I really don’t like him. He posts slides and videos (we use zoom this quarter) way later than I needed. Like he posted Wednesday’s lecture on the next Monday, which is hard for people in different time zone to catch up. That’s why I feel he’s not devoted in teaching. He talked lots of unrelated things in class as well, which made a 50min lecture 80 mins

This is my first time writing a review for a professor because I feel like I need to warn other students before taking a class with Taylor and not making the same mistake like I did! Since this is my last quarter in UCLA, I have no other choice but to take this class with him.

His lecture is really boring because he basically just COPY AND PASTE the exact same thing from the textbook and you’ll do just fine if you don’t attend the lecture, so I think there’s no point on taking this class with him and I feel like I can just read everything by myself without him rereading things that are already in the textbook.

Moreover, his exams are TOUGH! and some parts are not related to the materials (the random walk material that are always there on every exams). He’s a tough grader and one thing that I dislike the most is the fact that he talks too much and always uses his time more than he needed (he can go over the lecture for more than an hour!)

I feel like I didn’t learn anything from him and this class is supposed to help you to get a better understanding about the stock market but it was the worst and useless class that I’ve ever taken in UCLA!

please do yourself a favor by not taking this class with Taylor!

Professor Taylor did a fine job teaching in my opinion, and also structured his class in a favorable fashion. Other reviewers are correct in that he would seem to confuse himself at times, but overall he did a decent job at conveying the necessary information.

The grading scheme, as has been noted, is 25% quizzes, 25% midterm, and 50% final. Therefore, there is no homework, but the quizzes are based on assigned problems. However, because only five of nine quizzes are counted for a grade, and because of their very straightforward problems, these are not a concern. The midterm was fair but tough, as the problems were nothing surprising but often required some fairly messy work.

As for the final, I took mine during the COVID-19 pandemic, so this part may not be applicable to future quarters. My final was take-home, open-notes, and open-book, which obviously will be different than ensuing iterations of this class. The final was 18 pages and 12 problems, most with multiple parts. It would have been very tough to complete in three hours had it been in-person. The problems, likewise, were fairly challenging as well, but this was less due to the concepts being tested and more because of the substantial amount of steps that were required to reach a solution in most cases.

Overall, this class was alright, and Professor Taylor did an adequate job teaching. Just know that he definitely does care about "u"!

His lectures via zoom were mostly reiteration of the textbook. I only watched only first two weeks of lectures, which talks about most of math content (the hard part) would be during the quarter, and read the textbook on my own, which I think is more effective than watching his lecture. However, one good thing is his exams are fair game if you did all the homework problems (optional) he assigned. I don't know if it is because of the online instruction, the grade inflation is quite big compared to other upper level math class; the average of the midterms and the final are around 88-90%. I got a 92% overall and somehow received a A-, so I'm guessing maybe you have to get 94% or more if you really want to get an A.

Selling Rogawaski Looseleaf for 31A/31B. Great condition
Email: missael.vasquez.isaac@gmail.com

I had Professor Taylor for 31b. I think it was one of his first times teaching the course.

Overall, i was not a fan of his teaching style. He focused primarily on proofs and proving equations, rather than teaching us how to actually apply them. He provided no concrete examples during class.

That being said, he is obviously passionate about the subject and seems willing to help out if you have any questions. I basically taught myself the course using khan academy and the textbook and was fine.

The midterms are not too bad, but the final is definitely harder. If you put in some work and do practice tests, you'll do significantly better.

Overall, his teaching style is not very conducive into how I learn. That being said, if you take some time to teach yourself the material you should be fine.

The guy is an idiot. Constant mistakes in lecture, spends time in class fixing his mistakes, disorganized to the point where he forgets his lecture notes, and to top it off Taylor posts the practice midterm solutions the day before the exam! You can also forget about seeing your homework.I would honestly take a professor who cannot speak English than take Taylor again.

Horrible. Avoid him. He has no idea what he's saying. He confuses you rather than helps you learn. DO NOT TAKE.

Professor Taylor obviously cares a lot about mathematics. He's generally straightforward and fair. Has a good sense of humor in lecture though he at times makes arithmetic mistakes and then spends a good amount of time fussing over them.

Lectures are not always the most well-organized things you'll ever see-- he's pretty obviously a professor and not a teacher, but the majority of them were fairly easy to understand. I had seen a lot of the material before, though.

If you're looking for someone who's decent and straightforward through and through, Taylor's a good choice. Just homework, midterms, and the final. I didn't get to go to his office hours because of a standing conflict, but in all my interactions with him were pleasant and he was very understanding.

I also had a rad TA, Zane. 10/10 would recommend.

Winter 2015

I had mixed feelings to professor Taylor. He clearly did a lot of work and prepared his notes and powerpoints carefully. However, he became nervous and disorganized during lectures. He made many mistakes, that is true.

His midterms were not difficult. Some of the questions were even identical to the book problems or only changed slightly. But this class itself required a lot of calculation. Practices always make you faster and more efficient in solving problems. His final was harder. Those in part b were tricky. But it won’t be a problem if you have followed the material.

My advice is if you don’t really care about going to lectures, he is definitely a good choice. But if you rely your study on effective lecutres, you should compare him with other professors. He might not be the best choice, but definitely doable.