I technically didn't need to take this class since I got a 5 on AP Calc, but I had self-studied for the test in like 4 days and felt like I didn't really know the material, so I thought it would be better to take this class so that I'm not lost in Math 31B. A lot of people told me that it would be a waste of time, but I'm glad I didn't listen to them. I found this class very valuable and helpful. Conley gave engaging lectures and he explained the concepts very clearly and did a lot of examples. He went above and beyond, as he held 4-5 hour long review sessions before each exam just to help us out. I thought the review sessions were very helpful; before each exam, I only watched the recorded review session and nothing else, and was able to get 100 on all the tests. So even if you feel comfortable with the material, I'd recommend the review sessions, as the examples he goes over are very similar to the material on the actual tests. He also gave us optional practice tests before each test.

As for participation, lecture attendance isn't mandatory but discussion attendance is. However, attending discussion only accounts for 5% of your grade. During each discussion, there is a worksheet to do. The worksheets took me about 40-60 minutes each. The lowest one gets dropped. Worksheets comprise 10% of the grade, and the lowest two are dropped. I personally found the worksheets to be helpful.

There is also homework on Achieve about once a week. One thing I found a bit annoying was that the homework was due a different day each week; it would have been nicer to have a constant day/time it was due. The homework problems are much harder than what is covered in class IMO, but we get unlimited attempts and a wrong attempt doesn't really decrease your grade a lot, so it's overall not that hard to do well on the homework, especially if you use GroupMe. The lowest homework gets dropped. Each homework usually took me about 2 hours, but the harder ones took me 3-4. The homeworks are 15% of the grade total. There was a homework due on finals week which was really not cool, but I emailed Conley for an extension and he allowed it.

The exams were alright; they weren't as hard as the homework. But for us they were 24 hour online open-note tests, so I'm pretty sure they'd be harder in person.

There are two schemes for grading. In the first, the two midterms are 20% each and the final is 30%. In the second, the highest of the two midterms is 30% (the lower is 0%) and the final is 40%. This means that if you do really poorly on one of the midterms, you can still get a good grade.

To start off, I absolutely need to mention how kind Professor Conley is. This man held review sessions from 5pm to nearly midnight for us on Zoom and answered even the simplest questions. He has so much passion for this class and the guidance that he gives. Onto the actual class: I took it partially online due to Omicron so your experience may vary. We had to get the Achieve textbook (pricey) and homework questions were pretty tricky at times. All exams were open note and 24 hr take homes, and if they were in person I probably would have failed to be honest. He goes at a steady pace during his lectures, and mostly reads off the slides. My TA, Talon, was awesome (cool name too!) and his kindness really showed in his teaching. The LAs Thera and Brian were also super helpful and sweet. He has a grading policy where if you do trash on one midterm, he'll drop it if your average grade without that midterm is higher than if he kept it. That policy got me in the A range. In all, definitely take it with Conley -- it'll save you a headache.

Disclaimer: I am pretty bad at Math.
For a person who does not have any background knowledge of calculus, I was extremely lost in this class. He skimmed over many topics. The stuff taught in class did not reflect the homework or the exams. I would only recommend this class to people who are good at math and have some pre-calc knowledge. The exams were very difficult and unfairly marked (in my opinion) if the exams were in person and we had a limited time span to complete them, I probably would not have passed this class.
There are 2 midterms (not cumulative) and a final (cumulative), one homework (around 25-30 questions) a week as well as 2 discussion worksheets (graded on completion). Take this class if you are good at math, if you arent I recommend taking pre-calculus before this.

Conley is a great professor. I liked this class but have a few complaints. I think this is the first (or one of the first) quarters where he started to use Achieve ($100+). Achieve, in my opinion, is useless but required for the class. It gets homework problems directly from the textbook (and sometimes switches up the values here and there), so I'm not sure why we needed to pay extra to get the same questions from the book. Not to mention, there were only 1-2 questions for each topic, which isn't enough to review and learn topics?? Everyone struggled with the homework and helped each other out in the GroupMe, but there were times where even Conley was confused on the HW problems. Nonetheless, he's a great professor and super dedicated -- he's held 4-5 hour Zoom review sessions for us. Overall, would recommend but definitely go to OH if you need help on topics like related rates, (applied) optimization, etc because the quarter system goes by real quick and if you don't review ASAP, you have more material to cover later on.

Conley is absolutely fantastic. TAKE THIS PROFESSOR. I didn't take any calculus at all in high school, and so came in with very little background, but this class and this professor were the perfect introduction to calculus. Even my algebra and lower level math skills were kind of weak, but Conley (as well as the structure of Math 31AL itself) provides excellent scaffolding for students of all levels. He's kind, friendly, clear, and genuinely cares for the wellbeing of his students. He is extremely friendly in office hours and will patiently go through questions step by step for you until you understand. His teaching style is perfect for taking notes, and he teaches in a way that helps you understand exactly what is happening and why.
There are 2 midterms and 1 final in this class, and before each he would hold a thorough review session. I have now finished taking Math 32A, multivar calc, and I am so glad I had my introduction to calc with Conley because he explained concepts clearly in a way that we could actually understand what was happening, and I still use the skills he taught us. Conley is the best math professor/teacher I've ever had in my entire life and you're only making things difficult for yourself if you choose not to take him.

Conley was very lenient with due dates and understanding in general. His lectures were engaging and he answered questions patiently. 100% recommend taking him.

He is the professor to have for this class. Had him online and he gave us 24 hours to take the midterms and finals. He also was very responsive and gave extensions on sapling (hw) and quizzes.

Conley is an awesome prof, take him if you can. Super helpful and makes a ton of exceptions on deadlines if he notices the whole class is taking longer than usual; really in touch with his students.
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Professor Conley is by far the best professor I've had at UCLA thus far. His lectures are super clear and he is always willing to go out of his way to offer extra help outside of class. I definitely recommend going to his midterm/final review sessions as they were super informative and a great review of the material.

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As a math major this class was easy for me. I took this class simply because I want to review some math material since I haven't been doing math for quite a while before college. However, Dr. Conley's background in abstract algebra can never be underestimated, and he delivers excellent talks in advanced topics outside his usual lower division classes.