DO NOT take this class with this professor. He's super unfair, no partial credit, tough tests, other classes get equation sheets and we don't. Straight up bs and unfair. Don't take his class. period

Tough grader, no partial credit at all. heavy hw every week and even you work hard on hw you will still fail in exam, GPA destroyer, worst professor ever

This is the worst class I've taken at UCLA. Despite going to every lecture and discussion section, and spending hours upon hours on the material, I always left class more confused than I was walking in. The professor routinely skips steps in example problems, or leaves them unfinished, expecting students to follow his complicated work and make sense of new concepts. Most concepts are taught in the last five minutes of class, with very vague examples, and then he expects you to fully understand the entirety of the concept. Grading is EXTREMELY HARSH, with partial credit rarely given and grading hinging upon the final answer and algebraic mistakes instead of overall processes and concepts. When asked why we were the only class not receiving a formula sheet on the final (many of which had been introduced in the last few days of lecture), the professor stated that, since he had them memorized, we should too. He expected us to be as confident in the material as he was, despite him having a PhD and students only having 10 weeks to learn the material. Do yourself a favor, don't take this class.

Math 31B is difficult. I think the reviews already posted are too hard on the professor, instead of the class. I thought Marengon tried to be as helpful as possible in class, often stopping his lecture to answer questions. However, the homework is not similar at all to the tests. It's most helpful to do his mock midterms/finals and use the online testbank for past 31b exams. I didn't attend every lecture but still did well because I had done so many practice problems for each exam. Also, the class is curved in the end. (Unpopular opinion) but I would take Marengon again. He seems to really care about his students.

Yes, he is not the best teacher in the world. Yes, his practice midterms and finals are nothing like what the real ones are. But as someone who literally failed both a midterm and the final, and still somehow how got a C, it could be worse. He curves the class heavily, the homework is doable, the tests are crushing and your ego might go down. A GPA destroyer... but so is every other math 31b class soo... it could be better everywhere. Anyways, if you take it, it will be hard but then it will be over, no one actually fails the class.

Definitely a hard class. I failed the first midterm and got B's on both the second midterm and the final and ended up with a B+. He is very confusing in class, but I found that I had to put a lot of time in outside of class at the math tutoring center, my TA's office hours, and Marco's office hours to succeed. He is a lot more helpful at office hours than lecture and I highly recommend going. In terms of the final and midterms, I found that reviewing the homework and mock tests were very helpful. The thing that sucked about this class is that he gives no cheat sheet (almost all other 31B profs do) and he gives 2 pop quizzes a quarter in discussion. It wasn't an awful class but be prepared to work very hard.

Listen - Math 31b is hard, regardless of the professor. Most of the people who take it need to take it as a prereq, so no one actually cares about the material.

In Marco's lecture, you essentially have to be present for 6 different days: two midterms, three quizzes (in discussion), and the final. Lecture is really optional, and most of the time I found myself learning the material on my own to be more benefitting than going to lecture.

This is not to say Marco is a bad teacher- he is extremely smart and does want students to learn, but his lectures just rehash the textbook and if you have trouble paying attention to math for 50 minutes straight, lecture is often unhelpful.

Thankfully, the curve makes up for the difficulty of the class. Just make sure you study a TON for the tests, and you should be fine in 31b.

I found myself Studying really hard for the material on my own and felt ready for every test but ended up doing terrible in all of them. This professor gives very hard tests , and was graded very hard and on top the class is hard. Would not take with him again