Hated this class--Caldararu made this experience as hard as it could be. He never tried to help student understand difficult concepts, made himself as inaccessible as possible, and held a generally condescending attitude. Linear Algebra with proofs is already a difficult class, and Caldararu only made it worse. Would NEVER take again.Rate My Professors ↗
Current instructor
Andrei Caldararu
What students say
Original student reviews · all captured dates
Caldararu's class was the most difficult class I've ever taken. He provided no recourses and his canvas was completely blank. He was also 5 days late on providing a syllabus. He has two midterms and a final that make up a majority of the grade, which most people failed. It also seems like he thinks he is too good to teach this class.Rate My Professors ↗
Very engaging profRate My Professors ↗
All criticisms are true. VERY few test prep resources. 9 HW assignments and 3 tests. Very generous curve. This class provided the most in depth understanding of math I have had so far. He can seem mean sometimes, but I don't attribute it to malice, just a misunderstanding. This was his first time teaching, we didn't get that far into linear.Rate My Professors ↗
Insight to how upper level math courses are. He's decent at explaining but a bit condescending sometimes because of how bright he is. He taught slowly to account for everyone's pace. Definitely ask questions in class, he will take the time to explain properly.Rate My Professors ↗
Would not take again. I don't even think he made it through all of the course content. He seems nice and tells some jokes, but was not prepared to teach this class. I learned little, had to search for outside resources to learn anything, he gave very little to no practice work or any homework solutions for review.Rate My Professors ↗
Personal experiences, not a representative survey. Profile matching and captured coverage are shown in the source details.
Classes with Andrei Caldararu
Introduction to algebraic geometry covering algebraic preliminaries, local rings, valuation theory, power series rings, and the geometry of algebraic varieties.
Offering recorded · Fall 2026
Recent recorded grades — Fall 2020: 3.47 GPA, 66.7% A/AB (n=15 letter grades); Fall 2021: 4.00 GPA, 100.0% A/AB (n=17 letter grades); Fall 2024: 3.75 GPA, 81.8% A/AB (n=22 letter grades).
historical GPA · grades
Fall 2022–Fall 2024 · limited sampleMasters Thesis
1–3 creditsMATH 790 is a graduate thesis course where students work on a Master's thesis under faculty supervision.
Offering recorded · Fall 2026
No recorded grade history
Seminar-algebra
1–3 creditsMATH 941 is a graduate-level seminar covering selected topics in Algebra.
Offering recorded · Fall 2026
Recent recorded grades — Spring 2025: 4.00 GPA, 100.0% A/AB (n=10 letter grades); Fall 2025: 4.00 GPA, 100.0% A/AB (n=16 letter grades); Spring 2026: 4.00 GPA, 100.0% A/AB (n=12 letter grades).
historical GPA · grades
Spring 2022–Spring 2026 · limited sampleRecorded teaching history
Explore courses taught by this instructor →Browse recorded courses
Teaching history may be incomplete. Course pages contain course-specific feedback and citations.
Instructor identity & provenance
{
"instructor_uid": "instructor_604a83a35e4237c82d99435b",
"source": "enrollment",
"source_instructor_id": "caldararu",
"identity_basis": "netid",
"identity_status": "source_identified",
"name": "Andrei Caldararu",
"email": "ANDREIC@MATH.WISC.EDU",
"first_observed_at": "2026-09-07 15:55:43.033547+00:00",
"last_observed_at": "2026-09-07 15:55:43.033547+00:00",
"ratings": {
"review_count": 44,
"quality": 2.52,
"difficulty": 3.89,
"quality_count": 44,
"difficulty_count": 44,
"profile_id": "rmp:802342",
"source_url": "https://www.ratemyprofessors.com/professor/802342",
"match_basis": "exact_name",
"observed_at": "2026-09-07 16:55:34.976737+00:00",
"courses": {
"course_fa53f4954bab469b5d4c4fe3": {
"review_count": 11,
"quality": 2,
"difficulty": 4.91,
"quality_count": 11,
"difficulty_count": 11
},
"course_6bc496e4640fd08f71e1b041": {
"review_count": 6,
"quality": 2.33,
"difficulty": 3.67,
"quality_count": 6,
"difficulty_count": 6
},
"course_edc3174bf073c9d7af51f678": {
"review_count": 2,
"quality": 1,
"difficulty": 4,
"quality_count": 2,
"difficulty_count": 2
},
"course_a75fa380f07449fe8cb71571": {
"review_count": 1,
"quality": 4,
"difficulty": 4,
"quality_count": 1,
"difficulty_count": 1
},
"course_60c2767a206a079d3af2a1a4": {
"review_count": 2,
"quality": 4,
"difficulty": 4,
"quality_count": 2,
"difficulty_count": 2
},
"course_858c09056ac5ed119a96d808": {
"review_count": 1,
"quality": 2,
"difficulty": 2,
"quality_count": 1,
"difficulty_count": 1
},
"course_2e71825a82859020279c78b8": {
"review_count": 2,
"quality": 5,
"difficulty": 1.5,
"quality_count": 2,
"difficulty_count": 2
},
"course_8634dde81cc95f6c58014087": {
"review_count": 6,
"quality": 3,
"difficulty": 3.33,
"quality_count": 6,
"difficulty_count": 6
},
"course_65e8e94bbd9a434f7539af0a": {
"review_count": 4,
"quality": 2.75,
"difficulty": 3,
"quality_count": 4,
"difficulty_count": 4
}
},
"bayesian_quality": 2.876151807358311,
"prior_mean": 3.6596857835465957,
"prior_weight": 20
},
"current": true,
"courses": [
{
"course_uid": "course_931174a7bfe76a686e659726",
"course_id": "MATH 941",
"title": "SEMINAR-ALGEBRA",
"credits_min": 1,
"credits_max": 3,
"gpa": 3.994
},
{
"course_uid": "course_9a6491f1f0afb5f7e3a8a1ed",
"course_id": "MATH 763",
"title": "INTRODUCTION TO ALGEBRAIC GEOMETRY",
"credits_min": 3,
"credits_max": 3,
"gpa": 3.803
},
{
"course_uid": "course_b3238962df56ba95554ede07",
"course_id": "MATH 790",
"title": "MASTERS THESIS",
"credits_min": 1,
"credits_max": 3,
"gpa": null
}
],
"revision": "e243353dcb7d79b7247ced91d69443ef4c2a6349",
"instructor_url": "/instructors/ANDREI_CALDARARU"
}