Professor

Meliha Bulu-Taciroglu

AD
3.0
Overall Ratings
Based on 86 Users
Easiness 3.2 / 5 How easy the class is, 1 being extremely difficult and 5 being easy peasy.
Workload 3.3 / 5 How light the workload is, 1 being extremely heavy and 5 being extremely light.
Clarity 2.6 / 5 How clear the professor is, 1 being extremely unclear and 5 being very clear.
Helpfulness 3.1 / 5 How helpful the professor is, 1 being not helpful at all and 5 being extremely helpful.

Reviews (86)

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April 6, 2023
Quarter: Spring 2023
Grade: A

Not as bad as what other comments say. Meliha is helpful and accepts after-class meetings and long office hours unlike other professors, and cares about students' feelings. The course scheme is indeed disorganized, but that is because it is impossible to squeeze the very concept of corporate finance in a quarter--MBA students spend a year on the same concepts.

Personally, I've had 10+ misgraded quizzes and a misgraded midterm, but in the end they were all fixed. Do come to the class for the last three weeks, as Bond value is a crucial concept on the final. Otherwise, just go along the schedule so one would expect him/herself to be fine. Remember to find a bunch of above average group members in advance. (this is a comment based on experience rather than discrimination. if you took the class you would know that half of the students do not study for the materials at all. I had a group of 5 with 2 people spending 2 days writing a 100-word summary, 1 copying the company description and analysis from preexisting documents, and 1 applying simple arithmetic average to the stock price over 5 years to demonstrate that its variance is large.)

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Dec. 26, 2019
Quarter: Fall 2019
Grade: B+

As a previous reviewer mentioned, this class is a really strange one. Mel is a really smart and approachable person in person and in office hours, but she is extremely disorganized in lectures and structuring the class. Homework assignments are the most original problems, so don't put your hopes on finding solutions easily. The best way to tackle this class especially when you have no economics or finance background is to find a good TA and stick with them in office hours. You can brute force your way through the material and possibly find understanding, but Mel often has little details written into the problems (sometimes not written at all...) and she assumes everyone is on the same page.

She does do a Piazza board, but she is not very responsive/responsive in a timely manner. The TAs don't have access to the board, so Piazza was pretty unreliable. The group project isn't bad at all. It's a good grade booster if you do it well.

Midterm was alright, and final was challenging. She provides a few old exams for both the midterm and final, and she usually will tell you the structure and content of the exams.

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Feb. 24, 2016
Quarter: Spring 2012
Grade: A

I took both ENGR 110 and 111 with this professor. And she was my favorite professor in my undergraduate time at UCLA.

I thought this class on Macro Economics was great. It isn't a masters level course or anything, but I felt like I came away with a solid foundation and understanding of the subject. From what I remember, there were meaningful exercises, and the reality is that I learned more useful skills in this class than I did in my other major related courses. The professor is really approachable and helpful if you care about her class and subject. Her lectures were entertaining and involved discussion despite being held in large sessions. I remember real world examples being brought up regularly, giving lectures a sense of practicality, which I felt was lacking in many of the 'math intensive' courses.

I would recommend this course and the program to anyone.

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Feb. 24, 2016
Quarter: Spring 2013
Grade: A

I took both ENGR 111 and 110 with this professor. Great lecturer, my favorite at the school.

This class focuses more on micro economics from what I remember. And I thought it was a great start to the subject, I learned plenty of practical skills. Balancing my finances, etc. It isn't really sold as a practical knowledge course, but it definitely provides some of that.

The lectures were clear and concise. Sometimes they would feel long, but its just the nature of the subject, sometimes it can be less than exciting. The professor knew when the material would be boring and tries to counter that, which I appreciated, especially since the lectures were usually in the evening, so as not to conflict with the major related courses. And she was pretty good at keeping things entertaining, by including students in discussions related to relevant current events she brought up, and most hilariously, calling out snoozing students (myself included).

Don't listen to the haters, this class is rad. Also try to take this class with a couple buddies, the group projects are way less of a drag that way.

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March 1, 2016
Quarter: Winter 2015
Grade: B

Let's be clear. I learned a lot in class and would have learned a lot more had I gone to every lecture. My biggest problem was that it was at 6-8pm, and that got in the way a lot.

Other than that, though, this is great class to take. It's a useful class that will help prepare you for a lot of other econ classes. Mel is a good lecturer too, and keeps you engaged throughout the class. If you go to her lectures and pay attention, you'll be fine for anything that comes your way, whether it be the tests or homework. I had trouble on the midterm and a few homework assignments only to find that she went over everything I needed to know in class.

Essentially, what I'm saying is that if you go to class, she'll reward you for it. Not only is it a somewhat easy class to take, she keeps you up to date with economic events throughout the world and teaches you pretty valuable information that you'll need once you're out of college. Just make sure you make it to class. She does post lecture slides, if I remember correctly, but trust me, going to class is much better.

