I'm mostly submitting this review because a lot of the previous reviewers got good grades and I don't want people to think they're over-exaggerating how miserable this class actually was. I just want to clarify that I full-on flunked this class. I did pretty well in the rest of the math series, so I don't think this was just me slacking off or something like that. Avoid this class. I found her teaching style extremely condescending. When I got questions wrong, I had a hard time asking for help because she was very much a fake 'tough love' teacher, where it felt like she was going to put you through hell for getting it wrong so you could learn from it. My TA had a similar attitude, so not only did I fail miserably, I hated going to class and I hated asking questions in office hours. I did about average on every test and was going to be perfectly content with a C (I needed about a 2% curve for that) but, as others have mentioned, no curve at all. Her averages were also a little deceiving because it seemed like people were either doing very well, or they were doing very very poorly (so on one I think the average was a 75, but not very many people were in that 70-80 range). hours and hours of homework meant I ended up taking shortcuts to get right answers, which meant I didn't know the material (my fault, but still). I think she will get better as time goes on, but I really would not recommend her to anyone. I cannot think of a single redeeming aspect of this class.

The professor was a very good lecturer, and her office hours were useful. Her practice exams are pretty good review material for the final, along with her homework.

32B is a hard class, and May is probably one of the hardest 32B teachers out there. Her homework is graded based on how many questions you get correct, which is pretty dumb. Her test averages are in the 60s and low 70s, and she appears to use a flat scale, which hurts. She does drop one test, allows you to use a note card, and is an effective lecturer, which sort of helps.

The homework is 100% mandatory, and hurts your grade. It’s also unnecessarily long. But, you can easily pirate the textbook.

Professor May is absolutely a good lecturer as she makes her points very clear in class. Also, as opposed to other comments, I find the exams difficult but reasonable. If you review the practice exams, you will find the exams not that scary because the actual exams are so similar to the practice ones. However, I agree with other comments that the normal workload is insane. Usually, it takes 5-7 hours to finish her homework every week. If you cannot bear this, do not take her class.

There're a lot of negative reviews of this professor so I feel like I should provide my own input and experiences.

This class is a must take at UCLA if you thoroughly enjoy S&M. 10+ hours of weekly homework, uncurved <70% test averages, and a condescending passive-aggressive professor left me more humiliated than I have ever felt here at this school. If you wish to make what is hands down the most difficult undergraduate math class at UCLA even more excruciating, Clover May is your best choice.

THis is the best professor I've ever taken! Take her at any cost and you would not regret it! I'm just an average Math major student, and I find it easy to get an A for her class.

I really disliked this class. I actually found the material to be interesting, but found May to be dreadful. I think that her method of not curving the class even though nearly 30% of the class failed shows that she has a disdain for her students and an attitude that doesn't care if you fail or not. True, I learned a lot. But that is only because this class forced me to drop CS32 and I spent hours doing the homework. Doing average on both of the midterms and 12% above average on the final still only brought me to a B, which lets you know how hard it is to get an A. Overall, May was the worst math professor I had here at UCLA and that's such a shame because I liked the material.

My feelings about this class are mixed. On one hand, Professor May is probably the best lecturer I have ever had for a math class. She really wants you to learn the stuff and she’s passionate about students learning the material deeply. On the other hand her tests were very difficult (the midterms were both time crunches. It was doable but very difficult in the allotted time. The averages were 67% and 78% and for the final it was 74%), there was way too much homework (yes it helps prepare you, but no one wants to do 6+ hours of homework due weekly on material they might already feel good about), and IT IS NOT CURVED. What kind of math class doesn’t curve!? Although I ended with a B+ that should have easily been an A- or A, and people who were dead average on everything would have a C. If you are only looking for a professor who is a great lecturer, is friendly, and who cares about your learning then professor May is perfect. If you are looking for a class that you won’t be stressing every second about whether you’re doing good enough to get the grade you want, then Professor May is not for you. If you take her, good luck to your GPA

I thought May was a good instructor overall, but be prepared cause this class is tough. She assigned a lot of homework each week, and she didn't curve the class. To put this in perspective, I got pretty decent scores on the homeworks (she even drops your 2 lowest homework scores) and I got slightly above median on the final and first midterm. I got significantly above median on the second midterm. Despite this, I ended up with a B in this class. Furthermore, tests are long and can only be finished on time if you really know what you're doing. Actual exams were mostly similar to practice exams, although with one or two more types of question (that you probably saw either in class and/or on homework). May is clear and definitely the best math professor I've had so far at UCLA, but be prepared as her class is difficult.

May is a very engaging lecturer, and she did a generally good job of covering the material and making it interesting. She has frequent office hours and goes out of her way to answer student questions. However, the homework in this class was INSANE. The individual problems aren't too bad, and they're assigned straight from the textbook so its easy to find solutions, but these are ~15 minute problems and she would assign 20 of them each week. Sometimes it would take me upwards of 10-12 hours total each week to finish, since I would usually make mistakes on the first try. The homework is actually graded, and not on participation; 5 of 20 problems are graded each week by the TA's, so one mistake in those 10 hours can easily drop your grade. Homework is due at the start of discussion so you have to go. The exams are VERY difficult as well, but our midterms and final were both very similar to the practice exams so they were doable. I probably poured hundreds of hours into homework and studying (studying the textbook chapters is the most helpful) and caused myself a lot of grief just from the sheer workload. Was expecting this class to be difficult but not to eat up all my free time like it did.
Disclaimer: I've heard that May's homework policy was different in other classes (i.e. quizzes instead of graded homework), and I think a lot of students were frustrated with the homework this quarter, so she may read the evaluations and assign less homework in the future. I hope so for your sake.