Actual Course: Life Science 30A (the new pre-med math sequence)

A lot of people are confused about the actual class, as I was when I first decided to take it. Life Science 30A is a math class. It is supposedly "calculus" based, but we only used first derivatives and quotient rule and product rule. The main meat of the class is about mathematical modeling and differential equations, though we don't go into any of the "math" stuff of differential equations at all. We focus on the concepts. The computer programming part of the course threw me off at first, but the TAs are very helpful and understanding during lab sections and will help you with your coding. Also, there is no coding on any exams in the class.

As for Conley, he is a great teacher, and I have no complaints. I've been to 2 of his office hours and he was extremely helpful each time. Also, he is NOT boring, which is something really unique about a math professor.

I took Math 32A with Conley (not honors), and thought this was an easy (this could be because of how well he taught the material), well structured, very enjoyable class.

Pros:
-Excellent lecturer: he goes over the concepts very clearly the first time and goes over them again during the next lecture (he spends the first 10 minutes on a “recall” section where he articulates the ideas from the previous lecture) and then goes over them again during the review session.
-Excellent review sessions: he comprehensively goes over literally everything that's going to show up on the midterm/final 2-3 days before the exam
-Easy material: Vectors and derivatives really aren't too hard, especially the way he teaches it. Some things are confusing at first (torque, component vectors of acceleration, curvature, critical values of 3 dimensional surfaces) but after attending the lecture and review session and doing the homework and practice exams, it really becomes pretty easy.
-Easy grading scheme: You can do poorly on one of the midterms and not have it count towards your grade. The first midterm is really easy, so even if you do poorly on the second midterm, it's really no big deal as long as you do well on the final.
-He gives out past exams to study with: These are amazing tools to use for studying, since you can see how he structures his questions and which concepts he generally emphasizes more in the tests. During fall 2014, he posted the actual midterm 1 and midterm 2, along with a past midterm 1 and a past final on CCLE, so if you take this class in the future, there are a lot of resources available for you to use.

Cons:
-Takes forever to post grades: It takes him the better part of a month to get grades onto MyUcla, which is pretty annoying. However, this seems to be the fault of the TA’s, who it appears are responsible for posting the grades. Regardless of who’s fault it is, expect to wait a looooong time to get back grades.
-Doesn’t respond to emails: Sent him an email well before the second midterm, he didn’t respond. Left kind of a bad impression considering all of my other professors usually respond the same day. In Conley’s defense though, I’m sure he doesn’t have the time to respond to all of the emails he gets because he’s a popular professor.

Overall, the pros far outweigh the cons, and 32A with Conley is a class that I would recommend to anyone who is able to sign up for it

ACTUAL Course(s) Taken: Life Science 30A

He is definitely ONE OF THE BEST professors at UCLA. Conley cares so much about all his students and he will work with anyone struggling in the class. Sometimes instead of them asking him for help, Conley will go up to the students and offer a one-on-one appointment with him. And it's not cause he has free time or anything - he just genuinely cares about his students. No other professor in UCLA is that nice.

As for the class itself, it's a new math series tailored to pre-meds but it's very different from the math 3 series. Instead of focusing on calculus the class is based on vectors, Euler's Method, bifurcations, nullclines, chaos, etc. Basicly, it's more about mathematical applications to biological systems than it is about the different types of derivatives.

Bottom line: If you take LS 30A, take it with Conley.

Actual class taken: LS30A

Okay, so I have LS30A with Professor Conley this quarter, and he is REALLY awesome! I still can't believe that he knows my first name. That's incredible. The material is very interesting, and he is SUPER clear in his lectures. Sometimes, I think that the material we're learning is a bit too easy, but I feel that it's because Professor Conley is JUST THAT GOOD at explaining the concepts. The class isn't curved, which is awesome, and if you didn't do too well on the first midterm, the final can be worth 100%! Professor Conley truly believes that everyone in class can do well, and I believe in him too.

