Class moves too fast in general. Lectures are good and informative but complexity is too low in comparison to homework and exams. Homework and exams take much longer than anticipated; exams are not possible to finish fully in allotted time. Does not release solutions to homework after due date which does not make sense / I do not see the point of such action and takes away from our learning and progress. Overall do not recommend if you are trying to have a good / semi-not-stressful time taking this class because it was a stressor.

I've had Professor Arant for both 170E and 131B. The structure felt the exact same for both of them. Professor Arant is a good lecturer, but I felt as if his notes would not really help during the homework since the questions on each homework are way harder than the ones in the textbook. It seems like the only way to do good on his homework and get answers is his office hours. He did not provide answers after the homework was due, which was very frustrating since you can't find them online either, so office hours is definitely a necessity. Exams are like the homework but harder, which made them terrible. It was like this in both classes, but you should be good if you go to every single office hour session.

The professor is incredibly talented when it comes to teaching. The best quality teacher I have had so far at UCLA. This class contains some very difficult topics and is arguably the hardest math non honors undergrad class. The professor is just really good at teaching the concepts and I give him a lot of credit for that. Additionally, he records lectures, posts lecture notes, gives good homework questions that help intuition, and gives practice problems for exams. He also posts videos explaining homework hints and exam solutions rather than just posting the PDF like other professors.

The midterms were fair but definitely on the harder side. Medians on both midterms around 60%. The average on the final was the same, but I personally think it was an easier test mostly because you get much more time. The exam was definitely fair.

Unfortunately with UCLA's math department, there is not a select grade distribution for each class. So your grade at the end of the day is largely influenced by the curve the professor decides. Some professors decide to create a cutoff in some way where top 30% get A's, some top 50%, some 10% etc. This professor's grade distribution is probably on the harder side compared to other professors, but he is a great teacher and would recommend.

For reference, I got above the median on both midterms by about 6%, 100% on homework, and 22% above the median on the final, and I got a B. Not complaining, but take this info as you will.

I came into Algorithms with very limited computer science background and it ended up ok! Tyler is very nice and chill and a clear lecturer. His office hours were a great help for the exams and weekly homeworks. There were 8 homework assignments (lowest dropped) and 2 midterms and 1 final. There were also 2 grading schemes such that one midterm may be dropped. The average exam scores for the midterms were around B- and the final about A-. I highly recommend doing the study guides that Tyler posts before each exam. He also records all of his lectures so you can rewatch them. Overall I'd recommend this class but be prepared for potentially difficult exams.

Exams are difficult but that comes with the territory. Homeworks are great! Very well written and actually help you to understand the material. Lecture was always interesting and to the point (notes posted online!). He was transparent about how exams worked and gave plenty (plenty!) of practice problems on top of the homework. He gave HW and exam solutions via video which I thought was the best (and wish other professors did the same) because it forces you to actually engage and learn instead of aimlessly scroll through a PDF.
Highly recommend this course because it makes 131A worth the pain.

arant the goat

He is very concise in lectures and tells you exactly what you need to know. Additionally, I felt he was really knowledgeable about the applications of linear algebra and was more than excited to share with the class how what we were learning was relevant to the real world. He also encouraged us to take more math classes - you could tell that he’s truly enthusiastic about his profession!

This class seems to have undergone some changes from the F22 offering, but is not quite as bad as the other reviewer from this quarter makes it out to be.

First of all, the grading scheme seems to have been altered to make the class significantly more challenging. Instead of 65% exams, we had 80% exams (20% for each of two midterms and 40% final, or 25% better midterm + 55% final). No cheatsheets are allowed, so you have to diligently memorize every detail in addition to understanding the concepts. The midterms were pretty reasonable if you studied, but the final exam was difficult. My biggest gripe with Arant was that he lied that there would be a curve. When we got our midterm grades, we were shown curved grade cutoffs for exam scores, and he also said that he would curve the final exam according to standard deviation. However, he ended up not curving any of the exams at all. I still think getting an A in this course is doable though -- you just can't rely on the curve to save you. If you truly use all the resources Arant provides at your disposal, such as studying the lecture notes well, memorizing all the important details, redoing homework problems, doing the additional suggested practice problems, doing his practice exams, and going to his office hours (which he hosts more frequently around exams) if you're confused about something, you should have no trouble getting an A. Reading through that, I just realized that sounds like a lot, but someone smarter than me could probably achieve the same results with half the effort lol.

As for other changes to the course, quizzes are once per week instead of before each class. They are pretty easy and only 10% of the grade. The lowest quiz is dropped. Also, contrary to previous reviews discussing the time-consuming nature of the homeworks, the homeworks this quarter were relatively quick. Each homework took me on average 2-3 hours at a relaxed pace, which is saying a lot since I'm a pretty slow worker.

Aside from that, the previous reviews are correct that Arant is a very organized professor who is willing to help students succeed. Just know that it is up to you to fully leverage the resources Arant provides.

You are probably looking at all the buinwalk ratings for this class and see that this class should be a easy A. Here is my word of advice. Stay away from Tyler and take this class with another professor. Remove this class from your class planner if you want to save your gpa. You are not him. According to everyone I have talked to 33A is supposed to be a little tedious but not impossible. Tyler makes it impossible. No note card allowed in the midterms or finals and the practice exams are nothing like the real thing.

Professor Arant was a very good lecturer. He was passionate about the content he taught and excelled at explaining complex concepts in a simplistic manner.