TAKE THIS CLASS WITH BENNOUN! Such an amazing and engaging professor, and is definitely very aware most people don’t like math. My biggest recommendation would be to download the lecture slides on your iPad before lecture and annotate the slides during, it’s definitely way too difficult to draw all the figures/equations and still pay full attention to the lecture. (If you’re an incoming freshman reading this, take this as a sign to buy an iPad if you haven’t already.)

As for the midterm and final, they were pretty similar to his practice exams and as long as you know things conceptually as well as practically you’ll be fine.

Side note: He does a great job of encouraging you that ANYONE can do well in this class and be a great mathematician, he played clips from Hidden Figures for us which was adorable.

Professor Bennoun is an angel amongst men.
Lectures: I recommend going to all the lectures, just because I think that’s the best way to learn, even though Bennoun did post his annotated lecture slides at the end of class and they’re recorded. The clicker questions are very helpful. Lectures are not particularly boring nor engaging, but as long as you're actively taking notes and listening, then they’re definitely worth your time.
Lab sections & Coding: The first few coding labs were extremely easy and the worksheets basically walked you through the entire process and gave the answers, but even if you were still confused, the TA, LA, or your classmates are able to help you during the lab section. The lab sections aren’t mandatory, but are extremely helpful to get help and basically you’re done with the coding assignment for the week if you go. There were also pre-lab quizzes which were very easy and you got two attempts (and the answers were shown after the first attempt but I don’t know how that’ll be for future quarters lol).
Homework: I honestly think the homework assignments were the hardest part of the class. It got very difficult at some points and I straight up didn’t know what to do for certain problems. It was helpful to go back and read the textbook (which is given for free) and get help from classmates.
Midterm: The TAs hosted a midterm review session which I found very helpful. The midterm was very fair and contained a good distribution of the content that we learned.
Problem solving sessions & Office Hours: I didn’t go to any of these, but I heard from others that they were helpful and I definitely would’ve gone if I wasn’t so lazy.
Lab practical: Bennoun canceled this because of the TA strike and used our lab grade for it instead. I’m fairly certain I would’ve done horribly on this. I’m not able to say much about it other than it is worth 10% of the grade. I wish Bennoun nothing but happiness in his life.
Final exam: The TAs also hosted a review session which was helpful. Due to the strike, Bennoun allowed us a double-sided 8.5x11 cheat sheet and put one coding question on the exam. The final was definitely harder than the midterm, but I was also pretty much checked out for the last few weeks of class.
Other notes: There were a few opportunities for extra credit which were basically just anonymous surveys. Again, due to the strike, he lowered grade thresholds by 3% (so an 87% was an A-, and a 90% was an A, etc.). He is an excellent professor who genuinely cares about his students.

Bennoun is a great first professor to have as a first-year! He really cares about teaching and about his students. During the TA strike, our lab practical was canceled and we were given the choice to bring a two-sided page cheat sheet. He is very understanding and his genuine passion for teaching and the content makes me feel motivated and want to put effort into his class.
For logistics and the way the course was designed: you have weekly homework problems due, not that hard, I think there were about 10 of them each week, and if you are ever stuck on a problem you can always ask for help on Piazza or your TAs. Your discussion is a coding lab, which starts out pretty easy but then gets a bit more challenging toward the end. My TA was Jingyi and she was helpful when I was stuck on my code. TAs hold Problem-Solving Sessions where you can ask/work on homework, lab, or the worksheets they create with previous exam problems. I would 100% recommend making time for these sessions! It's a great way to hold yourself accountable. For the midterm and final, what helped the most was just doing the practice midterms/final Bennoune provides. Past exam problems are the way to go. I would also recommend enrolling in a PLF session for this course if you are an AAP student. There are weekly worksheets that help consolidate the material you learn that week and with practice on previous exam problems, so when it comes to preparing for exams you are already confident and familiar with the material. iClicker is also part of your grade, but the 4 lowest scores are dropped in case you miss lecture. The textbook is provided to you so you won't have to pay for anything in this class, only your iClicker subscription if you don't already have one.
I would say the best way to succeed in this class is to always review your slides right after lecture and make sure you understand the homework problems as they provide a chance to familiarize yourself with the content. Do not fall behind because it will be hard to learn all the little things for the midterm and final. Bennoun makes this class really enjoyable!

