MATH 164
Optimization
Description: Lecture, three hours; discussion, one hour. Enforced requisites: courses 115A, 131A. Not open for credit to students with credit for former Electrical Engineering 136. Fundamentals of optimization. Linear programming: basic solutions, simplex method, duality theory. Unconstrained optimization, Newton method for minimization. Nonlinear programming, optimality conditions for constrained problems. Additional topics from linear and nonlinear programming. P/NP or letter grading.
Units: 4.0
Units: 4.0
2 of 5
Most Helpful Review
Spring 2020 - It is a pretty decent class. The material covered is very useful, but the lectures often delve waaaaay too deep into the theoretical stuff. None of the exam questions were like that, as they all focus on application rather than theory. Speaking of the exam, the final exam was just like the one given as practice. I thought it was going to be harder due to the online format (since we're given 24 hours), but it was definitely doable under 3 hours (I did it in 2&1/2 lol). The grading is a bit... mysterious? I have a 97.2% cumulative total, and still not an A+. I don't really understand how the TA grades the homework too... Sometime he just marks off something without explaining, and didn't reply to my email inquiries. :( The TA was definitely NOT helpful, he was unable to explain any concepts concretely at all. However, he basically did most of the HW questions in discussion... So I find them helpful. :) Overall the class was decent, and I would take another class with him again (but not the TA).
Spring 2020 - It is a pretty decent class. The material covered is very useful, but the lectures often delve waaaaay too deep into the theoretical stuff. None of the exam questions were like that, as they all focus on application rather than theory. Speaking of the exam, the final exam was just like the one given as practice. I thought it was going to be harder due to the online format (since we're given 24 hours), but it was definitely doable under 3 hours (I did it in 2&1/2 lol). The grading is a bit... mysterious? I have a 97.2% cumulative total, and still not an A+. I don't really understand how the TA grades the homework too... Sometime he just marks off something without explaining, and didn't reply to my email inquiries. :( The TA was definitely NOT helpful, he was unable to explain any concepts concretely at all. However, he basically did most of the HW questions in discussion... So I find them helpful. :) Overall the class was decent, and I would take another class with him again (but not the TA).
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Most Helpful Review
Spring 2020 - Professor Li is not the best lecturer and I often found myself a little confused on where in the book we were. However, his tests are extremely similar to the homework and definitely manageable. The homework is in general pretty doable although you do have to code it with LaTeX which can be a little tedious and time consuming. In addition, some problems require you to use MATLAB which was a little difficult for me as someone who had never used MATLAB before. I would say expect to dedicate some time to this class early on in the quarter if you need a review on linear algebra or aren't familiar with LaTeX or MATLAB.
Spring 2020 - Professor Li is not the best lecturer and I often found myself a little confused on where in the book we were. However, his tests are extremely similar to the homework and definitely manageable. The homework is in general pretty doable although you do have to code it with LaTeX which can be a little tedious and time consuming. In addition, some problems require you to use MATLAB which was a little difficult for me as someone who had never used MATLAB before. I would say expect to dedicate some time to this class early on in the quarter if you need a review on linear algebra or aren't familiar with LaTeX or MATLAB.
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