Now, I'm not much of a computer programmer, but I have to admit that I wouldn't be able to do as well in Sage without Jane and Myki. I can see that they truly want me to succeed in the class, and they explain concepts to us that REALLY clear. I wasn't quite understanding the "for-loop" for Sage for a while, and Myki gave me just the most intuitive understanding for it. At first, I always asked myself "WHY does this work that way, and WHY does Sage seem to show me an answer when I put some code in", and he gave me some breakthrough insight and some amazing explanations that all of a sudden, made things so clear. I asked him if he had office hours, but unfortunately, he's an undergraduate T/A, so he doesn't have office hours :( He's REALLY smart and SUPER nice :) He even gave us an impromptu midterm review before our midterm, which REALLY helped me for the exam. I think he'll be t/a-ing again next quarter, so be sure to find him! Also, Jane has office hours, but get there quick because they're always PACKED.

If you email Conley to set up a one on one appointment, he will make time for you, which is SUPER cool, especially considering how popular and busy Conley is.

You NEED to take this class with Conley!!!

Let me first say that I have never been in Professor Conley's class, so I cannot comment on his exams or grading. However, I have been watching his old BruinCasts as a supplement to my own professor's lectures, and MAN IS HE GREAT! Professor Conley is very clear and thorough, and he has a way of explaining even tough concepts in a simplified manner so that you can actually learn. I especially like the way he helps you visualize mathematical concepts (through computer-generated models, for example). Once again, I cannot speak for his grading, but from his lectures, I think that he is a fantastic professor.

A tad overrated. No doubt he is a great professor, however he is not for every student. Lectures are sometimes frustrating to get through because of the constant repetition, however he makes up for it with fairly easy and straight forward tests.

If you're the type of student who can pick up material quickly then Conley is not for you. This professor tends to move slowly to make sure every student understands even the most basic concepts. But if you're like me then you wish he wouldn't write short novels every lecture and gave more examples (some of us don't have the time to attend office hours.) I am not saying he is a bad professor, because that wouldn't be true it's just that some of us would rather move at a faster pace.

I took Linear Algebra (Math 33A) Summer Session A. His class was difficult (I'm an applied mathematics major with a 3.97 GPA, got 5s on both AP Calculus exams, and received a 800 in SAT 2 math, and 790 in the SAT) and I definitely had to study about 5 hours per day on average to keep up with the class. Now, I was a guy who received an A in professor Mess' old 32A class, and an A+ in Chase's class, but did not do as stellar in the 33A class with conley. Nonetheless, he was an amazing instructor, and I learned a lot. Discussions are not necessary.

Professor Conley is probably the best professor at UCLA. He pours his heart out into teaching. He explains every concept very clearly, even starting from the very basic and trivial ones. Even though the material is not easy, he clarifies everything in his lectures, or his 3-4 hour review sessions before every midterm. His midterms are of medium difficulty. Not super hard, but not easy peasy. Homework assignments are not difficult if you have been keeping up with lectures and reading the book. Professor Conley is a generous soul. One time, I forgot to do a part of the homework, and he was very understanding when I turned the rest in a day later. TAKE HIM!!!!! He will change your perspective on Math and lyfe.

Hands down for one of the best professors at UCLA! As a student, I always despised math because it was one of my weaker subjects, but he made me feel really comfortable coming to his lectures! He encourages his students and has two different grading schemes. I got a D on my first midterm for this class, so I thought I would fail the class. Don't be discouraged! He drops your lowest midterm grade if you do really well on the final! He's really nice to host review sessions for his students in his personal time (he doesn't get paid for this) and he really wants every student in his class to succeed! He usually hosts his review sessions for 4-6 hours, depending on the amount of questions students have for him. He is very clear and concise with his lectures and he's also a very funny and kind professor, SO TAKE HIM!!!!! You won't regret it! Not to mention that he won the last lecturer award among all the professors at UCLA! WOO!!!

GOAT