AI Rate Professor

Mathematics

Aaron Simo

MATH50 · MATH54 · MATH21 · MATH54C · 84 lifetime ratings

AI rating
66/100
RMP rating
3.6/5
Take again
63.1%
Difficulty
3.5

The decision

Take him if you , and ; skip if you need tight, on-schedule lectures.

Best fit · Effort For RewardHilarious & CaringOff-Topic DigressionsTest Videos EssentialLots of HomeworkExtra Credit Lifeline
  • and stays late in office hours.
  • Stats content and tests stay tough; , and .
  • Attendance is usually mandatory; and .

Key questions

Four answers before you build your schedule.

Is this an easy A?

FairEffort

54/100

As are realistic if , and use , but exams stay rough and grades span A through drop.

Both formats demand steady work; online adds software friction and one Proctorio report.

Is the course easy?

Standard

46/100

yet fast-paced and abstract for others, especially when paired with support course 54C.

In-person comments dominate the content-difficulty picture; online mirrors the same curriculum.

Is attendance flexible?

Mandatory

28/100

, and warn that missing class leaves almost nothing online.

Online and in-person both treat presence as required; only a .

Is this professor recommended?

WorthIt

66/100

and support resources, despite polarized teaching complaints.

In-person fans are louder; .

Course guide

See how this professor fits your week.

Grading

Fair

56/100

Tough tests and some tough-grader tags, offset by easy , occasional 50% floors, and .

Format shift

Extra-credit culture appears in both formats.

Workload

Heavy

34/100

Lots of , and weekly prep for short but and finals.

Format shift

and accelerated summer terms intensify load.

Teaching experience

Good

72/100

Many call him hilarious, caring, and office-hour gold; a vocal minority say he is off-topic and hard to learn from.

Format shift

In-person warmth is clearer; online has sharper negative outliers.

Assessment method

FocusOnExams

72/100

and finals, with homework supporting but .

Format shift

Same test-heavy pattern online and in person.

Luni fit check

Weigh these signals against your actual schedule.

Get help balancing workload, grading, and timing when no option is an obvious fit.

Course format

Compare the in-person and online experience.

Classroom format

In person

40 reviews

High confidence · Best fit for Effort For Reward

In-person students praise his humor, care, and office hours, but warn that , and he often goes off track.

Main concern

Falling behind when lectures digress or and StatCrunch practice.

What students said

“Professor Simo truly makes math fun and easy to understand! ... and if you stay on top of and listen in class you will get a good grade.”
MATH54C
“If you aren't proficient with Statscrunch ... you will fail. .”
MATH54
“I'll be straight up. . 85% tests are quizzes the rest is Hw. ... GO TO OFFICE HOURS.”
MATH54

Remote format

Online

10 reviews

Medium confidence · Best fit for Effort For Reward

Online and ; quality is mixed with a few strong fans and sharp complaints about software, digressions, and one Proctorio section.

Main concern

Software cost or , and occasional proctoring tools can frustrate remote students.

What students said

“Does not mind going over topics multiple times. Easy going if we tell him we need the .”
MATH54
“This ! There is a lot of notes and hw.”
MATH21
“ !! What is wrong with SMC hiring all these professors that don't help or are just rude.”
MATH54

Exam style

Know what to expect from exams and major assignments.

Exams are short, weighted heavily, often software-based, and much easier if .

StatCrunch quizzesYouTube test videosShort hard testsExtra credit on examsProctorio in some online

Assessment risk

Standard

48/100

Low score means less forgiving assessment conditions.

In person

In-person tests rely on StatCrunch or notes, feel hard and short, and .

StatCrunch testsTest videos requiredTest corrections sometimesHigh exam weight
“This guy is funny and witty but . They're usually very short, under 10 questions, but very unrelated to the homework.”
MATH54
“For .”
MATH54C
“ and because he wants his students to pass.”
MATH54

Online

One MATH21 online review explicitly reports Proctorio; other online sections emphasize .

Proctorio mentionedTest heavyHomework-linked exams
“This ! There is a lot of notes and hw.”
MATH21
“Study and do all the homework and you should be fine. Cons: hw ”
MATH54

Student evidence

See what students actually said.

Top student voice

“I'll be straight up. . 85% tests are quizzes the rest is Hw. ... GO TO OFFICE HOURS. THE HW ARE THE QUIZZES.”

Voice snapshots generated from 50 reviews (10 online, 40 in , and . Credibility rating: High.

🎭 Classroom Personality

78/100

“Simo is a really cool teacher and is super funny. I love his teaching style, I always hated math but he made it fun.”

📚 Workload Reality

34/100

“Quite a lot of homework but its flexible. but if you study and .”

🎯 How to Pass

70/100

“If you want to ace the class just watch the test videos 5+ times.”

⚠️ Polarization Warning

40/100

“I ”

Theme 1

👨‍🏫 About Teaching Style

  • He brings a warm and welcoming vibe to every class
  • he tends to lose track of time and go off track
  • W stats professor. I'd say a good 1/2 of this class is him being sidetracked

Data context

See exactly what the AI read.

Analysis sample

50

Recent reviews read by the AI

84

Lifetime ratings

86/100

Evidence confidence

Fifty detailed reviews spanning 2020-2026 with , and test videos make the picture reliable despite some polarization.

Inside 50 stored ratings

Quality ratings

5 out of 542
4 out of 55
3 out of 516
2 out of 54
1 out of 517

Course coverage

MATH5430 reviews
MATH54C11 reviews
MATH218 reviews
MATH501 review

Reported outcomes

A range results lead the reported letter grades.

48 reported outcomes

A range

17

A+ 4 · A 11 · A- 2

B range

13

B+ 2 · B 7 · B- 4

C range

8

C 6 · C- 2

D range

1

D 1

F

1

F 1

No letter grade reported

8

Drop/Withdrawal 3 · Not sure yet 4 · Rather not say 1