Professor Garfinkel was the best teacher I could have had coming into UCLA. He was an absolute pleasure to have and I didn't skip a single lecture. I HIGHLY recommend reading the textbook and doing all the problems. Homework was my weakest area but all the worksheets provided by the TAs really helped solidify my understanding. The key to this class really is practice. The more comfortable you are with the material the better you will perform, which was definitely the case for me. The midterms I felt were very fair and even if they seem super challenging you will always relieve partial credit just for demonstrating some understanding of the material!
In terms of the lab assignments be warned they are challenging. As a student with no previous coding experience I felt that the lab assignments went by too fast and I struggled to keep track of the syntax. But after more practice I really got the hang of coding and dare I say maybe even enjoy it? Definitely just stay on top of the workload especially when it comes to labs since there is a lot of trial and error.
Most of all I want to emphasize that Dr. Garfinkel is a professor who really cares about his students. It's rare to find a teacher who is so concerned about how the students feel and how they are performing in the class. He goes out of his way to secure extra office hours and answer questions on the discussion forums. Truly a fantastic teacher who I would want for ever math class I take.

Dr. Garfinkel is the GOAT! Take this class with him!! The material might be a little abstract, but if you do all the homework problems, go to OH, and read the book you will do fine. Some people were able to breeze through the class, but others (like me) had to put in work to get a good grade. The subject material is interesting and I recommend this course to anyone who is interested in pursuing a career in research or the health field because you deal with real life examples of how math is used in these areas. I recommend reading the book before going to class, going to OH, and do all of the practice tests given. Good class and great professor.

As a first year in my first quarter of college, his style of teaching was not what I'm used to. He doesn't write out the stuff he says and only writes on the board when drawing graphs so he lectures the important topics. Be sure to take notes on what he says, not just what he writes because I was not used to that coming from high school. He is a funny person and relatable. I enjoyed the material itself because it was not just straight math, you can see where it will be applied. The coding labs in this class were tough but work in groups and you'll be okay. Overall a good class.

Professor Garfinkel was passionate about the material he taught and was always excited in lectures. However he was not really organised and would jump from one concept to another and then back again. That often made the material seem kind of confusing, although the concepts of the course were relatively simple. Some of the programming labs for this class are pretty tough and required attending additional office hours.

Garfinkel is an interesting dude, most people seemed to like him but I couldn't get past the nasally voice and crappy dad jokes. The class itself was pretty boring and just a recap of high school calculus. The weekly labs are the worst part, they have very little relation to the class and unless you already have experience with programming they will take hours to finish. I never took notes and usually fell asleep in lecture so I didn't go for the last two weeks and never got around to watching the podcasts but I ended up with a B.

Garfinkel is a really good professor. He wants everyone to succeed in his class and will take the time to explain the material if you go to his office hours.

The only problem I had with Garfinkel is that he can be confusing during lectures. He doesn't present the information very clearly sometimes, but if you go to office hours or read the textbook it doesn't matter too much.

The labs optional, and the TAs are super helpful. The coding gets sort of difficult, but there are plenty of people to help (other students, TAs, Garfinkel).

For the midterm and final, do all the practice tests from the test bank. Lots of the problems are recycled or go over the same topics from the past.

Overall, take the class! It's an easy math class as long as you put in a little work.

Professor Garfinkel is amazing! He is funny, tries to make the class as simple as possible, and genuinely cares about his students. Yesterday in lecture, he went on a tirade about how students should not be defined by their exam grades, right after he gave me back my midterm, bumping the grade from a B to an A. Absolutely take this class if you have a background in calculus (if you don't, you should be fine but it will require a lot more studying) and want an easy, fun math course! The coding is hard but my TA Brooke is super helpful and kind and most of the time will tell us exactly what we need to know to get 100% on the labs. Take this class!

Great class, great professor, great TA.

I had Artur as my TA and loved the dude. Little awkward because our class was low energy, but he was a great guy, always willing to help.

Garfinkle is great as well he's willing to help although the class is huge. He's a very funny and likeable guy.

You don't need to go to lecture or lab. Just read the textbook take the practice midterms and final, do the assigned labs and homework and you'll get an A. I had some personal issues going into the final, which I failed because of that, dropping me from an A+ to a B in the class, but I would have gotten an A otherwise.

Super easy class if you're competent and are capable of paying attention for 5 minutes.
Labs are totally based on Python, and can be challenging, but if you make friends with the smart guy and he's willing to share code with you, you're set.
The actual class has little to no actual "hard" math. It's all mathematical modeling with a focus on biological systems. So I was a little disappointed because I'm a total math head, but this class is so interesting and you learn stuff you'd have never thought of.
Differential equations are a major focus in the class, but we're not expected to solve them - we're expected to come up with them based on a description of a system.
Tests are super easy. SUPER easy. 8 points for a 1 line answer on a 60 point midterm? Count me in.
Best part about the class is the TAs are AWESOME. I got Artur, who I enjoyed talking to about all things math and wonderful.

If you like learning new things, take this class. If you're not too fond of hard math and are better at understanding concepts, take this class. If you're one of them people who sits in the back and plays color switch, then asks other people for the homework or code, please do the rest of us a favor and don't take this class.

Take this course if you want to learn about math modeling with biological systems instead of doing calculus. The labs are tough, but get a solid group together to get them done faster or go to office hours. Also, no book needed! Overall, I would recommend this course.