--> Professor Arant's linear algebra was the fairest and most well-taught class I've taken at UCLA so far. Here is my summary of the class, with more detail below:
• He is very well-organized (on BruinLearn, in class, in communication), teaches well, happily answers questions, occasionally tells jokes (of varying levels of funniness), and is able to explain his mastery of the material very well
• He really does care about student learning and holds several office hours per week (you can schedule your own with him via email, see below)
• The midterms and final are very fair (all are free-response, no multiple choice, and he does give partial credit generously!), covering only material covered in the lecture notes (and nothing else, thank god)
• Lecture notes are provided, thorough, and all that's needed to learn the material
• The textbook (where the homework questions are), as well as the answer key, are available as free, online pdfs if you google the right thing
• I never once attended a discussion section (I don't even know my TA's name) because it was at 8 am on the other side of campus (no thanks I need my sleep), and I was perfectly fine without them :)
• This is a classic class where if you stay on top of your work, actually go to class, pay attention, and try, you will easily pass and get an A
• Linear Algebra is very different from calculus or algebra, and it can be hard to think differently than previous math classes
--> The structure of this class is one homework a week (which usually took me anywhere from 3-8 hours, depending on how challenging the topic is, though I know people who did it faster than that), with 2 midterms and 1 final. He provides practice exams on BruinLearn, which are excellent representations of what the actual exam will be like (especially pay attention to the topics covered on the practice exam, they are almost always the same as what will be on the real exam), and there is enough time to finish them if you know what you're doing. Review the material and actual study, and you will be fine. There are also quizzes on Gradescope that need to be completed before each class, but they involve only reading parts of the textbook and can be done in ~5 minutes (just use Control - F).
-->The grade calculation is as such:
15% pre-class quizzes (3 lowest are dropped, eg. if you forgot or were out of town)
20% homework (graded for completion, the lowest one is dropped)

AND

15% Midterm 1 + 15% Midterm 2 + 35% Final

OR

20% Better Midterm + 45% Final
--> I cannot emphasize enough how willing Professor Arant is to help his students. He's not the most approachable person but was always happy to talk to me after class and schedule meetings with me individually. Several times during the quarter, I emailed him that I was really struggling with a specific topic and he quickly agreed to hold an in-person, 1-on-1 session with him in his office, where he made sure I understood the topic and offered any other help I might need. He really does care about his student's learning and well-being and is more than happy to help outside of class. The key here is to be proactive on your own and reach out to him!
--> The only downside was that this class was at 8 am and on the other side of campus from the Hill, so it was pretty brutal waking up in the morning. However, he recorded his lectures and put his completed lecture notes on BruinLearn, so it was definitely ok to miss a few lectures (I definitely did).
--> Overall, I highly recommend taking this class with Arant. He teaches well, you will learn a lot, and the workload is very manageable. The class isn't easy, but 100% doable. Good luck!

The class itself I found super dense. It is extremely theoretical and proof based, but if you take the time to memorize the proofs and the application, you will do fine. The professor was extremely helpful and clear, one of the best math professors I've had at UCLA.

I took 2 classes this summer with Arant back to back and by the end, I was tired of his voice and unnecessary explanation. He's very knowledgable for his age but sometimes he gets confused on small stuff and calculation. His lecture notes are very well organized but the lectures itself is not engaging. Be prepare for the time consuming hws which sometimes takes few days to be done and only worths 20% of your grade. From my experience his midterms are much harder than his final exam but it doest change anything since they all worths equally. Overall I would recommend him since there are no better instructors for this class.

I loved 170E with Professor Tyler – he was a really good teacher, taught a lot, and was really helpful during office hours. There's a good amount of homework, but since we were virtual the midterms and final weren't bad. Class seems to be one of the easier math classes, but also one that's pretty interesting as well, and Tyler is a great teacher for this class.

Even though he seems really helpful but most of the time he tries to twist the explanation. His lecture notes are copy-paste from the book so is pointless to attend the lecture unless you have spare time to waste. Hw load is massive so be prepared to do 35-45 problems a week. Exams are pretty much same version of hw problems but he takes so many point off for small mistake even if you have the right answers (imagine you did everything right, exactly like solution manual but you gonna end up with high C) and there are typos in every exam. The only good thing about this class was the super helpful TA and the fact that final exam worths same weight as other exams so it doesn't really effect your grade at end

Heavy workload, hard exams

The professor is incredibly talented when it comes to teaching. The best quality teacher I have had so far at UCLA. This class contains some very difficult topics and is arguably the hardest math non honors undergrad class. The professor is just really good at teaching the concepts and I give him a lot of credit for that. Additionally, he records lectures, posts lecture notes, gives good homework questions that help intuition, and gives practice problems for exams. He also posts videos explaining homework hints and exam solutions rather than just posting the PDF like other professors.

The midterms were fair but definitely on the harder side. Medians on both midterms around 60%. The average on the final was the same, but I personally think it was an easier test mostly because you get much more time. The exam was definitely fair.

Unfortunately with UCLA's math department, there is not a select grade distribution for each class. So your grade at the end of the day is largely influenced by the curve the professor decides. Some professors decide to create a cutoff in some way where top 30% get A's, some top 50%, some 10% etc. This professor's grade distribution is probably on the harder side compared to other professors, but he is a great teacher and would recommend.

For reference, I got above the median on both midterms by about 6%, 100% on homework, and 22% above the median on the final, and I got a B. Not complaining, but take this info as you will.

I came into Algorithms with very limited computer science background and it ended up ok! Tyler is very nice and chill and a clear lecturer. His office hours were a great help for the exams and weekly homeworks. There were 8 homework assignments (lowest dropped) and 2 midterms and 1 final. There were also 2 grading schemes such that one midterm may be dropped. The average exam scores for the midterms were around B- and the final about A-. I highly recommend doing the study guides that Tyler posts before each exam. He also records all of his lectures so you can rewatch them. Overall I'd recommend this class but be prepared for potentially difficult exams.

Exams are difficult but that comes with the territory. Homeworks are great! Very well written and actually help you to understand the material. Lecture was always interesting and to the point (notes posted online!). He was transparent about how exams worked and gave plenty (plenty!) of practice problems on top of the homework. He gave HW and exam solutions via video which I thought was the best (and wish other professors did the same) because it forces you to actually engage and learn instead of aimlessly scroll through a PDF.
Highly recommend this course because it makes 131A worth the pain.

arant the goat