I think that the assignments are her downfall. Why am I spending 3 hours creating a flow chart that is in a book that I spent a fortune on? I don't understand why anyone would make us write a flowchart that is literally in the book that we were FORCED to buy. The professor is fine, but the overall structure of the assignments make zero sense and impose quite a few problematic economic hardships..

I thought this class was super manageable. Yes, it is a lot of work but thats expected in a lab class bc you have pre/post labs each week. I think Ngo does a great job teaching and the labs were a super awesome learning opportunity. However, the final was obnoxiously hard and had me doing math that I had never once done for the class. I took this class a full year after 14B so that may just be a me problem, but her questions were so out of left field that people were crying and laughing during the final. With that being said, I think that if you find a previous final of hers as others have mentioned on this page you should be fine.

Avoid taking this class with her. The lectures were very fast paced, which is somewhat understandable since the class only meets once a week. She dedicates around 30 minutes to work on a problem set worksheet during lecture, but it is difficult to keep up since the lectures are so dense. The lab portion was manageable. However, the exams were unnecessarily complicated and did not reflect the material covered in class. While she provided problem sets and supplemental worksheets, which were already quite challenging, the exams were significantly harder. The midterm average was a D. The final exam was so complex that the entire class was confused, and she had to give a last-minute mini lecture that only made things more unclear. Most students spent the full three hours struggling through the final. Ultimately, take this class with extreme caution. I would not recommend taking her class.

Lectures were fine and offered extra credit for iClicker participation. The main issue was exams The exams were not representative of how the class was taught at all or the problem sets she gave us. She doesn't give any practice exams before midterm or final. For our final, it was filled with typos and she asked a question that ended being more confusing to the point where she had to give a 'mini lecture' that still left half of the class confused. She also stated during lecture that she didn't think we would do well on the final and if we didn't do well on the midterm, it was because we didn't study enough despite the average being a D. I think the labs themselves were doable and it was nice to only have lab once a week but she's not the best professor. I would avoid taking this class with her.

I enjoyed doing hands-on lab work, so this class was definitely fun for me. My TA was also very chill, and our labs never took the whole time. Having a competent lab partner is important because there are some group post-labs. If you have any questions working on the pre-lab, go to a TA's office hours and they'll probably pull up the key, tell you whether your answer is right or wrong, and guide you in the correct direction.

As for the exams, the midterm was okay (required understanding of everything on her slides), but the final definitely seemed a bit striking in terms of question format to some. I was able to obtain one of her past finals so I was mentally prepared for the type of questions she has. She loves putting lots of scenarios and test your analysis of the data (so essentially post-labs but without the step-by-step guide). Lots of calculations, and requires actual understanding of the material. Again, I think it's because people are not used to the question type and were just thrown off. Just content-wise, it's less content than 14B, so it's not too tedious to study for. The one key to acing exams is just practice practice practice (with her problem sets, with post-labs, with previous exams, with outside problems). No shortcut to take.

Chau is a really sweet professor, and she's decent at teaching. Overall definitely would recommend.

The final was absolutely insane. Everyone I talked to said their grade dropped at least a whole letter after it. Plus, the materials for this class are so expensive, and the assignments are so long and tedious and just feel like busy work. No 3 unit class should have me stressing this hard.

The entire was quarter was chill, and I never lost more than one point on my labs because I was so on top of it and had a generally strong idea of the material. However, her final was genuinely the most foul switch up ever— I literally had an A+ until the final which dropped my grade MORE than a letter. I had Scerri 14B and I would argue this final was WAYYY harder than that. I’m so sad because I have never gotten anything lower than an A- in my three years here and I’m genuinely in shock that a LAB CLASS tanked my gpa 🥲 just pissed overall (and salty)

Even the smallest mistakes on lab reports are not tolerated. On the final I thought I had done well, but checked my grade and turned out to be a C. TA are very harsh graders, and I have heard this from other students with multiple TA's. As someone who had done all experiments perfectly and 90% of the problems after correct, I was thoroughly disappointed in my grade and it was not a reflection of the effort or mastery I had put into this course. Some speculated grade deflation in the Group ME chat.

The class itself wasn't too bad. I actually enjoyed the labs - it was fun at times and the TAs are always willing to help you out if you get stuck. But the final was ABYSMAL. This is coming from someone who actually went to the 8AM lectures and did all the assignments. There was a very strong disconnect between the exams and the resources we were given to prepare. The pre/post labs that we do and the optional practice problem sheets are not sufficient enough. I can't rate this class highly because of this and truthfully I am bitter that I missed out on an A because the final dropped me a whole letter grade.

Professor Ngo is very nice, understanding, and accommodating with good heart and love for her students.

Her slides are very organized, and she offers a lot of practice problems to prepare for the Exams. As long as you put some effort in the class, and your TA does not grade harshly, you can get an A. Her exams were super fair.