This class is not very hard, and Fan's tests are pretty easy; there's a reasonable-ish amount of homework from the textbooks, but it's pretty much what you'd expect from a lower-div math class.

That being said, Fan is ... not a great lecturer. You have to self-learn most of the material in the class, though that's not too tricky - if you follow along in the textbook, Fan doesn't throw you any curveballs in the homework or exams.

Basically, if you're willing to study on your own, this class is relatively easy, but if you're really interested in diff eqs you might want to take someone else!

It was my first time studying calculus and boi was this class hard. The topics aren't the problem, it's the professor. He is from China, so he has a rough accent that makes it difficult to understand what he says in class.
Lectures would only be demonstrations of rules.
It is clear Professor Fan knows a lot about math, but he can't properly explain it to 1st-year students. If your calculus is not strong, don't take him.

If you're the type of person that doesn't really pay attention anyway this guy is great. The homework is always useful/super relevant for the tests and reasonable. If you're looking for a professor that clearly explains the subject, find someone else. He's definitely a nice guy and is super smart but for me (and everyone else I know in the class), the textbook is much easier to learn from. But at the end of the day the tests are super reasonable and he doesn't try to trick you so I'd definitely recommend taking him if you're okay with terrible lectures.

Fan is not as bad as the other reviews make it seem. He has an accent which makes it hard to understand what he's saying but he also writes everything important on the whiteboard anyway and the examples he uses are pretty clear. There is a decent amount of homework for the class but it's manageable. The exams were pretty easy, especially because most of the questions are either from the homework or some variation of something that was gone over in the lecture. Fan is pretty chill, especially about attendance, since you are not required to attend class at all except for turning in the homework. Overall he's not a great lecturer, but the tests are pretty easy and the class is pretty chill as a whole

The lectures were confusing and made very little sense. He focused a ton on proofs and theory that never came up on exams (as the exams were purely computational). The material itself is relatively easy, but it could have been explained in a much better way. However, the textbook does a great job at explaining so you can get by just teaching yourself. Also, discussion sections are a must- that's when the TAs go over a bunch of practice problems and explain the material in a much more clear way. Dr. Fan definitely made up for his teaching though with how easy his tests were. He gives you every type of problem that will be on the test, and releases past midterms and finals as practice. They're very straightforward, so if you can do the homework, you can do the tests no problem. Also, Dr. Fan tries his best to be helpful during office hours. He definitely cares and makes an effort for his students if you reach out to him.

Math 33B with Fan is the most manageable math class I've taken at UCLA (32A with Hill being a close second). For one thing, Fan really doesn't cover a whole lot of material. Compared to classes like 32B and 33A that keep building and building throughout the quarter, 33B consists of:

-first order linear ODEs (undetermined coefficient and variation of parameter methods)
-exact ODEs (test for exactness, find integrating factor, solve if homogeneous, etc.)
-existence and uniqueness theorem and autonomous equations
-second order linear ODEs (find general solution if homogeneous or if forcing term exists)
-2x2 systems and phase plane portraits
-higher order systems, exponential of a matrix, and truncation

2x2 systems and above roughly take up the second half of the class, and rely heavily on linear algebra. However, if you understand the mechanics of finding eigenvectors and can learn what to do for real, complex, and repeated eigenvalue cases, then this isn't that bad.

Secondly, Fan is an incredibly generous grader and assigns short homework sets. Both midterms had very high averages (90 and 93) and the final was a little harder, but still very fair considering it was take-home. 90% or above is an A. On the second midterm, I screwed up and got a B, and Fan gave me a point back just for asking why I got something wrong. I imagine that the vast majority of the class this quarter ended up with an A.

Finally, Fan has a good selection of TAs. Nick Boschert is a legend. Switch into his discussion if you can. Clear lectures, good examples, and very helpful.

Fan's only downside is that he is a pretty unclear lecturer and makes mistakes from time to time. Also, you might have to endure Bunche 2209A. But just sit 2/3 of the way to the back and you'll be fine.

Professor Fan is a nice guy who gives decent lectures. I never found his lectures interesting, but I think they were still okay. I just read the book and took the exams and did well. His exams are super easy. He will cover confusing theoretical proofs in class, but none of that shows up on the exam. The exams are basically like homework problems off the textbook. If you do the homework, and clarify all of your questions with the TA, you should be good to go for the two midterms. As for the final, we had to switch to an online-platform because of COVID-19, so Professor Fan gave a 24-hour exam. I don't think the exam was that terribly difficult, but it was ridiculously long. He gave problems that were computational nightmares just to make the exam hard. Also, he gave this insane trig-sub integral, which was completely unnecessary, as this is not a class that tests on integration. However, if you use your 24-hour wisely, the exam wasn't this bad. I think my TA was excellent for this class. If Sam Yih is ever an option for Fan, take him. He's clear and approachable and will answer all of your questions. Overall, decent experience in class but great experience with TA and discussion section. Good luck.

Fan was a good guy and gave easy homework and fairs exams. He even told the class every type of problem that would be on the final.

The textbook is very useful for this class and it helps to read about it before Professor Fan lectures about it. The material itself is not that hard and sometimes the professors lectures are a hit or miss...it's either pretty easy to understand or I have no clue what's happening. That being said his tests are pretty straight forward. He gives us a breakdown of exactly what type of question/how many questions there will be. I think he made the final a bit more challenging though since it was 24hr take home due to COVID-19 but the midterms were pretty easy. The homeworks are sometimes arduous but they are reasonable length/difficulty. If it is hard for you to learn from the textbook I might suggest a different professor, but if you can learn from the textbook and supplement it by lectures I highly recommend taking it with this Professor Fan. He's also really nice and I'm sure going to Office Hours will help but I never felt the need to go.

This class was very difficult. The material wasnt too bad, since i have taken AP Calc before. But the exams were weird. Lots of proof questions.