Phelan is a great professor that makes his lectures and material very relatable and applicable to real life. He's funny and engaging and genuinely wants his students to do well. There are quizzes in discussion each week based on a problem set of about 7-8 short answer questions, and then the quiz is just one of those questions, exactly as it was written in the problem set, no tricks. So if you can memorize the answers to each question, you'll be set on the quiz. Midterm and final are long and take the whole time and graded pretty tough BUT he curves a LOT so it doesn't matter at all. Pay attention to the examples he uses in class, they usually end up on the tests. He doesn't test you on meticulous details, mostly overall ideas. If you need to take a science GE and aren't normally a science person, take this class!

I took this class my first quarter at UCLA and it was a fun class! Prof. Phelan is a great professor and he keeps lectures interesting. I actually looked forward to attending lecture and I hardly missed because he was funny and engaging. However, his lectures were on BruinCast so that was helpful if I had to miss. I also watched his lectures on double speed while studying for the midterm and final & I found this to be a helpful review. For both exams, he held review sessions where he went over everything that would be on the exams. There are weekly quizzes in discussion but if you do the reading and prepare, you should be fine since he gives you the quiz questions a week in advance (there are about 7 questions each week and 1 is chosen for the quiz).

I am selling the paperback textbook for this course "What Is Life? A Guide to Biology-- 4th Edition" for $90. It is in fairly new condition (no writing/highlighting) and I am willing to ship it to you (included in the price). I prefer physical textbooks rather than pdfs and I bought the book brand new for $160 so I think this is a reasonable price (plus free shipping) but I am willing to negotiate. Text me at ********** if you are interested :)

This class was the best. Phelan is such an engaging lecturer and made every single topic covered so interesting. I also had a great TA that made the discussion's interesting and fun. There is a small group element in discussion where you need to debate another group on a given topic, but I think most people did well. The midterm and final were definitely tricky, but nothing was unfair and its possible to do well if you study.

Take this with Dr. Phelan. He is a super engaging lecturer, really wants you to learn, and is there to help you if you have questions.

There were weekly quizzes in discussion, one debate against another group in your discussion section about a variety of topics to pick from, and the midterm and final. He also gave problem sets each week to help you study for the quizzes and exams.

I didn't take AP bio, and the class that I did take was no good. Despite this, I had no trouble keeping up with the content. As long as you do the problem sets and skim the chapters, you'll be fine. It's all big concepts, and less about the nitty gritty.

Phelan is awesome! He's an amazing lecturer and is super entertaining. I loved this class even though the material was sometimes confusing and his tests are worded kind of hard. I didn't get a textbook and was fine in this class!

A quarter ago I was struggling with my pre med science courses before realizing that it wasn't the route for me; but that wasn't before my GPA completely tanked. For anybody who hates mindless cramming or memorization and loves to learn and apply the big picture of biological concepts, this class is for you. I went from having to memorize the direction of movement for every electron in the Carbon Cycle, to understanding why people are the only species that maintain friendships, how culture plays a role in biological development, and why evolution doesn't lead to perfect organisms.

I never took AP Biology in high school, but acing this course never posed as a difficult task. The class isn't set up to be an automatic A if you put in zero effort, but the workload was appropriately paced, fairly easy if you pay attention in class and skim the assigned homework chapters, and above all, interesting. The curve is huge for both of the exams (midterm and final). Dr. Phelan loves what he teaches and it is very apparent that he cares about all his students and their grades. He will make accommodations if needed, but usually the slides will not be posted online so make sure to come to class. This shouldn't be a problem as you will most likely be intrinsically motivated to come anyway since the material is so interesting. This was truly the only class I woke up in the mornings for and was happy doing it.

The grade breakdown follows the point system, but as mentioned before, the curve is huge so you cannot possibly fail the class unless you actively try to. There are short weekly quizzes in section based on only ONE question from that week's 8 short answer problem set. The problem set is optional and won't be turned in for credit but it is highly recommended to be done because you will see the same problems on the exams. Your lowest quiz score will be dropped. Following these quizzes will be a 40 point graded debate that you will work in teams of 2 or 3 for, and will be presented in class under the week you sign up for. You basically take turns defending your side of the debate topic with your other teammates. The winning side gets 2 points of extra credit added onto their debate score. There is also 1 midterm and 1 final, both of which Dr. Phelan will host review sessions for. Attend these if you can!! He gives you a list of about 30 questions that if you know the topics well enough to answer, you will be guaranteed an A on the exam. Also take advantage of his funny anecdotes in class, they made attending very enjoyable and everything he had to say were relevant to the course. I personally wished every teacher on campus were like him, and I'm so glad I took this course.

I AM SELLING THE PDF VERSION FOR HIS REQUIRED TEXTBOOK, "WHAT IS LIFE? A GUIDE TO BIOLOGY WITH PHYSIOLOGY, 4TH EDITION" FOR $5. IF INTERESTED OR HAVE ANY QUESTIONS ABOUT THE COURSE FEEL FREE TO EMAIL ME AT: S************* :)

I strongly recommend taking this class. I did not so great on both the midterm and final, but I still got a B at the end!

Cool professor and interesting subject matter. Everyone else here is pretty much saying the same thing and it's true. Because of the whole coronavirus thing he made our final optional and if you decided to take it then it would only count if it helped your grade. The midterm wasn't really hard but the free response questions were pretty specific. The mean was about 92/150 with a standard deviation of 20 points, but the curve for the class was pretty generous (based on that average, people who got over 102/150 were in the A- to A range). You get points for participation in discussion and the weekly quizzes in discussion are pretty easy; each one is straight off the problem set and he hands out the answers to each set in the lecture following all the discussions (a little tip: he basically reteaches this class word for word so if you can find someone who's taken it and has the answers you could save yourself a lot of work). Most of the problem sets even have a summary of the week's lectures.

I never looked at Mean Genes (though I hear it's interesting) and skimmed the parts of the textbook that had the answers to the problem sets. Do that, remember the examples he covers in class, and understand the solutions he provides and you'll be fine. Just sit back and enjoy the course, it's a good one.

Great class and a great professor who is very passionate about the course content. I found the course to be very interesting and engaging, but that aside the exams were very challenging.

THIS CLASS IS DA BOMB BUDDY, Phelan is such a lad. His lectures are engaging, and although the tests might be somewhat challenging, I am certain that you are going to love this class as a whole.

I am selling the required textbook (electronic version), What is Life? 4th edition with physiology by Phelan himself! It will be $10.

I am also selling the iBooks version of Mean Genes (also a required book, also by Phelan) for $4. This book is important to do well on the FRQ portion of the exams.

Text me at ********** if you are interested.