Lin took over teaching during week 4, and it was a messy transition. There were some things that Maloy hadn't finished teaching us and it wasn't a smooth transition. He had the worst Asian accent (I'm Chinese and I only understood his accent like 60-70% of the time, just to show you how confused I was). He used the weirdest analogies/metaphors that have no correlation to biology. So be prepared for lots of confusion.

I feel like most reviews are students that either did extremely well or extremely poorly, so this is coming from a student who did right smack in the middle. It's a flipped classroom concept and I thought this was beneficial at first, but it's difficult to keep up with Launchpad, especially since they had hard deadlines. Miss one assignment? Lose free points. I did pretty bad on both my midterms and I improved by one letter grade on my final (almost two letter grades), and with all the points that I earned from Launchpad and section (the total was like 700 points or something), I somehow got a C+. I highly doubt they curved it because if they did, I think I would have gotten a B-. This is one of the downsides of taking a class with 360+ students. You can be in the average tier or one of the few students in the lower tier and the professors wouldn't give a crap because there are so many students that are doing well.

Honestly, what I would have done differently includes really taking my time to understand the content (especially through the lecture slides, clicker questions, and learning goals) and to go to office hours (whether it's your TA or the actual professor). What I'm planning to differently for LS 7B is that I plan to go over the learning goals every week and make sure that I understand them and can explain it to someone who has no idea what I'm talking about. If you can explain the concept to someone, that means you understand the material. I also suggest practicing through the clicker questions and then create some yourself and then ask a friend to exchange your newly generated questions. Remember to always ask yourself, "What would happen if this changes?" because the midterms and finals are all "What if" questions. Know the normal life processes and what would happen if you change a certain step in the process.

I took this class with Maloy and Lin and the difference between the two was night and day. Lin's lectures left everyone confused. He has a strong accent and uses strange metaphors that make him difficult to understand. The only reason I didn't fail his midterm was because I taught myself the content outside of class. Maloy was great, but be prepared to be confused during Lin's lectures if you take this class.

I took this class with Lin and Maloy. While I did enjoy the class, I did not like Lin as a professor. Dr. Lin is a great guy and is clearly passionate about teaching, but he just can't teach. I didn't learn anything from him .

Dr. Lin only taught our class for about 4 weeks and was a co-professor with another professor. This man is so difficult to understand, goes way too fast, and does not show compassion to his students. Every class, me and my peers left confused. I think he is a good person, and was a bit funny, but he is just a horrible, terrible instructor. I had to depend on Bruincasts from another professor just to understand the material. DO NOT TAKE A CLASS WITH HIM, you will learn nothing!

LS3:

First 2 midterms were OK. Final was semi-fair, but it's complete BS that it's worth 60% of your grade. I had an A going into the final, didn't do well enough above the average to maintain it. Very unforgiving. Went to his office hours once, he is a total douche and condescending prof. TAs were much more friendly, approachable, knowledgable even. Disappointed in this class. Not the end of the world if you get him, but don't listen to what others have been saying about giving a nice curve. I emailed him and he gave me a quick guideline based on the LScore guidelines, it's still only 10% getting a solid A.

LS3 - This is a review of LS3.. not the 495...

He gives 2 midterms, and one final.

His slides are very dense, and his accent makes him hard to understand. Thankfully he podcasts the lectures and I was able to go over the lecture afterwards. His 1st exam was very hard. The 2nd midterm was a bit more fair, but the Final was hell. Only one person got an A in the final, it really set a horrible curve. It was extremely unnecessary for him to write such a badly worded and confusing exam.
DO NOT TAKE HIM!
I am a good student, and his class killed my GPA. It's not worth it to take it with him. He seems like a nice person, but as a professor he is unfair, and not worth taking.

he's a good professor but covers way to much material by quickly glossing over it in lecture. but he is willing to answer your questions. his exams- as others said, are very very hard. his multiple choice are worth the same number of points as his fill- in. so dread those.
overall, i would recommend him.

bad lecturer... very hard to understand, and exams go into way more depth than the readings or lectures... hes a nice guy but take someone else for ls3...

what to say? professor lin is a good lecturer--once u get use to his accent. he makes himself available outside of class, and is very concerned about student learning. exams are NOT easy though--they tend to be very detailed.

lin aint so bad. The midterm was difficult, but the final was ok. While he is difficult to understand at times, his notes are self-explanatory. He also gives extra credit for going to his office hours and asking questions (a point for each question) which with the competition in the course is a must for any students wanting to get an A in the course. I recommend studying his notes in and out as all test questions will be coming from them and not from book readings.