LIFESCI 7A
Cell and Molecular Biology
Description: Lecture, three hours; discussion, 75 minutes. Introduction to basic principles of cell structure and cell biology, biochemistry, and molecular biology. P/NP or letter grading.
Units: 5.0
Units: 5.0
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Most Helpful Review
Summer 2025 - This was my first UCLA class ever, I took this class online in the summer before freshman year as I came from a tiny high school that didn’t have ap bio. I was really scared at first especially bc the class is originally 10 weeks and shortened down into 6 weeks in the summer but I do not regret taking this class at all!! Professor Bouklas was super easy to talk with whether it was asking questions about the course or if I needed a due date adjustment. She organized the class to every last detail you can tell she put a lot of effort into it, I’m in LS7B right now and I definitely saw that Professor Bouklas was the reason I had a good experience in LS7A as she made everything so clear in her explanations, offered so so many extra credit opportunities, class wasn’t super serious as she would incorporate parts about reframing the way we think about learning. Overall I had a really great experience having her as a teacher. I will say the AoLs are something else… they had me going through though all of the motions but after each test she ends up going through some and giving points no matter what you put, for our final exam she gave 30 questions (1 pt each) to us because she’s super fair because I think she knows the LS7A test questions wording is from the trenches. I definitely think taking this class is a great way to step your toe into taking harder stem classes at UCLA especially if you felt imposter syndrome or anxiety about starting the 7 series.
Summer 2025 - This was my first UCLA class ever, I took this class online in the summer before freshman year as I came from a tiny high school that didn’t have ap bio. I was really scared at first especially bc the class is originally 10 weeks and shortened down into 6 weeks in the summer but I do not regret taking this class at all!! Professor Bouklas was super easy to talk with whether it was asking questions about the course or if I needed a due date adjustment. She organized the class to every last detail you can tell she put a lot of effort into it, I’m in LS7B right now and I definitely saw that Professor Bouklas was the reason I had a good experience in LS7A as she made everything so clear in her explanations, offered so so many extra credit opportunities, class wasn’t super serious as she would incorporate parts about reframing the way we think about learning. Overall I had a really great experience having her as a teacher. I will say the AoLs are something else… they had me going through though all of the motions but after each test she ends up going through some and giving points no matter what you put, for our final exam she gave 30 questions (1 pt each) to us because she’s super fair because I think she knows the LS7A test questions wording is from the trenches. I definitely think taking this class is a great way to step your toe into taking harder stem classes at UCLA especially if you felt imposter syndrome or anxiety about starting the 7 series.
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Fall 2019 - POINTS BREAKDOWN: - 68 points for iClickers - 90 points for midterm 1 - 120 points for midterm 2 - 72 points possible out of 80 for weekly discussion participation (so you can miss one discussion and still get full points) - 10 points for CCLE Reflections (which I found useless, but they were easy points) - 45 points for launchpad PCRQs - 45 points for launchpad PEQs - 45 points for launchpad assignments - 200 points for final - Extra Credit: varies by quarter I think, but for Fall 2019, there was like 5 or 6 EC points available - TOTAL POINTS (w/out EC): 695 points Yeah, this class is hard. This quarter, the class was taught by two professors, Maloy and Braybrook, but from what I saw Maloy teaches most of the content. Both professors were good lecturers, they had an abundance of office hours during the quarter and before tests. Lecture structure is a lot of active participation, and the iClickers are a big part of that. During lecture, there are a lot of iClicker ?'s, and you are expected to work them out with the people around you because they can be quite challenging at times. If you don't like to participate and the TA's see you, they WILL come up to you and challenge you to work out the problems with them. You're not safe anywhere, even in the back of the classroom sitting on the floor. Once, when Braybrook was lecturing, Maloy was going around and caught a bunch of us in the back not actively participating. He worked with us for the rest of the lecture, making sure we knew what was going on. While it can be annoying, especially because my lecture was at 9am and I didn't want to be doing anything at that time, it is really nice that the professors and TA's/LA's are so insistent. It makes you feel like they really care that everyone is getting the most out of their lecture time. DO NOT DISCOUNT THE IMPORTANCE OF LECTURE. Go to all your lectures!! As you may have read/heard before, launchpad kind of sucks. It's good for background info I guess, but the professors are really going to let you know what you need to understand from launchpad. And what they talk about is what's on the tests, in excruciating and often confusing specificity. Take advantage of study sessions hosted weekly by your LA's, I never went (my bad) but I heard they were super useful for practicing how to answer the questions as they are formatted on the tests. And they're formatted wack af, so you need the practice. Don't fall behind, try to work with others as much as you can, and by God, take advantage of the resources they give you in the form of office hours and study sessions. If I had done all these things, I probably could have gotten an A-, or a solid B if I tried a little more. This class is honestly really difficult, but it can be easier if you don't fuck around and actually focus. These professors aren't dicks, they want you to succeed. So good luck and happy studying! You can do it :)
