He is the best of the best professor I have had so far! Wonderful TA at the same time for me (Nicholas Boschert). The tests are all very lenient, and I genuinely enjoy this class

He was one of the best math professors I've had at UCLA and would definitely take a class with him again if I can (bc all his classes fill super quickly)! Would definitely recommend him he was so approachable at office hours and clear in his lectures (which are bruincasted) and his exams were very fair!

Professor Zinn-Bjorkman is great! Lectures are super clear, he's very nice and approachable, and the homework is just textbook problems--some questions can be tricky and/or computationally difficult, but overall they're not bad (the homework took me at most 3 hours/week and he drops the lowest 2). Exams are straightforward--difficulty level is similar to homework questions, so as long as you feel good about homework, you should be okay. If he has quizzes in discussion, don't worry--they're p easy, and he drops the lowest 2. Overall would strongly recommend Zinn-Bjorkman!!!!

Honestly one of the best math classes I've taken at UCLA. Prof. Zinn is extremely talented at conveying concepts in a way that's clear, concise, and easy to remember. The pacing of the class is also excellent. I never felt as if our class was moving through the material too fast — in fact, this class ended up being one of my favorite classes winter quarter. He doesn't curve the class but sets up all the tests and quizzes so that it's possible to get a good score purely straight-scaled. Both midterms were doable if you did enough practice problems, and even if you do choke on a midterm, if you clutch the final he'll replace one of your midterm scores with your final score. There are weekly quizzes in discussion, but he drops the lowest two. Same with the homework. Also, he BruinCasts the lectures — and if that hasn't sold you on taking the class yet, I don't know what will.

I really enjoyed this class. Exams are fair and Professor Leif is a great lecturer. He really cares about students and puts a lot of efforts into teaching. Homework and quizzes are really helpful for studying for tests. Would recommend taking 33B with Professor Leif

Out of all the professors I've had for 32a, 32b, 33a, 33b, and 61, I've had 2 good, 1 all right, and 2 bad professors. Leif was one of the good ones. He stands out from other math professors in his ability/the effort he puts into condensing and really picking out the important information from each chapter/section to present to the class, most of the time going over sufficient examples to understand the concepts. This meant that I did not need to read the entire textbook just to understand the class and teach myself the material, as I've had to do with Gang Liu and James Cameron's classes (we should not have to do this for what we pay in tuition at this world-class university). As others have mentioned, there is not curve in the class, so the percentage you get in the class determines your grade (for example, 90 <= N < 93% gets you an A-, 93 <= N < 97 gets you an A, and 97 <= N is an A+). He's a reasonable professor who seems like he actually wants you to learn -- he doesn't test you on "tricks" or play mind games on exams; midterms were reasonable if you truly had a good grasp of the material. We had weekly homework due Fridays in class, and quizzes in discussion section. The homework load is comparable to that of other math classes at UCLA, and quizzes were reasonable, a couple were tricky. The grade was calculated from the following weights: Homework: 15%, Quizzes: 10%, Midterms: 20% each, Final Exam: 35%. The final replaces your lower midterm score if it's higher than either. Overall, he's a solid professor. Would recommend.

Leif is great! The lectures were clear and understandable, and he's also fairly approachable if you have any questions. There are quizzes in discussion along with weekly homework, but both aren't too difficult (although the homework can be quite tedious). Exams weren't too bad (minus the second midterm! So many calculations!), and you can also ask questions on Piazza.

Leif completely restored my faith in the math department. I got Cs in 31b, 32a, 32b, and 33a. I was ontrack for an A but didn't study enough for the final. He has quizzes in discussion section which are based on the previous week's hw and are relatively easy as long as you look over your notes right before. The hw he assigns is very minimal compared to other math professors. He is a good lecturer, I had him at 8am and watched the bruincast at 2x speed bc I wasn't about to wake up for that. I would watch a week's worth of lecture on thursday nights so I could do my hw that was due every friday. Leif is so kind and approachable. His class is a straight scale, so no curve like every other math class I've had at UCLA. But, his midterms were so much easier because of this. He doesn't give you ridiculous numbers to manipulate. He genuinely wants you to learn and succeed, so his exams test for the basic understanding of the concepts. He always put true false questions on the exams, which were easy points if you knew the definitions of terms like "linear", "homogenous", and "autonomous". He covers everything in his lectures and if you have questions he will legit stop the lecture to answer you and make sure you actually understand what is going on. He will straight up re-explain a theorem if you are confused.

Good lecturer, and teaches from the basics; I never really felt lost in the class, and the workload wasn't heavy at all. His lectures are also bruincasted, and he is very approachable in case you have any questions. The class isn't curved from what I can tell, but the tests and quizzes are reasonable (the first midterm had an average of ~92%, and the second ~78%). He also drops the 2 lowest quizzes (out of 6) and homeworks. However, the quizzes are in discussion, so you can't skip them too often. He has 2 grading schemes (2 midterms, 20% each and final 35%, or drop 1 midterm and final 55%). I highly recommend taking 33B with him!