Fantastic professor. He REALLY knows his stuff and he focuses on trying to help us develop a very intuitive understanding of the material overall. Very challenging homework (can submit it in groups), but his exams are consequently a breath of fresh air (for 118, at least). Super helpful in office hours. He really wants everyone to get the material.

Ponce is very unique in the UCSB math department. While most professors seem approachable in class, and intimidating in office hours, Ponce is the opposite. He goes very fast, and is a little hand wavy sometimes, but he cares more than any other teacher that you're learning. Go to office hours, ask him to explain things in lecture, you'll do fine.

While the class is relatively easy to get through, the homework was frustratingly long and I never really got what he was talking about in lecture. He works through things fast and doesn't spend time explaining much. I know a friend who went to lecture once the whole quarter, studied the week before the final, and got an A. The final is worth 40%..

I went to every lecture, but didn't gain much. Occasionally, he would mention a topic that may show up on the midterm. A large lecture issue was the computational errors. (multiple times per lecture) Also, even my TA didn't understand one of the homework problems. The final was 40% and no partial credit, but the problems and curve were fair.

Ponce is the worst math professor I have seen. His final was easy in retrospect, but didn't grade for partial credit. I never went to his lectures because when I did, I couldn't understand what he was doing. You can easily self study but avoid him at all costs. I am a math major and he is an awful professor.

Very easy class with a generous curve at the end. Make sure to check work well for midterms and final because there was no partial credit at all. The homework was weekly and pretty difficult.