Quality 5/5Difficulty 3/5
Professor Shi cares about his student. he gives careful review of the material and is willing to repeat the part that I got confused on. Very reachable during office hour, recommend to take his class.Rate My Professors ↗
Historical instructor
YOUSHENG SHI
What students say
Original student reviews · all captured dates
Quality 1/5Difficulty 5/5
The grading cutoff for this course is so high unlike other undergrad courses. Lectures are dull, proofs are exactly the same as it is in the textbooks. You don't need to go to class, just read the book. Lots of homework and exam-heavy. Kind of stingy with extra points. His finals are usually extremely hard. Avoid him and take someone else.Rate My Professors ↗
Quality 2/5Difficulty 3/5
Number theory is a tough course, so one assumes to have good background in abstract algebra. I think the department should also add Math 542 as its prerequisite since there is much more knowledge to be assumed before taking this course. Though I was not a big fan of the textbook selection since it contains no useful examples except Sage.Rate My Professors ↗
Quality 1/5Difficulty 5/5
He assigns lots of homework every week and he's very stingy about giving extra points. He is in favor of in-class exams; 2 midterms and 1 final. iI is a GPA killer since he seems to have no clear criteria about grading. The lectures are quite hard to follow as he skips so many steps. The exams are very hard; you need 90% to get an A.Rate My Professors ↗
Quality 1/5Difficulty 5/5
He comes down with arrogance when asked a question in class for some reason. The tests are unreasonably hard as he boasts about making the exams intentionally harder in class. The lectures are boring, and the proofs are sloppy but he expects you to do perfectly on the exam ... did not learn anything from his lectures. Waste of moneyRate My Professors ↗
Quality 5/5Difficulty 4/5
Yousheng is a great guy and very approachable during office hours. He cares about the students doing well in class. The final exam was quite difficult but his grading is quite generous. He is very easy going and down to earth unlike many other professors at the math department, quite snobby and arrogant. Take him and avoid Laurentiu Maxim.Rate My Professors ↗
Personal experiences, not a representative survey. Profile matching and captured coverage are shown in the source details.
Classes with YOUSHENG SHI
MATH 340 is an introduction to linear algebra covering matrix algebra, vector spaces, linear transformations, eigenvalues, and inner product spaces.
No offering record · Spring 2023
with this instructor · course overall, matching historical terms
historical GPA · grades
Fall 2018–Spring 2023MATH 567
Modern Number Theory
Credits unavailableModern Number Theory covers fundamentals and modern applications including modular arithmetic, Diophantine equations, and random matrix theory.
No offering record · Spring 2023
with this instructor · course overall, matching historical terms
historical GPA · grades
Fall 2018–Spring 2023 · limited sampleRecorded teaching history
Distinct courses recorded per term
Explore courses taught by this instructor →Browse recorded courses
| Term | Course | Title |
|---|---|---|
| Spring 2023 | MATH 340 | Elementary Matrix and Linear Algebra |
| Spring 2023 | MATH 567 | Modern Number Theory |
| Fall 2022 | MATH 748 | Algebraic Number Theory |
| Spring 2022 | MATH 542 | Modern Algebra 2 |
| Spring 2022 | MATH 567 | Modern Number Theory |
| Fall 2021 | MATH 320 | Linear Algebra and Differential Equations |
| Spring 2020 | MATH 340 | Elementary Matrix and Linear Algebra |
| Fall 2019 | MATH 541 | Modern Algebra 1 |
Teaching history may be incomplete. Course pages contain course-specific feedback and citations.
Instructor identity & provenance
{
"instructor_uid": "instructor_98e9331ef0690b66352c0c4a",
"source": "madgrades",
"source_instructor_id": "5170998",
"identity_basis": "source_id",
"identity_status": "source_identified",
"name": "YOUSHENG SHI",
"email": null,
"first_observed_at": "2026-09-06 23:14:58.172943+00:00",
"last_observed_at": "2026-09-07 15:55:43.033547+00:00",
"ratings": {
"review_count": 28,
"quality": 1.79,
"difficulty": 4,
"quality_count": 28,
"difficulty_count": 28,
"profile_id": "rmp:2539834",
"source_url": "https://www.ratemyprofessors.com/professor/2539834",
"match_basis": "exact_name",
"observed_at": "2026-09-07 15:57:30.110885+00:00",
"courses": {
"course_eec4aae06b946a73f1878be4": {
"review_count": 16,
"quality": 1.56,
"difficulty": 3.88,
"quality_count": 16,
"difficulty_count": 16
},
"course_a75fa380f07449fe8cb71571": {
"review_count": 4,
"quality": 1.25,
"difficulty": 4.5,
"quality_count": 4,
"difficulty_count": 4
},
"course_60c2767a206a079d3af2a1a4": {
"review_count": 3,
"quality": 3.67,
"difficulty": 3.67,
"quality_count": 3,
"difficulty_count": 3
},
"course_0002a781bc9543f3a2ac1a94": {
"review_count": 5,
"quality": 1.8,
"difficulty": 4.2,
"quality_count": 5,
"difficulty_count": 5
}
},
"bayesian_quality": 2.569035743144415,
"prior_mean": 3.6596857835465957,
"prior_weight": 20
},
"grade_statistics": {
"gpa": 3.206,
"graded": 411,
"counts": [
160,
59,
96,
30,
46,
16,
4
],
"sections": 9
},
"current": false,
"courses": [],
"revision": "b68f68efcd3387a01fee00416f57beb6d43f3bcb",
"instructor_url": "/instructors/YOUSHENG_SHI--instructor_98e9331ef0690b66352c0c4a"
}