I would definitely recommend her class to anyone considering the tech management option as their tech breadth.

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March 18, 2016
Quarter: Fall 2015
Grade: NR

She's one of the most charismatic professors I've had. Even though there were a lot of broad concepts to cover, she was able to explain them well given the time frame and the nuances of economics.
The time value of money is difficult the first time round, but she gives a lot of examples. Do your homework, don't copy others. Talk to your TAs and professor if you're stuck on something.

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March 18, 2016
Quarter: Fall 2014
Grade: B+

If you have a question, just ask. The professor takes note of who is paying attention and thinking beyond the class materials. The homework may seem straightforward, but the exams will challenge you to apply to concepts rather than regurgitate homework problems. She's one of the most personable and friendly professors at UCLA, take advantage of that!

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March 29, 2016
Quarter: Fall 2015
Grade: A

Her lectures are somewhat unstructured, as she often goes off on wild tangents are randomly brings up some current event she's been reminded of. She does go over a wide range of topics and does go into quite a bit of detail with most of them. She goes through a ton of examples, that should make it clear how to do the calculations and what you should be looking for in problems. These are reinforced in the homework assignments and the exams are iterations of these problems.

The midterm was fairly easy. Some more difficult concepts are introduced after that, so the final exam was quite a bit tougher. The questions, I believe, were still all fair game. Working through the homeworks was helpful (even though I think the questions are repeats from previous quarters).

There's a final project where you apply economic principles to compare two somewhat similar products. You work with a group and it doesn't take too much time after you divvy up the work.

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0 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
March 30, 2016
Quarter: Fall 2016
Grade: A-

I would say highly of professor mel since she literally helps you when your grade turns out to be out of your expectation. My midterm improved like 10 points since she knows how these tricks in her exams work and what her students deserve. Her lecture sometimes might sound unstructured, but generally concrete with examples. Her slides are super helpful and are exactly test material. She is super available and helpful to her students and she helped me with my recommendation letter when another professor forgot it and it was almost deadline. I have almost nothing to say against this professor. If you want to learn about finance and business world, please take this class.

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Nov. 14, 2016
Quarter: Fall 2016
Grade: N/A

She lectures straight from her Powerpoints that are very poorly made (and you can tell she put little to no effort in them because she just took screenshots of the examples from the textbook). She goes on tangents, which waste class time and do not help in understanding what the material is about. I cannot stress how much clarity she lacks in her instruction. If you're just taking this as a TBA, I advise taking some other course. Also, I don't know how previous reviews claim she has "charisma"; my classmates and I find her boring.

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ENGR 111
Quarter: Spring 2023
Grade: A
April 6, 2023

Not as bad as what other comments say. Meliha is helpful and accepts after-class meetings and long office hours unlike other professors, and cares about students' feelings. The course scheme is indeed disorganized, but that is because it is impossible to squeeze the very concept of corporate finance in a quarter--MBA students spend a year on the same concepts.

Personally, I've had 10+ misgraded quizzes and a misgraded midterm, but in the end they were all fixed. Do come to the class for the last three weeks, as Bond value is a crucial concept on the final. Otherwise, just go along the schedule so one would expect him/herself to be fine. Remember to find a bunch of above average group members in advance. (this is a comment based on experience rather than discrimination. if you took the class you would know that half of the students do not study for the materials at all. I had a group of 5 with 2 people spending 2 days writing a 100-word summary, 1 copying the company description and analysis from preexisting documents, and 1 applying simple arithmetic average to the stock price over 5 years to demonstrate that its variance is large.)

Helpful?

1 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
ENGR 110
Quarter: Fall 2019
Grade: B+
Dec. 26, 2019

As a previous reviewer mentioned, this class is a really strange one. Mel is a really smart and approachable person in person and in office hours, but she is extremely disorganized in lectures and structuring the class. Homework assignments are the most original problems, so don't put your hopes on finding solutions easily. The best way to tackle this class especially when you have no economics or finance background is to find a good TA and stick with them in office hours. You can brute force your way through the material and possibly find understanding, but Mel often has little details written into the problems (sometimes not written at all...) and she assumes everyone is on the same page.

She does do a Piazza board, but she is not very responsive/responsive in a timely manner. The TAs don't have access to the board, so Piazza was pretty unreliable. The group project isn't bad at all. It's a good grade booster if you do it well.

Midterm was alright, and final was challenging. She provides a few old exams for both the midterm and final, and she usually will tell you the structure and content of the exams.

Helpful?

1 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
ENGR 110
Quarter: Spring 2012
Grade: A
Feb. 24, 2016

I took both ENGR 110 and 111 with this professor. And she was my favorite professor in my undergraduate time at UCLA.

