I actually took math 31b with Greene but I need to literally post this asap so everyone knows NOT TO TAKE GREENE FOR ANY CLASS. I literally taught the entire class to myself because his lectures were useless. I swear I spent every second of the day studying for this class and still struggled because his tests were so difficult. I got a 5 on ab calc and an A in math 31a so I'm not awful at math but this class was the death of me. Our average for our second midterm was 55. Steer clear.

I actually had Greene for Math 31B but it was not listed as an available choice so I am reviewing him under this class. I had taken Calculus AB and BC in high school and did very well in both of their classes. All of the material that we went over in Math 31B was material that I was already very familiar with, yet the tests that Greene gave were equivalent to the difficulty of upper division math courses and were close to impossible. His lectures are next to useless, the practice midterm problems, while similar to the difficulty of his midterm problems, offer no help at all for the midterm. Also, he decided that no practice problems for the final was better than giving us an idea of what would be on the final. This is only my first quarter at UCLA and I can already say this will be the worst professor I will have here. At least I hope so, because otherwise I think I might end myself. Don't ever take this professor for any class he teaches.

Ima start off by saying DO NOT take a class with this professor lmao. I actually had Professor Greene for MATH 31B not 31A. His lectures are pretty much useless because his handwriting is impossible to read and his explanations are incomprehensible. Greene goes off on tangents about math and confuses himself in the process of confusing everyone else in lecture. I don't doubt Prof Greene's math skills, in fact he's incredibly well-versed in it, but he is beyond the scope of teaching a lower-division math class. I failed the final and ended with an 80% overall, but my grade got curved to an A. Do yourself a favor and don't enroll in any of his classes.
Lectures: as stated before, they are next to useless. Going to class actually confused me (and everyone else) even MORE, so I just stopped going after the first week. Learn the material by reading the textbook and watching Khan Academy, Professor Leonard, and/or The OChem Tutor. That's literally the only way I got an A. Keep yourself paced by seeing what topic Greene is going over in lecture that day. **Sometimes** there are some math concepts that Professor Greene emphasizes and will be seen a lot in homework/tests, but just keep an eye out on his lecture notes for those.
Homework: There was Achieve homework and "written homework" written by Professor Greene himself. Achieve was straightforward--the written homeworks were the most confusing assignments I've ever received and the TAs were the only ones who could decipher them for us. Be homies with your TA because I swear I couldn't have survived the written homeworks without mine.
Tests: Greene gave sample problems before each midterm and they focused heavily on theoretical ideas/conceptual ideas/proofs. However, both midterms and the final were definitely more computational than he made them out to be. I've seen past bruinwalk reviews that say you have to memorize proofs to survive, but after the first midterm I realized I didn't need to do that, so YMMV. Also, the average grade for both midterm 2 and the final was an F. Just pray that the curve saves your ass at the end of the course.
Professor Greene in general: he's not helpful at all. If you ask him a question about how he got somewhere with a problem he'd probably get very annoyed at you and imply that you're stupid, which is what would happen very often in lecture.

TLDR; God help you if you're stuck in Prof Greene's class

I took 31B with Greene but that wasn't an option so I'm writing my review here!

This class and this professor were awful. If you take the class with another professor I'm sure it would be fine, but taking with Greene would seriously be a regrettable decision. He is a terrible teacher and I learned absolutely nothing from him. Everything I learned was on my own time from the textbook and other resources, however he wrote all his tests and homework assignments by hand so it was really hard to do well on them. The Achieve assignments were manageable because they came straight from the textbook, but his handwritten gradescope assignments took actual hours and made absolutely no sense. No matter what your understanding level of the material is coming into the course it will be extremely hard to do well. He did curve the class generously at the end of the quarter, however if he didn't the average would have been a C or a D. DO NOT TAKE THIS CLASS.

Bad Professor. Grade Distribution says it all. Kind-hearted man and sweet (in a sense like a grandpa) however is very bad at teaching. STAY DEFUQ BACK and don't take this class, please!

Just... no.

