Unnecessarily large workload, not difficult content or exam wise, strong lecturing.

LS7A is a pretty standardized class, so the professor you get will not really matter. The whole teaching team is super supportive and understands that a lot of first years take the class, so they are accommodating when it comes to any questions/concerns you have. I never felt like assignments were "busy work" and doing them all definitely improved my understanding of course material. I took AP Bio my senior year in high school, and while it definitely helped in this class, don't worry if you forgot everything/didn't take it at all. 7A covers similar topics but often goes more in depth than AP Bio or similar High School courses so while the foundational knowledge may be helpful, everything you need to know will still be covered within 7A.
Dr Pires is a wonderful professor, so if you chose a lecture she is teaching you are in good hands.

This review isn't going to be about the professor at all. I feel like for LS 7A, it doesn't matter who your professors are because, at the end of the day, you're all learning the same thing and going through hell together. The workload in this class is a lot, but manageable if you stay on top of everything. I will say, I think it's pretty difficult to fail this class because of the amount of cushion that is offered with all of the assignments and extra credit you have. This class has two midterms, both are open-book. You take the individual phase of the midterms and then you take the same test again but in your group (use that information how you will). The final is all individual and is on paper, so by "using your resources" (chat GPT) on the midterms, you give yourself a cushion for that final (speaking from experience). It is honestly pretty difficult to study for this class because a lot of the material is "applied" and the test questions are very hypothetical. I think the best thing you can do to understand the material is go to the weekly problem-solving sessions, review the i-clicker questions from lectures, try to form study groups with people, and use the "teaching method" to nail down a concept. But yeah, unless you HAVE to take this class, I wouldn't recommend it. If you have the option (like psychology majors) to take an alternative of this class... TAKE IT AND RUN! But if you're stuck with the class (like most STEM majors) you'll be fine. If you've taken AP Bio or you enjoy Biology, you will be fine. And like I mentioned earlier... I know it's not ideal but do what you have to do on those open-notebook assignments and tests to provide yourself with a cushion if necessary (wink wink*).

Dr Pires is great, you can tell she really cares about her students. Our course was taught 5 weeks by her, 5 weeks by McEvoy. Pay attention in lecture because a lot of important details are verbally said, and not in the slides. Pre class assignments are extremely helpful when studying and are a great introduction to lecture topics. There are 3 Assessments of Learning (AOL), the first two have individual and group phases, all online. The individual phases do not count towards your grade, rather they are used for the group phase where you compare answers which does count for your grade. The final AOL will be your final exam and is an individual, in person test. All 3 AOLs are multiple choice. iClicker questions are also helpful when studying. The test are NOT about memorization, instead you have to already know the processes and mechanisms of the cell, in order to apply it to scenarios. Ex. What would happen if SRP was unable to bind to ribosomes during Translation? This course is not a 'do all the assignments and you'll pass' course, because of how heavily weighted the AOL's are (approx 410 out of 747 points). If you have good study habits, great. If not, this course will definitely teach you some.

I ended AAP sessions throughout the week and on weekends for tutoring and met up with podmates outside of class.

Most of the assignments required me to apply my learning and expand on topics covered in class.

This class was tough as an intro to bio and my first class as a freshman. The AOL's/midterms are filled with trick questions where one specific word or phrasing can mess you up. The midterm is divided into individual and group phase where you can correct your answers with your group. This saved my grade as I got an A+ on both midterms when I originally got a C on both individuals, and a C on the final but still ended with an A. Use PALs and iClickers as practice by explaining why the correct answer is correct to solidify understanding. Taking notes on the reading was useless to me and so were the PCRQs. Lecture notes are very important as Deb might drop some key details not discussed at all in reading but will appear on the midterm.
Deb is a decent professor and kind but you really rely on yourself in this class. To any incoming freshman, you may feel defeated if you think you did poorly on the individual midterm but know it isn't a reflection of your knowledge or time spent studying. This entire series is FILLED with poorly designed tests. Overall, a hard class which requires lots of studying and most importantly understanding.

As a non pre-med student and someone who never took AP Bio, this class was very difficult and it felt like I needed a prepatory class to be able to succeed in this one. If you took AP Bio in senior year of high school or a bio class the summer before taking this, you'll have a much better time than I did. The amount of busy work was insane and unneccessary, but in the end it does give you a lot of leeway with your final and midterm grades. There were weekly group assignments, discussion assignments with your group, in class clickers, pre-lab assignments, 2 midterms, 1 final, and a few extra credit oppourtunities (do the extra credit!!!). The midterms and finals were all online and you could take them whenever you wanted within that day. I would say your group/pod is extremely important and can make or break your grade since there's a group version of every exam, so your pod members can bring down your grade or bring it up, but try to study enough so you feel confident in your answers.

Overall this class was relatively enjoyable and the professor was kind and engaging. There is a decent amount of work but if you complete it on time it is very manageable. Content itself may be difficult without prior biology experience but if you know general concepts the whole course is basically review with a little more detail. Also if you do the work in an engaged way tests/quizzes are much easier.

Overall, was a good class. The lectures are important, but the most helpful things are the discussion sections, you should go!!! The tests are hard, often way harder than the reading guides, make sure you do the extra credit and you should be ok!