MIMG 102
Introductory Virology
Description: Lecture, three hours; discussion, one hour. Requisite: Life Sciences 3 with grade of C- or better. Biological properties of bacterial and animal viruses, replication, methods of detection, interactions with host cells and multicellular hosts. Letter grading.
Units: 4.0
Units: 4.0
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Most Helpful Review
He only taught the last 1/3 of the course when I took him. I never went to his lecture so I don't even know how he looks or sounds like, but the material he chose to go over was interesting. However, there are a lot of grammatical and spelling errors in his reader. His test questions on the final was surprisingly easy (I heard that he did that because of student complaints from last year). If you memorize all the material in the online powerpoint slides and the reader, and fairly know what is going on, you will get most of the points.
He only taught the last 1/3 of the course when I took him. I never went to his lecture so I don't even know how he looks or sounds like, but the material he chose to go over was interesting. However, there are a lot of grammatical and spelling errors in his reader. His test questions on the final was surprisingly easy (I heard that he did that because of student complaints from last year). If you memorize all the material in the online powerpoint slides and the reader, and fairly know what is going on, you will get most of the points.
Most Helpful Review
Winter 2019 - Okay Winter Class 2020, 2021, 2022, and so on, here are some heads up things before you take the class: 1) 100% of your grade is exams. Exam 1: 100 pts, Exam 2: 100 pts, Final exam: 150pts. No busy work to buffer your grade. There are regrades for specific questions. 2) Depending on the average, he will curve so that the top 35% gets A-/A/A+. Most of you, I know, will want that A/A+ so strive for top 25% at least. 3) My scores: Exam 1: 75/100 [Class average: 65/100], Exam 2: 86.5/100 [Class average: 80/100], Final: 148.2/150 [Class average: 112/150] , which sums to 309.7/350 (88.5% overall raw score). I still got an A [insert humble brag], which was like 5 points off of an A+ 4) Best TA's I've ever had. An-Chieh Feng, Bradley, and Choi are all good. An-Chieh Feng is the best though. 5) Exams are fair, but you need to be attentive and rested before so you don't make silly mistakes. Study right for the exam by understanding the points he emphasizes during his lectures. Please, do not study this class like it's another memorization class. He will test you on understanding and your ability to think through a problem, not whether or not you remember something. If he does test you on such a thing, it will be something big or very important that he has emphasized in lecture. 6) Contact me at ************* if you want exam scoops. 7) Take this class, hands down one of the most amazing classes I've taken. Dasgupta is 100% the reason why this class is one of the best in the MIMG department.
Winter 2019 - Okay Winter Class 2020, 2021, 2022, and so on, here are some heads up things before you take the class: 1) 100% of your grade is exams. Exam 1: 100 pts, Exam 2: 100 pts, Final exam: 150pts. No busy work to buffer your grade. There are regrades for specific questions. 2) Depending on the average, he will curve so that the top 35% gets A-/A/A+. Most of you, I know, will want that A/A+ so strive for top 25% at least. 3) My scores: Exam 1: 75/100 [Class average: 65/100], Exam 2: 86.5/100 [Class average: 80/100], Final: 148.2/150 [Class average: 112/150] , which sums to 309.7/350 (88.5% overall raw score). I still got an A [insert humble brag], which was like 5 points off of an A+ 4) Best TA's I've ever had. An-Chieh Feng, Bradley, and Choi are all good. An-Chieh Feng is the best though. 5) Exams are fair, but you need to be attentive and rested before so you don't make silly mistakes. Study right for the exam by understanding the points he emphasizes during his lectures. Please, do not study this class like it's another memorization class. He will test you on understanding and your ability to think through a problem, not whether or not you remember something. If he does test you on such a thing, it will be something big or very important that he has emphasized in lecture. 6) Contact me at ************* if you want exam scoops. 7) Take this class, hands down one of the most amazing classes I've taken. Dasgupta is 100% the reason why this class is one of the best in the MIMG department.
Most Helpful Review
Horrible. One of the most arrogant teachers I have come accross in my 4 years at UCLA. He mentioned how he taught med students on a daily basis, like we are supposed to be impressed with his teaching prowess. Dagusputa was great and he ACTUALLY cared about what we learning. Wish I could say the same about Feldman. Tests were hard, even if you studied well. Unfortunately, theres no way to avoid this guy.
Horrible. One of the most arrogant teachers I have come accross in my 4 years at UCLA. He mentioned how he taught med students on a daily basis, like we are supposed to be impressed with his teaching prowess. Dagusputa was great and he ACTUALLY cared about what we learning. Wish I could say the same about Feldman. Tests were hard, even if you studied well. Unfortunately, theres no way to avoid this guy.
Most Helpful Review
Winter 2022 - Professor’s Oliver Fregoso and Melody Li co-teach this class in the Winter, and they are both amazing lecturers who truly care about their students’ learning. The beginning of the class covers very introductory virology concepts and mechanisms. Thus, the concepts themselves are not very difficult, but be aware that they do expect you to know a lot of information for the tests. The exams are challenging and focus mainly on viral mechanisms, not straight memorization. However, the two midterms are not cumulative and the length of each exam is pretty reasonable. In my experience, the best way to study for this class is to attend lectures or rewatch the Bruincasts since anything from their lectures are fair game. Both Dr. Fregoso and Dr. Li hold very engaging office hours, and they really enjoy students who talk about virology topics beyond the scope of the class. Importantly, the class only has 2 midterm exams and 1 final project. The final project is typically a group presentation about a virology topic. The final project is graded extremely leniently (eg. students typically score 90-100%). I took this class as a MIMG major, however, I think this is such an interesting and fun class for any life science student. The topics covered in this class were really interesting for me, and once I set up a studying schedule the workload was really manageable. Discussions aren't mandatory but I would really recommend attending. Overall I really liked this class, and I would definitely recommend Dr. Fregoso as a professor!
