Current instructor

Paul Apisa

/5Adjusted rating
/5RMP difficulty
captured reviews
About this rating

Raw average: 4.17/5 from 12 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

MATH 341
Quality 5/5Difficulty 5/5
Already graduated UW-Madison in Math and Data Science. This is the hardest thing I have ever done in my entire life. Nothing compares in difficulty. But I now reap the rewards from it. The rigor has helped me later on in life I feel. Glad I did it as it made me stronger in Mathematics. Get ready if you are taking this course. You are in for a ride.
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MATH 341
Quality 5/5Difficulty 5/5
If you want to learn a lot, take this class. I think we covered half of Linear Algebra 2 in 341. He's really accessible during office hours and clearly dedicated to his teaching.
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541 · course not matched
Quality 4/5Difficulty 5/5
The difficulty of his courses are extreme but he's a pretty good lecturer, has good lecture notes and gives a nice curve. His homework and exams are some of the most difficult out there but you can tell he actually puts time and effort into teaching, knows the material, comes prepared, and covers more topics than a normal class.
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541 · course not matched
Quality 3/5Difficulty 5/5
This class was so unbelievably difficult, averages for exams were 20-30%. He's a nice guy and cares a lot about the students but moves too quickly into harder concepts before we get to understand the basics. Nice curve but I'm not sure if I learned much, it was a bit of a fever dream. Homework was long, maybe 10-15 questions per week and hard!
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MATH 542
Quality 5/5Difficulty 4/5
Lectures are smooth and uniquely inspirational. Paul is passionate about the course content and genuinely cares about whether his students learn the math. He covers many more interesting topics in depth than usual. This of course makes the homework and exams challenging but also the class worth taking. He is generous on grading and extra credits.
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MATH 341
Quality 5/5Difficulty 5/5
You will get a very solid foundation and comprehensive view of Algebra (not only about Algebra) from his lecture. His homework, lecture, and worksheet are very inspirational and insightful (also a little difficult). If you actively seek help and are passionate about pure mathematics, then Paul is the best teacher I've ever seen on campus.
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Personal experiences, not a representative survey. Profile matching and captured coverage are shown in the source details.

Classes with Paul Apisa

Recorded teaching history

Explore courses taught by this instructor →
Browse recorded courses
TermCourseTitle
Fall 2026MATH 990Reading and Research

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

Instructor identity & provenance
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