Honestly Ravetch is one of the best professors I have ever had. He makes everything very easy to understand, so you don't even need to read the book if you pay attention in lecture. My TA during this quarter was amazing help as well, since he took the time to individually teach me concepts I needed help with. Overall, the exams are extremely difficult. Even though you understand the material, you may not do as well as you hope on the tests. I scored around B+ to A- range on all of them. Most of the questions are asked in a way that is not directly from the lecture notes. You need to be creative and figure out a way to solve the problem if you are missing certain values.

As a person Professor Ravetch is really wonderful, insightful, and funny. However, I found that the homework and his lectures really didn't prepare me for the tests he gave. Your grade is based off of 3 challenging, noncumulative tests throughout the quarter. I found it frustrating as no matter how I studied I could not do well on his tests and coming from 1A with Litt obviously didn't help (Litt was horrible). I wouldn't take this class at UCLA as he is the only prof for this course, take it at a community college over summer. His tests are also all write in answer so you can't even bs your way through it, you just have to know it and know how to handle any little tricks he throws in.

Some background: I've never taken accounting and knew close to nothing about how it works before taking 1A in the winter with Gardner. I got a A- in 1A doing about 60% as much studying as I did for this class.

Mgmt 1B with Ravetch is best for someone who: is attentive to details and has a good memory (case: income tax chapter), has a solid foundation from 1A (at least a B), can switch from one unrelated concept to another quickly (the class is broken up into three mostly unrelated sections and there's not really any transition time), and is prepared to come up with creative solutions/solve a problem that doesn't look exactly like the ones you've practice in a stressful exam setting.

The things to study in order to do well in this class (listed from most to least helpful):
1) lecture notes: copy down what he writes EXACTLY (I copied down a number wrong once and it messed me up on the exam), and take note of what he says too\
*print them out and rewrite them until you know absolutely everything
**read every word, accounting is all about the small details and exceptions
***try to follow along as he solves the problems; if that means reading the notes/textbook before lecture, do it
2) practice problems he posts online: these are close in format to what's on the exam and more challenging than the textbook problems
3) textbook problems: good practice when you first learn a concept
4) reading the textbook: when you don't understand the concept behind something from the notes, read the textbook; not completely necessary but I did notice that when I supplemented with textbook reading, I did better on the last midterm.
Tip: make a list of tricky points as you review; there are a lot of small details/exceptions that could change a problem completely. (details, details, DETAILS. )

Grades are based solely on the three free response midterms, each 1/3 of the total grade. There's not much of a curve if you score in the A-B range, but I don't think he gives out anything lower than a C so the C range is veryyyy big. They are also not too time pressured (cough Gardner cough).

Why people say his exams are impossible: you need to think creatively; be prepared to solve a problem backwards, be prepared to combine two concepts together, etc. It's kind of like calculus--you can memorize the equations, but they won't help you unless you know when and how to apply them.
The exams are difficult, but nothing insane. If you know the notes and the understands the concepts behind them inside and out you can definitely do well. In fact, the average midterm grades for my class were all high C's low B's (78-81).

Despite everything, I don't regret taking this class. Professor Ravetch is funny (he definitely sets the bar for worst accounting puns) and his teachings go beyond the accounting classroom. He could definitely work on getting to know the students' names a bit better and practice his mental math, but he still struck me as one of the professors with the best personalities.

Basically, unlike many other classes, I don't and can't blame my grade on bad teaching. Ravetch does grade harshly, but his questions aren't astronomically difficult or unreasonable. If I could take the class again, knowing now how to study for the exams, I'd probably still only do slightly better--I'm more a big picture person and needs lots of practice to fully grasp a concept, so the style of this class really isn't for me. I'm also not very good at staying focused during lectures and keeping up with the notes, and it would probably have saved me all the self studying if I were less of a slacker....

Side note: TA sessions weren't that helpful, at least for me. They just showed powerpoint solutions of problems during review sessions, and it would have been better if they physically worked out the problems on a board instead of reading out the solutions from the slides. They also didn't see the exams/make them so had no idea what was on there.

If you want more in life than doing well on exams that are word for word homework problems, if you believe in education for its own sake, if you like accounting puns and classical music--take Ravetch. He might ravage your grades, but you will gain serious respect if you make your way through.

I loved this class Professor Ravetch is very funny and a very good teacher.

He grades pretty harshly, there's little to no partial credit (and in that class thats mostly math, that's stupid to say the least).

