Here are some tips for those of you taking this class remotely:
-even if you attend live lectures, make sure you listen to his lecture recordings and type out everything he says, nearly word for word. It’s all important!
-The TAs are looking for very specific short answers on exams. Make sure your answers are very close to how he explains them in lecture. Even if you leave some details out, it could cost you!
-Sure, the exams are open note, but don’t let that fool you. You won’t have time to continually flip through your notes.
-For me, I focused solely on lectures instead of doing all of the handouts and reading the textbook, and it sufficed. However, you should always do more if you have time.
-Don’t stress when you get your first exam grade back. He gives a VERY generous curve. For us, it was >80 for an A.

I went into this class being terrified of biochem, but I actually really loved it! Gober lectures fast but he records and posts all his lectures, which was super helpful in studying for the midterms/finals. He uses a lot of real world examples and is really engaging, and he's super helpful when it comes to telling you what's going to be on the midterms and final. There were also like 12 points extra credit on the final. Grading was pretty harsh, though, because if you don't have exactly what the rubric says they take off a ton of points. I attended multiple discussions a week with different TAs & I really recommend doing that! This class was a lot of work and a lot of information, but I'm super happy I took it with Gober.

Email ************* for past material.... to me this easy class, can help you if reached out to.

This class was harder than I expected it to be or anyone else expected it to be. The material was engaging and Gober is actually pretty funny. There is a lot of material and it gets worse towards the end of the quarter. The tests were pretty hard. You have to know anything and everything Gober says and be prepared to write it down during the test. The tests are based purely on key words!! They are also really challenging to start out with. I was not able to survive this class without the help of AK Lectures, and TAs Chris and Alexa. I would not take this class again even if I was paid but Im still glad I took it and learned something very valuable.

It's a challenging course with a lot of material, but Gober is clear about what needs to be known and what is important. He's also a funny lecturer, and quite engaging. He's listens well to student feedback, in my personal opinion.
I'm not sure if this class is good preparation for MCAT exam because Gober seems to only focus on topics that are interesting to him OR important to know for the exam. The exams are challenging but not impossible as long as you pay very close attention in lecture, particularly the real-world examples given by Gober. Generally, exams have an average of high-sixties, but grade adjustment is generous.

If you are looking to scoot by without learning much this is the class for you. Gober definitely tried to make things manageable for his students during the pandemic, but I feel like towards the end of the class things got messy and our grades were basically decided by a single exam.

Easy and straightforward exams. Goes over exactly what is going to be on exams the Friday before, and TAs hold very helpful review sessions beforehand. Heard he doesn't prepare you well for MCAT level material, but easy A.

Very accomodating to students Spring 2020 with COVID etc. Very kind professor and teaches well.

Chem 153A with Gober was quite a ride. His lectures aren't the best - he prints out slides for students which is helpful, but he goes off on tangents and at times doesn't seem to make points clear. Sometimes students are left to figure out kind of what he meant or put his thoughts together. However, he somewhat makes up for that by being humorous and trying to engage the class in his various jokes.
The best part about his class though is that it's entirely based on just two midterms and the final (no homework or other graded assignments). A few days before each exam, Gober told us in detail what would be on the exam, so we could know what to study for. This was especially useful for the final, because by that point, there was so much material that it was really good to know what to focus on.
Be warned, the end of the course (approximately the last 1/3) is a lot more challenging and fast-paced than the beginning 2/3, but Gober makes it bearable by helping students focus on what they actually need for the exams.
Overall, Gober is not the best instructor - sometimes I had to look up concepts online to understand them - but his exams are pretty fair.

Biochem is overall a difficult class, but Gober made the class manageable as our grades were determined based on the midterm and final. He would always tell us what type of questions would be on the exams the Friday before our Monday exam, which made the class easier than with other professors. We also had an EC opportunity. Recommend this class with Gober rather than with other professors