Do all the homework early, go to all the office hours, attend every discussion, and when you study the problems, don't just regurgitate. You need to practice problems from memory, and come up with variations of the core concepts.

The class is difficult, but completely doable and reasonable. The concepts are all abstract and new, which is why it is hard at first.

Professor Kamei deserves the 10/10. If you ever take his class, you're lucky to have just one professor in your college career who cares that much about us students and the learning experience.

Dr. Kamei is pretty much one of the best professors at UCLA, and I'm really glad to have been able to take his class, even though it was difficult. His lectures are so organized, his communication is clear, and he genuinely tries to help his students understand the material (he always asks if anyone has questions during lectures, he held office hours even on a Sunday before the BE 100 final, and sometimes he stays after his normal office hour or lecture times to answer any questions we may have). Besides that, he is really one of the nicest and caring teachers I've ever had. He tries to get to know all of his students, and is really good with remembering everyone's names :)

So about his class... yes, it is difficult, but if you put in the effort, you can do well. There is a problem set (HW) almost every week, and some of them are pretty challenging, but GO TO OFFICE HOURS!! He usually gives hints (and sometimes the answers) to the problems. Make friends in the class and work on problems together, but attempt to them them individually first. If you can, I suggest you study your notes before lecture so it would be easier to stay on track. There is a lot of material covered, so it is easy to get lost. Just don't procrastinate! There are two midterms and one final. I think his exams are fair; there are "short answer" questions that reward the people who study the material, but then there is maybe one or two hard problems that really test whether you know your stuff. Just don't panic! He's really generous about partial credit, and the curve is pretty generous as well. =)

So yeah... I think Kamei deserves a 10/10 rating.

I agree with most of the things other people have said, but one important thing to point out is that Professor Kamei himself isn't a hard professor--it's the material itself that is challenging. Kamei does a great job making things comprehensible. Definitely take Kamei if he teaches one of your required courses.