Don't get me wrong, Barry is a sweet old Canadian guy who is extremely knowledgeable in game theory. However, he is also one of the most disorganized lecturers that I have ever had here at UCLA. Every lecture, I walked out of his class much more confused about the material than when I came in. He frequently jumps around between slides and even in the middle of doing example problems, which made it very difficult to even know what he is talking about, let alone understand the material. Another part of his disorganization is that he literally procrastinates more than the students. As of right now, the deadline for posting grades has passed, but they are still not up. Also, the midterm was written the day of the exam and had so many careless mistakes, but the class has this weird policy where you can't ask clarification questions during the exam. The actual problems on the exams were fairly straightforward if you took the extra time to learn the concepts yourself (because you probably couldn't understand them from class), but don't get me started on the mostly irrelevant multiple choice section that includes questions on the most random anecdotes and phrases that me mentioned throughout his ramblings in class. Despite all these issues, some youtube channel called game theory 101 saved my life in this class because my TA, Arseniy (the Russian guy), was pretty much useless compared to the other TAs. If you are stuck taking this class with Barry (really don't do it though), do not enroll in Arseniy's section. From my friends that had Yana and Tamar, I heard that they are much more helpful.

Terrible lecturer. TA Yana and AAP PLF's are the only reason I understand anything in this class. Lectures are pointless because you leave more confused than when you walk in. Professor O'Neill is a cool dude, but that is about it. He is awful as a professor, but truly does care about his students.

My favorite part of this class was my TA. I'm gonna give a huge shoutout to Yana Otlan, if it wasn't for her honestly I wouldn't understand anything going on in this class. She makes understanding the material SO much easier!! Professor O'Neill was not very helpful/clear in his lectures but Otlan was super helpful she even made extra review session for students to attend to. I got an 29/30 on the midterm and idk about my final but I must've done well since I got an A in the class. The midterm and final do consist of 1-3 multiple choice questions but basically everything else is written but if you have Yana you'll do good.
I also purchased the textbook, however, it was completely useless because I didn't even open it once, so you don't really need it so don't waste your money on it.
Also, I went to the test bank for previous tests to see how the midterm/final were gonna be. It was alittle similar but not really, but it was great practice. I would take this class again if Yana Otlan was gonna be the TA. My friends had another TA and honestly they were disappointed because their TA didn't teach them anything.
There are also homeworks due each week but find a friend in this class and you'll be fine, the homework's are pretty easy and DO give you a boost in your final grade.

Barry is funny and a nice professor, but his lectures are frankly disorganized and prone to errors. Super easy to get an A if you put in minimal effort and go to most classes.

Barry is super fun and plays games in class. You can also win a few bucks playing the games. As long as you do the homework and understand that, you're fine. His lecture slides are super disorganized but it is easy to just go through them and look for the important info. Barry is the best!!!

Prof. O'neill does care about his students learning, but this class is pretty difficult. I talked to my friends who took PS30 with different professors, and what we did in this class was much more complicated and difficult that what they did. The professor himself is the most adorable little old man ever, he's hilarious and always says something that makes the class erupt in laughter. He's very engaging, even though his slides can be confusing.

The lectures are hard to pay attention to because he goes off topic sometimes and not in order. Yana Otlan, one of the TA's, really clear it up and grade the homework assignments off of understanding it well or not. The midterm and final are 75% of what you expect it to be and are 50% similar to what the study guides/past finals he gives out to be. Definitely go to the test bank and AAP tutoring sessions. AAP was 90% of the reason I understood the material so well!

I would not have been able to get a good grade in this class had it not been for my TA. She seriously was the only reason because O'Neill goes really fast and sometimes his slides don't make sense.

I really liked him as a professor. Yes he was sometimes disorganized, but his notes were easy to follow. You have to put in some effort and go to discussions, and you should be okay.
He was quite funny too, so I enjoyed going to lecture. I ended up with an A in the class.

Ok, yes, sometimes he's disorganized. But he acknowledges that and it's part of his charm! He's such a sweet, old Canadian man who happens to be extremely knowledgeable in game theory and strategy. He often illustrated the games with participating students and gave money away which is always fun. The homework assignments always took a little while, but they REALLY force you to understand the material and not get behind. (Tip: Always do the homework with someone else or a group of people - it always helps to talk it out).

He always asks students if they understand what he's saying and teaching, so there's a sense that he's in tune with how the students are feeling about the material. I personally never went to his office hours, but I know that he's always available.

All in all, yes he's pretty disorganized, but there are so many times in class where you're like, "WTF?" and just laugh and shake your head. It's really hard to dislike this guy, cause he does try! I got an A in the class, and all you have to do is just make sure you understand the concepts he's teaching and always write down his examples of how he solves the problems. Either way, the TAs are really helpful and usually have their own set of notes they give. My TA Marco had his own section notes which were SO helpful, even though he personally wasn't.

He curves it so that the majority of the class gets some sort of an A so if you put it in any kind of effort you shouldn't get anything less than a B+.