I enjoyed the material of this class, but honestly, the exams were pretty tough due to the time limit they gave us. You have to take detailed notes in lectures as the exams tend to focus on the details at times. There are two exams: Unit 1 and Unit 2, and I would recommend studying for both of them.

Took this class in winter '22 along with Dr. Venkat. Dr. McEvoy is great and I enjoyed all that she had to teach! The course is split into two topics: antibiotic resistance and heat and society. Super interesting stuff! Both are great lecturers and they make the class simple to follow for examinations and whatnot if you take thorough notes during lectures. There is a relatively light workload and make sure to participate in discussions because it's 20% of your grade. Lectures are also recorded. Great class!

This review isn't going to be about the professor at all. I feel like for LS 7A, it doesn't matter who your professors are because, at the end of the day, you're all learning the same thing and going through hell together. The workload in this class is a lot, but manageable if you stay on top of everything. I will say, I think it's pretty difficult to fail this class because of the amount of cushion that is offered with all of the assignments and extra credit you have. This class has two midterms, both are open-book. You take the individual phase of the midterms and then you take the same test again but in your group (use that information how you will). The final is all individual and is on paper, so by "using your resources" (chat GPT) on the midterms, you give yourself a cushion for that final (speaking from experience). It is honestly pretty difficult to study for this class because a lot of the material is "applied" and the test questions are very hypothetical. I think the best thing you can do to understand the material is go to the weekly problem-solving sessions, review the i-clicker questions from lectures, try to form study groups with people, and use the "teaching method" to nail down a concept. But yeah, unless you HAVE to take this class, I wouldn't recommend it. If you have the option (like psychology majors) to take an alternative of this class... TAKE IT AND RUN! But if you're stuck with the class (like most STEM majors) you'll be fine. If you've taken AP Bio or you enjoy Biology, you will be fine. And like I mentioned earlier... I know it's not ideal but do what you have to do on those open-notebook assignments and tests to provide yourself with a cushion if necessary (wink wink*).

this class is hands down one of the most genuinely interesting courses i've taken at ucla. i took this for HBS as a prerequisite but i truly really loved it. Professor McEvoy was an engaging lecturer with clear slides and i learned a lot about antibiotic resistance. Many of the readings seemed to overlap at times, but they were very important to participating in discussion and getting those points. In most cases, I would do half the readings and I got the gist of it (you don't need to read Island of Dr. Moreau sparknotes is fine). Professor Venkat was equally amazing!!! The heat & society unit was truly so fascinating and I actually really enjoyed the readings. It was such an interesting topic that I had never learned about before.

The class breakdown is mostly participation in discussion sections, 2 unit exams that were open note and available all day, and a final paper in the structure of a congressional hearing testimony. Since there were 2 weeks where discussion was cancelled bc of holidays, we had mini assignments that discussed the readings within 300 words. There were other options like a mini podcast or visual map but writing was easiest for me. Overall, this class was so cool and really solidified that I wanna be an HBS major!!

Took soc gen 5 with Mcevoy. She is a very typical dry professor. However, she is kind and helpful in answering questions. Beware of the amount of reading required for this class. The exams are alright as long as you did the study guide and understood all the terms. Overall, this was a pretty generic GE. I am selling the actual book of Island of Dr. Moreau for 5 dollars. Feel free to message me at **********

You have been warned.

This is legitimately the worst professor you could ever take for this class. I kid you not, the testing format was the most absurd system I’ve ever seen. I composed of almost all multiple choice, and every single question was ‘Select all that apply.’ The worst part of this system was, if you didn’t select all (eg some of the correct answers but missed one), you wouldn’t receive credit for the entire question. Legitimately, the average grade on the exam was a 66% and everyone was screwed. This wasn’t just me, as someone who studied their butt off and got 100% on the FRQ’s which only accounted for maybe 30% of the test, this did me no good. I still didn’t do well in the class because of how horrible her exams are, and how unengaging she is in lectures. Take this class with another professor, I promise you it’s worth your mental health.

Don’t rely on the grading distributions, as these were all recorded during covid. The average grade in her class during my quarter was a B. Don’t recommend, literally harder than most of my STEM classes.

the class is very interesting but very hard. The unit exam was 10 times more difficult than expected and asked questions we had never heard of. the average was a D and yet there was no curve. I took this because I am HBS but I would recommend taking it with a different professor. the class is interesting tho