The first half of the class is very manageable and easily understandable without putting in too much effort. After the first midterm, the material does tend to get more complex and detailed, so make sure you persistently put in the work and effort needed to obtain your desired grade. Tienson has an amazing curve for Biochem153A, making a 84 and above an A grade for the class. She teaches you everything you need to know for her exams and prepares you relatively well for the tests. Some of the questions on her exams are not directly from her notes, but this is because she wants her students to apply what they have learned in lecture to the test questions. She recently incorporated Perusall to her teaching system, but it was not very helpful to my overall understanding of biochemistry; just make sure you skim the readings and post a few comments to get max points (it is really not that hard to do this!). The protein assignment does get a little tedious, but work on it with a few classmates, and it won't be as bad as you thought it would be!
Tienson does offer a few extra credit points here and there, and although they may not seem like much (sometimes they are worth 1 point), make sure you do them because they DO add up and may help your grade!
Overall, Tienson really cares for her students and has a very admirable passion for biochem! All the knowledge she retains and regurgitates never fails to amaze me in class haha. Yes, I had to put in a lot of work and time into this class to yield good results, but it is definitely not impossible. Biochem153A was NOT the hardest class I have taken at UCLA; it was actually pretty fun and enjoyable compared to my experience with the lower division chem classes.

This class is a lot of work, but it's rewarding. The workload is ass. Thankfully, Dr. Tienson is a very good professor, and she's also nice. 10/10 would recommend.

I really think this class is not that bad as a lot of people make it out to be. Take a look at the grade distribution. 30% almost getting As is pretty high.

Anyways I would say I learned quite a bit in this class. Like others are saying do all the practice problems and you will be fine. Going to discussion also helps and the forum on CCLE helps to clear up any questions you have. If you are interested in biochemistry that definitely helps

Dr. Tienson is actually a good professor. Do the study questions and do her past midterms then you will get an A.

Warriors blew a 3-1 lead against the Cavaliers.

Name one person who says Biochem is easy. That person doesn't exist. I was terrified about this class, before it started. To my surprise, however, it wasn't that bad. Dr. Tienson made the class very enjoyable! It amazes me just how she is able to remember to teach so much material in so little time. She is the best lecturer I have ever had and a very kind person who cares about her students.
Her midterms are not difficult. It solely depends on you spending time on those study questions. First, be able to understand and solve all of the questions. Next, note the questions she asks multiple times in the study questions and MEMORIZE the points she makes. She WILL ask you those questions again on the midterms and you HAVE to mention all those points to get full credit. DON'T be lazy and memorize them! Don't worry so much about counting number of words you used for questions with word limits. Just estimate and your fine (5 words over the limit is fine). No matter how much you know of the material, if you don't use the points she makes in the study questions then you wont get credit. 50 minutes will be enough time, don't stress over it. Try not to mess up on the first midterm as it is the easier one. If you do, it's not the end of the world.
Quizzes are freebies. Spend time studying for it as you know exactly what she's going to ask you.
Perusall is a waste of time. Get your points and never go back to that reading assignment.
Re-listen to her lectures, if you find the time. It is almost impossible to get everything down in lecture cause she talks extremely fast. The more you get down from those lectures, the faster you are able to complete and understand those study questions.
Come to lecture and get your clicker points.
Do the extra credit surveys and assignments.
For the Pymol protein assignment, spend some time on it. It's worth a lot points and it can really help your grade. Check answers with other people.
Okay, that doesn't seem so bad right. Okay now for the harder part of the class: The final is unpredictable. You have to study everything and I mean everything. The study guide she gives is only useful for things to specifically pay attention to, but you should know everything. There is a lot of material to review, so start early. About 15 pages long and 3 hours long. Yeah.
But amount should never bother you in this class. Its the quality of your answers on the exams (or better yet the quality of your knowledge of the material) that matters.
Overall, stay on top of the material, do the study questions many times (first understand then memorize the answers), and get those freebie points.
Good Luck!

This class was by far the most difficult class I've taken at UCLA. The concepts are not that hard, but the amount of material you have to learn and be able to apply is immense. I did under average on both midterms, and studied my ass off and did relatively well compared to the rest of the class on the final to make an A. That being said the average on the final was 120/200 so it was really hard. Tension though is one of the best teacher's i've had at UCLA. I can definitely say that i've learned more in this class than I have in any other at UCLA. Tienson is really clear in lecture and is helpful at office hours. TLDR: this class is a huge workload, probably one of the more challenging in the life sciences, but she is a good teacher and if you dedicate a ton of time to the class you can do well

I understand why a lot of people don't like Tienson because her class is definitely tough. You have to keep up with the materials every day since she expects you to not only understand the facts, but also know how to integrate them in the exams. This course includes the basic foundations of biochemistry, so it contains great amount of information. However, I like her teaching because she is very clear in explaining concepts and in what she wants you to know. If you go to her office hours often and master the study guides before exams, you will get an A for sure. Personally, I think Tienson has a generous curve at the end and her final is really tough, so don't slack off even when you get good grades for midterms.

So many people have told me to avoid Tienson but she's usually the only professor teaching 153A. I actually enjoyed her class a lot. The material isn't that difficult. It's a lot of what we've already learned from LS and the Chem series but more in depth. As long as you go over all her slides and study questions, you'll do fine in the class.

Her curve is very generous. I struggled in a lot of my lower divs but still got an A in 153A (meaning it's definitely possible to do well if you don't slack off). The discussion forum was also really helpful, since Tienson is always active on that. Overall, I really liked her :)

Winter 2016
Project (30pnts), participation (20), quizzes (100), MT1 (100), MT 2 (100), and Final (200) So, total of 550. Mean for MT 1 was 68; MT 2 was 63.
A+: Above 495
A: 494-448
A-: 447-430
B+:429-412
B: 411-378
B-:377-360
C+:359-342
C: 341-308
C-: 307-290
There were 10 extra credit points for just giving her feedback and survey.
Do the study questions and understand them. She is a very nice professor and a bruin for like 10 years. Go Bruins!