Esdin talks very fast. His slides are often sparse, but that's only because he wants you to attend lecture. He has a bit of an ego, but which professor doesn't. His tests are tricky, but if you study enough, you will do fine. A straightforward, albeit sometimes annoying, professor, and an okay class.

Grade Distribution:
Exam 1 - 100 points
Exam 2 - 100 points
Discussion quizzes - 40 points
Discussion attendance and participation - 10 points
Final Exam - 180 points
Total - 430 points

Professor Esdin:
Esdin is a very great professor. You can tell how passionate he is about teaching and how well he knows his stuff. His lectures in the second half of the course were more organized than Friscia's in the first half. They also are mostly pictures, so you really have to listen in lecture to fill in the gaps. His lectures aren't podcasted, but he allows you to record. This is absolutely necessary. He covers a lot of information in a short amount of time, so you need to go back and make sure you got everything he said in your notes. There is no textbook for this class that is necessary, so just rely on lectures to study. I went to office hours a lot and I thought that was pretty helpful. We basically just sit in a room and he stands and answers our questions. You can ask clarifying or out there questions, and he's happy to answer all of them. I really liked Esdin. I would recommend him.

TA Jeanette Alcaraz:
Discussion sections were pretty helpful with going over material. Though at the end of the quarter, we didn't cover the material as in depth as the beginning of the quarter. But either way, Jeanette is very sweet. She knows her stuff and is very approachable. I would recommend her as a TA.

Exam 1 Grade: 87/100
This first exam covered all of Friscia's half. It was around 30 or so multiple choice questions with a couple few short answer questions. On the back of the test, there were a lot of fill in the blank questions. And stupid me didn't turn the test over, so I lost a good amount of points because of that. The test was pretty fair otherwise, Just pay attention to things he says out loud in lecture. Because there are some questions on that stuff that isn't explicitly in the notes.

Exam 2 Grade: 82/100
The average for the second exam was 72.4. It was unanimously considered significantly harder than Friscia's midterm, though it's noncumulative. This round contained Esdin's lectures. This had a similar format to the first midterm. A good amount of multiple choice with some short answer. No fill in the blank though. Basically just study the lecture slides and listen to recordings. Let me just say that he loves his action potentials.

Discussion Quizzes Grade: 37/40
There are four quizzes in the odd weeks of the quarter in discussion on four papers posted on CCLE. They are mildly interesting, but mostly pretty dull. Just study it really well the night before and you should do fine. The quizzes are ten questions of multiple choice, fill in the blank, and true or false questions. Pay attention to details when you read the papers.

Discussion attendance and participation: 10/10
Attendance to lecture isn't mandatory, but you need to go to discussion to get participation points. Basically go every week and you should get these easy points.

Final Exam Grade: 144/180
The average for the final was 134.3. The final was cumulative, but Esdin took out most of his material covered in the second midterm. The final is primarily focused on the new material after the second midterm. The final was multiple choice and a couple short answers. It was a bit tricky, but doable. Again, just study all the lectures.

Overall Grade: B+ (360/430)
Overall, I did okay in the class. I felt like I earned a higher grade, but LS classes distribute grades on some sort of quota system with 20% As, 20% Bs, 40% Cs, and 10-20% Ds. It's a bit unfair. And to be honest, if I didn't fuck up on the first midterm, I may have gotten an A-. This is definitely not an easy class. It's a lot of information in a short amount of time. But if you study hard enough, you should do fine.

Professor Esdin is an awesome lecturer. He makes his lessons clear and concise, always transitioning from the big picture to the details of the topic. He does move at a fast pace, but going through the recordings of his lectures definitely helps. It's difficult to catch everything by listening to his lecture once, so I recommend recording his lectures and giving them a listen throughout the week. There were always a handful of people at his office hours, and although I only attended a few of them, Professor Esdin was always willing to help and answer any questions we had for him. Yes, his exams are challenging, but they're fair. He never asks students something he never mentioned in class. If students put in the time and effort, they will definitely obtain the grade that they want. I hope I see Professor Esdin in my future classes.