Fall 2019 - POINTS BREAKDOWN: - 68 points for iClickers - 90 points for midterm 1 - 120 points for midterm 2 - 72 points possible out of 80 for weekly discussion participation (so you can miss one discussion and still get full points) - 10 points for CCLE Reflections (which I found useless, but they were easy points) - 45 points for launchpad PCRQs - 45 points for launchpad PEQs - 45 points for launchpad assignments - 200 points for final - Extra Credit: varies by quarter I think, but for Fall 2019, there was like 5 or 6 EC points available - TOTAL POINTS (w/out EC): 695 points Yeah, this class is hard. This quarter, the class was taught by two professors, Maloy and Braybrook, but from what I saw Maloy teaches most of the content. Both professors were good lecturers, they had an abundance of office hours during the quarter and before tests. Lecture structure is a lot of active participation, and the iClickers are a big part of that. During lecture, there are a lot of iClicker ?'s, and you are expected to work them out with the people around you because they can be quite challenging at times. If you don't like to participate and the TA's see you, they WILL come up to you and challenge you to work out the problems with them. You're not safe anywhere, even in the back of the classroom sitting on the floor. Once, when Braybrook was lecturing, Maloy was going around and caught a bunch of us in the back not actively participating. He worked with us for the rest of the lecture, making sure we knew what was going on. While it can be annoying, especially because my lecture was at 9am and I didn't want to be doing anything at that time, it is really nice that the professors and TA's/LA's are so insistent. It makes you feel like they really care that everyone is getting the most out of their lecture time. DO NOT DISCOUNT THE IMPORTANCE OF LECTURE. Go to all your lectures!! As you may have read/heard before, launchpad kind of sucks. It's good for background info I guess, but the professors are really going to let you know what you need to understand from launchpad. And what they talk about is what's on the tests, in excruciating and often confusing specificity. Take advantage of study sessions hosted weekly by your LA's, I never went (my bad) but I heard they were super useful for practicing how to answer the questions as they are formatted on the tests. And they're formatted wack af, so you need the practice. Don't fall behind, try to work with others as much as you can, and by God, take advantage of the resources they give you in the form of office hours and study sessions. If I had done all these things, I probably could have gotten an A-, or a solid B if I tried a little more. This class is honestly really difficult, but it can be easier if you don't fuck around and actually focus. These professors aren't dicks, they want you to succeed. So good luck and happy studying! You can do it :)
Most Helpful Review
Fall 2024 - professor burton is an engaging professor and has more of a personality than most of the professors i've come across. for the 7 series, the professors don't individually write the exams, so picking the class based on professor isn't super important. although she is very engaging, i did find myself teaching myself all the content on my own. she is very knowledgable about biology, but that also means she teaches it as if we already understand the material. i didn't find the class very difficult, as there is a lot of grade cushion, but the tests are written very poorly. overall, this class wasn't too bad, despite what most people may think, and professor burton is one of the better professors i've come across here.
Fall 2024 - professor burton is an engaging professor and has more of a personality than most of the professors i've come across. for the 7 series, the professors don't individually write the exams, so picking the class based on professor isn't super important. although she is very engaging, i did find myself teaching myself all the content on my own. she is very knowledgable about biology, but that also means she teaches it as if we already understand the material. i didn't find the class very difficult, as there is a lot of grade cushion, but the tests are written very poorly. overall, this class wasn't too bad, despite what most people may think, and professor burton is one of the better professors i've come across here.
Most Helpful Review
Spring 2021 - Professor Campbell really does try to connect with his students and be engaging, but unfortunately, lectures can still be really boring. I had ls7a with both him and Maloy, and when Campbell was teaching, I definitely found it harder to pay attention to his lectures. Also, sometimes his explanations were a little ambiguous.
Spring 2021 - Professor Campbell really does try to connect with his students and be engaging, but unfortunately, lectures can still be really boring. I had ls7a with both him and Maloy, and when Campbell was teaching, I definitely found it harder to pay attention to his lectures. Also, sometimes his explanations were a little ambiguous.
Most Helpful Review
Fall 2021 - Dr. Chen taught the second half of LS7A after Dr. Maloy this quarter. Though she was not as good as Dr. Maloy, she was still a great professor and lecturer. You can tell she is EXTREMELY knowledgeable about the material covered and always went out of her way to answer any questions we had about the material. She does move VERY fast in lectures, but other than that she is a very solid professor. Highly recommend!
Fall 2021 - Dr. Chen taught the second half of LS7A after Dr. Maloy this quarter. Though she was not as good as Dr. Maloy, she was still a great professor and lecturer. You can tell she is EXTREMELY knowledgeable about the material covered and always went out of her way to answer any questions we had about the material. She does move VERY fast in lectures, but other than that she is a very solid professor. Highly recommend!
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Winter 2020 - While the whole LS7 series is not structured really well, Professor Khankan makes the best out of it. By always being engaging, funny, and very informative of the material, she makes this series not so bad after all. In all honesty, she is the best professor for LS7A!
Winter 2020 - While the whole LS7 series is not structured really well, Professor Khankan makes the best out of it. By always being engaging, funny, and very informative of the material, she makes this series not so bad after all. In all honesty, she is the best professor for LS7A!
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