Let me say this right off of the bat: Be prepared for a ride.
Chayes' class for MATH 32A was without a doubt a rude awakening for an incoming freshman who had never taken a true college math course (AP Calc pales in comparison to 32A). The material was confusing as it is, but Chayes made it even more confusing. He would do proofs in class that had little to do with the homework and then expected you to master the material through the VERY HARD problem sets. The problem sets were near impossible to do on your own if you did not know what was going on in lecture and you basically have to have the TAs do the problems for you.
It is true what he says regarding the relative difficulties of the tests though. The first midterm is actually easy compared to the finals. I ended up with a B+ on the 15% midterm, a B- on the 25% midterm, and an F on the 50% Final, My final grade was a C-. No matter how bad you do though, Chayes did not seem to fail anyone in the class, so if you are just intent on passing, then he might be a good option.
Without a doubt is was a privilege to listen to his lectures and he was a very funny guy (wore the same clothes to lecture, huffed and puffed while doing a proof, and aimlessly paced throughout the room), but in the end taking Chayes was not worth it.

Make sure you understand the problem sets instead of relying on other people or your TA to solve them for you, and you will do fine in this class. It's not as difficult as most people make it out to be.

Let me start out by saying that Professor Chayes is a very intelligent man. He clearly knows what he is talking about. The problem is, no one else does. He is extremely vague and rambles through his entire lecture, forcing you to pay attention in order to attempt to try and just decipher what he is saying. He also mentions that he does not require the book for the class, but don't listen to that. The lectures themselves often can be clarified by the book, which itself is not very clear at times, but it is infinitely more useful than what he says. Now, if you go to office hours and apply yourself, you just might get a good grade, as he does give out more A's than he has to. The midterms and final were fair representations of what should have been learned during the course, but again, without the book that becomes all the more difficult. Overall, his class is doable if he is your primary concern, but if you have other options, I'd highly recommend assessing them.

An incredibly brilliant guy but really just a totally antisocial genius. Homeworks are incredibly hard- you need to get a TA to do them for you, and also help you understand the mechanics. If you DRILL the mechanics/intuition/theory of all the homework problems into your brain, you'll do well on the exams, cause they are very similar to the homework problems, but still complete nonsense unless you know precisely what you're doing.

Wouldn't recommend the class. You can do it, but only if you understand how crucial it is to truly understand the HW

Figured out the HW with a group/TA, studied them ravenously for about a week straight before the 2nd midterm and final, and got an A in the class. Still not sure if it was worth it.

Don't take this class. So I ended up with an A- in the class but it was not worth it. I've been reading all of these other reviews about how "he's not that bad", but believe me, he is. The lecturers are always meaningless proofs. I stopped going halfway through the quarter and it didn't make a difference. His homework is incredibly difficult; the only way you can understand many of the complicated problems is if the TA (you need a really good TA for this class) shows you how to do it exactly. Also the book does not help, his tests are way beyond the book.This class is all about proving things. As an engineer, I do not need to know how to prove math, I just need to be able to use it. While I did manage an A-, it was not worth the absolute pain caused by this class. Take anyone else if possible

Avoid Chayes. He doesn't give good lectures as his is horribly disorganized. His homework sets were extremely difficult and even the TA's could not solve some of them. Take any other professor.

There's a roumor hovering that Prof.Chayes is like "The time has come, execute order 66. Eliminate every possible A."
That's not true. Chayes is actually glad to give out As and his tests-At least for this term-are probably appropriately easy for those students who did do their problem sets and understand contents of the course.
However, Chayes's lecture style is way too free style as to be sometimes confusing. He may have some intro-level talk about analytic functions in complex analysis, while sometimes talk about Laplace equations... The problem is, you always have a hard time following him. So some students choose to study with some open courses online-e.g., MIT OCW-rather than to go to the lectures. (Don't worry about the tests, his lectures seem to have nothing to do with tests, at least in this term.)
His midterms seems to be consistent, so good practices would be 2013-2014 midterms.
He has no quiz. Final 50% midterm 15% midterm 2 25% homework 10%

Straight Forward FACT:

Most of our class got 90%+ in the first two midterms.

Before I start my review, let me clarify the BIAS I might have: I am an engineering student who waived my 31AB with AP Cal BC, is not bad at math, and always sit at the front row.

I have no idea why my experience in Chayes' class is such a sharp contrast with most of the previous review, maybe Chayes changed quite a bit. But as far as I can tell, he is AWESOME.

His class and homework might be a little bit challenging, but definitely thorough and inspiring. I just learnt so much more than what was in the textbook, like new ways of thinking or to approach problems. All these combined--class notes, homework, and textbook--gave me a comprehensive understanding of the course materials. Even if I did not understand some concepts or homework problems (which was not uncommon), I would go to his office hour, or discussion sections, and Chayes and my TA would get your ass covered. He class was always fun for his sense of humor that even international students could understand lol.

For those who complaint about his attitudes:

1. Some people just don't like using e-mail, Chayes is one of them, but it is really not an issue. You could find him in his office hour, and he is ready to answer your questions.

2. He is a very nice and cool person. He never attacks people who ask questions, he is just being HUMOROUS. He is very helpful overall.

His tests were much easier than the homework. I reviewed so hard before the test only to find out the tests were so easy (at least compared to Heilman AFAIK). In his final, he even gave key hints that basically solve the problems.

His class is definitely worth choosing!!!

最后说一句，连茶叶斯都不敢上的还好意思叫自己中国人？

He is really awesome!!!!!! Take him.
Beta

He is the best professor I have ever met. He is handsome , humourous and charming. He loves telling jokes on class, which made me laugh all the way. I really agreed with Kappa.
Take him! You will never regret!
Alpha