Just had Esdin/Friscia for LS2 Winter 2016. Friscia was a slower and more clear lecturer that Bruincasted his audio so you wouldnt have to. Esdin's test questions were MUCH trickier, sometimes badly worded and unnecessarily confusing to be honest. I did well in the class because I have been studying biology/doing research for years (got a perfect score on every standardized bio test), but even so I knew that the questions could be very tricky for people with less exposure and practice to critically think about biological systems. Overall I would recommend, but make sure you can memorize details and think critically during exams.

Took PhySci 5, pretty easy class. Esdin is a good professor, lectures can be boring but are usually pretty interesting.

**Selling Course Reader and Workbook (with answers) for $50**

Call or text ********** if interested.

I took Esdin Winter 2015. Based on my experience from his class, his class isn't the easiest class i took at UCLA, but it certainly isn't the hardest. To receive an outstanding grade in the class, you just need to stay on top of things. I highly recommend recording his lectures and listening to them carefully after class. Don't rewrite your notes, but update them instead, and make flash cards. Rewriting your notes is helpful but it will take for ever completing a packet. try making flashcards because it's a form of active learning and will help you grasp the concept even better. I also recommend studying at least 4 days in advance for his exams. His exams are super detailed, and he marks off points if you don't answer with the correct wording he uses in lecture. Lastly, take advantage of discussion!. even though discussion is a reiteration of past lectures, it's important you study your notes before discussion and participate!!!! Participation counts!
Exams are entirely lecture based. I don't recommend buying the book because there is barely an overlap between the lectures and the book. If you have Arnold as a second professor, then I recommend buying the book because his notes are a copy of the book, and the book makes more sense. I hope my review is helpful and wish you all the best with this class.

Disclaimer: This class is curved, and it can either help you or hurt you!!!!!

Selling the Science of Biology 10th edition. Loos leaf edition in a binder. Perfect condition no writing or wear. $75. Contact me if interested ************* or text me at **********

Dr. Esdin is an absolute sweetheart. Hands down, the BEST professor I have had thus far at UCLA. He cares so much about his students and puts in a lot of effort to make lectures entertaining and captivating. Yes, his tests are hard as hell but if you study a lot, and study consistently, you'll do just fine. I took LS2 over the summer so it was incredibly fast paced but Dr. Esdin was extremely gracious in cutting down the workload a little towards the end to make it more bearable.

We also had Dr. Roberts for a week but I wasn't a fan of his teaching style. He talks really fast and it's hard to pick out what to focus on because he has 60 slides per lecture and spends time talking about all of them.

Overall, LS2 was an amazing course with Dr. Esdin, as everyone says. The material is excellent and so is the professor teaching it. I would highly recommend you wait to take this class with Esdin if you can't get in, because the wait is definitely worth it. We deserve this kind of experience at this world class university, so I wouldn't settle for anything short of the best.

Got an A.

Esdin is a great lecturer, but he gives extremely hard and detailed exams. I did not learn AP biology in high school and really regret now; I couldn't find a way to digest tons of new words and knowledge. I was hurt really hard by the curve and ended up with a C-... gonna retake this class :(
What you should learn from my failure: develop a good study habit and memorize every single slide!!!!

I took Esdin/Roberts.

Esdin is a really good lecturer. He speaks slowly and clearly, and is very eloquent and well-spoken. However, his tests are extremely difficult. I took three years of biology in high school and did not do well at all in this class. I recommend that you record every lecture and memorize every word that this man speaks. LS2 consists of an insane amount of material to memorize. His free response questions are extremely difficult because he grades so specifically. Make sure you take good notes, because if you miss one little thing, you could be screwed for the exams. I recorded every lecture and memorized everything in said lectures for the final exam (which was not cumulative), but still got a C. Definitely a difficult class.