He's super entertaining during the class and really cares about student learning but there's definitely a disconnect between what he teaches and what he tests on -- it's 100x harder. There's no homework, reading the textbook is helpful but don't expect to know how the textbook works and be prepared for his midterms (three total, noncummulative). The way he phrases questions is super specific, the TAs this quarter were crap so that wasn't much help. You're pretty much on your own.

If you want to specifically be an accountant, he's a great resource, if you're not sure you wanna commit to that don't take his class, it's just gonna mess up your GPA. Imagine Gardner but like on crack, and without group projects to pad your grade...

Professor Ravetch is one of the best lecturers I've had at UCLA. He is funny and his lectures are organized and quite engaging. I also really like his method of teaching, with us filling in his handouts as we go. His tests are really tough, but his class is still pretty doable. The key to surviving his class with a decent grade is to do and re-do his class examples, and understand every single concept to the core. What I did was I reprinted his class notes before exams and re-did his examples, which helped a lot.

His class is notorious for being a GPA-ruiner (something he is also aware of) but I think it is just a matter of knowing how to study for the class. Overall a really great class!

I FEEL SO STRONGLY ABOUT THIS CLASS WITH THIS PROF THAT I MADE AN ACCOUNT TO POST A REVIEW

VERDICT: NONONONO HATED THIS CLASS

I took 1A with Gardener after reading Bruinwalk reviews about her class being hard and her tests being very tight on time. I did all the homework questions assigned and knew my stuff inside and out and finished with an A. Therefore I MISTAKENLY thought that I could do in 1B with Ravetch as well (despite all the reviews about his class being very difficult). PLEASE DO YOURSELF A FAVOUR AND TAKE 1B WITH SOMEONE ELSE unless you're taking this P/NP and for the classical music he plays before class and the jokes he tells before midterms (I'm told that Gardener teaches 1B during session c and that Ravetch is the only one that teaches it during the year. I would have taken 1B with Gardener but I'm not here for summer session so I didn't have a choice). Seeing the grade distribution on Bruinwalk, it doesnt seem like he gives out C- which means you cant retake the class. I have so many friends that are smart people and do well in classes generally (think As) and fuck up so bad in this class. Such a GPA killer.

CLASS: 7:50am and you must attend every single lecture because the notes he posts online are blank (and seriously? password protected?) and it will be very hard to self teach if you just copy your notes off other people

HW: You should do them but help you with understanding the material taught in class but ultimately the notes are what you should be memorizing. You will be required to know tiny details like P/E Ratio and Prime Cost.

EXAMS: 3 midterms (no final), 2 at 7:30am and 1 at 8:00am. There are people that can get 100% on his tests which I have no idea how but there are also a lot of people that get below 20%. He does not post grade distributions but I've seen scores like 19 and 21 when I went in to see my own midterm. Frustratingly, he will curve against your favour. For our last midterm, the average was 81 and you had to score about 93 to be in the A range (A- included). He tests you on material BASED OFF HIS LECTURE NOTES BUT WITH RIDICULOUS TWISTS. For example, in class he mentions that material cost can be added initially or uniformly but on the test he puts "added at 25% completed". This was not mentioned in TA section, in the HW or in class. Completely unfair.

Yes, he is the hardest but at the same time best professor. His lecture is always interesting. I recommend you to do all the homework and go to all the review sessions. They do help. His tests are very hard.

I took Ravetch right after Gardner for 1A, and despite what all my friends told me, he was an awesome teacher. They said it was GPA suicide, but I ended up with an A- in the class [better than what I got in 1A with Gardner]. I'm not going to lie, I had to put in a decent amount of time to fully understand the material, but Ravetch made it really easy. He really encourages you to ask questions, he tries to learn everyone's name, and he's really awesome in his office hours. I wouldn't say I enjoyed waking up for 8am class, but his lectures were worth it. He's really funny [borderline corny], but I was cracking up all through class. He even makes up songs & dances to help you learn the material. He really cares about his students, and if you do all the homework and read the book, you'll be fine. He's a great professor and you can tell how passionate he his about teaching. I liked him so much I'm even waiting to take 120A & 120B with him.
BREAKDOWN:
Positives (+)
+likes answering questions
+you actually learn the material
+gives you thorough fill in the blank notes that explain everything
+funny guy
+cares about his students (both with your academics & your character)
+Accounting firms know Ravetch, know he's tough, and like it when you take him
+Decent speakers come in (my fav was Johnny Rocket's CEO)

Negatives (-)
-8am class is harsh
-too dry or corny of humor for some
-you do have to put effort in if you want the grade
-2 to 4 hours of homework time a week [not including studying]

Tough class, effective prof. Know everything inside and out. Think of it this way: if you can't handle the class, what makes you think you'll be able to handle the minor?