The textbook was created for this class by the professors who teach it a few years ago, but the content taught in the lectures actually contradicts the textbook and the book contradicts itself and is completely disorganized. The TAs recommend that you don't read the textbook and say that they purposefully ignored it when they took the class. The professor punishes you if you don't read the textbook and has penalized us for using the textbook as reasoning on homework assignments. The midterm and final focused on niche topics discussed in the lectures and completely ignored the actual core topics and learning objectives of the curriculum. The entire LS 30 teaching group is convinced that they have revolutionized teaching calculus but their course is unfocused and doesn't have anything to do with actual calculus. If you know that the derivative of y=x^2 is y'=2x that doesn't help you at all in this class. The only way to succeed in this class is to suck the seed of the professor. You have to learn random useless concepts according to your professor's specific rules. Each professor has different names for the various concepts they discuss in class. If you get a problem on an exam that was written by a different professor or if your exam is graded by the TAs of a different professor you will lose points even if you follow the rules of your class to the letter. In every class you take 1+1 should equal 2. There should not be a class where 1+1 equals 3 as this would be inconsistent and illogical. In LS 30B, 1+1=3 if they say so and there is nothing you can do to rationalize or understand their thought process. You simply have to memorize and regurgitate the content of the class. The second the class is over forget everything you learned in the LS 30 series as it is all useless and completely made up. The TAs don't even understand the curriculum and if you ask them for help they will tell you that they don't know on the down low and you should just smile and nod. In order to get an A in this class memorize every lecture, homework assignment, and problem solving session problem because they will use random problems to make the tests which are 60% of your grade. Do not take this class. I would rather get hit by a bus than take this class again. For your emotional health do not take this class.

There is a good amount of work in this class and the exams are graded pretty harshly. This professor is known to have harder exams than the other professors as well. If you can avoid the 30 series, definitely do it.

I did not like this course simply because the labs take many hours to complete and there is a capstone project, presentation and report. However, once you complete all of that work, on top of homework, it really doesn't matter. The grade is heavily based on the midterm and final, so if you get 100% on both the labs and the project, but get a B on the final, you will have a B, or B+ in the class. I think that is incredibly unreasonable because the labs and project alone takes so much time and effort. Also, the exams are graded meticulously, so even if you answer the question, textbook based, correctly they will still mark you down for omitting some small detail that they deemed the correct, full answer. I know that other professors have easier exams than Bennoun.

I would like to preface this by saying Dr. Bennoun himself is a great professor, I have no problem with him. What I do have a problem with, however, is the entire LS30 series and specifically this course. The class was doable, it was not difficult or easy. What made it difficult was the lack of outside resources. As much as you can use the practice midterms and the review sessions for review, there are no other resources that can really help you grasp the concepts. The textbook is beyond useless as it doesn't really explain anything in a way that is actually coherent. For this reason I appreciate Dr. Bennoun making these topics approachable. This course covers topics from Multivariable Calculus and Linear Algebra. IF YOU DID NOT LIKE LS30A DO NOT TAKE THIS COURSE. I was very neutral on LS30A and ended up disliking LS30B. If you already hate LS30A you will absolutely loathe LS30B. My problems are with the course and not the professor.

I took this class a while back but back then bruinwalk did not have a section for LS30B with Bennoun, so my review is not going to be as extensive as my other reviews for my profs.

The Class: I hate this class so much, it’s so lame, just the LS30 and series in general, the content is so dumb. It's almost like "fake" math, it’s very odd. They really dumb down the actual math part of the class and teach you these really stupid concepts about populations that nobody cares about. You might think “Oh this is applicable to my major and relates more to what I want to do,” but I highly doubt it. I’ve met maybe one person who liked the content and found it interesting. Never once have I been interested in the content that we were learning. You use some calc, touch on some linear algebra, and obviously coding. I didn’t really care about the coding part of this class or the content. The coding final when I took the class was a "Capstone Project" that you did with a group in your lab. courses. The tests were kind of difficult, not the worst exams I've taken but gave me a run for my money. This might be a controversial opinion, but I really don't like “xxx courses for Life Scientists" (LS30 Series, Chem 14 Series etc.) because they really dumb down the material and you really don't get the full understanding of the subject. At the end of the day even though we are trying to get good grades for med school/grad school etc. we are still here to get a good education and to learn something of value. The LS30 series and specifically LS30B made me realize that even if a class is easier, if you don’t enjoy it and value what you learn, there is no point in taking it. Unless you are here just to get a grade then by all means do whatever works for you. I ended up taking Math 32A the following quarter (Switched into a major where it was required). Even though it was harder, I enjoyed it so much more and did a lot better in the class because I was actually motivated to learn the content and to study.

