Man. I'm writing this some time after the class and the C still hurts today.

Willis is bar-none the best lecturer for math at UCLA. He explains things organically--it's like having a good friend of yours teach you a subject. He's very chill, but puts effort into his teaching. He chooses his words carefully to avoid the least confusion possible. He uses casual speech, writes clearly, etc. This sounds mean, but he's the only professor I've had for math that is a native English speaker... moreover, he's not some old dude that puts professionalism first. Willis cares about one thing: teach in a way that makes sense. And it works. You'll notice that the shittier professors try to seem very formal, cold, by-the-book, etc. The best ones throw caution to the wind and just *teach.* Willis is the latter--attend lectures and focus more on listening and watching than taking notes. If you NEED to take notes, I honestly say use the book for that.

I truly felt like I had learned differential equations fairly well in the class... so why a C? Simple answer is, I missed one problem on one midterm. The biggest criticism I have is that the tests are too easy! So easy, in fact, that missing a single problem on a test will literally get you a C in the class. I scored a bit above average on the final and exactly average on the 1st midterm. The 2nd midterm, however, had 4 problems. I did OK on the other 3 (again, did average), but one problem I made a stupid assumption... which got me a 0/10 where everyone else got 10/10 on that problem. I made a "duh" mistake, kinda misread the problem statement. On a test where the average is >90%, that immediately earned me a C on the test. Throw in a couple of -1 or -2 points on the other problems... that one problem got me a D on that test. So the easy tests are a double-edged sword... would you rather your final be 3 multiple choice questions or a holistic, long-form exam composed for 4 or 5 long questions? Miss one MC problem and you get a D.

In the end, it was my own fault which is why I still recommend Willis. Just look out for his easy tests and know that the averages will be very high.

Best math professor I've had in the entire 30 series. Willis is so clear in what he wants to teach you and tries to find the best way for his students to absorb the material. His notes are concise but full of information. He lectures very well and it doesn't take too much effort to keep up during class because he is so well-paced it barely feels like a quarter-system class. He always took time to answer any questions in the chat, even if it meant falling slightly behind in lecture. I feel like the material in 33B is easy to compute but difficult to truly understand in theory, but I was really able to grasp what was happening intuitively through the way Willis explains. Tests were very fair in material and length and did not take the whole 24 hours. Take Willis, even if you don't like math! He is such a g.

Willis is awesome. Super clear teacher, great notes, and assignments weren't too bad. Sometimes time and paper-consuming but never anything too crazy.

Willis is great. Only teacher I’ve had that didn’t make the midterms more difficult than they otherwise would be in a regular class. Final was a little tough though. Lectures are clear and concise, homework actually build towards the tests. The class is incredibly straightforward. You know exactly what you’re getting, and you’re getting a solid, reasonable math teacher. Would recommend to anyone for any class.

Professor Willis is an excellent lecturer and super funny guy in general. Be ready to get clever in this class though, especially on the final. If I could take every math class with Willis I definitely would.

33B material wise wasn’t the hardest lower-div math class. Willis made the class easy to understand and engaging enough through COVID. Exams were fair, not too long and not very difficult except for the final which was more difficult than the HW or Midterms.

Willis is a great professor. His lectures are all very clear and easy to follow. His class notes are also very organized and useful. He cares about students a lot, answer any question in chat during class, and is fast when responding to emails. Exams were very fair in length and not difficult.

I really enjoyed this class. I learned a lot and he made the concepts really easy to understand. The homework was easy and doing it prepares you for the tests. The midterms were super easy (median of 90% on both) so he tried to make the final hard. It was a harder but mostly just long. However I remember the average on that not being too low. Overall a really good prof.