Hey,
I’m selling Rogawski calculus *4th edition* [PDF copy] for $15!
If interested, text me @ **********
Accepting payment by Venmo

32A with Chayes is an absolute grind. If you want to do well, you'll have to spend hours outside of class teaching yourself how to do the HW questions. There are no published answers, so the only way to check your work is with the TA. My TA, Alex Frederick, was amazing and super helpful, but even he was unable to do a few of the HW problems for the later week sets.
Lectures are useful for the first couple weeks, but gradually become more confusing and abstract. He'll go off on tangents and forget the problem he was trying to solve, start breathing heavily, and maybe punch a wall or door or something.
The 2 midterms and final were difficult, but not impossible. You can get a maximum of a 100% for all of them, but there is usually an extra question or two so you don't have to get everything right. Test bank midterms are super useful, and have many of the same questions as the midterms we took. He doesn't hand back the final however, which makes studying a lot harder.
The one major upside of this class is how interesting and in depth many of of the problems on the problem sets are. Many of them have multiple steps and hard to figure out alone, but if you're able to just forget about the rest of the world and just focus on math, then you'll really benefit a lot.

All in all, take this class if you want to learn math mainly by grinding out problem sets and watching online math tutorials, or if you appreciate a challenge, or if you just really like being confused for some reason.

If you have a really good understanding of vectors, then you will do fine in this class. Chayes's lectures are super confusing and not very helpful so use the TAs as much as possible. The first midterm was taken straight out of the test bank so if you look at those exams before the test, you will most likely ace it. The second midterm was similar, but the questions were not exactly the same as those in the test bank. The final exam was not too difficult and reviewing the midterms is the best way to prepare for those. Chayes as a person is very "interesting" in the sense that you never really know what he is going to say. I found his lectures quite funny but not very engaging or helpful. Overall I would say if you do all the homework and put the time in, his class is not too difficult to do well in, but if you have the opportunity to take a different professor, I would.

Copy pasted my evaluation. Also, note that anyone can claim anything about their grade on Bruinwalk - beware! Don't trust the distributions.

Chayes treats the math itself quite pointedly, but the computations are lacking. Students may find themselves wanting of greater practice of concepts - often we find that the lessons are learned in doing the homework, and not in lecture, making them of incredible value. However, the problems and methods featured in the homework sets are also scarce and too diverse to call "practice."

Notably, he makes them worth only 10% of our grades, which is a welcome relief of pressure. And his midterms are quite fair, if not bordering on easy.

His lectures can be confusing and it is challenging to follow his logic. While Professor Chayes is open to questions and treats students with a fair degree of kindness, one feels intimidated from asking them in the first place - because the class moves quickly; time is precious; questions may indulge an immediate repetition of the last explanation, and so on.

Everything he teaches in lecture somehow shows up in the homework; though he does deviate from the textbook to provide his own vision of what Math 32A students should get out of the class. I find that as a student it is more important to cement the intuitions he challenges you with than to familiarize yourself with the routines he suggests for you.

If greater efforts were made to explain to students the inner logic of the mathematical concepts, this class would be far more outstanding and no doubt a stellar experience. However, most students are left to fend for themselves in TA office hours, struggling to comprehend the gymnastics that lead to a seemingly magical solution. Overall, I believe this class is valuable; but can be significantly improved by reducing its obstinacy and vagueness. Absolute clarity is necessary to teaching these important intuitions, and Chayes' lectures, to the average student, may seem strongly vexing and unwelcome. The proof is in the pudding - Chayes' class was the only one with spots left over in the class schedule of Math 32A classes. But I don't deny that his aims and curriculum are of a higher quality.

-==-

Perhaps the best part of Chayes is that the math is genuinely interesting with him.

I only have one recommendation for his class. You students out there who may be forced to take him - note one thing.

Read the textbook EXACTLY 5 days ahead of time. That is all. (And start the homework early. And make a math class group chat.)

The lectures are mind-numbing, but somehow engrossing. The homework is stimulating, if extremely perplexing. The tests - mostly not too bad, if you've studied. (Study, at least a bit. Go to the test banks.)

Be careful about this class. It's certainly one of the hardest classes you'll have to take (relatively); but if you do take it, you'll gain a better perspective of yourself as a student and as a STEM major. You may even pretend to come to like math.