The Prof: He's a decent professor, pretty good at explaining things, occasionally throwing in some jokes. The workload was not too bad, and he was pretty helpful. Sorry I don't have much to say I took the class last year, so I don't remember too much about my thoughts on Bennoun as a professor. The one thing I can remember is the only thing I liked about this class was Bennoun himself.

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE do not take this class. Your NSA will tell you to, and you’re probably thinking “Wow this sounds super awesome and applicable to my major and life science.” Do not take this class. It’s awful. I know not a singular soul who doesn’t regret taking this wishing they took regular calculus instead. It’s made up math, the accent of the teacher and the TAs is hard to understand, the coding is teach yourself, and office hours are out of the door full. I know the grade distribution looks fine. It's not. It's from COVID, it’s not true. I know a handful of people who failed. While I got 98, it was the worst experience of my life. I wish I was kidding. It’s actually horrible. It’s fake math (the teacher made it up), it makes no sense, the tests are hard, the coding for the smaller section isn’t even related. Please kid, take my advice. I'm giving you what I wish I had. I swear dud you don't wanna take this. I got a 5 on AP BC calc and didn’t listen when people said it sucks. It sucks. You can do it and get n A whatever, BUT YOU DONT WANT TO PLEASE PLEASE IM PRAYING FOR YOU

I absolutely loved this class! Dr. Bennoun is hands down one of my favorite professors, and I was sad to not get a spot in his 30B lecture. I did not have any experience with coding or calculus before taking this class, but that ended up not being a problem at all because he starts from the basics. His lectures are very engaging, and a good portion of them are spent working out problems. I didn’t open the textbook once the entire quarter, and you won’t need to either if you just follow along with his lectures and take some notes. I would recommend downloading his slides beforehand and writing directly on them rather than trying to copy down everything. I would say that it is important to attend lecture, and if you have to miss one, be sure to watch his recording. The midterm and final were very fair, I got a 92% on the midterm and a 98% on the final. That being said, it’s definitely helpful to review all of the practice exams he posts as they will give a good idea of what to expect. The clicker questions are pretty helpful, as he makes sure to explain not only why the correct answer is right, but also why the other options might be wrong. I would also recommend going to his office hours if you have questions about any of the material, he is incredibly helpful and patient. Dr. Bennoun truly cares about the success of his students, and I’d recommend his class to everyone.

Many people found the midterm to be pretty tough, but Bennoun heard us and the final was a breeze. Labs were pretty disconnected from what we were learning but it was pretty easy to do well if you did the work. Solid class.

TAKE THIS CLASS WITH BENNOUN!!!!! He is the best professor I had at UCLA so far!! He tries so hard to make sure everyone is included and that math isn't only for old white men -- he played a clip of Hidden Figures during class which was so sweet. Besides that, he is an amazing lecturer and his slides are super helpful! He uses fill in the blank style slides so I recommend downloading them on your iPad before lecture so you can fill them out. Practice the problems he gives you for exams and you should be fine!

Dr. Bennoun was an amazing professor! His lectures were very well taught, however, the homework/exams are more for applying the lecture material so expect it to be a bit harder. Keep in mind that the lab for this class is coding (which was something I did not look into). Another great thing about the class was that it had a 3-option grading scheme and they automatically applied whatever gave you the best grade :)) definitely recommend taking this class w/ Dr. Bennoun