Richard Porter is a Mathematics professor at Northeastern University rated 2.93/5 by 261 students, with 3.21/5 difficulty and 36.0% who would take them again (TRACE + RateMyProfessors + Reddit, updated July 2026).
Richard Porter professor reviews and ratings: 2.93/5 from 261 student reviews at Northeastern (36.0% would take again). TRACE + RateMyProfessor + Reddit.
Felt apprehensive initially, but the class was chill if you put in the work (8-10 hours minimum outside of class). Prof is very nice but def be sure to use outside resources bc his teaching is mostly just doing problems on the board. DON'T USE THE TEXTBOOK tho bc it's useless. Just review the problems he does/the previous quizzes & you'll be ok.MATH1342 2025-04-24 04:02:11 +0000 UTC
Porter has no direction in his lectures, and expects the class to finish proofs for him because he gets lost. His grading scales are seemingly random, and his problem sets have almost no ties to the lectures. He goes from proof to proof while leaving all examples/real learning to the students to do themselves. Avoid at all costs, worst professor.MATH3150 2021-12-21 00:42:28 +0000 UTC
As a teacher he was okay, I didn't love his methods but usually he got his point across. As a grader though he was terrible, I once got every question right on a midterm and got a B-. He didn't care whether you knew how to do it and would just nitpick the smallest semantic details, taking off tons of points along the way. Wouldnt take againCALC1341 2019-01-30 15:52:36 +0000 UTC
Porter goes over questions so slowly and in so much detail that it is a useless waste of time. Of the entire lecture, only about 5 minutes are spent teaching what is important, and the rest is proofs. He nitpicks in all his grades and makes it impossible to get full credit, even if a problem is done correctly. DO NOT TAKE!CALC1 2018-11-30 14:20:17 +0000 UTC
Nice guy but kind of ineffective. Most kids were so lost in the class and I depended on using the peer tutor program at least once a week. Weekly quiz and 2 midterms, 1 final. He skips a lot of steps and doesn't explain nearly as much as he should. He knows the material but can't communicate it great.MATH1341 2017-01-10 22:18:13 +0000 UTC
Co-op reflection course. Nice guy, means well, but really on the boring side.MATH3000 2013-04-12 17:54:40 +0000 UTC
Very poor teacher. You will have to teach yourself everything from the textbook. He doesn't answer questions and he makes no effort to truly help you understand the material. Stay away from this ProfessorMTH115 2009-04-04 16:24:52 +0000 UTC
I love math, but this class is kind of a joke. The only reason I go is to talk to my friends in the class. I don't think I've taken any notes in the class. One time someone asked him a question and he said "good" and completely ignored it. I fail the quizzes but did fine on the midterm. DO NOT TAKE IF YOU ARE NOT NATURALLY GOOD IN MATH!!!MATT115 2009-04-03 01:22:53 +0000 UTC
Run as fast as you can away from his class. He means well, but he is way past his peak. Math was never my favorite subject and he's made me hate it even more. I basically have to teach myself topics because his teaching methods are extremely confusing. Avoid his class!MTHU115 2009-04-01 16:46:20 +0000 UTC
I hate him he is ruining my life. Apparently he doesn't care that the class average for the mid term was 1 point away from failing. You would think he would realize the fact that our grades collectively sucks reflects on the fact that his teaching also sucks. If he hands out one more goddamn tool kit I will flip outMATH115 2008-03-10 11:46:12 +0000 UTC
Great teacher for math, second best i ever had. Incredibly boring if you have a decent handle on the subject already but if you have any questions at all he goes over everything so thoroughly that the only way you could fail would be to skip or ignore him. tests are very fair and gives plenty of quizzes to keep your grade up, must be lazy to failAPPOFALG 2006-07-03 20:43:11 +0000 UTC
The only reason i didn't get an A in this class was kuz I was a freshmen and didn't realize I actually cared about grades, so i never did anything and got a B+. The material teaches itself it's really easy and I did most of it in high school, he's just there to test you. He does a really good job considering he's always ****.APPOFALGEBRA 2006-05-08 19:33:07 +0000 UTC
Horrible...What kind of teacher actually refuses to go over a problem a student needs help with? If it were up to him I would have no idea what was going on in class...Thank god for the help on the coursecompass site!APPLICATIONALG 2005-10-14 22:24:38 +0000 UTC
Coming into the semester I was very concerned by the ratings that Professor Porter had received, but as I joined the class, I found Professor Porter to be a very caring teacher. I especially like how much preparation material he posts before quizzes and tests. Easy A if you take an hour or two a week to prepare for the weekly quiz.MATH1342 2025-04-19 02:58:42 +0000 UTC
Truth is that I really like the professor. He is a great guy and he is always willing to help if you go for office hours. You will excel in the quiz if you do the homework and you will do well in the exams if you go for the review. He could spend the whole class deriving a principle, and you could easily get lost.CALC1341 2014-11-21 12:42:27 +0000 UTC
Richard Porter has an average rating of 2.93/5 from 261 student reviews. 36.0% of students said they would take them again.
Richard Porter's classes have a difficulty rating of 3.21/5 based on student reviews.
Richard Porter has taught MATH3000, MATH1342, MATH3150, MATH1341 at Northeastern.
Data updated July 2026.