Yanli Song

Lectures are reasonable, if a little fast. Luckily, there are lots of resources outside of class too. I usually still had questions.

5/7/2025

2 or less hrs/week

Song can struggle a little bit with explaining things as I think there is a bit of a language barrier. However, I liked this class a lot. It was a very helpful course to show me the basics of differential equations, and it allowed me to understand upper level chemistry and physics course better.

2/27/2025

Excellent lecturer and enthusiastic about the content. The subject material was challenging, but Prof. Song taught it in a way that was understandable with a bit of practice. The pace and workload were manageable for a class of this difficulty.

12/27/2024

Poor scheduling and organization. When questioning the professor, they either reword your question or say, "it's like that because it is." The professor would make at least 3 mistakes a lecture; sometimes huge ones. You learn by doing, and learning differential equations in this class was like navigating a busy street with a peephole of light.

12/20/2024

He was a great lecturer who taught very clear and concise. The problem with him was his grading system. 40% FINALL??? He makes all the midterms extremely easy-worth 6.66% each. Then drops the hardest test I have seen at WashU which also happens to be 40% of my grade. But again, he is a great lecturer just please fix your grading system Dr. Song.

12/17/2024

2-4 hrs/week

Differential Equations\' main flaw is that innovations in mathematics and engineering are not contingent upon the innovator\'s haste--they\'re contingent upon the innovator\'s creativity. A more suitable name for this course would be "Algebra Simulator 101: Differential Equations Edition." To be successful in this class, you need not attend every lecture, nor do you need to complete every optional practice set. To be successful, you must sharpen your algebra skills while maintaining speed--failing to do this will cook you. Full free-response solutions on exams require text wrapping; multiple-choice questions are loaded with tedious algebra plug-and-chugs. The exams will legitimately tickle your sanity. If you\'re majoring in engineering or physics, you are required to take this course. If you\'re like me and you believe that you have solid mathematical intuition and problem solving skills, throw your ego out the window for this class (and in life)--it won\'t help you. Instead, try developing something that WILL help you: SPEED.\n

12/13/2024

Good at explaining things, but lectures are very fast-paced and oftentimes it could be a struggle to copy things down from the board since no notes or lecture recordings are posted. Subsections are optional but great for getting more practice. The Canvas page could use a little more organization instead of having everything on a single page.

12/10/2024

4-6 hrs/week

Good at explaining things, but lectures are very fast-paced and oftentimes it could be a struggle to copy things down from the board since no notes or lecture recordings are posted. Subsections are optional but great for getting more practice. The Canvas page could use a little more organization instead of having everything on a single page. 40% cumulative final is a little yikes but we'll see how that goes...

12/9/2024

Yanli Song is a great professor who genuinely cares about his students and confirms the content makes sense to everybody. His lectures are clear and prepare students very well for the exams. All of his outfits are great, and it was extremely wholesome when he came back after his child was born during the semester and he was very excited to tell us.

12/5/2024

2 or less hrs/week

When I took this class it was pretty easy. Light on what we had to learn. Professor song really got me into math: he’s a real inspirational type. Class has changed since- harder now but hopefully more relevant to maths

5/19/2024

I liked all the times when he wrote on the board and when he wore slippers to class!

2/15/2024

Best math professor I've had at WashU. Explains things extremely clearly and very accessible in office hours. Homework is graded on a combination of completion and accuracy, so it's very manageable. Tests are also pretty similar to homework questions and lecture examples, so they are not too difficult. Highly recommend to to anyone!

12/18/2023

Song is a pretty decent professor. He teaches concepts fairly well in class but can be a bit unclear if you ask him a clarifying question. The class is only graded on homework and exams; there's very little homework, and the tests are short and not too difficult. He doesn't post any lecture notes though, so it's up to you to make class

12/4/2023

Great at explaining things. You need to go to class, but that's okay, because class is really interesting!

12/4/2023

Prof. Song really cares about making sure that every student in the lecture understands the content he goes over. 310 can get to be an abstract, confusing class at points but he always welcomed questions and answered them thoroughly, even if it took more time than he was expecting. There's really clear expectations and he wants everyone to do well.

11/28/2023

He goes through concepts pretty thoroughly which helped me really understand the progression of the course. Do not hesitate to ask questions!

4/10/2023

The class is difficult if you are not great at math like me. Professor Song is sweet and pretty funny. The tests are fair, and he is overall a good teacher. He is a good choice if you can learn from examples, but maybe watch videos on the topic before (or after) so you can process his examples better.

1/20/2022

Pros: - Very straightforward/methodical - Teaches well and explains well - Very knowledgeable - Often relates back to old material Cons: - Accent (not too bad tho) - Sometimes hard to read writing (sit in front) - Lots of homework but it keeps you on track - Only way to get material is from lecture no online help - Exams are a bittricky

4/4/2018