Do not buy the textbook for this class. It's super expensive and completely a waste. The only thing you need to do for this class is to memorize the course reader word for word (literally!!!) and do all the problems in the workbook. For the 2nd midterm, nakamoto took questions straight out of the workbook. The final is definitely harder than the 2 midterms. Make sure to re-memorize EVERYTHING from the previous material. There's a couple of questions that require extra thinking beyond what you learn in class, but they're not impossible. A helpful tip: memorize the structures of EPA and DHA, which she writes on the board but are not in the course reader. Good luck!

Nakamoto uses the course reader (compendium) to teach the class, and she goes over it very fast. The class is almost always ahead so she would give you a week of lectures as office hours to prepare for each midterm and the final. You have to know everything in the compendium. Everything. It seems like a lot, and it is, when you have to learn the structures of many many molecules. However, her midterms are very straightforward. Read the compedium and do the practice problems. DO THE PRACTICE PROBLEMS! She took problems from the practice problem book and slapped it on both midterms.

The midterms and final have the same format: multiple choice questions, matching, and short answers (ex: drawing a structure, a reaction, hemoglobin curve, titration curve, etc.) The midterms were fairly easy, but the final was hard mainly because there is a lot to study for (so many little details!)

I had an amazing TA, the best TA I have ever had actually. Her name is Theresa, I'm not sure if she will continue to be a TA but if you take this class, pick her as your TA. She gives her best effort to help the students.

nakamoto's 153A class was wayyy too intense. i took this course during the summer (session A of summer 2009) and had to drop the other class i was taking since this class took up so much time. the midterms were somewhat difficult but the majority of the points were the free response sections which were not that hard as long as you studied the workbook and attended CLAPS sessions. the final was absolutely ridiculous. saw material that i have never seen before such as the biochemistry of e.coli metabolism...
i dont know how other 153A classes are but nakamoto takes biochemistry to a whole new level.

UGH. Too much work, and the final is so hard. I had an 92 percent going into the final, but ended up with a B. I think the people who rated her before they got their final grades maybe would have been a bit more harsh if they had waited for their grades. She doesn't curve in order to foster cooperative learning, but it doesn't matter what you have before the final because the final is so hard and impossible to complete. I think it would be better to curve at least the final. The midterms are straightforward, and some parts are even easy. But the final. I studied all of Week 10 for this one final because it was my first one. Even if I had known all the questions and answers going into the final, I don't think I could have finished WRITING the answers in 3 hours. So many people I know had A's going in, but the final is killer. As the previous poster said, people were crying after the final. I have no idea how people managed to get A's. Nakamoto is a fair lecturer, but is not helpful and often rude when answering questions especially one on one and in Q&A sessions, at least to me. She finished lecturing with like 3 meetings before the end of the quarter, and she had at least 4 Q&A sessions during lecture time, and even cancelled a few lectures, but still finished early. I think she could have used the time to more clearly go over the material. But it doesn't matter how well you know the material. The final is horrible. If you ask her what will be on the midterm, she says anything in the compendium is fair game. You basically have to know all structures of all chemical compounds in the compendium. I started taking the course in the summer with another prof, but dropped it because of health problems, but I wish I had just finished with an easy A. Benson Ngo is the best TA. I had another TA, but went to Benson's sections just to learn. He will give you pointers for the exams and review past questions.

I had heard about this class and that it was hard, so I came in expecting the worst. To be honest, nakamoto isn't hard at all, and almost everything was review. This class covers basic macromolecules (proteins, lipids, carbs, no nucleic acids really) and the metabolic pathways that use them (glycolysis, citric acid cycle, and the ETC). If you took the 14 series, brushing up on chemical equilibria, free energy, and basic electrochem should help a lot. Most of the stuff in the class really builds up on itself. You do need to memorize things, but if you focus on conceptual understanding and the big picture you should be good to go. If you want to do yourself a favor memorize these: 20 amino acids (w/ structure) and each step in glycolysis and the CAC. Get the lehninger book from the library, Bate's compedium is basically a simplified Lehninger with extras here and there. Got sick during the week before finals studied maybe 1 day for the final, no review of old stuff, still got an A =). key is to retain info you learned from the first 2/3 of the class, instead of cramming it all just before the midterm

Definitely, you have to study hard for final. It is crazy and intense. However, the midterms are easy She is not good at explaining. Always reads from the compendinum without detailed explaination. Benson Ngo is a great TA. Try to go to his discussion and review section. Remember, study everything for final (all free responses)

I worshipped her until the second I had the finals on my hand. Enough said... just like what every said, you might be the top 1% in the class going into finals, and end up with a B. no curve to this class, which RUINS your grade. no curve does not equal easy grading.

The only thing that I didn't like about Prof Nakamoto is that she said the final format would exactly be the same with the midterms but it really wasnt. Also, the second midterm that was'cumulative' did not contain too much information from the first MT material so I didn't study too much of the previous stuff but....but....
Almost half, or more than half of the final exam was on the earlier material (1/3) of the compendium...
Exams are not hard but there is just alot to understand and memorize. Study the whole reader for the final if you want to get an A in this class. Before the final my grade was 96% (absolute scale) but I think it's gonna go down to an A- OR B+ after the final which was today only because I didnt study the previous material so I forgot some of the stuff not because the test was hard.

This teacher does not care about student's learning. She is snobbish and acts very haughty. Her midterms were really easy but her final was a killer...People cried after the exam was over.

She doesn't make the textbook mandatory and most of her lectures were from the compendium. She reads off her slides and it's easy to fall asleep in the class. Listen to her lectures if you can't fall asleep. It works better than melatonin.

Avoid if you can. Especially if you're a premed and don't want your GPA screwed.

She keeps her past exams top secret so you can't find any practice ones online/around.

I really hope she changes her teaching tactics because it seems like she enjoys students' sad faces.

Believe me, I used to like Chemistry.

She's alright.. nothing to write home about.. she talks coherently and knows the concepts well enough to teach it but sometimes when you ask her a question that she doesn't know, she hides behind Dr. Bate's shadow saying, "well.. that's what She wrote here... so I guess"
don't even bother buying the textbooks because the bible for this class is the compendium that Dr. bates wrote..
she rarely refers to some illustrations in the textbook... when she did, I just wrote down the topic she talked about and looked it up in the library...like the LDL VDL crap.. and as long as you look them up, you'll be fine. i got the textbook questions right on the exam..
so don't bother buying the textbook, save your cash for yourself.
speaking of exams, the first two midterms are fair game... just conceptually grasp the ideas and memorize your stuff and you'll be fine. this is where everyone gets the A's.
as for the final, you have to wrap your mind around the questions.. they're a lot harder.. this is where everyone gets the B's..
hope this was helpful