on tangents in class often

6/29/2017

Confusing and not very clear in lecture; often makes mistakes on exams. Avoid.

6/4/2017

Brian Blank is a mess. His lectures are all over the place, he didn't use a textbook, and his exams were unfocused and unrelated to class. His grading can be lenient at times, but taking a class with Blank is the ultimate toss-up. Funny and sweet guy, but overall don't recommend.

2/23/2017

He's an all right professor overall. Unlike some math professors, he is a very approachable guy and responds to emails pretty quickly. His lectures get confusing, but he types his HW/practice exam solutions very thoroughly, which is where the bulk of my learning took place.

12/23/2016

Professor Blank, while not the best at teaching, is by far the funniest professor I've had at WashU. His exams are pretty easy so long as you put a bit of effort into the class (read his online textbook!). He does make quite a few errors on his exams, however, which is frustrating.

5/22/2016

Blank gets really off track, is extremely unclear, and is terrible at answering questions. I got an A in the class by reading, rereading and rereading his online textbook. Do every possible problem and try to write everything from his online lecture notes down on your note card. Don't worry about not having a textbook, use his online one.

5/16/2016

Skip class, watch khan academy instead. Lecture notes are confusing. Lectures themselves are filled with unnecessary discussion of cereal boxes and 1970s references.

4/11/2016

Blank gets a bad rap, but he's actually a pretty good teacher if you pay attention. He rambles sometimes, but most of the times what he is saying is actually kind of interesting.

1/19/2016

Lectures mainly on obscure material and does NOT focus on core concepts/problems. HW + Weekly Quizzes reflect NOTHING of the tests. Condescending and unhelpful in office hours; doesn't understand when students don't 'get' it. Emails are incomprehensible; test questions often have errors he insists students should've 'noticed and spent less time on'

12/18/2015

Took his Calc II class this semester and it was much more difficult than it should have been. In lectures, Blank spends too much time on unessential background information and flies through the limited examples he does in class. His Webwork was much harder than any exam or quiz question and was basically useless to learn from. Not a great experienc

12/12/2015

Blank isn't the best lecturer and often gets sidetracked during lectures and talks about irrelevant information. He does plenty of example problems but doesn't thoroughly explain concepts. You can get by without going to class. Do suggested exercises and old exams to study. If you can, avoid Blank for Calc 2.

12/4/2015

Blank gives several example problems in his lectures, but does a poor job of explaining the steps. He also can get a little sidetracked when he rants on about the history of math. He's not the worst lecturer, but definitely not the best.

11/13/2015

Generally a pretty nice guy, but his lectures are very vague and confusing. Makes a lot of mistakes, including on the exams. He doesn't assign a textbook but I would definitely recommend using one for the course, simply because his lectures/notes are not always very helpful. Expect lots of random tangents, too

11/8/2015

Blank is a very good lecturer. He puts all relevant theory on the board in very clear handwriting. Also does good examples in class. Notes you take will be very helpful for homework. The class is hard but this is not his fault. If you take good notes, do practice problems, and SEE HIM FOR HELP IF YOU NEED IT (or email him), you will do fine.

10/28/2015

Horrible. Ignores the textbook, teaches using his own personal longhand way of doing problems. quizzes+HW are long and count very little. tests are tricky, confusing, and test your 'reading through nonsense to find a question' ability rather then your knowledge of the material. Adds unnecessarily difficult integrals to complicate problems. Avoid.

10/21/2015

Avoid at all costs barring a natural talent in statistics. Your interest in this very captivating subject and its powerful predictive powers will be in tatters by the second midterm exam. A textbook is not assigned - instead a horribly written PDF handbook that is about as clear as mud is given instead. If you must take this course, buy a textbook.

6/9/2015

The class started off great and the first two tests were pretty easy. Then one day he said "I expect the averages to drop two 1325 and 1425 for exam 3 and final". Ever since that day he was not helpful at all. Not to mention he always has mistakes on his tests that can really put you in a time crunch because he tells you with 10min left. avoid

4/30/2015

He's the master of making simple things look way more complicated than they are. This applies to both the class material, and the tests. He said he didn't like the textbook that other prof's who taught the same class used , and wrote one himself throughout the year. Worst book ever. One of the easiest classes at WashU made extremely confusing.

