MATH 33A
Linear Algebra and Applications
Description: Lecture, three hours; discussion, one hour. Enforced requisite: course 3B or 31B or 32A with grade of C- or better. Introduction to linear algebra: systems of linear equations, matrix algebra, linear independence, subspaces, bases and dimension, orthogonality, least-squares methods, determinants, eigenvalues and eigenvectors, matrix diagonalization, and symmetric matrices. P/NP or letter grading.
Units: 4.0
Units: 4.0
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Most Helpful Review
Probably the best math professor there is at UCLA, his teaching style is reminiscent of high school teachers - spoon-feeding, which is great because you will understand everything if you go to class. Even if you don't get the stuff there, just copy down the extremely-comprehensive notes anyway and read it over again when you get back and you'll understand it perfectly. College would be a breeze if everyone taught like him.
Probably the best math professor there is at UCLA, his teaching style is reminiscent of high school teachers - spoon-feeding, which is great because you will understand everything if you go to class. Even if you don't get the stuff there, just copy down the extremely-comprehensive notes anyway and read it over again when you get back and you'll understand it perfectly. College would be a breeze if everyone taught like him.
Most Helpful Review
Fall 2015 - I took his 33A in my first quarter and he made me want to transfer away from math major. I couldn't follow his lecture at all. When I asked the students sitting around me if they understood the lecture, they all said they had no idea what the professor was talking about. Some upperclassmen said Penneys was the fastest lecturer they'd ever had. Although he is interesting and the class was vibrant, I will never take his class again! I studied everything by myself and went to TA and math tutoring center nearly every day and got A-
Fall 2015 - I took his 33A in my first quarter and he made me want to transfer away from math major. I couldn't follow his lecture at all. When I asked the students sitting around me if they understood the lecture, they all said they had no idea what the professor was talking about. Some upperclassmen said Penneys was the fastest lecturer they'd ever had. Although he is interesting and the class was vibrant, I will never take his class again! I studied everything by myself and went to TA and math tutoring center nearly every day and got A-
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Most Helpful Review
Winter 2021 - Absolute unit of a professor. 3 extra credit opportunities (which didn't matter for me) by attending random lectures. Recovers easily from mistakes (my 2021 homies will understand ;) Easy exams if you did the homework, similar solutions and repeat problems on midterms/finals. Just take it with him and you'll enjoy it.
Winter 2021 - Absolute unit of a professor. 3 extra credit opportunities (which didn't matter for me) by attending random lectures. Recovers easily from mistakes (my 2021 homies will understand ;) Easy exams if you did the homework, similar solutions and repeat problems on midterms/finals. Just take it with him and you'll enjoy it.
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Most Helpful Review
Fall 2015 - Dr. Rombach is a very helpful professor. Sometimes she doesn't explain very well in the lecture, but she is willing to talk to you more in her office hours. Her tests are decent and she gives a beneficial curve, but studying her practice exams is not quite enough. You need to really understand the material as well as know how to elaborate different concept in-depth in order to do well in her exams.
Fall 2015 - Dr. Rombach is a very helpful professor. Sometimes she doesn't explain very well in the lecture, but she is willing to talk to you more in her office hours. Her tests are decent and she gives a beneficial curve, but studying her practice exams is not quite enough. You need to really understand the material as well as know how to elaborate different concept in-depth in order to do well in her exams.
Most Helpful Review
Fall 2017 - I honestly thought this guy sucks. He is extremely mediocore and is not suited to teach introductory courses. Linear Algebra is challenging to a lot of people since it is very different and is the first class where it is better to teach by proof rather than example. However, that doesn't necessarily mean it is a difficult subject, especially at this introductory level. The logic is extremely crisp and I found the material to be extremely simple once you make sense of it, especially in the beginning of the class which is SUPPOSED to get you used to matrix algebra first before you start to do cool stuff with it. However, this guy just seems to not understand the background from where his students are coming from, since it was literally impossible to communicate with him. He tends to speak proofs out to you when you ask him a question rather than write anything down on the board. He doesn't seem to be able to not communicate without using heavy math jargon and his lectures were impossible to follow. He apparently admitted to me that he wants his lectures to make his students very confused until they look through the material and then it becomes clear...like what? Why not just be very explicit and clear in lecture instead so I don't have to waste so much time re-reading the textbook over and over again? Also the fucking textbook. It doesn't help that the textbook is god awful. 33A needs to rely on a new textbook. Otto Bretscher (apparently a hardcore communist, look him up on facebook) decides to make the book as convoluted as the teacher tries to. Introductory linear algebra does not need to be so horribly confusing. I honestly thought the entire class was following him 100% and I was the only one struggling super hard, but then the averages on the 2nd midterm and the final were abysmal, so go figure. He curves, but holy shit his final exam was rough. Only a small fraction of students truly understood the material to be able to survive the tough ass final. They probably had the appropriate study strategies or had exposure to linear algebra before. If you want to do well in 33A make sure to do all the true false questions in the back of each chapter to truly check to see if you know the material. Also 3Blue1Brown saved my fucking ass. Even though I got a B+ I still feel very comfortable with linear algebra and capable of doing it for physics courses.
Fall 2017 - I honestly thought this guy sucks. He is extremely mediocore and is not suited to teach introductory courses. Linear Algebra is challenging to a lot of people since it is very different and is the first class where it is better to teach by proof rather than example. However, that doesn't necessarily mean it is a difficult subject, especially at this introductory level. The logic is extremely crisp and I found the material to be extremely simple once you make sense of it, especially in the beginning of the class which is SUPPOSED to get you used to matrix algebra first before you start to do cool stuff with it. However, this guy just seems to not understand the background from where his students are coming from, since it was literally impossible to communicate with him. He tends to speak proofs out to you when you ask him a question rather than write anything down on the board. He doesn't seem to be able to not communicate without using heavy math jargon and his lectures were impossible to follow. He apparently admitted to me that he wants his lectures to make his students very confused until they look through the material and then it becomes clear...like what? Why not just be very explicit and clear in lecture instead so I don't have to waste so much time re-reading the textbook over and over again? Also the fucking textbook. It doesn't help that the textbook is god awful. 33A needs to rely on a new textbook. Otto Bretscher (apparently a hardcore communist, look him up on facebook) decides to make the book as convoluted as the teacher tries to. Introductory linear algebra does not need to be so horribly confusing. I honestly thought the entire class was following him 100% and I was the only one struggling super hard, but then the averages on the 2nd midterm and the final were abysmal, so go figure. He curves, but holy shit his final exam was rough. Only a small fraction of students truly understood the material to be able to survive the tough ass final. They probably had the appropriate study strategies or had exposure to linear algebra before. If you want to do well in 33A make sure to do all the true false questions in the back of each chapter to truly check to see if you know the material. Also 3Blue1Brown saved my fucking ass. Even though I got a B+ I still feel very comfortable with linear algebra and capable of doing it for physics courses.
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