When the class first started, I really thought Brizolis was a troll and just wanted to make life hard for everyone. But the exams are doable and yes, you can get an A in this class. He gave out practice midterms and his past finals which mirrored the questions on our actual tests. He made the second midterm a little too hard, that he added 15% to everyone's grades even though he said he did not curve his classes. Keep in mind, he does like to "challenge" us and throw in unnecessary algebra and square roots that are besides the calculus concepts that you need to know. His lectures aren't the best because he likes to go over the theories and how to derive the formulas, but the examples are good to pay attention to. It was a challenging class, but it's definitely possible to get an A in if you work for it. I would take him again for another math class. He's also super savage and can make the class laugh.

Oh, and my first impression of him was that he could be on Dancing with the Stars. This guy always got his dress shirt paired with dress pants like he's about to break out some moves on the floor. But when it got colder, he would wear like the grandpa sweaters. That was cool too.

Here goes the most honest, objective, and thorough review you will probably see.

LECTURES
1. Draws a graph.
2. Starts with an example.
3. Does not finish solving the sample problem.
4. Gives out a formula.
5. Proves the formula and its derivatives.
6. Never tests us on proofs so he always wastes 10-15 minutes of lecture time that could otherwise be used to give more examples.

MIDTERMS
1. Gives out a practice midterm.
2. Concepts that will be on the actual midterm are the same as the ones from the practice midterm; however, the actual midterms will require you to algebraically solve astoundingly petty* numbers.
3. No matter how well you understand the concept, if you make a mistake in/have a hard time solving the petty numbers then you're doomed.

*by "petty" I don't mean petty as in (sqrt of 2)^5, but as in (sqrt of 21.7927)^(-1/3))/(7.9283)^(1/4).

There is even a question on the second midterm in which he expects us to know by heart that the value of pi/4 is 0.7584 (yes, up to 4 digits after the decimal point). It was never even mentioned in lectures and discussions that we have to know it. Now, THAT's petty.

There will be 4 (a & b) questions on the midterms, so a total of 8 questions. In each question, you have to calculate numbers like these on top of the theorems you have to apply and the final result won't be pretty.

Perhaps if the time limit was more than 50 minutes then his tests would be doable, but still unnecessarily difficult.

Brizolis himself is a nice guy and I have nothing against him personally. However, the way that his lectures are executed and tests are designed is almost as if he is deliberately setting up students to fail his class.

Many students were recommended by Brizolis himself to drop the class after the first midterm (week 3), and more ended up failing the course.

HOMEWORK
-around 5 to 10 even-numbered questions from the textbook
-assigned at the end of every lecture
-submitted at the beginning of the next lecture (so you have 2 days to do it)
-a total of 3 homework each week
-graded homework will be handed back in 2 weeks during the discussion section

CONCLUSION
1. Take this class if you are excellent at Mathematics (excellent = probably scored at least 5 on IB Math HL).
2. Otherwise, I recommend that you take this course with a different lecturer OR take a different Mathematics course entirely.
3. If you have no other option but to take Math 31A with Brizolis, I suggest that you: (a) frequent the Student Math Center, (b) go to his/TA's office hours even for the slightest hint of confusion, (c) hire a tutor.
4. Textbook PDF is available online for free.

This class is no joke. I came in with a solid math background from AP Calc AB, so I'd seen all of the concepts covered in the class before. I even thought I had a pretty grasp on how to do all of the problems. Even still, I was woefully unprepared for the midterms.

The midterms were the most ridiculous questions I'd ever seen in my life. I got an A on both quizzes given out in section, yet barely pulled a D on the midterms. Plus, you only have 50 minutes. Nobody ever finished early.

Brizolis himself is a nice guy and is super helpful in office hours. The homework can be pretty difficult so I was always in there asking for help. His lectures are all proof-based, though. Don't expect him to do any practice problems.

Like someone else said, this class is for the brave and the savage math gods. I would highly discourage anyone from taking this class unless you're incredibly confident in your calculus prowess.

Proffessor Brizolis is nice enough and he actually teaches us to learn calculus. He doesn't curve the class and his tests are very fast paced so you need to time yourself well. However, he's a good lecturer and is helpful in office hours.

He also gives alot of HW and it keeps increasing as the quarter pass by. I would take Brizolis again because I think he's a nice enough Proffessor who is quite helpful.

P.S He answers all the HW problems in Office Hours so GO TO OFFICE HOURS. It's crowded as hell but worth every minute. He's also really nice in office hours and give helpful hints about exams.