He's kinda dorky but sometimes surprisingly funny. Math 3C is a challenging course and no matter which professor you get, in my opinion, you just have to put a lot of effort to do well in the class. Sinclair does try very hard to ensure his students understand the material and will often go more in depth and answer questions in class to further explain any confusing concepts. He also offers extra office hours during midterms and finals weeks.

The only problem I had with his exams were that half of it was based on definitions and true/false which screwed a lot of people over. So make sure you actually UNDERSTAND the concept and not just memorize formulas and steps.

One last note, this class is incredibly dependent on the curve so your grade WILL depend on how well your fellow students perform in the class. Just make sure you do better than 75% of the class and you'll get your A. Good luck! :)

3C is a joke. I took this guy in the fall for Upper Division Linear Algebra and he did a pathetic job with it. Sure he curves the class generously to the point where he won't fail anyone but I seriously learned nothing from him. Worst of all he and his TA Anton Malyshev won't help you with the homework or give you solutions after you turn it in because some of the problems are on the midterms and final. Yeah that may sound great but if you are completely lost and have to listen to him muttering to himself during lecture, it becomes very frustrating to go to class. He may be good for lower division math but don't trust him with upper division.

seriously, the midterms are nothing like the hw problems, the non-midterm practice he gives, and the additional problems he gives. how are we supposed to study then??? buy a book that has super intricate detailed problems of each topic or something?

seriously i studied inside out the nonmidterm practice and the addtl. problem he gives and seriously, the midterm is like 3 times harder... I'm talking about the second midterm rn.

going into the first midterm i didn't really study, expecting that the 1st midterm will be just stuff on the hw, and i was wrong.

seriously, please give more complex problems in hw to practice for the midterm or something. seriously 50 minutes is not enough time to do 10 complicated intricate detailed problems.

the curve better be good

Dr. Sinclair is a very humble and approachable guy. I wish that I went to office hours more, but his office is just so cramped... that might be one of my only complaints. That, and the fact that there was no video podcasting (which would have helped tremendously when reviewing material). Other than that, he is a good professor. He has a very good handle on the material and purpose of the course. I got the impression that he cared a lot about us and tried to accommodate us whenever he could. I never thought that his exams were too bad, despite what everyone says. Doing well on them just required a deeper, more conceptual understanding of the material.

This website may or may not work at the time you're reading: http://www.math.ucla.edu/~thomas.sinclair/3b.2.13s/
Useful to get an idea of the class if it still is.

Sinclair may or may not change how his class works (he said one year he collected homework assignments instead of quizzes).

Nice guy, thought he was a student at first because he looks young.

Midterms and final were easy said no one ever. After every midterm and the final, I'd walk out thinking I'd fail the test (and then finding out I didn't fail so badly or did well was always nice), and apparently, so did everyone else around me. His tests are the tests that you'd put down anything and everything you know on the paper to give the TAs any excuse to give you a point. Solving integrals isn't just it either. There would be a problem where you'd have to remember the definition of some theorem or so. But, like someone said, he curves generously.

In lecture, Dr. Sinclair taught the material pretty slowly - and as someone who isn't naturally gifted in math, his style personally helped me really grasp the material. On tests, Sinclair was definitely a more conceptual teacher and wants you to learn the concepts thoroughly (I know, shocking). For my class, he asked us to explain why such theorem works and come up with examples that fit such and such theorem. Moreover, some of the computations for derivation questions were pretty difficult, but not impossible. I didn't do very well on one of the midterms, but as stated below, he curved pretty generously, so it didn't hurt me as much as it should have.

He was also accommodating to people who took Chemistry 14A if they had a quiz/test that day by booking a classroom closer to south campus so they could be on time to start their math midterm. He also has extra office hours during finals week and midterms weeks. In my opinion, he's a surprisingly funny, dorky professor.

The hate for this guy is kind of ridiculous. The only valid complaint is that his tests are hard. More on that in a second.

Simply put, Sinclair is a really good teacher. He explains concepts slowly, yet effectively and uses simple examples. You always learn theory before application, and come out with a solid conceptual understanding of the material.