11/18/2014

Blank wastes class time and then rushes to fit the class material in during the last 15 minutes. Honestly, just don't take it if you don't have to. The class isn't worth it unless it's required for your major.

5/3/2014

Professor Blank is funny, but...I didn't learn much from his class. He ususally told jokes until running out of time and then wrote what should have been emphasized very quickly.

3/25/2014

Awful lecturing. Going to class helps marginally. His textbook was a mess too, which makes sense given it was written by him. I managed to do decently in the course by doing every practice test he had. I would stay away from him unless you have a natural grasp for the subject. He does have funny tangents though.

3/14/2014

Don't get his humor; Experimental Questions During REAL EXAMS!!!

2/12/2014

He wrote the book so if you didn't understand his lecture, the book wasn't too much help. Calc III with him is basically his version of Calc III, it's more about learning how to answer his style of question than learning the material. He posts all his old exams and he recycles a lot of questions so do the practice exams and you'll be fine.

12/19/2013

Dear old Brian thought it was reasonable to put "experimental" questions on the test, which he in no way prepared us for and then weighted those questions extra heavy. That is truly unacceptable.

11/20/2013

Great professor, very funny in class. Tests are not terribly hard, and suggested problems from the textbook are helpful.

11/11/2013

If you can take Calc II with a different professor, do it. He wrote the textbook himself, which should be a good thing, but since he can't explain it in class, it's not surprising that the textbook makes no sense either. He's really hard to follow in class, and his tests are pretty difficult and all multiple choice.

5/14/2013

I don't get the bad comments, either. Calculus is a hard class to teach, but he is clear and organized in my class. And he might just be the funnies math professor I ever had. I woke up everyday looking forward to his class, even though he posted all lecture notes.

4/29/2012

Made us all buy his horrible, worthless textbook. Did well in this course only because of Paul's online math notes and Khan Academy, no thanks to him.

11/29/2011

Don't know why he got so many complaints. This guy is nice. Okay he's a bit geeky, but that's definitely not a problem. The course material is arranged reasonably and the expectations for exams are easy to follow. He's also helpful, replies emails promptly and stays a long time after class talking to students who have questions. And exams are fine.

10/27/2011

He is a likable and quirky man, and very knowledgeable when it comes to his field, but he absolutely cannot teach. Very hard to follow and teaches from his book that he wrote, which is likewise as confusing. To make matters worse, his exams are also quite difficult. Get a different professor.

5/7/2011

Blank is an interesting guy who likes to go off on tangents about funny things that happened to him and about the history of mathematics. As a student who isn't always comfortable with math, I found him hard to follow in lecture. He does a lot of examples, but I find them overly complicated, and they sometimes obscure the key points of the material

5/5/2011

Having personally read RateMyProfessors before enrolling in this course, I can tell you that I do not think Prof. Blank is nearly as bad as these ratings would make you think. He has a pretty good sense of humor (even if his jokes are pretty corny) and if you go every day and do the work, you'll do fine. Textbook not necessary if you go to class.

4/29/2011

GET. OUT. NOW. You'll immediately regret taking this class with Blank.

11/29/2009

I learned about Maple and cave men drawings in Calc II. The book makes everything more complicated than it is. Easy class, terrible professor. I never went and got an A.

4/30/2008

If you like jokes about chalk and useless anecdotes about the bleak social life of a helplessly quirky math professor, brian blank is your man. If, on the other hand, you go to class to learn, even just a little bit, you should steer well clear of anything this professor is responsible for. Nice guy, TERRIBLE professor.

4/28/2008

I'm just glad I took Calculus BC in high school or I would have had no idea what was going on. He is a terrible teacher, but funny sometimes. Avoid taking this class. Go on to Calc 3 or stay at Calc 1 if he is teaching 2. He's smart, but a bad teacher. He does basically no examples and crams the lecture into the last ten minutes of class.

11/27/2007

The class was all about Maple, Falcons, and Hawks attacking squirrels or at least what made sense. Everything else didn't.

9/4/2007

Interesting guy. The material presented was usually clear. He is awkwardly funny and that makes it worthwhile to attend class. LOVES maple. Wrote the textbook. Overall a good guy, I wish he taught Calc 3.

