Course: EE133A

This professor is incredibly smart but isn't that great at teaching in class. However I definitely recommend going to class to know what the material is about because his notes are pretty vague. There are also a lot of things in his uploaded notes that aren't going to be in the exams, so u gotta go to class to find out.

If you want to do well, go to his office hours where he'll give you obvious hibts for homeworks. He also explains things 100000x better during office hours. Don't expect to find hw solutions online because most of his textbook questions haven't been solved yet. But if you really want, go to course hero! It's a life saver.

Finally, his exams for me were all about trying to get partial credit so I don't fall below the curve. If you're not good in math, be ready to put in a lot of work! His averages for his exams are about 50 - 60%. If you can't do the homeworks, don't expect to be able to do the exams.

Good luck, you!

Final grade: B+ (took me a shit load of hours but at least I didn't get a C)

Course Taken: EE 133A

Amazing professor. Not many people went to lecture because it was an 8 am, and I really think they missed out because of it. Homeworks are challenging, but really not that hard if you are actually trying to learn the material in the course. They are actually very insightful and rewarding to complete. The course is well-structured and teaches you a lot about time complexities, efficient algorithms, least-square applications, etc. Additionally, Professor Vandenberghe is incredibly intelligent and very willing to answer any question during lecture or help step you through more difficult homework problems during office hours.

10/10 would recommend taking this course with Professor Vandenberghe. I recommend actually trying to learn the material rather than fighting it because it is very important, and very useful in real-life.

his lectures were fairly pointless I took notes anyway and looked back at them and dont see how their applicable to the course and his tests were fair I was married to his office hours and he had to spoon feed me like a new born infant and did it because he loves teaching. The only professor Ive had at UCLA that has cared about students. His tests were hard but we had guidance, he will hold your hand through the turbulent waters of EE103.

I get the feeling that people below are trying to scare the reader out of taking EE103. Honestly, it's not impossible.

The pre-midterm stuff is just linear algebra. The post-midterm stuff is the actual numerical computing part, such as finding roots of polynomials or solving systems of non-linear equations. Yes, the homework is tough, and yes, you might need to go to office hours for help..... But honestly, if you put in maybe 1-2 hours of studying everyday for this class and actually LEARN what they're teaching you there's absolutely no reason you can't at least get an A-.

BTW, take this class seriously, because you WILL be using it day in and day out as an engineer. I know this because 4 members of my family (all engineers with Ph.Ds from UCLA and Caltech) told me so.

Rank: 20/102
Final Grade: A-

Lieven is a BOSS.

A man of utmost knowledge. I wish I could make him smile like his profile picture on this BruinWalk page. One of the most concise and concerned lecturers/professors I have ever met. Extremely helpful, pretty well correlating with the course reader (that he uploads online so you don't have to buy!); my only complaint was that it was 8am (which really hit its toll after the midterm.. barely any attendance). He knows what he's teaching and has no trouble communicating it.

Homework: Extremely hard. Consult your TAs and him for homework hints, otherwise it will not get completed. They are tough.
Midterm: Doable. Study the homework and you will be okay. Average was around 50%.
Final: Impossible. Lucky for me, I already knew it was going to be intense, so I had a few drinks, put on my finest sweater, and sat there and laughed at everyone struggling. Yes, I attempted to do it, but attempt is the keyword. They are on another level from the HW and Midterm. Average: ~30%.

Luckily, he is a very lenient grader. He appreciates the struggles and I wish I could show him that I actually learned and understood what he taught us. I'll highly recommend you take this class if you don't mind getting rocked during tests. Overall I was ranked ~20 out of 100 and got an A-.

Guy that rated below (Dec 2010) has got it pretty much right. This is the key: In each HW, you will encounter with several "tricks" on how to solve problems. For example... b'A'Ab=(Ab)'Ab =||Ab||^2>=0 (or even more, >0 for all b not 0 if A has nullspace...which you will later see that A'A is posdef if A has zero nullspace...), ab'c=b'ca (pulling out scalars) and etc... (Don't worry, it will all make sense later... that is, if you study) Organize these tricks before the exam. They are actually hidden here and there in the exams... You'll need some creativity to realize where you can use them. For the record... 09 midterm: very difficult 09 final: slightly difficult 10 midterm: fairly easy 10 final: massacre

Overall I have to say Vandenberghe is a professor who is very concerned with student learning, although he goes to some pretty crazy extremes to push his students past his lectures in the homework and the final.

He's a decent lecturer - I'll give him that, but the level of the problems that you'll see in this class are on a completely different level than the course reader or the lectures. Don't expect either of these to provide you with a clue as to how to do your homework, but they are both necessary for understanding the core concepts behind what you are learning.

The best advice I can give: GO TO OFFICE HOURS. Even if that's not something you normally do - this will be the class that by necessity breaks that habit. Getting some help from the TA or prof is the only way you'll have any inkling as to how to do these problems - as the book really only provides you with some fairly basic theory, the problems will bring in material from all over the place in math, CS, and elsewhere. You will most likely need help just to start the problems - so talk to the professor and the TA's whenever you get a chance. With that being said - the level of difficulty of this class being extreme (toughest class, as a senior, I've ever taken) - if you take this class with Vandenberghe, you are very lucky in that he is very available in office hours to discuss homework and any questions you may have on the material.

Finally, DO NOT LET THE FINAL OR HOMEWORKS OVERWHELM YOU. Everyone's in the same boat on this one, so just do your damnedest on them, and don't leave halfway through the test.

I think this preofessor should revise the course reader material because it does not make a goddman sense and only he can undrestand what hell its written. the class is super boring and the material is super hard. he goes through the matreial really fast and make you confused. His homeworks are way beyond the notes and i was lucky that the TA gave us the solution during the office hours. overall, this is pretty useless course and they expect you to do some problems in MATLAB without teaching you how. good luck if you are in this course.

I don't think his finals are that bad. You should do ALOT of practice problems... and you will notice a pattern. There's only a few ways to solve those problems (in the final), and you do the same thing every time.

either that or I seriously fucked up on the final. I have no idea.

Took the final 2 days ago. This guy on my right obviously gave up and started taking random naps throughout the final. The guy on my left kept flipping through the test over and over looking for a problem he can solve.

I'm currently a 3rd year EE, and this class was by far the hardest class I've taken so far. I know a lot of 2nd years take it after Math 33A, but man, this class just destroys your self-confidence. There were many days where I would just look at the HW and not know how to do anything. Without Vandenberghe's crowded office hours, there's no way I would've survived in this class.

As far as lectures go, he's not the most dynamic, but I found it worth going even at 8am, just because I'd prefer listening to him over reading the book. His course reader is really good. I usually read it if I skipped lecture or fell behind.

Finally, this is out of bitterness after the BRUTAL final, don't bank too much on his old finals. They don't do crap for you, since he's not known for repeating old final problems. You're better off reading lecture notes, reviewing concepts you suck at, and going over some nasty HW problems. Good luck...