MATH 33B
Differential Equations
Description: Lecture, three hours; discussion, one hour. Enforced requisite: course 31B with grade of C- or better. Highly recommended: course 33A. First-order, linear differential equations; second-order, linear differential equations with constant coefficients; power series solutions; linear systems. P/NP or letter grading.
Units: 4.0
Units: 4.0
8 of 8
Most Helpful Review
Fall 2018 - Man. I'm writing this some time after the class and the C still hurts today. Willis is bar-none the best lecturer for math at UCLA. He explains things organically--it's like having a good friend of yours teach you a subject. He's very chill, but puts effort into his teaching. He chooses his words carefully to avoid the least confusion possible. He uses casual speech, writes clearly, etc. This sounds mean, but he's the only professor I've had for math that is a native English speaker... moreover, he's not some old dude that puts professionalism first. Willis cares about one thing: teach in a way that makes sense. And it works. You'll notice that the shittier professors try to seem very formal, cold, by-the-book, etc. The best ones throw caution to the wind and just *teach.* Willis is the latter--attend lectures and focus more on listening and watching than taking notes. If you NEED to take notes, I honestly say use the book for that. I truly felt like I had learned differential equations fairly well in the class... so why a C? Simple answer is, I missed one problem on one midterm. The biggest criticism I have is that the tests are too easy! So easy, in fact, that missing a single problem on a test will literally get you a C in the class. I scored a bit above average on the final and exactly average on the 1st midterm. The 2nd midterm, however, had 4 problems. I did OK on the other 3 (again, did average), but one problem I made a stupid assumption... which got me a 0/10 where everyone else got 10/10 on that problem. I made a "duh" mistake, kinda misread the problem statement. On a test where the average is >90%, that immediately earned me a C on the test. Throw in a couple of -1 or -2 points on the other problems... that one problem got me a D on that test. So the easy tests are a double-edged sword... would you rather your final be 3 multiple choice questions or a holistic, long-form exam composed for 4 or 5 long questions? Miss one MC problem and you get a D. In the end, it was my own fault which is why I still recommend Willis. Just look out for his easy tests and know that the averages will be very high.
Fall 2018 - Man. I'm writing this some time after the class and the C still hurts today. Willis is bar-none the best lecturer for math at UCLA. He explains things organically--it's like having a good friend of yours teach you a subject. He's very chill, but puts effort into his teaching. He chooses his words carefully to avoid the least confusion possible. He uses casual speech, writes clearly, etc. This sounds mean, but he's the only professor I've had for math that is a native English speaker... moreover, he's not some old dude that puts professionalism first. Willis cares about one thing: teach in a way that makes sense. And it works. You'll notice that the shittier professors try to seem very formal, cold, by-the-book, etc. The best ones throw caution to the wind and just *teach.* Willis is the latter--attend lectures and focus more on listening and watching than taking notes. If you NEED to take notes, I honestly say use the book for that. I truly felt like I had learned differential equations fairly well in the class... so why a C? Simple answer is, I missed one problem on one midterm. The biggest criticism I have is that the tests are too easy! So easy, in fact, that missing a single problem on a test will literally get you a C in the class. I scored a bit above average on the final and exactly average on the 1st midterm. The 2nd midterm, however, had 4 problems. I did OK on the other 3 (again, did average), but one problem I made a stupid assumption... which got me a 0/10 where everyone else got 10/10 on that problem. I made a "duh" mistake, kinda misread the problem statement. On a test where the average is >90%, that immediately earned me a C on the test. Throw in a couple of -1 or -2 points on the other problems... that one problem got me a D on that test. So the easy tests are a double-edged sword... would you rather your final be 3 multiple choice questions or a holistic, long-form exam composed for 4 or 5 long questions? Miss one MC problem and you get a D. In the end, it was my own fault which is why I still recommend Willis. Just look out for his easy tests and know that the averages will be very high.
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Most Helpful Review
Winter 2019 - Leif completely restored my faith in the math department. I got Cs in 31b, 32a, 32b, and 33a. I was ontrack for an A but didn't study enough for the final. He has quizzes in discussion section which are based on the previous week's hw and are relatively easy as long as you look over your notes right before. The hw he assigns is very minimal compared to other math professors. He is a good lecturer, I had him at 8am and watched the bruincast at 2x speed bc I wasn't about to wake up for that. I would watch a week's worth of lecture on thursday nights so I could do my hw that was due every friday. Leif is so kind and approachable. His class is a straight scale, so no curve like every other math class I've had at UCLA. But, his midterms were so much easier because of this. He doesn't give you ridiculous numbers to manipulate. He genuinely wants you to learn and succeed, so his exams test for the basic understanding of the concepts. He always put true false questions on the exams, which were easy points if you knew the definitions of terms like "linear", "homogenous", and "autonomous". He covers everything in his lectures and if you have questions he will legit stop the lecture to answer you and make sure you actually understand what is going on. He will straight up re-explain a theorem if you are confused.
Winter 2019 - Leif completely restored my faith in the math department. I got Cs in 31b, 32a, 32b, and 33a. I was ontrack for an A but didn't study enough for the final. He has quizzes in discussion section which are based on the previous week's hw and are relatively easy as long as you look over your notes right before. The hw he assigns is very minimal compared to other math professors. He is a good lecturer, I had him at 8am and watched the bruincast at 2x speed bc I wasn't about to wake up for that. I would watch a week's worth of lecture on thursday nights so I could do my hw that was due every friday. Leif is so kind and approachable. His class is a straight scale, so no curve like every other math class I've had at UCLA. But, his midterms were so much easier because of this. He doesn't give you ridiculous numbers to manipulate. He genuinely wants you to learn and succeed, so his exams test for the basic understanding of the concepts. He always put true false questions on the exams, which were easy points if you knew the definitions of terms like "linear", "homogenous", and "autonomous". He covers everything in his lectures and if you have questions he will legit stop the lecture to answer you and make sure you actually understand what is going on. He will straight up re-explain a theorem if you are confused.
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