Trott is honestly my favorite professor at UCLA. He is very knowledgeable on the material and very concerned with student understanding. You can tell he is really passionate about the material he teaches and that passion is infectious. His lectures were always engaging and he was always happy to answer questions, both in lecture and office hours. The readings could be a little long but they were worth it in my opinion.

This is hands down the best class I've taken at UCLA. My final grade isn't confirmed yet but right now I have an A+/A in this class. Both midterms and final are open note, in-person class is optional, and you only need to attend 3 discussions to get full credit--the more you attend the more extra credit you receive. He offers almost too many extra credit opportunities, and it boosts your grade by whole percentage points, not partial. He's funny, engaging, and everything on the tests are literally on the homework. Homework is based on completion not correctness. The only 'downside' (which isn't a downside unless you make it that way) is that each test is 25% of your grade, so if you fail a test you'll have to try harder in the other ones to boost your grade. However, you shouldn't really fail unless you don't try or don't understand the homework. Overall, he is a very understanding teacher and you'd quite literally have to not try to fail this class. Trust you will come out learning so much!

i took 100a with trott, which i found to be pretty easy and was excited to take another course with trott again. from the beginning of this course, trott made sure we were aware that this class is difficult and that we would truly have to put the work in to receive an A. he was definitely right - this class has some pretty abstract concepts that you genuinely have to sit with in order to grasp! i believe the class avg for the first midterm was a C (?) and the second midterm and final were Bs. what helped me get an A in the class was rewatching lectures, and taking very detailed notes (i would write down the majority of what he would say in class!).

though some concepts are tricky, trott genuinely is such an entertaining and fun lecturer, and the class material is quite interesting. you can tell he really cares about the students learning and making sure lectures are engaging. overall, i would recommend this class to people who are willing to put the work in! i learned a lot and would love to take a class with trott again (probably an easier course though lol)