TAKE THIS CLASS WITH CONLEY!!!!!!

Literally the best and most caring professor ever. His class was so simple and easy (the last three weeks were a bit challenging but if you keep up it's fine). I genuinely would want to take this class again just to have him as my professor.

Any time you ask for an extension on a deadline he would ALWAYS give it, including labs, and even portions of exams since they have 2 phases. He is so accommodating and would always listen to what his students wanted.

There are so many opportunities to get points in his class besides exams so it wasn't difficult to keep a good grade. I didn't even watch the last 4 weeks of lecture and I still got an A. His class wasn't strict on covering certain topics on certain class days. Sometimes he would over-explain topics which would result in him shortening homework since he couldn't cover the rest of the material until the next class meeting.

For exams, he would always host a review session a few days before it and go over all of the content that the exams covered. Those review sessions were the only reasons I got A's on all of my exams (2 midterms and one final). I'm not even kidding, this man would break down everything and basically reteach all of the material in those review sessions.

Conley was so funny and such a precious guy. He would always show us his dogs and crack jokes in class. TAKE IT WITH HIM!!!!

Will Conley (and Artur who taught with him) are quite possible the best professors on the entire campus. I took this course during the pandemic, and they have been so accommodating and understanding of student needs. LS30B is harder than LS30A, but not only does Conley make difficult linear and multi-variable concepts understandable, he also cares so much about student learning and well-being. He's a fantastic lecturer and is so clear with explanations! Only downside was that we had pre-lectures on top of normal lecture, so the workload was more than a usual in-person class; however, the professors allow you to watch at your own pace since its podcasted and drop your lowest assignments. 100% recommend!!!

Hands down my favorite class and professor at UCLA. I took this class Winter '23 with Prof. Jukka (who is also great but I believe he switched departments n no longer teaches this course), but had to retake the class due to unforeseen circumstances, but boy did Conley make it worth it. He is such an engaging professor and really explains the concepts unambiguously so you'd understand. He does use iClicker, but those are easy points so I highly recommend not being lazy and just go to class. The format of his lectures is essentially pre-class videos that have questions riddled throughout to check comprehension. You have unlimited attempts on these questions so these are also easy points. Sometimes the preclass videos can be long but they. are. worth. it. Honestly, if iClicker wasn't a thing, you should breeze through this class on the pre-class videos alone. There is a coding lab that coincides with this course... I don't have much to say about this cuz I'm not a huge fan of coding but it's what you'd expect of SageMath (think 30A). The coding practical is replaced with a group Capstone project that will start around Week 7. Every week (even during the Capstone), you will have a lab assignment due before lab and there's weekly HW that shouldn't take more than 3 hours. There's one midterm and a final, no cheatsheet or graphing calculator is allowed. But it is practically a copy and paste of the practice exams (which is rather rare). There is almost guaranteed going to be at least one question that's the exact same format as the practice, maybe just diff numbers---this is especially the case if you see the same problem set format on every practice exam (he typically releases 3 practice exams). All this to say, I love Conley. TAKE HIM! You seriously won't regret it.

At first, I would complain about Conley for not posting slides or for having so much coding in his homework. As I went on with the quarter though, I came to really, really appreciate his teaching. He's so passionate and clearly cares about what he's teaching-- the math, the coding, yadayada. To the point that some people call him a yapper since he can yap a couple minutes past the end of lecture ("we still have a couple minutes! we have time for another problem" - conley 1 minute before the lecture is over), but I honestly like that about him. He's a wholesome fellow. And his explanations when you ask for help are super elaborate, like he will gladly volunteer to explain to you material beyond the scope of the class that leaves you in a tizzy if you want him to.
The exams are pretty true to what we do in class, so there aren't really any curveballs. Do problem solving sessions. Go to office hours if you need help. I appreciate that we are provided 3-4 practice exams a week prior for preparation, it helps a lot. And the coding is much easier than LS30A. In LS30A, having come in without any experience of coding, I was tripping over my own feet over for loops and creating lists every single week. But in LS30B, you're not really learning new coding skills, it's mostly just copy pasting & doing parameter scans. Trust me, after a whole quarter of LS30A, you really do familiarize yourself with all you need to know for LS30B.
One warning is that if you did not take calculus before, you should definitely brush up on your derivative skills, because we go into derivatives more toward the end of the quarter with optimization and all that jazz. But derivative rules are provided on the exams, so it's not that bad-- I think.

i might update this review later and be nicer if my final grade gets fixed lol... grades this quarter were submitted late, and based off my final exam, labs, etc., i was given an A- when i should've had an A. i'm literally sweating my balls off while i wait for Conley to reply to me and see if i can get my grade fixed.

anyways Conley is really nice and passionate at least. he stays back after lecture to answer anyone and everyone's questions. BUT the midterm & final grading was slow as hell and i'm highkey pissed that i was given an A- when all calculations show that i got a solid A (97%).

imo labs were lowkey easier than 30A. homework is chill. i fumbled the midterm but clutched up on the final, so i'd say the exams weren't too terrible. ALSO i recommend being lazy and doing the bare minimum for the capstone project. like choose the Holling-Tanner model and make it the most BASIC model ever. do just enough to get full points so you can save yourself the headache.

pls if you are out there Professor William Conley... pls fix my grade... i BEG of you

WOW this class was humbling. For context I got an A+ in LS30A, but this class was on another level.

Conley:
I absolutely love Professor Conley. He is truly so dedicated to teaching this class, passionate about the subject, and so willing to help in whatever way he can. His midterm and final review sessions were 5 and 4 hours respectively over Zoom. He would stay after lecture for sometimes almost an hour to answer questions. He would stay way past beyond his office hours to answer questions. He uploads assignments on BruinLearn at eerie hours of the night. He's also just so nice. The goat.

Lab:
The labs are much harder than 30A, and there's a capstone group final project instead of a lab practical. This capstone also included a final report worth 50 points due mid-finals week, which was probably the worst part.

Class:
All homework is in the textbook, and sometimes you'll need to use CoCalc for the problems (this was annoying). Some of my homework files were 20 pages long - it can get lengthy/be a lot of writing. There were 2-3 pre-class videos before each lecture that we had to watch/answer interactive questions with. If you actually watch these, lecture will be mostly review, and you'll be slightly ahead of the game. As for content: the class covers a good mix of basic linear algebra, differential equations (expansion from 30A), multivariable calculus (partial derivatives and such, nothing too extreme). Good mix of conceptual vs. technical things you needed to know, as well.

Exams:
The midterm and final were definitely challenging, but doable with good studying. I wish I studied more for the midterm. I felt okay/a bit better for the final.

Overall - if you put in a lot of work for this class, it's definitely doable.

Will Conley is the ucla version of Jesus Christ. I have never loved a professor more. After struggling very hard in 30A with Shevstov ( dont take it with her) I was SO worried about 30B. Conley has made this the easiest and most enjoyable class I have ever taken. I would take it again just to be in his presence. 11/10

You get what you put in. The class isn't designed to be hard, and the content it's super hard, but it does get confusing. Study well for the midterms and finals! The class also has a group project. The project is moderately time consuming, so be prepared for that.

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Conley is a GOD. Take him at all costs. I was so scared about taking math in college since it was always my worst subject in high school. However, Conley made math great. I took him for both 30A and 30B and I wish I could have him for all my classes at UCLA honestly. A million thank yous to this man!!!! (Also he made our final optional during quarantine!)