I, like many others, came into this class thinking it would be a better choice than the 31 series. The first few weeks of the course were manageable, but towards the end it just felt like complete nonsense. the concepts were so abstract and unrealistic. I felt like I was at times arguing for things that have no relation to anything science OR math related. It was busy work and I didn't take away much from the course. The coding is easy, but sometimes time-consuming and in my opinion was also useless. They try to connect it to what we are learning in class but it vaguely correlates. The bonus points do nothing because it is only worth 0.5% of your grade. Seriously, it doesn't do anything. Homework was helpful but I found it to take a really long time. Not based off of correction, but off of work, explanation, and how close you are to being right (if you get a part wrong). I got 100% on the HW but I know that TAs liked to take points off very often so keep that in mind. I did good on the MT (higher than most of the people around me at least) and thought I would be okay for the final, but man was I wrong. Graders were much harsher and it seemed like they were either giving all the points or none, even if there were some portions explained correctly. The second grading scheme ended up not helping me and I had to use the first one, even though many people on BruinWalk said that the second scheme saved them.
TLDR: this class was the bane of my existence. if you can do calculus save yourself the pain and take 31A instead
Stats:
MT: 90%
Final: 83%
100% on all other categories

I came into this thinking it was going to be an easy A+ like many of the other reviews and it was nothing like it. To be fair I only took AP stats in high school and no AP calc so I felt behind to learn some of the rules and solving mechanisms towards the end of the year. I recommend having a study group, tutor, or PLF sessions because the concepts are hard to grasp and the tests were long and confusing. I really wouldn’t take this class again but I think if you study a lot, go to office hours (which get insanely packed within the first 5 minutes), and do practice problems non stop you should be fine. :(

I’ll let others go into the specifics of the class itself but let me just say, you should strongly reconsider if you are planning on taking this class. Only take this class if you don’t plan on using math AT ALL in your entire life, are CERTAIN you want to be a life science major, are confident you don’t want a minor/double major outside of life sciences, and only care about an easy A instead of learning anything. The math taught in this class is completely made up and is not at all useful in real life despite what the professor tries to tell you. If you ever want to leave life science or do a double major/minor outside of the life sciences you have to take the math series so please just save your future and don’t take this class. The professor is great, the problems I have are with the course itself.

I would say that if you are looking for a typical calculus class, this is not the class to take. I would also say, that if you have not taken calculus before this, you might find it more difficult than it already is. I was lucky to have had a strong calculus background, so when we spent one day on derivatives and one day on integrals, I was not lost. However, the course does not explain conceptually what derivatives or integrals are very well, and it is assumed that you should get it very fast which may make the rest of the class extremely difficult if you don't.

As for the content of the class, it was a LOT of modeling. There is very little calculation, really, in this class. Which I disliked. I found that it was super conceptual. I don't have problems with conceptual math, but there was almost never REAL math to back it up. So, you either get it or you don't.

Something that I found odd was that I almost always came out of the lecture feeling good about the content, but when I went to do the homework I was completely lost. I would go to Professor Bennoun's office hours but they were PACKED because everyone else was just as confused. I went to multiple TA's office hours, too, and some of them told me how to do a problem totally wrong. So I would say to get your homework help directly from the professor if you can.

The midterm was DIFFICULT. I went in having done all of the prep material given to me. The main issue with this class is because since it is unique to UCLA, there is no additional prep material you can find online beside the homework and other practice problems given to you. Since the midterm felt totally different from the practice problems, I walked out of the midterm feeling quite unprepared.

One saving grace was the two grading schemes, which allowed your grade to have the final and midterm weighted evenly, or have the final weighted 65%. I did well on the final (definitely easier than the midterm) and ended up with a great grade in the class.

I think the key for this class is understanding EXACTLY how they want your answers written for short answer because the grading is very strict.

Also, for the labs, I don't feel like I learned any python. It was a more of a fill in the blank type thing and I often had to ask for help on every question.

I really did like Professor Bennoun, though. He liked to crack jokes in class, and he gave helpful clicker questions to help with understanding. I found that his explanations in class made sense, and he cared about us understanding the material (even if we did not, lol). He is super genuine and always made sure that if I asked a question in office hours I understood the material. What I disliked about the course had nothing to do with Bennoun, just the course itself. If you are going to take this course, I 100% recommend trying to get into one of Bennoun's sections!!!

I decided to leave the LIFESC 30 series and I am switching into MATH 3B because I have AP calculus AB credit because I think that learning more in depth calculus will be more helpful for me.

I just want to preface this with the fact that my issue lies not with Prof Bennoun, but with the 30 series as a whole. This class is fake math with unreasonably hard tests on concepts that have practically no relevance to anything in life. I think I did a grand total of 3 derivatives and 2 integrals all quarter in a class that's allegedly "calculus-based." Prof Bennoun was alright. I would say he's marginally better than the alternative, but at the end of the day we all take the same tests so the professor you get isn't that important. If you're familiar with calculus, take the 31 series. Don't waste your time here.

Plainly speaking, this whole series is a load of bullshit. It's calculus that has been molded to fit Life Sciences, and while I can see it being helpful in the future, for now it isn't really. I can't see myself using differential equations in my own research, but maybe that's just me.

Bennoun is a great lecturer, I will give him that. He cracks jokes every now and then but he also plainly expresses when he's dissatisfied with the students in his lecture (oftentimes due to lack of participation). He posts the slides so that it's easy to follow along every class and has mandatory i-clicker questions that really help with comprehension.

