Professor
Elisa Franco
Most Helpful Review
Winter 2024 - Professor Franco is a great professor, and despite the difficulty of the class, I enjoyed the class quite a bit (or as much as you can enjoy a browbeating with control systems). Like M'Closkey (another great 107 professor) she uses a series of typeset notes, which are like a textbook but better and more concise. I read the textbook once the first week and never read it again, that's how useless the actual course textbook was. The hardest part of the course is the homework. Each week there is a series of 3-5 problems, each of which challenges your knowledge in unique ways, and very often includes MATLAB (so make sure you know how to plot and create basic for loops). A lot of the homework sets are interconnected (i.e. they contain a continuation of previous problems with new changes). It is clear Franco put a lot of effort into curating the problems to cover the most critical parts of the content. However, the homework is almost impossible without external help, most often through office hours (both TA and professor), so utilize those resources. Attending lecture is very important, not only because she does not record lectures, but there are also participation-based quizzes, which if you complete them all, will provide some extra credit for your entire grade. Fair warning that the exams are hard, but if you diligently do homework, attend office hours, and prepare adequately for the midterm and final, the course is very doable. Overall, I think Franco is one of the best professors I have had at UCLA. Her lectures, homework, and office hours are all helpful, and she is always willing to answer questions. (Notice I didn't mention labs... that's because they're completely useless. Shoutout Jimmy though, best TA!)
Winter 2024 - Professor Franco is a great professor, and despite the difficulty of the class, I enjoyed the class quite a bit (or as much as you can enjoy a browbeating with control systems). Like M'Closkey (another great 107 professor) she uses a series of typeset notes, which are like a textbook but better and more concise. I read the textbook once the first week and never read it again, that's how useless the actual course textbook was. The hardest part of the course is the homework. Each week there is a series of 3-5 problems, each of which challenges your knowledge in unique ways, and very often includes MATLAB (so make sure you know how to plot and create basic for loops). A lot of the homework sets are interconnected (i.e. they contain a continuation of previous problems with new changes). It is clear Franco put a lot of effort into curating the problems to cover the most critical parts of the content. However, the homework is almost impossible without external help, most often through office hours (both TA and professor), so utilize those resources. Attending lecture is very important, not only because she does not record lectures, but there are also participation-based quizzes, which if you complete them all, will provide some extra credit for your entire grade. Fair warning that the exams are hard, but if you diligently do homework, attend office hours, and prepare adequately for the midterm and final, the course is very doable. Overall, I think Franco is one of the best professors I have had at UCLA. Her lectures, homework, and office hours are all helpful, and she is always willing to answer questions. (Notice I didn't mention labs... that's because they're completely useless. Shoutout Jimmy though, best TA!)
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Most Helpful Review
Winter 2022 - Tough class. Very tough class. It was the biggest mindfuck I've ever had. Franco is a fantastic professor and she explains concepts clearly. But the homeworks are so bloody difficult. If it weren't for the TA's office hours, I would've actually failed every homework. The midterm was fairly challenging, but the final was fair. I would certainly recommend Franco for 107, but it's a tough class (not her fault - just difficult material)/
Winter 2022 - Tough class. Very tough class. It was the biggest mindfuck I've ever had. Franco is a fantastic professor and she explains concepts clearly. But the homeworks are so bloody difficult. If it weren't for the TA's office hours, I would've actually failed every homework. The midterm was fairly challenging, but the final was fair. I would certainly recommend Franco for 107, but it's a tough class (not her fault - just difficult material)/