I can't say enough about how much I loved LS15. It really was the perfect class to take my 1st quarter here. Professor Phelan is the absolute GOAT. The class was dense and challenging at times, yes, but I learned so many things relevant to my everyday life. This is literally the most useful and interesting class I've ever taken. And take it with Tanner D. if you can - best TA ever.

Tips:
- Go to office hours for both Professor Phelan and your TA. But especially Phelan's. His office hours are in his office in a circle setting, where he talks about his personal life and is equally curious about yours. He's such a genuine and knowledgeable person, and attending his office hours was one of my favorite parts of the class.
- Make your notes really, really good, and add pictures from lectures (pictures of slides that he doesn't post) and/or the textbook. Some topics can be complex and confusing, and the more notes you have to work with, the better.
- If you can afford it/are willing to spend the money only: buy the textbook. I know this might sound crazy, but the textbook reading was VITAL to my success in this class. There's a few chapters each week to read, and though it does go way more in depth than what's covered in class, reading it builds your foundation/background knowledge substantially. It really helped me understand the class concepts better and let them sink in. But I wish I had a physical textbook to do this.

I definitely want to take more of Phelan's classes in the future. This is an excellent GE choice, though not the easiest - I think it's worth it because it's so valuable.

Don't listen to the reviews that say this class turns you into a science person. After reading the reviews, I was hoping the material would be super interesting, and even though the professor is funny and has interesting examples, all the work other than the lectures is so so boring. There's lots of busy work and the midterm and final are not easy. Save yourself the time and pick an easier and more fun GE.

Loved Professor Phelan. He was super insightful and I felt inclined to go to office hours because I just wanted his advice. He knows so much about the process of going through school and is just a genuinely nice and caring person. This might be the most useful and fun class that I have taken at UCLA in terms of every day life. TAKE THIS CLASS!

I also have both textbooks and I'll give them both to you for $10. Text me **********.

Really good class. I agree with most of the positive reviews here already. Professor is caring and enthusiastic about teaching. The class isn't necessarily an easy GE though. You need to do good in paying attention in class, taking notes, and reviewing. The class doesn't use a percentage breakdown grading systems, rather there are a totally of 656 points available and your grade depends on how many of them you get. A good thing in this class's grading system is that a 90%, which normally would be an A- in other classes, is considered an A in this one. So as long as you get above 90%, or 590.4 points, you'd get an A. Also the class offered up to 20-50 possible extras points. I got 22 and they were easy to get—simple practice quizzes for completion only. There is also a music video for extra credit at the end of the quarter that could be worth anywhere from 10-30 points. But I didn't do I and still ended up with an A. Let me recall...I believe the final exam was worth 250 points, the midterm 150 points, discussion participation 36 points, four quizzes 40 points, debate 40 points...yeah those were the main ones.

Content wise the class was interesting. It taught life science concepts—evolution, nutrition, etc.—that are very applicable in life. A great GE to take for students of all majors, really.

If you must take LS 15, take it with Dr. Phelan! His lectures were always engaging, and he always had a story to tell about his life that connected to what we were learning. I wouldn't recommend missing a lecture for this class, as he doesn't post the slides. You'll survive with Bruin cast, but being in the same room while he's teaching helps a lot. By week 9, the lecture hall was still almost full. This class consists of quizzes (based on problem sets you don't have to turn in), a debate, a midterm, and a final. There are lots of extra credit opportunities, which honestly saved me. This class isn't too bad as long as you really, really study for the midterm and final in ways that can help you apply what you've learned.

If you have CAE accommodations, do not take this class, he "forgot" about them for both the Midterm and the Final.

He is an amazing professor. The class average for the midterm and final were about 69-72 % (something like that). His class is a point based system, so a point on the final and midterm are the same as a point for participation in discussion. I did average on the midterm but got a B on the final, did all the extra credit, and was able to get an A in the class. I'm pretty sure I needed all that extra credit to get an A, but it was definitely manageable, and most of all FUN. I actually enjoyed his lectures and how he taught. He is a rare gem.