However, this class gets confusing quickly. The concepts themselves aren't hard in the slightest, but the application of them does get difficult. This is especially considering he assigns a ton of homework problems (as in 3+ hours work per week) that are of significantly higher difficulty than anything he has done in class. Oftentimes you just end up having to self-apply the concepts, ask a smart friend, or cry a little as you strain your teensy brain to come up with some bullshit answer. Want help in office hours? Good luck! Office hours are filled to the brim with students all needing help on homework or labs and it will take the TA's 30+ minutes to get to you. Have a question 10 minutes after your last one was answered? Too bad--the TA isn't going to get back to your side of the room for another 20 minutes! After I waited 2 hours to get 2 questions answered I stopped going and started getting my questions answered through study groups.

You have weekly labs that are the most unhelpful things ever. Did I come out of the labs with an A? Yes. If you asked me to code you anything would I stare at you blankly and tell you I have no idea how to? Also yes. It's a game of filling in the blanks, changing numbers, and figuring out what to copy and paste. The TA and the LA(s), to their credit, are really trying their best to help you out when you're confused. Problem is, everyone is confused.

Midterm was literal hell. I came in pretty confident and left with my soul crushed, confident I had barely been able to pass. I managed to get a B in it, and the only thing I can say is DO THE HOMEWORK PROBLEMS!!! The practice tests and TA review worksheets were completely useless at the end of the day. Final was easier to get through, though it was more like it was because you knew what to expect instead of the questions being easier.

Tldr: if you took ap calc bc and got a 4 or took ap calc ab and got a 5 just take calculus.

Honestly, this class is a hit or miss. Bennoun is a good lecturer, but the examples he gives in class fail to replicate the questions you will receive on the homework or exams. The first half of this class was taught well, but then he fell off toward the end of the class, especially with creating bifurcation models. I will say that the grading is very strict. Every homework assignment is graded based on accuracy. The instructions for the questions are unclear, and I would constantly find myself getting points taken off, not because I did it wrong, but because I forgot to add specific details (which are not asked for, instead just expected, which is kinda stupid). This class also has a lab portion, which I thought wasn't too bad, contrary to the other reviews on here. The coding itself is pretty straightforward (even if you don't have any experience). I agree that the lab assignments are a bit useless because you don't have to code on the final, but the lab potion itself was helpful because we would always end early, giving me the opportunity to ask questions about the homework. In terms of the exams, it almost felt like the rubric is designed for you to lose points, as, like the homework, it fails to give a clear line of direction of what they actually want the student to say (I do agree that this may sound like I'm just complaining, but they can't just expect you to have specific details when the practice problem solutions themselves don't include those details either). The review sessions aren't the best help, as the TAs will give broad explanations that would still lose you points on the exam. To sum it up, this class does have its highs, more with the light workload and lenient deadlines, but it is a bunch of useless/made-up math you'll never need. If you took calculus in high school, I would strongly encourage you to take another math series that is more calculus-integrated. Just adding this in, don't expect Bennoun to round up a grade or curve any of the exams if that's what you're hoping for. Also, don't take this class if you're looking at the 2022 grade distribution (it doesn't seem like many people are getting many A+'s or A's at all).

Ok, I loved Steve, and his class was relatively helpful, but here's where I have an issue. His notes were not helpful in relation to the homework at all. The concepts taught in class made sense and I knew how to do, but the homework was at certain times, unrelated to topics taught in class (we were expected to know stuff we weren't taught). As much as they say this class is for people who are coming to UCLA with little to no calculus experience, the kids who took calculus in high school had a massive advantage on tests and homework. Trying to learn something when people around you already know it can be kind of frustrating. I did my homework in study groups, which was helpful, but sometimes none of us knew how to answer our homework since we weren't taught the steps in class.

This class wasn't hard until the last 2 weeks with concepts that were made up. This class felt useless as it is made up math created here. 90% of topics will never be used in the research/healthcare field. Lecture is mandatory, boring, and easy to lose focus as topics weren't interesting nor relevant, but, I would always choose this over calculus. Bennoun isn't mean as people say, but I honestly don't remember anything about his teaching skills because I was bored to death and would stare at the ceiling wishing it would end quicker. Reviewing the annotated slides after lecture helped more than lecture.
My lab section was my personal hell. You do coding in a group with the TA who walks around if you need help. First of all, when will we ever need coding..., this was a waste of 2 hours better used on reviewing homework/lecture. Coding was difficult as you would forget how to do it every week as it had no point. My TA hated me, they would help other students but when it came to me, they would stand behind me, stare at my computer and point out one aspect of my code line and leave.
The midterm for this quarter specifically was notorious for being difficult but I didn't find it that way at all. People said it wasn't similar to the practice midterms when in reality, it was. The only difference is that the midterm had questions that were maybe 2x harder and some free response questions. My advice is to go over the HW and practice midterms again, write down definitions of systems and concepts for those FRQs as its all you can really do other than pray that you do well on the midterm. The final was easier than the midterm probs because the avg was a D.
All this to say, this class sucks and I don't look forward to 30B.

If you have taken AP Calc AB/BC, it shouldn't be very difficult for you. A lot of the content can be understood in AB/BC terms, but LS30A does add on a few extra topics that are closely related to it like bifurcations and stability of equilibrium points. Lectures formatted in a way where you can download the lecture slides and fill in the blanks as Bennoun progresses through the lecture. Good amount of clicker questions in each class, and friends help make the class more fun. Lab sections are related to class material but were not tested on in the final or midterm and aren't difficult to understand. Just stay on top of the hw and use the boatloads of practice materials Bennoun gives the class. There are also a few short extra credit opportunities so don't miss out on those.

Textbook is free, but the class lectures already cover the material in a much easier-to-swallow format so you don't really need to use it.