Obviously having taught this course before any of us were born, Dr. Bates believes it is based on new conceptual learning although it is more than 90% memorization. She thinks students have to go to those annoying CLAPs (or whatever they are) sessions, although me and two of my friends burned out after the MCAT never went to any of them and still got As. We even stopped going to her monotonous lectures as she would repeat certain concepts over and over, although they were the ones most of us knew before even hearing her repeat them 500 times. For those who believe she is a good follow up to Dr. Luceigh... sorry to disappoint you but Dr. Bates pales in comparsion. It WILL NOT be the same life changing experience, you'll be lucky if in a month you remember glycine is the simplest amino acid (or was it alanine?).

You must take this class with her if you are a biochem major. She teaches all the basics you need to know about biochem. You won't regret taking her class. She's also one of the best prof at UCLA.

"Hello everybody, I'm the infamous Dr.Bates."
That was the first thing she said on the very first day.
IT is true that she is an excellent lecturer. You have to attend her lecture to believe it.
A few words about the course itself.
The amount of material covered is just HUGE.
The TA's are very picky in grading the exams.
And the exams are very very hard. They are an impressive combination of very complicated puzzle-type problems, multiple choices about the most unimaginable details, and challenging essay questions.
This is a course definitely worth taking but be sure you can spend a lot of hours on studying for it.

1.Attend CLAPS sessions at least once every two weeks and keep up with the problem book

2.Make sure you understand EVERY SINGLE BIT of information covered in lecture and discussion.

3.Read all the related chapters in the textbook. It DOES help by giving you more experience with the material. In my case I think that's what made the difference between a B and the A that I got.

4.Study in groups and ask anything that comes to your mind that you don't understand about biochemistry

I have never learned as much in a single course in my whole life.
TAKE THIS CLASS, you'll be glad you did.

I transferred from a Community College, and I thought she was not "all that" based on what I had heard because JC teachers are the best teachers around because they spoodfeed. But, after taking classes with other people, I found out she is one of the best the school has. Definitely must go to lecture, and get good notes down. The pace in the class is fast, so you need to keep up. Do the problems, and most importantly, get as many old exams and memorize the answers. SHE LOVES TO RECYCLE OLD EXAMS. Go to CLAPS to clear up concepts you don't get at least once a week. If you do that, you'll do great!! Her tests are not as bad as people say. She does expect you to memorize stuff that you don't expect to show up on the final, so you must study for them. But, she does prepare you well. So, I think the class pace is more threatful than the tests. They are OK. Her grading scale is also generous. I mean, a JC student who is supposed to be stupider than everyone else in the class pulled an A+ in this class. How does that happen? If I can do it, it is definitely possible.

Pro: very organized in lectures and lecture notes. She always try to make the class and biochemistry interesting. You don't have to open the textbook at all since the exams are based on her lectures only.

Contra: Her exams are hard, partly because biochemistry is a hard subject.

Tips: Study every week, do all the problems, study well for the quizzes, and always give yourself time to review the past exams.

One of the most effective professors I've ever had. She has her own reader, which makes the lectures completely organized and accessible. In her own words, "There is a reason to my madness." Everything she teaches is in sequence so that you actually learn to integrate information as you learn them. Do EVERY PROBLEM in her practice workbook and her old exams and you'll do absolutely fine in her class. Having Bates for biochem was absolutely valuble. For the first time, I feel like I've mastered the material.
Some tips:
- don't ask her stupid questions, she gets annoyed by them.
- take tutoring if you can, it was very helpful.
- discussion sections were useless except you have to attend for the quizzes.

Very effective teacher. You will learn a great deal of knowledge if you listen to her lectures, do practice problems, and ask questions. Be an active student! Ask questions during CLAPS and Discussion sessions (if you get a good TA, if you don't find a good one) Chem 153A covers lots of information, so don't get behind! Make sure you get familiar with types of questions she asks in the practice book, compendium, and old exams. Review material on a daily basis so that you will not have lots of information to memorize before the exams. Overall, she is a good teacher. I recommend you to take her if you need Chem 153A.