Best professor possible for 165A... take it with her and no one else if you can!

This has been one of my favorite classes at UCLA thus far. I found the class content to be extremely interesting. The exams can be challenging because you really have to engage with the course readings and lectures to do well. Dr. Coller is an amazing professor who truly cares about student learning. She is passionate about what she does. If you have the chance to take a course with her, DO IT! You will not regret it (:

Okay if you have to take this class for the MCDB major or you're looking for an upper div elective, you should take this class but only if Coller is teaching it. She's a really good professor and the material is pretty new so it takes a while to adjust to it. This class is based around like 5 research papers, and she goes over everything with you during class. Exams were online and open-note and unlimited time (it was due 11:59 sunday but you could open it on Thursday night). I went to her office hours a couple times and she is very patient and understanding and clear. She gives a lot of partial credit too. Overall, Coller is a great professor. She is extremely intelligent and organized and nice. Take this class with her if you can.

Amazing class! Your grade is dependent on 3 quizzes (25%), 2 midterms (20+25%), and 1 final exam (30%), with the lowest quiz score being dropped. You can also get up to 5 points extra credit on all the midterms and final. All the exams are take-home and you get Thursday evening through Monday early morning to complete them (final was like Sunday through Wednesday of finals week). Discussions are not mandatory, but they go over exam answers in them. BruinLearn site has all slides, past exams to use for reference. Textbook is really not necessary. Lectures are engaging and informative, and are posted on Bruincast, attendance is not mandatory. There really isn't any homework except watching a 30ish min background video weekly and reading 6 research papers throughout the quarter. Overall, getting an A in this class is very doable and all the experimental techniques that are gone over are very relevant in any molecular/cellular biology setting, would highly recommend taking this w/ Coller (she seems to teach every spring)