Interesting class with a moderate difficulty, reasonable workload, and fair exams. Professor is very good at illustrating the concepts in the context of their real-world appearances, as well as maintaining a positive class atmosphere.

Excellent professor. Exams are fair, but can be a bit tough if you're not prepared. Lectures are good and she often makes jokes.

Super helpful, extremely approachable, and really wants her students to succeed. Constantly cracks funny jokes during her lectures. Exams are fair, manageable, and very similar to homework, no surprises at all. The class itself is not easy or hard. But as long as you do your work you will get a rly good grade. Sometimes her lectures are a bit hard to follow because of the amount of information involved. But she's probably one of the best matsci prof in my very personal opinion. Definitely recommend.

The homework is of reasonable difficulty but it's extremely hard to get full credit. There are traps placed for you to lose points. When you see that the problem statement asks for A and B, do not think only having A and B correct will get your full credit. You may lose point for the invisible C and D that are not clearly specficied at all. When there are multiple ways to answer the question correctly, only the one in the TA's solution will get you a full score. Whenever you think your solution is perfectly and you're confident you can get 100%, there will always be a lot of points deducted out of your expectation. The TA is a harsh grader. He makes you get a B for homework that you know 100% how to do.

Professor Balonis-Sant is the BEST professor, by far one of the best I have had at UCLA. She is always available if you need help. There are a few pros of her class
(1) She gives engaging lectures and helpful analogies - I learned a lot about industry as well from her class
(2) Homework is pretty doable and relevant to exams. Exams are fair but can be tricky if you didn't practice beforehand
(3) She is super helpful during Office Hours, She sat with me and helped explain concepts outside of class.

Overall, def recommend!