Professor Bennoun is very organized and knowledgeable about the course. He's kind and wants you to succeed! If you attend lectures and are willing to ask questions, you will succeed in this course. The only con about the class is his office hours is that you often have to wait a LONG time for him to answer other students' questions. Try to use that time to do work and be ready with one specific question or him. If you do, office hours are very helpful.

Steve Bennoun is a very engaging professor. His teaching style shows that he cares about you learning the concepts. I would 100% consider taking another one of his classes even though I do not need it for my major. If you have to take LS30A, I highly recommend you take it with him. His tests may be slightly more challenging than the other professors teaching the class, but I think the overall experience is better.

TAKE BENNOUN!! I literally loved his class. He is organized, clear, and concise. I genuinely enjoyed the material and did not struggle with the homework. The labs were the only things I found difficult; however, I often asked my TA and other students for help. Bennoun really makes sure not to overwhelm his students and listens to feedback. We had one midterm and one final. TAs host review sessions for both, and Bennoun posts practice tests that look very similar to the real test. Overall, I loved Bennoun's teaching method and would definitely take any math class he teaches.

Steve Bennoun is a joy to learn from. He is always incredibly clear, incredibly concerned, and incredibly concise with what he is teaching. I was never confused about the steps I had to take to do well in his class, and his lectures were always engaging. Bennoun is an incredibly fun professor who even tries to lighten the mood every now and then when necessary. While aspects of the course did not interest me particularly, and the homework questions from the textbook were at times confusing or monotonous, I always felt that everything I was doing was put there in front of me for a reason. Bennoun is an excellent lecturer and professor.

Professor Bennoun was very helpful and definitely cares about his students understanding of the course material. His lectures were great, I liked how he posted the slides for us to use and follow along with him. The discussion component and use of clicker questions in the course were also very useful. The coding aspect of this class was the only part I did not significantly enjoy. It was hard to connect the coding to the labs and hard to fully grasp the techniques of coding. Overall, I do not regret taking this class and I look forward to having Bennoun for LS 30B in Winter Quarter.

To be honest, I've never been more salty about a class. I had a 98% the entire quarter and he adjusted grading scales down by 3% to account for the TA strike, so I was cocky about the final. I just skimmed over review. And then I ended with what should've been a B+. Don't discount the final even if you had an A+ the entire quarter. I'm still beating myself up over it.
That aside, Bennoun is a really understanding and great professor. The labs suddenly jump in difficulty at one point, but other than that the class was pretty easy. 10/10 would take again.

TLDR: Professor Bennoun is the best, but LS 30A is not really a traditional calculus class at all.

First, about Professor Bennoun. Dr. Bennoun is an extremely helpful and accommodating professor. He is interesting and teaches extremely well during lecture and is fairly approachable for his students to ask for help. Lectures are interactive due to his frequent use of iClicker questions and other group activities related to the concepts. He was incredibly accommodating during the fall quarter of 2022 due to the TA strike, lowering grade thresholds and allowing for other changes in the course setup. Overall, Dr. Bennoun is a 10/10 professor - genuinely nice and cares for his students.

Now, as for the LS 30A course itself. While advisors and counselors often said this was an "easy calculus class for pre-meds", LS 30A is not at all a traditional calculus course. In fact, it did not really even feel too much like a traditional math class. There was a MAXIMUM of 2-3 classes spent on actual calculus, while the majority of the content was applications of calculus/math to biological systems and models. Taking AP Calculus in high school does not do much to help you in this class. Knowing actual calculus doesn't really matter all that much for this class either; that being said, the class is still easy. The labs were all computer programming, which felt strange for a math class, especially one for biology students. That being said, with any coding experience, the labs should be a breeze, and the TAs were quite helpful in guiding students through the coding. Overall, the class was enjoyable, but if you're looking for a traditional math/calculus course, LS 30A does not fit that description.