I actually took 31B with this professor, but this isn't listed as an option so I wanted to leave my review here. This class was absolutely horrid. I want to preface by saying that I got a 5 on AP calc AB and passed BC with an A. This class really should not have been that difficult. The material itself was not bad, and I walked into the tests pretty confident but did way worse than I expected. The class averages on these tests were lower than I'd ever seen, and I suspect this is due to the incomprehensible lectures and notes that Greene left us with. Basically, I had to teach myself the material. The practice problems he gave us (which were only for the midterms, not even the final--he basically left us to fend for ourselves on the final) were not very helpful in my opinion and the test questions were way more difficult than they should have been for this class. His writing was also horrible, which didn't help when I was trying to decipher his notes and written homework assignments. Also, I recall one of the TAs telling us that he specifically told them not to give us the answers to the sample problems, which defeats the entire purpose of sample problems. Even when he did send us the problem answers, it was so close to the test date that they weren't very helpful. In office hours, he often spoke condescendingly to the students asking questions. It seems this professor really does not care about the students' learning. The only redeeming thing about his class was the curve. Somehow I ended up with a passing grade, but I really did not expect to pass. It was a bit annoying not knowing the curve until the week that grades were due, as individual grades were not curved, only the course overall. Additionally, I have to acknowledge that he was generally accomodating if you had to miss a midterm due to sickness. But I would advise staying away from taking math 31B with Greene if you can.

This man gives you insight.

I won't deny that his lectures are next to useless, his teaching style erratic, or his handwriting giving me a mini-heart attack every single time I open a homework file. Yes, he'll give you living hell if you know nothing about calculus and expect a gentle introduction. This man doesn't care about problem solving, and he'll give you tons of proofs and tricks to remember.

However, I got away with an A with zero knowledge of calculus before entering the university, and now I'm more than ready to tackle the remainder of my calc classes. You either get a whole lot of stuff out of the class or nothing but hatred for the subject. If you're willing to take 20 or more hours a week in the cold, miserable corner of the library doing extra problems, then this class is certainly doable. Get "Calculus with Analytical Geometry" by Simmons, which is a superb and beautifully written textbook on this subject. All the basic proofs needed for the class are in there, along with more than enough problems to work on your mathematical muscles.

His lecture was the first one I ever had in UCLA. The goal of the course, as he said, was to train the students to think like mathematicians. He'll assume that students already know what he's talking about (roughly 95% of the class took AP Calc), and he'll give proofs straight away. It'll be painful at first trying desperately to follow this tempo, but as he suggested, the key to success was to repeat those proofs and tricks again and again until they become part of yourself. And it's absolutely essential to work on problems yourself since Greene won't give a damn about those trivial matters. Without effectively using those theorems in quantity, knowing the proofs alone will not do. In the second half of the course, I just stopped going to lectures and watched the MIT lectures and Khan Academy videos on my own, which offer much better explanations on matters Greene is trying to cover.

So, why am I defending Greene? Because he was the first person to force me into taking proofs seriously. I had the habit of looking forward to solving problems straight away without looking at my tools. Yes, I could solve problems with tremendous speed, but I was nothing more than an organic calculator. Greene's philosophy, not his teaching, will force you into looking closely to the basic theorems of calculus, especially how differentiation relates to integration, and why these things work. It's a glimpse into the marvelous world of mathematics. You'll get a very solid starting point in calculus after this course, because you'll know exactly why the fundamental theorems of calculus hold, and how you may be able to derive theorems and proofs from the ones already established from all these tricks you remembered.

Greene is also an extraordinary person.He's a mathematician, classical musician and audiophile. Check out his website: http://www.math.ucla.edu/~greene/ His eccentricity is adorable, and it's such a pleasure talking to a genius mind like his. If you're tired of the traditional problems-centered math training, and willing to take the challenge, Greene will be the guru illuminating your way to being an individual with an extensive understanding of mathematics.

He is a professor suitable to those who have talent on math.

He pushes the progress of the class very fast and the scope of that very broad; students can learn some stuff of 31B or 32A from his class. It's an advantage to me.

The order of his lectures are different that of others, so taking notes is pretty necessary, though he distributes notes of some difficult topics.

The homework is inspiring, though some feel it's hard. During previewing the following courses, I have got sense of familiar because Dr. Greene has more or less included some necessary content in the continuing study. Most importantly, he gives answer to his homework though his manualscript is a bit hard to recognize.

The exams are easy, if you are serious to the course. After all, it's all about the most basic concepts of mathematical analysis.

Seeing back now, he concentrated on buiiding the connection of differentiation and integration by the fundamental theorem of calculus, which is also the core purpose of the course. He did that well.

Great Professor. Lectures are super clear.

Grading : 50% Final Exam, 20% x 2 Midterms, 10% Quizzes based on HW

No book needed for class - Lectures are based on online MIT material. Professor provides answer to all Homework Problems and also gives sample problems for the midterms. He also holds review sessions (within the lecture hours) for all exams.
TA was good.
Professor was funny, made the class interesting by cracking jokes in between. He loves his dogs and is always ready to help. Also, he writes everything on the board.

Both Midterms were based on HW and sample problems. Final was conceptual and required thorough understanding of the course material.

In both midterms the highest was a 100 and in the final the highest was a 199/200 . There was an extra credit problem # 11 that could help you score an A+.