Professor Phelan is awesome. But this class is not by any means easy. There is so much work that you have to keep up with: readings from different books with multiple chapters assigned for every lecture, 4 quizzes, a debate, problem sets every week, and multiple discussion posts. There is just way too much work for an intro biology class. Phelan does a good job of explaining each topic and applying them to real life situations, he might be literally the best lecturer I’ve had at UCLA yet, but you still need to do all the extra work to do well. There is one midterm and one final and they are not easy by any means. I think the average for our midterm was a C. The other reviews are over exaggerating how easy a class it is because the professor is so great. So overall, it’s an interesting class but a difficult one.

Favorite class, literally made me switch my major. Professor Phelan is incredible. You don't need his books but there honestly entertaining. GO TO LECTURE, he is incredibly interesting and interactive with the class. You made be worried your grade is in shambles, but don't focus on that, study, try your best, do the extra credit and you will get an A, I can almost guarrantee that.

Do not take this class if you are looking for an easy GE. This course had a significant negative impact on my GPA, even though it was just a GE for me. The grading is very strict—any small mistake that doesn’t exactly match the textbook definitions is penalized. Your choice of TA is extremely important, as it can affect your experience. There are weekly quizzes based on problem sets, and the midterm is challenging.
I do not recommend this class for GE students—consider an alternative if you are not a science major. The pace is very fast, and the professor goes through slides quickly, making it difficult to take notes. Missing even a single class can put you behind. Only take this course if it is absolutely necessary.

Jay Phelan is by far the best teacher I’ve ever had at UCLA. He’s incredibly passionate about what he teaches, and I’ve never fallen in love with a course this much. Everything I learned is so applicable to my everyday life, and I still find myself thinking about this class often. I’d definitely take it again! I had to study and stay focused, but it was so much fun.

Professor Phelan might genuinely be the most engaging professors ever! Ever lecture was not only informative, but actually fun. I looked forward to going to class. The content was seriously so interesting and is great to know since its about the mechanisms behind you and your behavior.

I would really suggest not falling behind on lectures or readings because it is pretty fast-paced.

Seriously, TAKE THIS CLASS!!!

OKAY I SOMEWHAT LIKE THE CLASS BUT HEAR ME OUT THE CHOOSE YOUR TA WISELY. OH I JUST DIDN’T LIKE SHOWING UP TO MY DISCUSSION BECAUSE MY TA WAS SERIOUS AND DISRESPECTFUL. SHE NEVER SEEMED HAPPY DURING DISCUSSION WHICH MADE IT LESS ENGAGING. I FEEL LIKE A GOOD TA WOULD BE THE OPPOSITE COMPARED TO ALL THE TA’s I HAVE IN ALL MY OTHER COURSES. I THINK THAT THERE WAS THIS OTHER TA (T) WHO HELPED A LOT AND EVERYONE ALWAYS FINDS HIM TO BE REALLY ENGAGING AND YOU CAN ASK HIM ANY QUESTION WITHOUT FEELING LIKE YOU ARE NOT SMART OR SOMETHING. BUT YES DON’T GET THE TA (J) BECAUSE IT WILL BE MISERABLE.

This class is so hard if you are not a science major do not take it for a GE!!! Every person I know who took it outside of major requirements did not get an A and thought it was hard. The tests are difficult and the professor covers so much content; his questions are so specific and graded harshly. Would not recommend this class at all.

Overall I had a lot of fun and learned so much from taking this class. However this is NOT an easy GE. In fact, it definitely is one of the most challenging ones I have taken. Professor Phelan is a wonderful professor who gives engaging lectures and is extremely knowledgeable in the subject. The content is not too difficult but when it comes to the tests, the application of the material is definitely the more challenging part as the SAQ's make up a greater percentage compared to the MCQ's. The class is on a points system and consists of one midterm, a final, a debate, 4 quizzes (lowest gets dropped), participation, and discussion posts. Despite the final making up a big chunk of your grade, Phelan offers a very generous amount of extra credit throughout the quarter to help improve your grade. On a whole, I loved Phelan as professor and the content he taught.

This was my favorite GE I have taken so far at UCLA and I genuinely feel like I learned a lot of valuable information. Phelan is extremely engaging, personable, and understanding. Definitely not an easy A class but extremely doable if you genuinely understand the information which isn't difficult to do. Lectures are honestly fun to attend and he is always telling interesting anecdotes about his life or random facts/experiments that connects to the topics and makes the information more memorable. There are problem sets each week, 4 quizzes based off one question from the problem set, one group debate during discussion, one midterm and a final. The exams consistent of multiple choice and short answer questions. He offers ample extra credit opportunities as well. The textbooks are helpful and honestly interesting to read but not entirely necessary to read. The best way to study for the test is to study the questions he provides in a review session before the exams. If you are someone who wouldn't consider yourself a science person and needs LS credit, take this class!

This class is the best class ever! If you are looking for a fun class you have to take this one (especially if you're doing this for prereqs)! I cannot explain in words how much I enjoyed the contents and materials that were taught in this course. You go over stuff like evolution, nutrition, kindness, and happiness (obv there's more). Also, yes, like many others although midterms and finals are hard, as long as you put in effort to study and do each extra credit, it is possible to get an A! At first, I was so scared to take this course just because I've never taken AP Bio, but you really don't need to have taken it to succeed. However if you had taken it, it will only help you because this class is like a mix of Biology and Psychology. For context, I got a D on the midterm, but I then was able to get a B on the final getting an A- in the class overall. So, don't be discouraged and it's reassuring to note that you definitely won't fail this class unless you do absolutely nothing. This class is structured into quizzes, debates, discussion posts/responses, and the exams. For quizzes, you are given the problem set for upcoming quizzes and one of the problem in the set is basically the quiz you'll be taking. I highly recommend going to office hours and asking about them especially for problems you don't know, that was basically how I was able to get 15/15 on all the quizzes. Also shoutout to my TA Tanner, he is such an engaging and chill TA (from what I heard though all TAs in this class are awesome). For the debate, you'll basically sign up for one of the topics with people in your discussion group and do a debate (it's not as bad as it sounds like). My tip would be to make sure you print out your rebuttals and opening statements and to sign up for a earlier debate so you can get it out of the way. As for discussion posts/responses they are pretty much self-explanatory. Also, during midterms and finals, Jay holds review sessions and you should go to them or have someone you know share the questions because it helps aids you when studying. I think the biggest tip I would say is go to lecture, make outlines when studying for exams (helped me a lot), go to office hours, and just have fun while studying. The final is usually always easier than the midterm, but the few things that tripped me up on this quarter's final was when it asked to differentiate minerals and vitamins which I literally glanced pass when studying (my fault), but the class average for the final was a B. Also do the extra credit it practically saved my grade. I was one of the lucky groups that got a 30/30 on the music video extra credit, and even if you weren't top 5, you could still get a 20 a least. Other than that, TAKE THIS CLASS!