Homework: It's not checked, and Sinclair's way of seeing you know the material is through a one-problem quiz every week taken straight from the homework. Don't do all the homework problems. It's better to skim through the chapter, make sure you understand the material, and do only the hardest problems of EACH section.

Tests: Yes, it's true. His midterms and final are really hard. But the curve is generous. I came out of the final thinking I failed and did very well. The key to studying for these is managing your time. Don't do the problems in the textbook. They're not even close in level of difficulty to what you'll get on the tests. Skim through the textbook mainly for formal definitions and counterexamples of those. Then, the important part. For every midterm or final (usually both), Sinclair provides a set of additional problems and a practice test. THESE are what you should focus on. Do all of those problems, and check your answers/methods with the solutions he posts multiple times. These are on par (with regards to difficulty) to the real tests.

Overall, Sinclair is pretty good. For lectures, pay close attention to the formal definitions. His tests are difficult, but you will learn a lot from this guy. Guaranteed.

Professor Sinclair is a personable individual. The course material is doable (hw's and quizzes), but his tests are definitely a challenge. I took AB and BC calculus in high school (scored a 4 and 3 on the exams, respectively), and still thought that the midterms and final we're fairly difficult.

With that said, If you do have AP Calculus background experience in high school (even just only AB) then take sinclair. You won't have to do the homework (or only do the parts you want review on like I did) since he doesn't collect it. However, make sure you're over prepared for the midterm and final because he might ask you some crazy stuff. He also has weekly quizzes, but those are pretty easy (there all old hw questions).

If you don't have AP Calculus background experience, I wouldn't recommend sinclair. Why? His class (like many other sci/math classes at UCLA) is on a curve so only a certain amount of A's and B's are given. If you are taking his class in the fall with other freshman, they're probably smart so the curve will be competitive. However, if you're taking him in the winter with all the math 1 kids who couldn't even pass the unproctored diagnostic, then maybe it will be less so. Since his tests we're pretty difficult with my math experience, I would imagine that they'd be near impossible to someone who has never seen calculus before.

He's a funny guy but lecture may be boring at times just because the material for 3A is kinda bleh. Also, if you're taking his class you can rest assured that he won't fail you. Although he won't admit it, I'm pretty sure he doesn't fail anyone. You'll just have to worry about whether you'll be able to secure an A or not.

May the odds be ever in your favor.

So you want to take MATH 3A with Dr. Sinclair.

Here is my advice:
- Be prepared to work. I don’t recommend taking this during your transition to college—before you’re established.
- His lectures have no relevance to the exams. The lectures are easy material and the exams are advanced applications. To do well on his exams, do the following:

1. Learn the information in the green boxes of Calculus for Biology inside and out. It is guaranteed to be on the test. The first question is usually a mathematical derivation from the green boxes and an exception or application of that information.
2. Most of the other questions on the test come from Stewart’s Calculus textbook (and a bit from Rogowski). He doesn’t tell you that, though. Look it up. Use it. It is more difficult and the questions are coming from the course textbook. Do many, many problems.
3. Go to the test bank and know how to do his old exam problems. Cold. Put time into the practice problems he sends you, too.

If you do this, you will get the A in his class. It won’t be fun. Only 30 people out of 200+ will make it.

I took this class though I already had AP credit because pre-med students need to have a year of math. If you haven’t taken calculus before, know that you’ll be competing against people who have taken this class and already know the information very well. Consider getting the credit from elsewhere if this concerns you. Optionally, take the class and see how you do on the first midterm relative to everyone else. By then you will still have time to drop or take it for pass/no pass.

Good luck.

As a person, I loved Sinclair because he is a really nice guy but as a professor he is a little less nice. His grading scale is a little different but used to help you get a better grade. I got an A- in the class without ever getting an A on either of his midterms nor the final exam. All of the exams include advanced questions but in order to do your best and get the most out of this class would be to go to his office hours and say things like "I don't understand this kind of problem, could you show me an example?" I had taken AP Calculus BC and this was my first math course at UCLA as a freshman so I had exposure to calculus but this class was something you need to put effort into. He is a really nice guy though who still remembers my name and face and going into his office hours will remind you that he is not an awful person and will also allow you to get extra insight into what he may put on the exams.