I will be completely honest about this class: it was definitely one of the most challenging math courses I have ever taken, but not impossible to get an A. In high school, I was fortunate enough to take an IB HL Math course that was taught by an outstanding math teacher, so I had prior exposure to proofs and other basic topics in multivariable calculus. Despite that, I still struggled with some of the homework problems, as did others who also had experience with MVC. Some advice and warnings about this class:
1. The problem sets we had to do each week took me at least 6-10 hours, spread out throughout the week, to finish. The homework will definitely be a lot harder than what will be given on the midterms and final, so you should definitely study your homework sets before every exam. Understanding the homework and practicing them are key, so I would advise against cutting corners and copying from someone else just to get the homework done for points.
2. Not only that, do not be afraid of getting outside help, whether it's asking the TAs or forming study groups with your classmates. Make sure you go to every discussion section and ask about the questions you do not understand. I highly recommend study groups because I not only worked through some of the tough questions with my classmates but also didn't lose my mind from how stressful the class was knowing that others were in the same boat as me. However, make sure you can do the questions by yourself without relying on others to explain how to start or finish a problem
3. I will also add that you should at least go to office hours with the professor once or twice. His lectures are confusing since he likes to include complicated proofs on top of the new material covered in class. If you have the textbook, just try to look at parts of the lesson beforehand so you won't be totally lost during the lecture. But anyway, it's definitely worth it to ask him about the most difficult questions from the homework, and I personally felt that he gave me some important tips that also helped me with the exams.
4. Take advantage of the test banks! There are plenty of past midterms you can use to study from, so if you study the old exams on top of going through the problem sets, you will definitely do well (I got a 100 on both midterms, 115/115 on the first and 110/115 on the second one). The midterms and final already have a curve on it since the midterms are worth 115, but he takes the score out of 100, so if you get 95/115, that's a 95/100. If you get 100-115, then that's a 100. The same applies to the final.
I personally felt that the professor genuinely cares about the student based on what I've observed in office hours and the generous curves he gave on the exams, but he just comes off as intimidating to others. He also has an interesting sense of humor, and he wants you to understand the material at a deeper level (hence the difficulty of the homework). Nonetheless, just understand that if you enroll in Math 32A with this professor, you have to put in the effort. Although "working hard" will not guarantee an A in the class, it will definitely improve your chances of passing.

This was a terrible class. I got roughly 90% on each of the first two midterms and ended the quarter with a C.

His lectures aren't too bad, but his homework is horrendous. On several occasions, the TA's didn't know how to solve the problems that were assigned due to their difficulty. To do the homework, definitely check out the student math center, and make sure you understand how to do the homework, since his two midterms are based on it. The averages on the midterms were between 70 and 80 as a result, but the final was brutal. Just work on understanding the homework, and pray you get a good TA. Go to different TA sections if needed. Put much more effort into this class than you think is necessary because the final counts for 50% of your grade and is so much harder than the midterms. I got a C because I took the class not as seriously as I should have, given Chayes' reputation. As long as you put in the crazy amounts of work, you should be fine in the class.

Listen, if you are math major and enjoy proofs and rigorous mathematical logic, then take his class. The only reason me and a bunch of other kids hated his class is because we are more math-oriented but Chayes takes it to a whole other level. He teaches the class like if it is a proof-based multivariable calculus class. This class should really be intended for those who come from backgrounds where they have competed in rigorous math competitions. Honestly, those are the ones who will most benefit from this class as they will find the homework fun. I remember before enrolling I read a review here that said a lot of people studied together and tried to do the homework together and still struggled to finish it. I remember thinking to myself, "wtf how hard can his homework be? just read the textbook carefully and youll find a solution, I think i can do it" Boy was I SOOOO wrong.

If you are not planning to pursue a PhD in Mathematics, do not take this class as you will not learn anything except how to take partial derivatives ( and even with that he was horrible in explaining to us average students)

As an incomin freshman, I thought that I was good at math and could handle the transition from high school calculus to a college level math class. Boy was I wrong. His class may seem like you will be able to handle it because there's only one homework assignment per week that you have to turn in but the problems on it are extremely difficult. Some students clearly understood the homework but I felt like a majority of the students needed the their t.a to help them complete it. The lectures became hard quickly since his class was heavily based on proofs. I would not take his class unless you are willing to dedicate A LOT of time to his class and perhaps jeopardize your g.p.a. If you do take his class and do bad in it, don't let that discourage you because other 32A classes are easier and you can do better in those!

I am very conflicted as to how to review this. Well I'll begin here: OVERCONFIDENT FRESHMAN, DON'T TAKE THIS WITH THREE OTHER CLASSES IF YOU'RE NOT EXTREMELY DEDICATED TO MATH. Firstly, he does not teach the 32A topics in depth and mostly has you demonstrating proofs on homework assignments that are pretty difficult. Now, this is not as difficult as honors level (I've tried it), HOWEVER, it's WELL above the inherent difficulty of the coursework. What bugs me still is that, much of what is given is not actually fundamental to 32A, but kind of just miscellaneous "proofs" and examples that are related but not necessary. I did not come away from this class enlightened in any sense of the word. His lectures were also TERRIBLE. He spent days pretty much proving the same thing over and over without giving any sort of intuition whatsoever: This is partly why you will not be enlightened. The intuition is all up to you. He is extremely odd, wears the same vest, jeans, and black shirt to class everyday, and showcases his radical anti-humor in class. Once someone asked for a tissue and he jokingly checked the garbage can for one, replying 'no' without the slightest joking behavior. Anti-humor at its finest. Certainly entertaining. I'd recommend taking another professor though. I got perfect scores on both midterms and the final dropped me to a B. Prepare for the final! It will be WAY harder than the midterms!