I thought this class on Macro Economics was great. It isn't a masters level course or anything, but I felt like I came away with a solid foundation and understanding of the subject. From what I remember, there were meaningful exercises, and the reality is that I learned more useful skills in this class than I did in my other major related courses. The professor is really approachable and helpful if you care about her class and subject. Her lectures were entertaining and involved discussion despite being held in large sessions. I remember real world examples being brought up regularly, giving lectures a sense of practicality, which I felt was lacking in many of the 'math intensive' courses.

I would recommend this course and the program to anyone.

Helpful?

0 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
ENGR 111
Quarter: Spring 2013
Grade: A
Feb. 24, 2016

I took both ENGR 111 and 110 with this professor. Great lecturer, my favorite at the school.

This class focuses more on micro economics from what I remember. And I thought it was a great start to the subject, I learned plenty of practical skills. Balancing my finances, etc. It isn't really sold as a practical knowledge course, but it definitely provides some of that.

The lectures were clear and concise. Sometimes they would feel long, but its just the nature of the subject, sometimes it can be less than exciting. The professor knew when the material would be boring and tries to counter that, which I appreciated, especially since the lectures were usually in the evening, so as not to conflict with the major related courses. And she was pretty good at keeping things entertaining, by including students in discussions related to relevant current events she brought up, and most hilariously, calling out snoozing students (myself included).

Don't listen to the haters, this class is rad. Also try to take this class with a couple buddies, the group projects are way less of a drag that way.

Helpful?

0 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
ENGR 111
Quarter: Winter 2015
Grade: B
March 1, 2016

Let's be clear. I learned a lot in class and would have learned a lot more had I gone to every lecture. My biggest problem was that it was at 6-8pm, and that got in the way a lot.

Other than that, though, this is great class to take. It's a useful class that will help prepare you for a lot of other econ classes. Mel is a good lecturer too, and keeps you engaged throughout the class. If you go to her lectures and pay attention, you'll be fine for anything that comes your way, whether it be the tests or homework. I had trouble on the midterm and a few homework assignments only to find that she went over everything I needed to know in class.

Essentially, what I'm saying is that if you go to class, she'll reward you for it. Not only is it a somewhat easy class to take, she keeps you up to date with economic events throughout the world and teaches you pretty valuable information that you'll need once you're out of college. Just make sure you make it to class. She does post lecture slides, if I remember correctly, but trust me, going to class is much better.

I would definitely recommend her class to anyone considering the tech management option as their tech breadth.

Helpful?

0 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
ENGR 110
Quarter: Fall 2015
Grade: NR
March 18, 2016

She's one of the most charismatic professors I've had. Even though there were a lot of broad concepts to cover, she was able to explain them well given the time frame and the nuances of economics.
The time value of money is difficult the first time round, but she gives a lot of examples. Do your homework, don't copy others. Talk to your TAs and professor if you're stuck on something.

Helpful?

0 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
ENGR 111
Quarter: Fall 2014
Grade: B+
March 18, 2016

If you have a question, just ask. The professor takes note of who is paying attention and thinking beyond the class materials. The homework may seem straightforward, but the exams will challenge you to apply to concepts rather than regurgitate homework problems. She's one of the most personable and friendly professors at UCLA, take advantage of that!

Helpful?

0 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
ENGR 110
Quarter: Fall 2015
Grade: A
March 29, 2016

Her lectures are somewhat unstructured, as she often goes off on wild tangents are randomly brings up some current event she's been reminded of. She does go over a wide range of topics and does go into quite a bit of detail with most of them. She goes through a ton of examples, that should make it clear how to do the calculations and what you should be looking for in problems. These are reinforced in the homework assignments and the exams are iterations of these problems.

The midterm was fairly easy. Some more difficult concepts are introduced after that, so the final exam was quite a bit tougher. The questions, I believe, were still all fair game. Working through the homeworks was helpful (even though I think the questions are repeats from previous quarters).

There's a final project where you apply economic principles to compare two somewhat similar products. You work with a group and it doesn't take too much time after you divvy up the work.

Helpful?

0 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
ENGR 110
Quarter: Fall 2016
Grade: A-
March 30, 2016

I would say highly of professor mel since she literally helps you when your grade turns out to be out of your expectation. My midterm improved like 10 points since she knows how these tricks in her exams work and what her students deserve. Her lecture sometimes might sound unstructured, but generally concrete with examples. Her slides are super helpful and are exactly test material. She is super available and helpful to her students and she helped me with my recommendation letter when another professor forgot it and it was almost deadline. I have almost nothing to say against this professor. If you want to learn about finance and business world, please take this class.

Helpful?

0 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
ENGR 110
Quarter: Fall 2016
Grade: N/A
Nov. 14, 2016

She lectures straight from her Powerpoints that are very poorly made (and you can tell she put little to no effort in them because she just took screenshots of the examples from the textbook). She goes on tangents, which waste class time and do not help in understanding what the material is about. I cannot stress how much clarity she lacks in her instruction. If you're just taking this as a TBA, I advise taking some other course. Also, I don't know how previous reviews claim she has "charisma"; my classmates and I find her boring.

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1 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
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