The class started off really great. Even still, I really like the way that Nam lectures, it is so efficient and I learned a lot in a short period of time. Nam will introduce a concept and then bring up a few examples to support the concept so that the problem solving method is solidified.

HW: Assigned every week and is pretty light

Midterm 1: Super easy, was exactly like the problems he discussed in class and the assigned homework. If you paid attention/took notes, not hard to get 100 (got 100%)

Midterm 2: This is when our class saw Nam's tests change in style, they became way tougher than any problem we covered in class and involved concepts we barely covered (got 85%)

Final: Similar to midterm 2, there were a few problems that delved into concepts that we barely touched upon, which made it an unpleasant experience got (85%)

It was especially annoying that the tests were graded so harshly and had such few problems. For example , on the final, out of the 7 questions, for one of them my work was wrong and they docked 20 points out of a total of 150 for that one question. Basically, missing even part of one question knocks you down one letter grade.

Even more annoying that Nam said that he would possibly curve us up on the final if our test average was not all that great. However, there was no curve, even though our final class average was much lower than previous test averages. He also stopped responding to emails after the final.

Essentially, class started off OK, went downhill from there.

Basically suffer the same story as the previous reviews. They are absolutely right about everything this class is. Would not recommend taking.

When I signed up for this class, I was kind of scared by the reviews, which indicated that Nam would have easy midterms and a crazy hard final to down curve his class. Unfortunately, these reviews were completely accurate. Despite the 24hr period to take the final, it was extraordinarily difficult. Keep in mind that this is during COVID with open book. I got a 62 on the final after spending probably 16 hours on it and it was pretty frustrating, mainly because Nam does not give substantial partial credit (like 2/20 or 8/30 points back for work - definitely write down what you're doing in word form, he looks for keywords and if they're not there, you don't get partial credit back). I had an A in the class before the final and it dropped me to a B, which like I said is how Nam curves. He would curve the class if everyone really failed the final (<50% average) but the whole thing ended up on chegg by the end of the grading period and a bunch of people cheated which kinda fucked us all over :(

Now that that's out of the way and you're probably scared, let me tell you why I said I'd take this class again and why I rated Nam a 4/5. Nam is an amazing lecturer. He's kind, supportive, and clear, with examples mirroring the book and good explanations. He frequently only lectured 35/50 mins everyday, which was so nice. He would always stop for questions. The only issue with his lecturing was that the examples were very simple and didn't come remotely close to the final's difficulty. But I'm not too upset about the final because I don't think that the amount I understood the material reflected an A-level understanding.

For homework, they were easy, all on slader, and closely mirrored his examples and the book's, plus the lowest scoring one was dropped so most of my friends just didn't do the last one. I would definitely recommend doing the homework (without slader) if you can, or at least coming up with the general concepts, as this will definitely prepare you for the exam. The homework is graded half on accuracy half on completion, and it is worth 30% of your grade. The other categories are 30% final and 20% for each midterm.

Overall, I'm not sure if I would have gotten a B if it were in person (like I think I would maybe have gotten a C), but if you put the time in and try to conceptually understand the problems unlike me, who just knew the computations, you'll enjoy the class. Nam is a super kind person, really fun to listen to lecture, and very loved by the class, so he'll really brighten your day despite the material being not-so-fun. Honestly this was a better experience than I anticipated given the reputation of the 32 series, so you'll be fine!

As other reviews have stated, the final was extremely hard. Out of the seven questions given, I only felt that 2 of them truly reflected what we did in class and on homework. The first two midterms were fine. Though the second one was trickier, I did better on it than the first. However, that final made me feel incredibly defeated. I worked on it from 11am to midnight and around 10pm, after having been stuck staring at the same problem for two hours, I just broke down crying. I ended up getting a 75% on the final, 76% on midterm one, and 87% on midterm two. For midterm two, I only got half of one question wrong. Half of one question cost me 13%, which I honestly find ridiculous now that I think about it a little more.

