After having taken 110 and 111 with Mel, I can now conclude that Mel is a terrible professor, but a good person. Classes are alright, but she tends to go on long tangents and the important topics aren't often gone into with much depth. She uses UCLA's online poll for participation. Half the time, you can't even sign into it or get it to load, but she doesn't care.
The tests aren't that hard so you can definitely get a good grade in the class, but that requires her actually posting the grade. That brings me to the worst part of this class: the utter lack of communication. It was impossible to get any response from Mel in the last couple weeks of the quarter, which in itself was masked with uncertainty. I can understand struggles to adapt to an online format, but I will never understand why she signs every email with "Please let me know if you have any questions", if she refuses to respond to ANY emails. Moreover, she started having Q&A forums for the homework, but she would seldom respond before the homework's DUE DATE. What's the point in answering the questions that students had on the homework after it's due?

All things being said, the class isn't that bad, but I would never take a class with this professor again because it's very difficult to be in a class where there is little to no communication with the professor.

I actually really like Mel, despite what the other reviews say, I don't think she's that bad. She's a really cool human being, albeit a bit scatter-brained.

Tbh, I didn't attend a lot of the lectures, since she posted her lecture notes online. I just had a friend text me whenever there was an extra credit quiz. Sometimes when I attended lectures I would zone out/work on homework for other classes. Lecture is useful in that when she explains concepts, she does it well and she always takes the time to answer students' questions. She's not the most organized/systematic, but she covers everything and I do like the flow of lectures (this is an unpopular opinion fyi).

The homeworks are a good reflection of the midterm difficulty during my quarter. They were pretty reasonable and you were allowed to work on them with friends.

I remember the first midterm was super easy, but the second one was a bit tougher. The final was also much harder. I think you need >=85 overall to get an A in the class. Make sure you understand bonds well.

I thought the final project was pretty reasonable. Basically, all you had to do was apply the concepts from class. She gives out a sample paper. Make sure to start early though, since some parts are pretty time consuming.

The extra credit polls and discussion forum posts are actually pretty useful when it comes to boosting your grade.

Disclaimer: I took this class in Spring 2018, I heard she was super disorganized and unreasonable in terms of when she assigned homework, tests etc during Winter 2019. I also have a bunch of friends who don't like her teaching style so I may just be the exception. Also apparently the midterms/final were a lot harder that quarter??

If you've taken ENGR 110, this class isn't much different. Mel is clearly knowledgeable on the subject but her lecture style is somewhat disorganized and isn't helpful for people new to the subject. You'll likely learn more from TA slides so it's good to go to discussion.

Homeworks are pretty easy but shes not very organized with assigning them. We had weekly assignments for about 3 weeks and then nothing for the next 3 weeks. You basically just have to check CCLE every weekend to see if anything is posted.

Midterm (as far as I can tell) is a pot shot. The previous sample midterms she gave us were fairly straightforward, mostly questions similar to homework or discussion example problems. The actual midterm was WILDLY different. You could probably work your way through the questions and get some partial credit at least if you know the concepts well but it still sucked.

Final report is more work than the one for ENGR 110 since analyzing stocks and portfolio are a pain.

I took ENGR 111 with her. She gives easy homework assignments but the exams are not anywhere close to the homework. The midterm was relatively easy but the final was tough. I honestly never used the textbook. Take good notes and study the slides and you will be fine.

I think that Mel is a pretty chill, laidback person but I can also understand why some people are a little put off by her rather casual teaching style. That being said, the material is not really difficult and much less technically demanding than some of your typical engineering classes in other departments. To add on to that, the textbook in this class is actually really good, so good that you probably don't need to go to lectures.

In my quarter, the midterms were pretty easy such that most people left early, but the final was pretty difficult that not as many people left early (i.e. or if they did, they probably gave up on figuring out how to do some of the problems). I would say that the discrepancy was probably due to the fact that she crammed roughly three weeks of material in the last week of class because she was lecturing so slow in the previous 8-9 weeks. Other than that, I would say that this class was pretty chill and enjoyable and also surprisingly informative (i.e. some of the subject matter could be applicable to your personal financial decisions).

I think Mel is a super nice and cool person, but she was not really a great teacher for ENGR 111. I had her for ENGR 110 and she was fine but she was not able to really engage the class or teach the material at a good enough level in my opinion for Finance. Also, I felt a lot of the class got shortchanged on the Extra Credit and the exams, which covered a lot of difficult material that was only briefly touched upon in discussions and not even in the lecture. Overall, I like Mel as a person, but I would probably NOT take this class again if given the choice.

Cons: It is true that her powerpoint skills are not the best.
Pros: She's a very energetic person, she keeps you engaged in class by asking simple and interesting questions, she tries to remember names of the students and is very kind to all sorts of answers. Her exams are pretty easy, you don't have to study a lot, just go over the things she say in class and take some notes. She asks exactly what she lectures so try to pay attention to class. She goes over every topic 3 times, so you don't have the chance to get lost.
Fav: She always does a current events part every class, where there is a class discussion on real tech/finance events, and you can relate real strategical management decisions to class material. I love this part since most other teachers just focus on the theoretical part and leave. One of the most engaging ENGR classes of all and its pretty easy.

If you have a question, just ask. The professor takes note of who is paying attention and thinking beyond the class materials. The homework may seem straightforward, but the exams will challenge you to apply to concepts rather than regurgitate homework problems. She's one of the most personable and friendly professors at UCLA, take advantage of that!

Let's be clear. I learned a lot in class and would have learned a lot more had I gone to every lecture. My biggest problem was that it was at 6-8pm, and that got in the way a lot.

Other than that, though, this is great class to take. It's a useful class that will help prepare you for a lot of other econ classes. Mel is a good lecturer too, and keeps you engaged throughout the class. If you go to her lectures and pay attention, you'll be fine for anything that comes your way, whether it be the tests or homework. I had trouble on the midterm and a few homework assignments only to find that she went over everything I needed to know in class.

Essentially, what I'm saying is that if you go to class, she'll reward you for it. Not only is it a somewhat easy class to take, she keeps you up to date with economic events throughout the world and teaches you pretty valuable information that you'll need once you're out of college. Just make sure you make it to class. She does post lecture slides, if I remember correctly, but trust me, going to class is much better.

I would definitely recommend her class to anyone considering the tech management option as their tech breadth.

I took both ENGR 111 and 110 with this professor. Great lecturer, my favorite at the school.

This class focuses more on micro economics from what I remember. And I thought it was a great start to the subject, I learned plenty of practical skills. Balancing my finances, etc. It isn't really sold as a practical knowledge course, but it definitely provides some of that.

The lectures were clear and concise. Sometimes they would feel long, but its just the nature of the subject, sometimes it can be less than exciting. The professor knew when the material would be boring and tries to counter that, which I appreciated, especially since the lectures were usually in the evening, so as not to conflict with the major related courses. And she was pretty good at keeping things entertaining, by including students in discussions related to relevant current events she brought up, and most hilariously, calling out snoozing students (myself included).

Don't listen to the haters, this class is rad. Also try to take this class with a couple buddies, the group projects are way less of a drag that way.