Historical instructor

Benedek Valko

Adjusted rating
RMP difficulty
captured reviews
About this rating

Raw average: 4.07/5 from 28 quality ratings. The adjusted rating blends this with the UW review average (3.66/5), weighted as 20 additional ratings. Smaller samples stay closer to that average. Each captured review is counted once in the prior; this does not correct who chooses to leave a review.

RMP profile ↗ · All captured review dates; profile matched by name.

What students say

Original student reviews · all captured dates

Quality 4/5Difficulty 3/5
Benedek is kind of intimidating and can be a jerk at times, although he has consistent lecture material and helpful lecture notes. He isn't as tough as a grader as might be expected, since grading isn't quite as test-heavy and it's based on a maximum of several weights.
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632 · course not matched
Quality 1/5Difficulty 5/5
Valko's Lecture notes would be a good material if you have prepared a huge amount of time to study it. But I do not think anyone should have time to do it as an undergrad unless you have only 2 Major courses and are not doing research. To get an Homework and quiz extension/drops are possible, and homeworks are gigantic.
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MATH/STAT 431
Quality 5/5Difficulty 3/5
I don't get the criticism Valko gets. He gives detailed explanation in class, is happy to help everyone who comes to his OH and once spent 50 min doing review with me. When I had personal diffculties, he gave me extension or drop that HW. He adjusted the exam weights to award gradual improvements. You can get an A without being a math genius.
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MATH/STAT 431
Quality 1/5Difficulty 5/5
If you are not a MATH major student, don't take this course. BV is indeed an understanding prof but his lecture only focused on the textbook. Also gave tough grading and hard questions on exams.
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MATH/STAT 431
Quality 5/5Difficulty 3/5
Valko is very good. As all math teachers, he may seem a little abrasive, but he is genuinely nice and understanding. Each lecture is dense, and covers the topics from the book. There is HW and a quiz due every week. Tests aren't bad if you do practice problems, but you NEED to understand them and do them, tests arent harder than homework.
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Personal experiences, not a representative survey. Profile matching and captured coverage are shown in the source details.

Classes with Benedek Valko

No teaching recorded in Fall 2026.

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Recorded teaching history

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Teaching history may be incomplete. Course pages contain course-specific feedback and citations.

Instructor identity & provenance
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