Tbh this class wasn't at all what I expected based on the course description on MyUCLA. Instead of focusing on cell bio concepts in detail, we had weekly background videos that went over the general concepts of a specific thing (e.g. cytoskeleton, vesicles, etc) and in class we had methods lectures that went over different experimental techniques/methods, and paper lectures where we discussed the 6 papers throughout the quarter. While I didn't learn as much of the cell bio concepts as I was expecting/hoping, I am definitely grateful for the methods lectures because it helped me understand the papers/experiments for this class and other classes. Tests and quizzes could be a bit tricky, especially the first midterm (which has more "design an experiment" questions on it than the other exams; they would grade looking for one specific answer, even though that type of question is very open-ended and in my view could have multiple options that work), and in grading they look for veryyy specific things that could get a bit annoying (like on the final, I lost half a point for saying we should use a mutated gene instead of specifying I meant a loss-of-function mutation even though my answer definitely indicated I meant that and it wasn't the focus of the question but whatevssss). Losing just a few points on quizzes/tests meant a lot because they're not out of a lot to begin with, which sucked and made me very scared about my overall grade in the class. Dr Sagasti himself was a good lecturer and pretty clear and organized with them.

Grading:
Five quizzes - 25% total (lowest score dropped)
Midterm 1 - 20%
Midterm 2 - 25%
Final exam - 30%

Ok so I really liked this class a lot I think Professor Sagasti is a great professor but really this class was ruined by the TAs for me. They graded everything so harshly!! For example I answered a question saying the protein did not bind to microtubules and the TA marked me off a whole point (points mean a lot in this class) because I didn’t say “there was only a little bit of binding with the protein” like really one of the figure shows no protein binding like how? It’s that big of a difference? Also this class had 25% of the grade hinge on Quizzes and the first midterm only 20% (which I don’t get) the quizzes were graded insanely harshly. I got a A on every exam and I still did not get an A in this class. I had to email the TAs to literally argue my side and say “hey this was a correct answer” which was a pain and they made it a big deal when it was regraded. Also the TAs did not know the material that well at all. I went to the material review for the final and one of the TAs did not even understand a figure. I knew the figures better than the TAs like what a joke. Overall, the grading scheme is bad the only reason I give such a decent review is Sagasti was a nice guy and a good lecturer. Beware the TAs can really ruin your grade in this class because the exams are free response make sure to restate the whole question (idk why they like that) and just pray that they don’t grade so stingy.

Dr. Sagasti was wonderful in teaching this class. The class structure involves reading a paper on developmental bio on your own, and then he goes over it in class. His lectures are made with great detail and explanations for every step of each process covered. He also encouraged students to interrupt him with any and all questions, making the learning process very amenable to all the students' needs. (Also, the papers have a lot of colorful pictures, so it's really not a drag at all.) You get as much out of this class as you put in, so as long as you pay attention and ask questions for anything you don't understand, Dr. Sagasti will do just about everything he can to make sure you get a good grade and are prepared for more involved MDCB upper divs.

Professor Sagasti is a great professor and made this class worthwhile. I have heard of other people taking this class and complaining about their professors. If you have to take this class, make sure you take it with Professor Sagasti. I have absolutely no complaints about this class; the material was straightforward and I felt that I actually learned valuable information in this class.

I really liked him!! he was so nice and super helpful when asked. His lectures were very engaging and interesting when they were in person. This class ( and major) is very research paper based but in his lectures he breaks it down so you can comprehend it which is superrrr helpful. His tests were the best- take home over a period of days and the information was very easy to figure out - just need to connect what you learned in the class to the question. Only bad things: 1)the weekly quizzes were kinda dense for the short period of time they give us so they were kind of hard 2)i wish there were more opportunities for points in the class ( final, 2 mtds, and weekly quizzes were what made up the pts ) WOULD TOTALLY TAKE ANOTHER CLASS W HIM but this is the only one he teaches :(

Professor Sagasti is the best MCDB professor I've ever had at UCLA. You will learn so much in this class and he teaches in a way that is based on critical thinking and application instead of memorization. His exams were actually enjoyable to take (as crazy as it sounds) because he gives you so much time to take them and they apply your knowledge really well. This class made me feel like a real scientist. HIGHLY recommend!!

Great professor! There is a lot of materials covered for this class but each of these topics were relevant and useful to know for Cell Biology. The class consists of weekly quizzes (w one drop), two midterms, and one final. Since I took the class remotely, the quizzes were timed for 30 minutes and held during discussions. Scientific papers are the main course materials for this course along with some background methods/cell biology. You will get a weekly reading of a scientific paper and he will go over the main points during the lecture. The questions were both conceptual and experimental. I think this class could be a little challenging in comparison to normal biology classes as you have to be able to apply the acquired concepts to critically analyze the given figures in the exams/quizzes. You also have to know how to identify the appropriate methods in questions with given circumstances. Therefore, the tested materials are not just mere memorization but applying the acquired concepts. There may be curves but it depends on the class's overall performance. I truly think I learned a lot in this class and definitely will recommend this class to develop skills to analyze scientific papers in the future.

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.