You should not take Ocal if you could help it. He is horrible at explaining the concepts you need to learn because he recites it exactly for what it is in the textbook. This results in most students learning/teaching themselves from the textbook.(dw organic chemistry teacher will save u) He is nice and outwardly positive as he often asks if students have questions but most of the time you'll be more confused than anything to even be able to ask a question. He also does not respond to emails and to address any issues with homework and grading you'd have to attend his office hours. If thats an issue for you I'm just saying for a heads up. His grading is pretty understandable as a curve is often applied and there are different ways he weighs your exams to make sure you get the highest grade possible. However, unless you like to teach calc 2 to yourself/have smart friends to help you I would strongly advise you to take a different professor.

This is not a class for the weak. Professor Ocal does not deserve all the hate for this, though. The class is genuinely difficult, especially for students with little to no calculus background. You can tell the professor tries to convey the inherently hard concepts in an understandable way, but he sometimes falls short of ensuring 100% comprehension. The lectures are fast-paced and topical, but this was necessary to make sure we made it through the course on time. Grouped in with lectures are review sessions before exams, and these were really helpful. The professor did problems that mirrored the format of the midterm/final on the blackboard and encouraged student participation to work them out step-by-step. More often than not, very similar questions were on the exam itself. The grading scheme is an absolute godsend. I did pretty awful on my first midterm, but was saved by the scheme which takes the best of two midterm scores. After each exam it was always, "well there's always midterm 2 / the final" because the grading scheme can be so generous in not counting bad scores. Many people complain that Ocal "just teaches from the book" and admittedly, he does, but I don't see a problem with that. Outlined in the homework problems for each week are "optional" reading assignments that are truly beneficial to actually read. I think people would better understand Ocal's logic and style and do better in the class if they treated the textbook like a very helpful supplement to the lectures rather than an optional reading assignment that was paid no attention to. All of this is to say, I would recommend this class with Dr. Ocal if you are willing to put in the effort to succeed.

After hearing things about Pablo, I took the route of just self studying off the textbook. I feel like this is a fairly easy class to self study because there's just one or two things to know from every lesson. All I did to study was spam the problems Pablo recommended to do from the textbook and make sure I did them correctly by checking my answers on Quizlet (there's a Quizlet with all the answers). I didn't go to a single lecture, discussion, or OH. I would say that the midterms were fair and I did really well on both. However, Pablo decided to throw in the hardest integrals and limit comparison test I've ever seen on the final so I got an 80 on it, but the grading scheme saved my grade. If you're confident in your self study skills, take this class. If not, go with another professor.

I was scared going into this class given all the negative reviews but honestly if I had to take it with him again I would. He's very funny and always asks if there are any questions. If he doesn't finish the material in class he will upload onto zoom as a recording, although they might go over the normal hour. His tests are good as long as you study with the additional homework problems. I do strongly reccomend memorizing the hyperbolic table he goes over as the final is strongly hyperbolic trig. Overall he has a very lenient grading scheme. I am a person who struggles with math and this class made me like math again.

Some people have this weird need of protecting Ocal for some reason. But as a person who didn't take Calculus BC or IB Math, I had to learn a lot of material. By myself. His lectures are confusing, and he might be a nice guy, but nice Bruinwalk is not about rating how nice of a guy is your professor. The final and exams, overall, must provide an understanding of how students have learnt the material, but when you test it using way, way more advanced examples (like in today's final, which even for the people who got 99 in midterms texted me asking what the hell was it), which breaks the sense of learning as most likely a curve would be needed. Never take Ocal. I was persuaded by a friend who said yeah, it's okay, it's fine. Trust me guys, it wouldn't be. You will be miserable with him. And for those who have a weird fascination with protecting Ocal, guys, I know you know the material beforehand or you might be just math majors, but please don't set expectations for those who just need to pass their 31B.

I loved this class I feel that the hate Professor Ocal gets is unwarranted. He explains the topics well enough and while it might not always be the best explanation if you read the chapter before lecture as the homework tells you to (it doesnt actually tell you to but it just makes the most sense to do that) it will make complete sense. Professer Ocal is also very kind and helpful offering extra office hours after canceling lecture a few times and even staying after class to answer questions in the short 10 minutes he has between classes. Not only that but his practice exams are extremely helpful for the actual exams as they are so much harder then the actual test and I feel it prepares you for the test more. Also his tests were incredibly easy much easier then the practice problems we would do in class for midterm review. Professer Ocal is also very animated during lecture making them incredibly interesting and engaging. The only problem i would say I have with his lectures is that his handwriting is a bit hard to read but if you just listen and write what hes saying its the same shit he writes on the board

Professor Ocal is the worst math teacher I have ever encountered since I first started taking math classes in kindergarten. He is a very nice guy and he means well, but I have never met someone so atrocious at explaining math. He is nice enough to ask "any questions?" throughout lecture but people are so lost in his rambling by then that asking a question would be pointless. A few weeks ago I found that it is more beneficial for me to watch ten minute videos online about the topics rather than go to Professor Ocal's lectures. I stopped going to lectures and started watching these videos and my homework grades have dramatically increased since. He is good at math but he can't teach to save his life. I think his talents would be better suited for a job in accounting or something along those lines.

Pretty nice and easy class.
Final was a bit tougher than midterms n homework