Margulis is a pretty nice guy. His lectures are organized and the slides are well-put-together, but the content itself can be very dry as the class covers iterative/numerical methods of mathematical processes. Overall, the class is very manageable and pretty easy as long as you don't procrastinate on PSETs, collaborate with peers, and do well on the midterm. Even though MATLAB is used a lot, there isn't any actual coding; it's mostly setting up parameters and calling pre-written functions and plotting. The final project is longer and more confusing (so pay attention to the wk 8, 9, 10 topics) but as long as you work on it steadily and meet with the professor/TAs, you should be good.

You know what you're gonna get with Margulis. No curveballs. Grade is spaced evenly between assignments. Quizzes are generally pretty straightforward, try not to overthink them. Midterm was cakewalk. No final, the final project wasn't too bad if you put in some effort.

Margulis was a great professor! During COVID the class was asynchronous, so there was flexibility with watching lectures, but they were posted on Sundays, and manageable. We had a weekly problem set on the topics taught that week, which had a Matlab and handwritten component. He would have office hours during one of the scheduled lecture times, and he would basically walk us through the problem set and oftentimes do some of the handwritten problems which was great. The quizzes were only on Matlab and at the beginning of recitation (discussion). Recitations helped if you were confused on any of the lecture topics, as well as TA office hours. Yiwen, one of the TAs, was so great and helpful during her recitation and office hours that it made the class all that much more manageable. Even if you are iffy on Matlab, don't worry because (at least during COVID), he would give us access to code toolboxes that helped tremendously, seeing as though we are really only tasked with implementing the already written codes in the homework assignments. We only had one midterm that was fair, although a bit of a time crunch, and a final project in lieu of a final exam. It was a partner project that had you using the codes presented throughout the quarter and applying them to different problems. Overall Margulis was great, super attentive and generous, but honestly one of the most understanding and fair professors I have had thus far. I definitely recommend taking this class with him if you have the chance!

This class was awesome. It's almost entirely Matlab, but you don't actually write most of the code, you just use functions given by the textbook. Margulis was a great professor, super clear and helpful. Especially since the quarter was so messed up (COVID), he did a great job of moving everything online.