This is the only review you'll need to read. DO NOT take this class!! Professor Ocal clearly does not know the material given the amount of mistakes in every single lecture and he simply copies exactly what is written in the textbook. Some of the most memorable moments in his class was when he cancelled 4 lectures in a row a few minutes before it started because there was heavy rain for one day and uploaded multiple 2 hour lectures several days later. Another time was when he spent an entire 50 minute lecture solving a SINGLE problem to show why the problem shouldn't be solved that way. Also can't forget when I asked if we could have a cheat sheet and he responded saying "biologists have to memorize the endocrine system and other complex systems unlike mathematicians." Though I ended with an A, I sold my soul and probably shaved a few years off my life to get that A. The only helpful thing was his relatively lenient grading scheme (though which was partially cancelled out by his bad teaching). Also important to note that the practice midterms he provides students are nothing like the actual test. If you're stuck in this class, you're best friend should be YouTube vids, your TA, and office hours. This was my second quarter at UCLA but I can tell you that this is the worst professor I will have.

Honestly I was so lost in this class, I felt like going to lecture and discussion helped me learn nothing. I basically studied only from the textbook and old exams. Thankfully the practice exams were similar enough to the exams and his review sessions before exams weren't bad either. But I was always really stressed because I felt like I wasn't understanding anything. If you struggle with math this professor will be difficult but it's not completely impossible to get an A because there are multiple different grading schemes that can save you (For example I actually bombed both midterms but still ended up with an A because my final became weighted more and the midterm scores were dropped). They also give a decent amount of partial credit on problems too. The class isn't as bad as some make it out to be but be prepared to do a lot of studying, it helps to stay on top of the lectures and do ALL the hw.

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.

The lectures were honestly unhelpful. I would review the textbook before going into lectures and found that the more time I spent listening to him teach the more confused I got. The way his grading schemes worked was you could use both midterms, use one midterm to your grade, or use neither, so that was helpful, probably the best part of the class. Honestly, I would avoid taking Pablo's class if you can, but if you have to take his class, it is doable. If you have to take his class, I'd rely heavily on your TA and the textbook, they're you're best bet.

This course is structured to be confusing, there is just so much to understand and master in an extremely short amount of time. The midterms and finals just kept on getting worse and worse and I genuinely do not know how people do well in this class because I am always uncertain about every single question on the tests. However, Professor Ocal is a nice and generous lecturer. He is funny and would always love to clear up your confusion on anything. I did so much work for this course, from reading the textbook chapters and doing as many textbook practices as possible, but somehow I still struggled, A LOT, and I got an A- because of luck. I used to be really good at math in high school, but this class successfully made me question my math skills.

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.

Honestly, it wasn't that bad. There was a weekly homework assignment and a discussion assignment, which was just a question from the homework. The real hard part was the exams. I felt so unprepared for every single exam and the practice exams he provided did not help at all. Lectures are also regurgitated from the textbook. My advice is to just self study, but Ocal is also genuinely a nice guy.

I would like to start by saying that I typically don't want to leave such a negative review, as I respect teachers for all the work they do.

However, Pablo is such an incompetent teacher that if you can, avoid his classes at all costs. I heard that going into this class, so I chose a different professor. But in a bait and switch, the day before the quarter began, they switched the professors and I was stuck with Pablo, and all other lectures were filled. Pablo is so incompetent at teaching that I'd rather get taught calculus by a preschooler. He doesn't even know how to find the inverse of a function, saying that all you have to do is isolate x instead of y (spoiler: it isn't). Then, he lectures straight from the book with the most basic questions possible, leaving the entire class out to dry for the exams, which by the way, are exponentially harder than any other questions he asks. Then, he went out of his way to cancel class a total of 5 times in a quarter, 4 of which were in a row right after midterms (meaning that in a 2 week period, there was only 1 lecture).

I now understand why they tell you not to use Bruinwalk, and only people who really love or really hate their professors post reviews there.
Listen. I'm neither. I took Calculus in high school, and I took the LS 30 series before this (I changed my major). Is Pablo the best math teacher I've ever had? No. Of course not. He might even be the worst, but that's because I've had really good math teachers.
But does he deserve a 1.8 rating on Bruinwalk? Absolutely not!! I have had genuinely terrible professors who do not care about their students whatsoever, and none of them have a score below a 2.0. Professor Scerri, who is generally regarded as the worst chemistry professor at this school, who has been nicknamed "Professor Scary," has 3.0. Professor Nakamoto, the bane of every biochemistry major, who is so awful that even her TAs hate her, has a 2.6. The people here calling Pablo a bad professor have never met a bad professor in their lives.
Do not listen to the reviews of entitled freshmen. Don't rearrange your entire four-year plan just to avoid Pablo. He's a nice guy, and he genuinely cares about his students. He's trying, and that's more than I can say about many of the faculty at UCLA.

Some nice things about Pablo:
-He gives you the textbook for free. for FREE, guys. Free, did you hear me?
-His course website is well-designed (he does not use Bruinlearn/Canvas)
-He has three different grading schemes, which are designed to benefit you
-His tests are very straightforward
-You get points just from going to discussions and working on hw (no useless discussion busy work)

Is this class hard? Of course, it is. It's Math 31B, guys. But listen to me, a seasoned UCLA veteran who had to redo the math requirement because she changed her major, YOU WILL GET THROUGH IT! And you will grow from it!

don't listen to the pablo hate!! he genuinely cares a lot about his students, and lectures are generally engaging and useful. they could be slightly confusing at times, but going to discussion every week REALLY helped. jack was an amazing TA!!

the exams were very reasonable, and the workload is pretty light. the grading on the exams is also very generous, and pablo uses a grading scheme that lets you drop one or both of the midterms. ocal is a funny guy who is def very knowledgable about the subject & cares about the success of his students. he listened to and incorporated student feedback consistently (and dropped discussions/homeworks when enough of the class participated in the feedback forms).

no cheat sheets/calculators on the tests, but the exams were exactly like the practice ones he would post so I always felt very prepared. linear algebra isn't that hard of a subject, it just might take a while to click, so use your resources (discussions and TA office hours helped me the most).

don't be scared of pablo, take this professor if you get the chance!!