I LOVE this man!!!!! Jay Phelan is a truly amazing lecturer. He said once in class that he was always nervous before lectures, but honestly, he didn't need to be. He is my favorite professor that I've had at UCLA. I know that it's repetitive at this point, but there's just so much to learn from this man. He only teaches information that is useful to your life and gives a ton of interesting examples. In this class, we talked about evolution/natural selection, kindness (why we are kind, to who we are kindest, etc.), DNA (not too much on this subject, though), macromolecules, nutrition/digestion, hormones, why sex differences exist, neurotransmitters, how drugs work, culture, and happiness. So if any of these topics interest you, I highly recommend this class! Honestly, even if they don't, I still recommend it.

Grading is based on a point system. The workload for this class really isn't bad - there are four discussion posts for the entire quarter, and then one in-section debate you do with 1-2 other group members. This is worth 40 of the 656 points, but it really is not bad. I thought that my subject was interesting and my groupmate and I worked well. We got an easy 40/40. Also, there are four quizzes in total that you take in section. These take 10 minutes. Basically, before each of these quizzes, you receive a problem set in class. This worksheet is optional; however, each quiz is based on one question from these problem sets. So it's in your best interest to at least look at the problem set. There are a ton of quizlets online already for each. Just look at them beforehand, and you'll be fine.

There are textbook readings, but I did fine without reading anything assigned after the midterm. The midterm and final were both fair - no surprises. You do need to study for these in order to end with an A/A- in the class. Also, the top 5% scorers on the final exam get an automatic A in the class, but you shouldn't rely on this. Do all of the other work in order to ensure your chances of maximizing your grade.

There are a lot of extra credit points offered through easy, effortless tasks. You just need to remember to do them. You can get extra credit points by doing the pre- and post-class surveys, as well as ALL of the like 5 question quizzes he posts for the first four-ish weeks (whether your answers are right or wrong doesn't matter - it's participation based). If you do ALL of these, then you get additional points. There's also an opportunity to create a music video/movie trailer for up to 30 extra credit points. I didn't do this, but I did do the effortless extra credit described above, and I think it helped a lot.

Overall, as long as you go to lectures and discussions, it should be easy to at least get a B in the class without trying too hard. I regret not going to Jay's office hours simply because I wish that I had gotten to know him more... a letter of rec from him will probably open a lot of doors. Seeing how much he cares about his students (he literally took a class photo on the last day), I bet that he would really put in a lot of time and effort to give you a glowing letter. Really great guy.

HOWEVER, if you're banking on this class for the lab/demo pair, be aware that I don't think the lab has been offered in a few years. I was planning on doing the lab/demo pair for psychology major requirements but only realized recently that LS15L wasn't being offered. So keep that in mind - check beforehand.

This class made me change the way I view STEM as a whole. Professor Jay Phelan is a phenomenal lecturer who applies even the most abstract biological concepts in a way the average undergrad can understand. Think of it like 9th grade biology, but better. He's been in our shoes before -- the first day of class, he talked about how he was not a good student at UCLA and never went to a single office hour session. I only ever went to his office hours on the last day he was offering it, but it genuinely made me wish I went to more.

About the class itself: it is graded on a point based system. There's 656 points in all. He does offer extra-credit, most famously in the form of a music video (up to 30 points)! I managed to get the 30 points plus all the other extra credit offered, so that's 58 points in all (like an 8.8% boost if you think about it). I got 92.5/150 points on the midterm and 189/250 on the final. There is a debate worth 40 points, and some discussion board/participation points too. Professor Phelan gives an automatic A in the class to the top 20 scorers on the final regardless of how they did the rest of the quarter!

In all, I highly recommend this course for anyone needing it as a GE, prerequisite, or a space for someone to learn about biology in a fun way.

This has been my favorite class at UCLA so far. This class is so interesting and the professor is so passionate and smart in what he teaches. I wouldn’t say it is an easy A because you do need to go to class to have a good grade. But that didn’t matter, I didn’t want to skip one single class because they were all so cool. The days that I had this class were my fav days of the week. Super recommended.