John McCarthy

2-4 hrs/week

I think I was bout confused during the class but it was cool. Good professor. He cold calls from a coconut

12/10/2025

A hard class but I like McCarthy a lot

5/8/2025

Prof McCarthy is funny and makes fair exams. Not much more you can ask out of a math professor. At times he goes on extremely complicated tangents, but they never showed up on exams and would always be interesting asides. He also clearly cares about his students.

5/10/2024

Professor McCarthy gives great, engaging lectures. The content is difficult, yet rewarding to understand. The course is homework-heavy, but it is graded leniently as long as your submission is mostly correct.

5/9/2024

(This review is for Math 312, which I could not select): McCarthy is a fantastic lecturer. He can get a bit peeved if you don't answer his questions correctly, but he's a great lecturer. He cold calls, and some of the questions he asks are really simple while others are not.The material was fascinating and I overall really enjoyed taking his class.

5/9/2024

Super interesting. Amazing professor.

4/19/2024

Professor McCarthy does a great job of creating classroom community through student participation and just being a hilarious person. Many (including me) may find his class anxiety-inducing at first because he does cold call, but he never minds if you don't know an answer. Very helpful in OH and kind person. His wife founded Khaldi's.

12/29/2023

McCarthy gets a bad rep from Calc I but he is one of the best professors I have had. The work is demanding and lectures are in depth and hard but very rewarding and fun because he is hilarious. He's the reason I am now a math major.

11/13/2016

McCarthy is an awesome, awesome guy. He demands a lot out of his students, but the class is rewarding. If you intend to become a mathematician, I highly reccommend taking this class. It is an insight into what true mathematics is. He won't absolutely destroy your grade or fail you by any means, but do realize this is college now.

12/1/2015

Class is really difficult, but kinda interesting? You will cover a ton of course material.

11/13/2015

McCarthy is a funny and incredibly smart mathematician that has not yet mastered the skill of teaching Calc1. He is way too smart to be teaching students that have not yet taken calculus and spends too much time in proofs, which turn to be pointless for tests. Attendance is optional - just read the book and you'll be fine. Ok professor, not great.

1/3/2014

Took him for calc one. Class was almost always a waste of time. He doesn't explain things well at all. Spends too much time on useless proofs. Tests are difficult to prepare for. Ended up needing a tutor through the semester to get a good grade. Not into teaching the class at all. AVOID.

11/10/2013

Lectures range from boring to barely tangential to the subject matter. Assignments bear little resemblance to the text book. Neither assignments nor the text book bear any relevance to the exams. Keep him as a researcher, not a teacher.

11/9/2013

Can't say about the upper level classes, but an absolutely horrendous Calc 1 professor. Didn't care about how students did (wouldn't curve a test with a D average!), did way too many useless proofs in class and virtually no practice problems, and seemed to be very unapproachable. Probably a very good researcher, but an awful professor.

12/13/2012

He took the time to slow problems down so that they were easy to understand. Extremely approachable.

1/12/2012

I really enjoyed this class. He goes over the material quickly and goes on tangents, but he is hilarious. Read ahead in the book before class (like he recommends) and you will do great.

9/1/2011

I found him unapproachable, but that could just be me. His midterms were not super hard but his final killed.

3/30/2011

McCarthy wastes time in class proving random things you will never have to know. He is a smart guy and really knows his stuff, but he does a terrible job of conveying the material to his students. Prior to this class, I absolutely loved calculus and came out of the class with less of an appreciation due to McCarthy. Take advantage of office hours

1/13/2011

Great proffesor who was easy to follow if you went to class and didn't fall asleep. However if you did then you could look over the book and it was basically exactly what he covered that day so as long as you atleast keep up with the book you won't fall behind.

1/11/2011

McCarthy is awesome. Yes, he does spend some class time doing random proofs and going on tangents, but he also gives plenty of examples. If you need extra help, do the homework problems. He is also hilarious...very nerdy in a good way. "Holy integrands, Batman! They didn't teach me how to do that in superhero school!" -- McCarthy

12/16/2010

Professor McCarthy is a great teacher. Always willing to help at his office hours and does well getting the concepts across. Does spend a lot of time proving concepts, but the book does a good job of outlining everything you need to know so its easy to see whats important and whats not.

11/12/2010

McCarthy spends at least have of every class proving things that do not need to be proved. He doesn't spend enough time on examples. He knows his stuff, but I don't think he knows how to convey it well.

11/5/2010

i do not recommend this "teacher" at all. doesn't belong in the classroom.

11/23/2009

This teacher is very fair. His tests are reasonable, and you have pleanty of time to take them. The final has questions from past tests on it. Also, book problems frequently appear on tests, so do the book problems (even though they are not mandatory). Also do webwork, because it helps your grade!

5/22/2007

Professor McCarthy is teaches very fast in class, so make sure to read the section beforehand. He's very helpful during office hours, and the tests are tough but nothing too different from the problems in class and homework. He's a good teacher.

3/8/2007

tough class, but he was always willing to help out...really cares about his students

12/6/2005

Difficult in a good way.

3/14/2005

Amazing teacher. Keeps the material interesting and keeps the class involved. You should be prepared to work in this class.

1/7/2005

His class is hard, but enjoyable if you're in the mood to get deep into mathematical rigor.

11/9/2004

this guy is the worst, most difficult, most confusing "teacher" ever. his notes on the board and his online notes are messy and unclear. he can't teach, so confusing, and pointless class. he doesn't explain anything, he assumes, and goes too

9/11/2004

The numerical grade is low, but the letter grades are high. This course will definitely put you into the proving mindset, and challenge you like no other math course you've taken previously.

7/31/2004