I am a fourth year biochemistry major who took this class as an upper division elective, so to me, this class wasn’t hard. But I definitely feel like this class would have been a lot harder if it was my first upper div or if I didn’t have a lot of lab experience. The class was curved upward because I ended up with a 91% in the class but still got an A. My midterm grades were 48/50 (96%) and 60/70 (86%). On the second midterm, the average was around 77% so Sagasti said that an 85% or above was an A. I got 63/70 (90%) on the final and 97% as my quiz grade. You have 6 quizzes in this class which test you on each paper you read for this class. I never went to lecture, however I was really good about watching the bruincasts and writing down basically everything he said. Discussion sections aren’t mandatory but I went to the sections where the TA would go over the most recent paper. Even if you don’t have time to read the paper beforehand, you should record the section so you can reference it when it’s time to know the paper for the quiz and for the exam. It’s really important that you understand the figures in the paper if you want to do well on the exams. Go to office hours if you have questions about what each figure is asking/showing. Overall, I’m glad I took this class and it wasn’t too difficult in my opinion. Just write down everything he says (sometimes the answers to exams are literally little asides he adds during lecture) and make sure you understand all the figures from the papers that you’re being tested on. As for the professor, he’s really nice and gives really engaging lectures, which I appreciated.

Dr. Sagasti is definitely very knowledgeable and he doesn't just give you the answer when you ask a question. He can go pretty fast during lectures, but office hours were definitely super helpful. However, this class definitely covered a ton of material so the final was very long. He likes to ask "make your own experiment" type questions so you need to know all the experimental techniques and how to analyze results. I was lacking in that area -- though I knew the techniques and results I would want, it was hard to put into the concise words that he wanted. Overall, learned a ton in this class.

Great class for any MCDB major. He really gives you all the tools you need for later classes. The class is set up so that you start outside the cell, learn all the techniques of microscopy, then the plasma membrane, and the cytoplasm. (although we never talked about the nucleus in depth, which is probably for another class). The papers you read in this class really challenged a lot of knowledge I had acquired in previous classes. What I mean is that this class really goes in depth on things that you thought were simple, but were actually not how they seem. Anyways, the teacher is amazing. It is Bruincasted, which helped a lot. And the class was straight scaled. Study the lecture slides for the multiple choice, know the papers well for the free response questions.

I really loved taking Cell Bio with Sagasti. Though he can speak really fast sometimes, his lectures are very passionate and detailed in a way that always made me excited about the material we were learning. He assigns a few scientific papers to read throughout the quarter, which is really daunting at first, but the TAs help you through it in discussion and it helped me become a lot more comfortable with primary literature. Questions from these papers make up the bulk of the short answer part of exams, so really know how to interpret the figures in each paper. The main helpful tip I can give about the exams is don't overcomplicate it - if the question seems too simple, it really is that simple. He's not trying to trick you, and you don't want to get points taken off because you rambled, especially if you knew the simple answer to the simple question he was asking.

Don't bother buying the textbook, I never touched it once. The lectures are bruincasted which is super helpful, especially because he can talk really fast. The exams are mostly based off the papers like I said, but there is also a multiple choice part of the tests that comes from lecture material. Make sure you understand the lecture concepts because these are easy points on the exam.

I never went to Sagasti's office hours, but my TA Raquel Aragon was super amazingly helpful during her office hours and in discussion. 10/10 take her as your TA if you have the option. This class was my first upper div in the major and it definitely convinced me that I made the right choice by majoring in MCDB!

Dr. Sagasti is a really, really nice guy! Just from taking this one class with him, it's clear how smart he is, too. While cell biology can be dense and boring, he does a great job making it as engaging as possible because he's so passionate about it. One difficult component is that you have to read 6 papers. Dr. Sagasti does a good job of explaining what the paper is about before we read it so we have background, and the TAs go over the figures in depth in section. This class is really straightforward, fair and interesting. Definitely recommend!

Professor Sagasti is one of the best professors i've had at UCLA. You really get what you put into this class. He's straight forward and his exams reflect his lectures and teaching style. He's not one for tricks or surprises. Master the material, read the papers and you're set. He's a fair grader and genuinely cares about his students. He can talk a bit too fast but I recommend him to anyone taking an MCDB upper div, especially if this is your first one.

I really liked Professor Sagasti and this class! The material was interesting and he provided lots of animations to make things more clear. He is a pretty good lecturer and he explains things in much more detail in office hours! He is kinda sassy (in a good way) and it made the class more enjoyable!
You have to read 6 papers and I struggled a little in the beginning but you have lots of resources to help you. By the end, I felt so comfortable reading scientific papers and I know that this skill will help me in other classes/my own lab!
His tests are very fair, the grading is not hard, but the understanding of concepts in lectures and in the papers is key! One reason why some people did poorly on his first midterm was because they explained their answers in too much detail that they didnt have time to finish the exam. He only wants simple, concise answers so don't overwrite or else you wont have enough time! Another highlight of this class is that he doesn't test you on wording like some other classes do. You won't get point off just because you didnt use a specific word!
I would definitely recommend taking 165A with Sagasti, especially if its your first MCDB upper div cause I think he did a good job of guiding us into MCDB classes.

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As a MCDB major, I think this guy is the most caring professor in the department. His exams are fair and short. If you attend the class and study his slides, you'll do fine in the class. Make sure to go to his office hours since he explains things clearer and in depths. He'll surely remember you if you are one of the students who go to his office hours often. He won't get annoyed by some questions that normally annoy professors.

I would definitely recommend Dr. Sagasti for MCDB 165A. If you're taking this class for the first upper div course, don't complain about how difficult this class is because all the classes coming up from now on are MUCH harder than this class.

I think professor Sagasti is a nice guy, but he has a problem on teaching. His lecture slides are very disorganized with tons of experiment data and results. It makes me confused all the time during lectures. His tests ask you several experiments that we have never covered during lecture. It is super hard to answer the questions without performing experiments and to apply these lab techniques that we learned during lectures on each question. Moreover, the TAs are not helpful at all. I just need to study by myself to understand the materials.

I took this class for my first upper division class and really disappointed about this class. I put all my effort to study this class and get horrible results. Don't recommend to take this class as your first upper division class. You will ruin your grade!