Winter 2022 - Professor’s Oliver Fregoso and Melody Li co-teach this class in the Winter, and they are both amazing lecturers who truly care about their students’ learning. The beginning of the class covers very introductory virology concepts and mechanisms. Thus, the concepts themselves are not very difficult, but be aware that they do expect you to know a lot of information for the tests. The exams are challenging and focus mainly on viral mechanisms, not straight memorization. However, the two midterms are not cumulative and the length of each exam is pretty reasonable. In my experience, the best way to study for this class is to attend lectures or rewatch the Bruincasts since anything from their lectures are fair game. Both Dr. Fregoso and Dr. Li hold very engaging office hours, and they really enjoy students who talk about virology topics beyond the scope of the class. Importantly, the class only has 2 midterm exams and 1 final project. The final project is typically a group presentation about a virology topic. The final project is graded extremely leniently (eg. students typically score 90-100%). I took this class as a MIMG major, however, I think this is such an interesting and fun class for any life science student. The topics covered in this class were really interesting for me, and once I set up a studying schedule the workload was really manageable. Discussions aren't mandatory but I would really recommend attending. Overall I really liked this class, and I would definitely recommend Dr. Fregoso as a professor!
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Winter 2020 - Dr. Li is one of the sweetest MIMG professors I’ve ever had teaching the most fascinating course I’ve ever taken. You can tell she is very passionate about viruses and giving her students the help they need. In winter 2020, the structure of the class was such that Dr. Dasgupta taught about bacteriophages and Poliovirus, Dr. Li taught about RNA viruses, and Dr. Fregoso (also an amazing professor) taught about human DNA viruses. The grading was such that the top 25% (at least) would have some kind of A. Starting in Winter 2021, only Dr. Li and Dr. Fregoso will be teaching the class. I heard that in future quarters, the grading will be a straight scale (which may or may not be as forgiving as the tests are still quite hard, but doable if you study equally as hard). Not confirmed, just what I heard. Also they’re doing an entire course restructuring than what I experienced, but the way Dr. Li explained the restructured course makes a lot of sense and sounds like the students will learn many concepts and ideas earlier on which will make learning in general easier. But overall, the content of the course is unmatched to any MIMG course I’ve ever taken. The class may be challenging, but learning all about viruses made it always fun and interesting. But more on Dr. Li, she is just fantastic. Highly recommend going to her office hours. She learns her students names there and clarifies class material (lots of things might not make sense the first go-around e.g. coronaviruses and measles were tough ones for me). She explains things much like an LA would, which I really like because it promotes long-term learning & understanding. She also loves talking about life in general - she’ll pick up any conversation with you and you really feel a lot of MIMG care, something that may feel absent in large lecture halls or from colder professors. She has so much experience in virology/innate immunity/research so ask her about that for a very fascinating conversation about what’s new in those fields. Anyways I don’t want to drone on, but Dr. Li was truly the best MIMG professor I’ve ever had. The care, the knowledge, the teaching, EVERYTHING. It made MIMG 102 my favorite MIMG class I’ve ever taken, so I highly recommend taking it to anyone reading this. Side note: Emily Yang was my TA. She’s phenomenal. She goes above and beyond what any TA should do for their students, but it made a huge difference for me when I took the course. Definitely the best TA I’ve ever had imo. Take Emily if you can, and go to her OH too!
Winter 2020 - Dr. Li is one of the sweetest MIMG professors I’ve ever had teaching the most fascinating course I’ve ever taken. You can tell she is very passionate about viruses and giving her students the help they need. In winter 2020, the structure of the class was such that Dr. Dasgupta taught about bacteriophages and Poliovirus, Dr. Li taught about RNA viruses, and Dr. Fregoso (also an amazing professor) taught about human DNA viruses. The grading was such that the top 25% (at least) would have some kind of A. Starting in Winter 2021, only Dr. Li and Dr. Fregoso will be teaching the class. I heard that in future quarters, the grading will be a straight scale (which may or may not be as forgiving as the tests are still quite hard, but doable if you study equally as hard). Not confirmed, just what I heard. Also they’re doing an entire course restructuring than what I experienced, but the way Dr. Li explained the restructured course makes a lot of sense and sounds like the students will learn many concepts and ideas earlier on which will make learning in general easier. But overall, the content of the course is unmatched to any MIMG course I’ve ever taken. The class may be challenging, but learning all about viruses made it always fun and interesting. But more on Dr. Li, she is just fantastic. Highly recommend going to her office hours. She learns her students names there and clarifies class material (lots of things might not make sense the first go-around e.g. coronaviruses and measles were tough ones for me). She explains things much like an LA would, which I really like because it promotes long-term learning & understanding. She also loves talking about life in general - she’ll pick up any conversation with you and you really feel a lot of MIMG care, something that may feel absent in large lecture halls or from colder professors. She has so much experience in virology/innate immunity/research so ask her about that for a very fascinating conversation about what’s new in those fields. Anyways I don’t want to drone on, but Dr. Li was truly the best MIMG professor I’ve ever had. The care, the knowledge, the teaching, EVERYTHING. It made MIMG 102 my favorite MIMG class I’ve ever taken, so I highly recommend taking it to anyone reading this. Side note: Emily Yang was my TA. She’s phenomenal. She goes above and beyond what any TA should do for their students, but it made a huge difference for me when I took the course. Definitely the best TA I’ve ever had imo. Take Emily if you can, and go to her OH too!
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