Pablo isn't THAT bad as everyone says he is. Going in, I got a B in 31A and didn't take calc BC in high school and still managed to get an A- in this class. The grading scheme is an absolute godsend which saves everyone and he drops 2-3 discussion and homework's and discussion which is an absolute godsend because that homework is graded on accuracy which is annoying as fuck. The homework is doable, only 10 problems due every 2 weeks but he will take points off for a wrong answer/ work. The midterms and final are fair in my opinion but that true false is SO HARD and missing 1 is literally -3 points, (for the final it was only -1 point) so if you want to do well on the midterms you have to get all of the true/ false correct. He posts practice midterms which are SO MUCH harder than the actual midterm. I never knew how to do any of the problems and still ended up doing fine on the midterms but the formatting sucks because there's only 5 problems (4 free response and 1 section of true/ false) so if you miss one you literally go down per letter grade. He also gives a lot of partial credit for problems so that really helped me when I didn't know how to do the problems

The final was a story of its own. He didn't print enough exams for the class and took 45 minutes to print them so 2/3 of the class had a 45 minute head start on the final than everyone else BUT that actually worked in my favor because he ended up curving it (he gave and additional 1 point for each true/ false you got correct) and Pablo never curves, but this was just an extreme circumstance so don't bank on any curve because he does not curve. Everyone says the final is so much harder than the midterms, but the final itself was not that bad. It was all multiple choice except for writing the actual answer with 1 or 2 fill in the blank questions and 2 select all that apply questions. I guessed on so many of the questions and got them right. He posts a practice final which is the same format as the final so make sure you really study that if you want to do well. I didn't do that and regret it

Overall this class is so doable because you can bomb both midterms and still get an A.

This class in of itself is very difficult content wise and there is only so much help a professor can provide. Ocal did his best in constantly asking if the class had any questions during lecture. According to others, he sometimes did not show up to office hours so it may be best to check in with him beforehand. That being said he is very good at communicating with students and with the class (he would sometimes email the entire class an explanation on difficult HW problems). His homework assignments were short, and you were given about two weeks to do each of them. He also provides helpful links that also explain the material. His three grading schemes are very nice. I failed the first midterm but was still able to end with an A because of the third-grading scheme. The thing that helped me the most with this course were Peer Learning sessions which are a great resource :) Overall this is a pretty doable class if you are willing to put in the extra work and look for outside resources.

He can be a bit confusing during lecture, but that has a lot to do with the fact that the content of 31B itself is fairly confusing. I do think he's nowhere near as bad as some of the reviews portray him. His homework is very reasonable and he gives 2 weeks for them. While the exams were pretty rough, his grading scheme was great so I still ended up with an A.

This is the only review you'll need to read. DO NOT take this class!! Professor Ocal clearly does not know the material given the amount of mistakes in every single lecture and he simply copies exactly what is written in the textbook. Some of the most memorable moments in his class was when he cancelled 4 lectures in a row a few minutes before it started because there was heavy rain for one day and uploaded multiple 2 hour lectures several days later. Another time was when he spent an entire 50 minute lecture solving a SINGLE problem to show why the problem shouldn't be solved that way. Also can't forget when I asked if we could have a cheat sheet and he responded saying "biologists have to memorize the endocrine system and other complex systems unlike mathematicians." Though I ended with an A, I sold my soul and probably shaved a few years off my life to get that A. The only helpful thing was his relatively lenient grading scheme (though which was partially cancelled out by his bad teaching). Also important to note that the practice midterms he provides students are nothing like the actual test. If you're stuck in this class, you're best friend should be YouTube vids, your TA, and office hours. This was my second quarter at UCLA but I can tell you that this is the worst professor I will have.

Honestly I was so lost in this class, I felt like going to lecture and discussion helped me learn nothing. I basically studied only from the textbook and old exams. Thankfully the practice exams were similar enough to the exams and his review sessions before exams weren't bad either. But I was always really stressed because I felt like I wasn't understanding anything. If you struggle with math this professor will be difficult but it's not completely impossible to get an A because there are multiple different grading schemes that can save you (For example I actually bombed both midterms but still ended up with an A because my final became weighted more and the midterm scores were dropped). They also give a decent amount of partial credit on problems too. The class isn't as bad as some make it out to be but be prepared to do a lot of studying, it helps to stay on top of the lectures and do ALL the hw.

This is not a class for the weak. Professor Ocal does not deserve all the hate for this, though. The class is genuinely difficult, especially for students with little to no calculus background. You can tell the professor tries to convey the inherently hard concepts in an understandable way, but he sometimes falls short of ensuring 100% comprehension. The lectures are fast-paced and topical, but this was necessary to make sure we made it through the course on time. Grouped in with lectures are review sessions before exams, and these were really helpful. The professor did problems that mirrored the format of the midterm/final on the blackboard and encouraged student participation to work them out step-by-step. More often than not, very similar questions were on the exam itself. The grading scheme is an absolute godsend. I did pretty awful on my first midterm, but was saved by the scheme which takes the best of two midterm scores. After each exam it was always, "well there's always midterm 2 / the final" because the grading scheme can be so generous in not counting bad scores. Many people complain that Ocal "just teaches from the book" and admittedly, he does, but I don't see a problem with that. Outlined in the homework problems for each week are "optional" reading assignments that are truly beneficial to actually read. I think people would better understand Ocal's logic and style and do better in the class if they treated the textbook like a very helpful supplement to the lectures rather than an optional reading assignment that was paid no attention to. All of this is to say, I would recommend this class with Dr. Ocal if you are willing to put in the effort to succeed.

The lectures were honestly unhelpful. I would review the textbook before going into lectures and found that the more time I spent listening to him teach the more confused I got. The way his grading schemes worked was you could use both midterms, use one midterm to your grade, or use neither, so that was helpful, probably the best part of the class. Honestly, I would avoid taking Pablo's class if you can, but if you have to take his class, it is doable. If you have to take his class, I'd rely heavily on your TA and the textbook, they're you're best bet.

This course is structured to be confusing, there is just so much to understand and master in an extremely short amount of time. The midterms and finals just kept on getting worse and worse and I genuinely do not know how people do well in this class because I am always uncertain about every single question on the tests. However, Professor Ocal is a nice and generous lecturer. He is funny and would always love to clear up your confusion on anything. I did so much work for this course, from reading the textbook chapters and doing as many textbook practices as possible, but somehow I still struggled, A LOT, and I got an A- because of luck. I used to be really good at math in high school, but this class successfully made me question my math skills.

After hearing things about Pablo, I took the route of just self studying off the textbook. I feel like this is a fairly easy class to self study because there's just one or two things to know from every lesson. All I did to study was spam the problems Pablo recommended to do from the textbook and make sure I did them correctly by checking my answers on Quizlet (there's a Quizlet with all the answers). I didn't go to a single lecture, discussion, or OH. I would say that the midterms were fair and I did really well on both. However, Pablo decided to throw in the hardest integrals and limit comparison test I've ever seen on the final so I got an 80 on it, but the grading scheme saved my grade. If you're confident in your self study skills, take this class. If not, go with another professor.

Honestly, it wasn't that bad. There was a weekly homework assignment and a discussion assignment, which was just a question from the homework. The real hard part was the exams. I felt so unprepared for every single exam and the practice exams he provided did not help at all. Lectures are also regurgitated from the textbook. My advice is to just self study, but Ocal is also genuinely a nice guy.