- Home
- Search
- Matthew Jacobs
- All Reviews
Matthew Jacobs
AD
Based on 10 Users
(EDIT) Argh, I was the same person who wrote this initial positive review on Jacobs' Math 164 class. This time around, I continued with his Math 182 class (Algorithms). I was disappointed to see no practice exams posted, and little review done for the very problem-solving-esque material for each exam. I felt that we were essentially shooting in the dark for the midterm and final. Personally, I thought the final was easier than the midterm, but I didn't do as well as I hoped (I could probably contest for some more points). In the end, I got a decent grade, though I did want that A.
I probably convinced a lot of people to take this class, and judging from how things panned out, it's honestly hit or miss. To everyone who was expecting this to be a more chill experience, I'm so sorry. I never would have expected the vibe to change like this.
Matthew cares about his students, and is frequently funny during classes. He is clear, and all the exams are fair (extremely easy as a 24 hrs exam). The only reasons I am give a rating of four are that the course material are easy and his pace of teaching is too slow for me, but that can also be a pro for anyone crammed with other hard classes.
This professor is really chill and a pretty good lecturer. The homework is generally easy with a few difficult problems here and there. The tests are pretty fair, although the only problem is that he doesn't provide practice problems to study for the test. The tests mostly go over what is covered in class anyways so this is not a huge problem. Overall I definitely recommend this professor for this class.
This class is fairly easy. There isn't anything extremely bad from my experience. I was scared because another Bruinwalk review under math 156 said he wasn't that good. True that he doesn't curve, but I mean, it's not that bad; don't really need to curve. Obviously not every be getting an A, but I believe he's still easy on grading.
The tests are fine too. He tests on homework problems and proofs done in class. It's not shot in the dark. I mean, like what other material are you going to be tested on? Chemistry? He does release like a "things to know" sheet before the test, but just review your notes, understand the concept deeply, and you'll be good!
Only complaint is that his grading for tests is annoying: hardly any partial credit. So make sure you think of all the edge cases and thoroughly explain your proofs.
Homework is from the book (so plenty of help online)
Lectures are okay. Wish there was a "skip the intro" button. He rewrites what he did the last lecture for the first 10 minutes. He also looks reeeally bored. Sounds like he doesn't want to be there. But he's a good teacher.
It is a pretty decent class. The material covered is very useful, but the lectures often delve waaaaay too deep into the theoretical stuff. None of the exam questions were like that, as they all focus on application rather than theory.
Speaking of the exam, the final exam was just like the one given as practice. I thought it was going to be harder due to the online format (since we're given 24 hours), but it was definitely doable under 3 hours (I did it in 2&1/2 lol).
The grading is a bit... mysterious? I have a 97.2% cumulative total, and still not an A+. I don't really understand how the TA grades the homework too... Sometime he just marks off something without explaining, and didn't reply to my email inquiries. :(
The TA was definitely NOT helpful, he was unable to explain any concepts concretely at all. However, he basically did most of the HW questions in discussion... So I find them helpful. :)
Overall the class was decent, and I would take another class with him again (but not the TA).
I had Professor Jacobs for Math 164 - Optimization. He was an engaging lecturer (he really understood what he was doing, and didn't just copy off notes from a notepad). Lectures were quite theoretical, focusing on concepts and proofs. Homework was from the textbook (so you could just copy the solutions manual). Exams were mostly homework-style problems with some conceptual things. Overall, exams and grading was very fair (there was no rote memorization of proofs), and I highly recommend taking a class with him.
My first ever A+ among all UCLA math classes I've taken! This professor gave clear lectures, light homework assignments, and fair exams. Would 100% recommend!
RIP. HE DOES NOT CURVE THE CLASSS AS IN THIS DISTRIBUTION. STAY AWAY. He is not very good at teaching, but if his class had this distribution, then I would have still voted for him, but he no more does such generous curve for some reason.
(EDIT) Argh, I was the same person who wrote this initial positive review on Jacobs' Math 164 class. This time around, I continued with his Math 182 class (Algorithms). I was disappointed to see no practice exams posted, and little review done for the very problem-solving-esque material for each exam. I felt that we were essentially shooting in the dark for the midterm and final. Personally, I thought the final was easier than the midterm, but I didn't do as well as I hoped (I could probably contest for some more points). In the end, I got a decent grade, though I did want that A.
I probably convinced a lot of people to take this class, and judging from how things panned out, it's honestly hit or miss. To everyone who was expecting this to be a more chill experience, I'm so sorry. I never would have expected the vibe to change like this.
Matthew cares about his students, and is frequently funny during classes. He is clear, and all the exams are fair (extremely easy as a 24 hrs exam). The only reasons I am give a rating of four are that the course material are easy and his pace of teaching is too slow for me, but that can also be a pro for anyone crammed with other hard classes.
This professor is really chill and a pretty good lecturer. The homework is generally easy with a few difficult problems here and there. The tests are pretty fair, although the only problem is that he doesn't provide practice problems to study for the test. The tests mostly go over what is covered in class anyways so this is not a huge problem. Overall I definitely recommend this professor for this class.
This class is fairly easy. There isn't anything extremely bad from my experience. I was scared because another Bruinwalk review under math 156 said he wasn't that good. True that he doesn't curve, but I mean, it's not that bad; don't really need to curve. Obviously not every be getting an A, but I believe he's still easy on grading.
The tests are fine too. He tests on homework problems and proofs done in class. It's not shot in the dark. I mean, like what other material are you going to be tested on? Chemistry? He does release like a "things to know" sheet before the test, but just review your notes, understand the concept deeply, and you'll be good!
Only complaint is that his grading for tests is annoying: hardly any partial credit. So make sure you think of all the edge cases and thoroughly explain your proofs.
Homework is from the book (so plenty of help online)
Lectures are okay. Wish there was a "skip the intro" button. He rewrites what he did the last lecture for the first 10 minutes. He also looks reeeally bored. Sounds like he doesn't want to be there. But he's a good teacher.
It is a pretty decent class. The material covered is very useful, but the lectures often delve waaaaay too deep into the theoretical stuff. None of the exam questions were like that, as they all focus on application rather than theory.
Speaking of the exam, the final exam was just like the one given as practice. I thought it was going to be harder due to the online format (since we're given 24 hours), but it was definitely doable under 3 hours (I did it in 2&1/2 lol).
The grading is a bit... mysterious? I have a 97.2% cumulative total, and still not an A+. I don't really understand how the TA grades the homework too... Sometime he just marks off something without explaining, and didn't reply to my email inquiries. :(
The TA was definitely NOT helpful, he was unable to explain any concepts concretely at all. However, he basically did most of the HW questions in discussion... So I find them helpful. :)
Overall the class was decent, and I would take another class with him again (but not the TA).
I had Professor Jacobs for Math 164 - Optimization. He was an engaging lecturer (he really understood what he was doing, and didn't just copy off notes from a notepad). Lectures were quite theoretical, focusing on concepts and proofs. Homework was from the textbook (so you could just copy the solutions manual). Exams were mostly homework-style problems with some conceptual things. Overall, exams and grading was very fair (there was no rote memorization of proofs), and I highly recommend taking a class with him.
My first ever A+ among all UCLA math classes I've taken! This professor gave clear lectures, light homework assignments, and fair exams. Would 100% recommend!
RIP. HE DOES NOT CURVE THE CLASSS AS IN THIS DISTRIBUTION. STAY AWAY. He is not very good at teaching, but if his class had this distribution, then I would have still voted for him, but he no more does such generous curve for some reason.