Current instructor

Paul Terwilliger

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

Raw average: 2.76/5 from 38 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

COMPSCI/MATH/STAT 475
Quality 3/5Difficulty 5/5
Paul is an interesting and a very, very knowledgeable person. He follows the book during lecture, so reading over the section before class is very important to successs. This class is extremely challenging if you have little background in discrete math.
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COMPSCI/MATH/STAT 475
Quality 2/5Difficulty 4/5
He's a sweet guy but he's a bit quirky to say the least. A bit hard to follow but I could see the joy in his eyes, especially during the Polya enumeration unit. I probably would never ever take a class with him again but I hope he does well for himself :)
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COMPSCI/MATH/STAT 475
Quality 4/5Difficulty 4/5
Math 475 was a pretty dense math class and I don't really think I would recommend it to other CS majors. I really enjoyed having Paul as a lecturer but I don't think I would recommend the class overall.
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COMPSCI/MATH/STAT 475
Quality 4/5Difficulty 3/5
He's definitely a little socially awkward, but he's incredibly knowledgeable, approachable regarding mathematics, and passionate about combinatorics. I learned so much about combinatorics this semester and it turned from an area of math I dreaded to one I love. Would highly recommend for MATH 475. Work hard, and you'll get a lot from the course.
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COMPSCI/MATH/STAT 475
Quality 1/5Difficulty 5/5
Very bad at teaching, lectures are essentially useless as he reads over the notes. The textbook is used mainly for homework questions. He has no clear grading scheme for tests and docks a lot of points for minor mistakes.
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Personal experiences, not a representative survey. Profile matching and captured coverage are shown in the source details.

Classes with Paul Terwilliger

COMPSCI/MATH/STAT 475

Introduction to Combinatorics

3 credits

Introduction to combinatorics covering enumeration, generating functions, graph theory, and matching problems.

Offering recorded · Fall 2026

Paul Terwilliger is described as knowledgeable and clear, with some students finding him flexible and reasonable. Reviewers note that exam questions often come from the textbook, suggesting that reading ahead is important for success in the course.

Mitch KellerPaul Terwilliger

historical GPA · grades

Spring 2022–Spring 2026
MATH 941

Seminar-algebra

1–3 credits

MATH 941 is a graduate-level seminar covering selected topics in Algebra.

Offering recorded · Fall 2026

Recent recorded grades — Spring 2022: 4.00 GPA, 100.0% A/AB (n=2 letter grades).

Paul TerwilligerAndrei Caldararu+1 more

historical GPA · grades

Spring 2022–Spring 2026 · limited sample

Recorded teaching history

Explore courses taught by this instructor →
Browse recorded courses
TermCourseTitle
Fall 2026COMPSCI/MATH/STAT 475Introduction to Combinatorics
Fall 2026MATH 390Undergraduate Research with Madison Experimental Mathematics Lab
Fall 2026MATH 698Directed Study
Fall 2026MATH 941Seminar-algebra

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

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