5/4/2007

Brian Blank is so fantastic. He is silly to listen to and goes on many random tangents. Sure, his tests are difficult, but they won't keep you from doing well in the class.

4/28/2007

I used to love math, he made me hate it. He can not teach. He may be brilliant, but does a horrible job at communicating concepts to the students. Worst class I have ever taken. Apparently most of the Math dept isn't good either.

3/23/2007

Prof Blank's lectures were rather funny and interesting. He is a very socially awkward man, but has immense knowledge of the material he covers. Going to class is not always needed, but his lectures do help somewhat if you pay close attention and are able to not get distracted by his odd and very random stories.

12/30/2006

Don't go to class. Learn how to do every problem on the practice exams and you will get an A.

12/24/2006

He was able to explain concepts decently, but his tests were impossible. They were in Maple and we couldn't use any type of calculator yet often answers were decimals or ridiculously hard to figure out. Additionally you could never see how similar problems were worked since all he had to do was type solve into Maple. He's occasionally entertaining.

12/13/2006

Not bad. Class is optional and those who do show up usual fall asleep. Spends most days discussing how much he hates yellow chalk.

12/8/2006

He is very boring and his lectures are impossible to sit through without falling asleep. He is not very funny, like most people say, but he is awkward. For instance, he'll make some bizarre comment that goes way off on a tangent and then just stand there with a strange look on his face for a few seconds. Then, everyone will start laughing.

11/30/2006

He has a habit of making absurd and funny statements, which makes lecture tolerable. However, this does not help his abysmal teaching skills. He rushes through example problems without making his reasons for doing what he is doing clear, making it very easy to get lost or confused. Take the practice exams he posts--they help.

11/29/2006

Prof. Blank is a very funny guy, and keeps lectures entertaining but I didn't learn a thing all year. This class is easy so it makes it worth it.

11/18/2006

I love Blank! He is so nerdy but i find him really funny he keeps it entertaining for me. He really knows what he's talking about too hes a good teacher

11/13/2006

avoid this class at all costs. he is hardly a teacher, I only learned from the book and practice exams. I never went to class and got an A tho bc the scale's so high

11/9/2006

Blank is so funny in a really nerdy way. He's a good teacher, i actually find lecutres helpful.

10/28/2006

we are so entertained by this man that we have created a notebook dedicated to his bizarre class comments. PS he wrote the textbook.

9/25/2006

There were never more than 15 kids present in class, even on test days out of the 60 in the class. He loves maple more than his stories about loving maple, which believe me take up 65% of class time. If you even get enough energy to go to class, you will be asleep within the first 10 minutes of class. Not recommended.

5/6/2006

I stopped going to class. The T.A. was more helpful because Blank doesn't teach because he's too ADD to teach a full class properly. Not to mention that he's horribly non-motivational and not helpful at all. He said he was too lazy to grade written tests, so they're multiple choice, which I think is ridiculous.

11/25/2005

i hate maple so damn much why can't he just show solutions and post in pdf so we can actually use what is posted on the web

10/26/2005

Very easy class, but very odd teacher

10/6/2005

horribly unhelpful

5/18/2005

SLU student took 132 over summer. I don't understand the bashing. He is one of the best math teachers I have had and made Calc II easier. He does tell lots of weird stories that are sometimes boring; he seems to know TONS of random information..

8/24/2004

In my view, he teaches really well. Just do the recommended problems and the class is easy.

8/17/2004

I don't know why he gets bashed so much. He does talk about a lot of unrelated stuff but I'm not much of a math person so I find that more interesting than most of the actual course material. It's easy too; his grading scale is a joke.

7/28/2004

I took this course in the summer to avoid 15 weeks of going to class on Friday. It sucked. On the bright side, there was no homework and everything was straight from the book so you could get away with really poor attendance if you were so inclined.

4/27/2004

Try his course in summer. He has interesting stories/tangents. I realize hardcore math/science majors might not like that, esp. 'cause he doesn't like to teach to the mult. choice-oriented curriculum, but mult. choice math sucks ass anyway. He's not bad.

12/5/2003

Took a really easy topic and made it much too difficult. Presented everything theoretically and without examples.

12/5/2003

Not very clear at all, talks about a lot of off-topic things

8/12/2003

really tough teacher. pretty lazy and teaches too much with Maple

2/18/2003