Y'all I'm going to be wildly honest.

1. I am not good at math (was openly the worst in my high school, luv that).
2. I did not attend lecture.
3. I did not attend discussion.

Oleg Gleizer is AMAZING. He's so nice, funny, and he's one of those professors where you can tell that he's truly passionate about what he's teaching. If you get the chance, I really recommend attending lecture. He often goes completely off topic, and I know that bothers some students.

However: he always remembers that this is a class, and it's unfair to constantly give us random tidbits and test us on different material. So, he often includes the fun little examples from lectures on his tests and quizzes.

Having barely ever attended lecture, and having never attended discussion, I was able to get close to 100 on all three exams just by looking at examples in his notes and in the textbook. I highly recommend taking this class with Gleizer, because his tests are so fair. Find the question on the test, look at his notes, look at the textbook, look at similar homework problems and find their solutions. You got this.

lowkey a glorified physics class

Take this class with a different professor!! Professor made the final very challenging just because the class did well on TAKE HOME, COLLABORATIVE midterms. The average for the 3-hour+ final that was worth 50% of the grade was 52%. Around 44% on the final was needed to pass the class if all other points were earned which most people did.

Doesn’t like when the class passes take home midterms so in returns he makes the exam impossible which is 50% of your grade. They have easier professors go take them.

LEAST FAVORITE PROFESSOR I'VE HAD THUS FAR AT UCLA

His lectures were basically useless to me - I just sat there confused and overwhelmed. He's too smart to explain anything, and he just can't fathom how we don't understand. The worst part is how pretentious he is about it - everything is "so easy and fun." The homework was basically 20 problems per week that took me AT LEAST 8 hours, at most 20, because I had to get help for almost every problem, which definitely got hard when the TA strike started.

He made fun of me in office hours for being stressed about the class, and he was very dismissive other times about mental health as well. I get he doesn't want to be taken advantage of like with extensions and stuff, but I feel like especially with such a huge workload he could've been a little kinder.

The midterms were take-home, open note/book, and allowed collaboration. That's the only reason I did well, and then Gleizer seemed upset we did well on it :/

Oh yeah, and the final, which was a normal final, was worth 50% of the grade. Guess what the average was? 52%

He assumed we would do as well on it as if it were like the midterms, which is just lacking in common sense. He made no adjustments due to the TA strike, and the exam wasn't really based on what we "learned" - just problems he "liked."

Honestly, I could say more, but I don't want to be too excessive. I'm just really disappointed with this class - it kind of made me hate math :(

I think I would probably die in this class if it were in person but open book tests really helped out and were quite similar to problems he did during lectures, so if you're taking this in person I'd probably recommend really studying his lecture problems. He was a bit ranty at times and went on tangents but honestly as not a math major it was still pretty interesting. He's enganging and really kind and sweet and cared for his students- often moving hw and quizzes and stuff if people asked for it. Also, if you're a math major he's incredibly accomplished it seems so I would probably recommend going to his office hours.

Overall, lovely man with an incredible background. You'll need to put in some work but I think you'll enjoy the final product :)

~During Covid~

1. Hands down one of the best lecturers I have encountered at UCLA. Incredibly engaging and fun.
2. Simultaneously, THE HARDEST final. The average was around 50%, he refused to curve it. He's strict and adamant about his straight scale grading policy, and around HALF the class had to retake it. His final was 10x harder than any of the HW problems or midterms he assigned.

The homework and take-home midterms were fine, but the professor screwed the class with the final. None of the homework applies to the finals or midterms, and none of the general concepts (problem-solving methods) will be tested on tests. The tests test your ability to memorize his notes and niche ways of thinking (that have nothing to do with knowing the class content), so just memorize his notes and all the things that don't relate to the class material itself. Take this class with another professor if you can.

Incredibly condescending and had no flexibility with the strike and loss of a TA, at least a quarter of the class failed. Most failed the final.

As a non-math major (who really has disliked the lower-div math classes here), I'd say 32B with Gleizer is one of the much better experiences.

My conceptual understanding of Calc 3 is pretty limited so in that respect I wouldn't say Gleizer was that great, but if you want a good grade, Gleizer is the man - his exam questions are basically just past exam questions (which he gives to you) or textbook problems that sometimes were assigned as HW with the numbers changed. It's VERY easy to do well in this class, but his lectures are quite confusing at times especially towards the end of the quarter.

Grading scheme is: 30% Final, 30% Midterms (15% each), 25% HW, 15% Quizzes (5% each).

His quizzes test more conceptual topics and his exams are more computation based. He also does a lot of exam problems repeatedly throughout the quarter in lectures so make sure you pay attention. Overall, he's quite funny and laid back, but not sure how much will stick with me going forward.