As for the actual lectures, they are okay. I think Professor Nam explains the concepts pretty well, but he only goes over examples that are in the book. I do not understand this because I might as well just read the book and not go to lecture. He is a nice guy, but it often feels like he does the bare minimum for lectures. I've heard a few students say he doesn't really answer his emails, either.

Homework was fine, too. I never felt like it was too much or too little. He drops the lowest two homework scores out of six homework assignments. No complaints there.

Would not take this class again because I genuinely do not know what else we could have done to do better on that final.

top 10 anime betrayals for sure. overall the class seemed digestible (especially considering math 32ab is supposed to be some of the hardest ucla lower division classes)

but after a ridiculously easy midterm 1 and an aight midterm 2, the final was just so so hard. i mean he technically did warn us that it'd get harder, but NOT where the difference between my midterm 1 grade and final grade was 31% bruh

If you want to end with an A in the class, the only way is to get 100 on both midterms and try your hardest on the final. The first midterm was very very easy and I got a 100. That made me think that the other exams would be like that but I was wrong. For the second midterm, I got an 87 because I missed half of one question. The grading is quite harsh in this course, but still, I thought the second midterm was fair. The final, however, really messed me up. Before the final, I had around a 96 in the class. The final took me 20 hours to complete, and even then, I had to BS some questions (there were only 7) because they were nothing like what we had learned. The final was very very difficult and the average was around a 76%. I got an 80% on the final, which brought my grade down to a 91 and I ended with an A-. I am not complaining because I'm happy with my A-, but I just wanted to explain how difficult the final was in comparison to the other exams. The important thing to keep in mind for this course is that small mistakes on the midterms will cost you a lot, and the final is just brutal so try to get as high of a score on the midterms to allow for some "cushion" for the final. Professor Nam is a nice guy and explains concepts relatively well, however I think that he did not prepare us well enough for the final. Overall, I probably would not take a class again with Professor Nam just because of how difficult the final exam is and can bring your grade down a lot.

Professor Nam is really great in lectures. He provides clear examples and explains concepts in a very concise manner. Any questions that students ask in class will be answered to the best of his abilities. Homework could sometimes feel like a lot of work, but was overall quite manageable given that we were only assigned once a week. Midterms were quite similar to what was taught in class and given as homework, but I felt like the finals were much more difficult than anything we covered in class.

After discussing with classmates, I can see that the topics covered in the final were indeed taught in class, but I feel that we were not adequately prepared for the questions that came up on the final. For reference I scored around 90% for each midterm, but got around 70% on the final after spending many many hours working on it during the 24 hour window.

I really like Nam as a professor. He was engaging in lectures and did a great job of keeping up with the chat and answering any questions we may have had (important with online school). He was also able to generate examples on the fly when we had specific questions which was very impressive. The weekly homework was relatively easy and he dropped the lowest two scores, which acted as a good grade buffer.
The midterms were not bad (I got a score in the mid 80s for both of them) and they forced me to think but they were reasonable. The final on the other hand.... I spent all day working on it and got a 56%. We had heard for his upper divs that the midterms were easy and the final was hard and they were very right. Be warned.
Overall Nam was a very nice man and I really enjoyed my time in his class and I think I learned, but if you take him STUDY SO MUCH FOR THE FINAL

Straightforward midterms and extremely difficult final. Felt that I hardly learned anything after taking this class.

I really like Nam as a professor. He was engaging in lectures and did a great job of keeping up with the chat and answering any questions we may have had (important with online school). He was also able to generate examples on the fly when we had specific questions which was very impressive. The weekly homework was relatively easy and he dropped the lowest two scores, which acted as a good grade buffer.
The midterms were not bad (I got a score in the mid 80s for both of them) and they forced me to think but they were reasonable. The final on the other hand.... I spent all day working on it and got a 56%. We had heard for his upper divs that the midterms were easy and the final was hard and they were very right. Be warned.
Overall Nam was a very nice man and I really enjoyed my time in his class and I think I learned, but if you take him STUDY SO MUCH FOR THE FINAL