VERY difficult if you come from a sucky high school but it is doable ! READ READ READ the syllabus. Nah but for real!! and launchpad!! The professor does her job but basically you have to go into lecture knowing the material.

Deb's class consisted entirely of clicker questions- including ones where even the TA's would get it wrong because her questions are structured mostly to trick you- and discussing her complete lack of a closet. I hadn't taken bio since freshman year in high school, where I disliked it, and while this class wasn't awful material wise for me, most of the people I know who loved biology before ended up hating it because of her class. Don't ever miss launchpad, pair up with people for your practice questions and check quizlet for them, and ask your TA for clarification on your discussion worksheets; conserve every non-test point you can. She added 10 points of extra credit at the end if you did surveys, which is equivalent to 5 questions on the final. Launchpad is not a good method to study because it oversaturates you with information, instead go to your TA's office hours and focus on the learning objectives. My TA is easily one of the only reasons I passed the class, without her I am sure I would've been drowning. Overall the class isn't too bad though some weeks made barely any sense and Deb makes it clear that the lecture's purpose is not to teach you material, it is to reinforce your understanding. If you ask a question in class, god be with you because she can be incredibly condescending. Honestly my best advice is to find some friends and teach the material to each other as much as you can, and make a game out of guessing which outfit she'll wear next (you've got a 1 in 3 chance of being right). Also the class is not curved so be nice to everyone around you, they're all super stressed out and could use some kindness.

This class wasn’t too bad, but I wasn’t a big fan of the flipped classroom structure. If you’re like me and you’ve always relied on lectures to learn the material, you’re going to struggle in this class. However, after figuring out your learning style and how to learn everything by yourself, this class becomes way easier. The lectures themselves are useless. The discussions helped a lot, and the TA’s were very informative with their answers. I had Chloe and she was amazing. Also, don’t procrastinate on the launchpad assignments!

I'd never recommend this class to anyone who doesn't need it for their major. Huge waste of time and effort. Ridiculous enforced rules. Make sure to read the syllabus like 3 times so they don't take points off something you've accidentally overlooked on a final scale of 715. Never ever forget to do your Launchpad homework, go to class or discussion, because it adds up. You could get A+'s on midterms and finals and still get a B overall trust me. I can tell you I have not learned a single thing for the amount of time I was forced to spend. What are they even trying to measure here, your tolerance to BS or actual mastery of material? I have so much to say about this class but I'll end it here.

Pires is a good lecturer and knows the material very well. In lecture there are always lots of clicker questions, but she gives you 2 free days, so if you have to miss a class its okay. The assignments are pretty much the same every week and include readings in the textbook along with videos and animations. There weekly graded quizzes, but they're online and you get a couple tries, so its easy to work with other people and get good grades. Pires also offers a little extra credit if you do pre-class worksheets before each class, which I highly recommend because the material is very helpful too. In the discussion there are graded worksheets, so its good to go to all the discussions. Pires is a good professor, but her office hours are pretty terrible. She is often condescending and can scare people from asking questions.

Flipped classroom which isn't my favorite. In class was mostly clicker questions and could be unclear.

She's fine. LS7A is flipped classroom so the professor isn't as important in learning than in most classes.

Really enjoyed her personality and her way of explaining information. Helped get through the denser material during lectures and made you feel glad for coming to lectures. She is generous on extra credit, which helps, and her "hard" test problems are those she explicitly goes over during clicker questions during class or those that we are given the answers to during discussion. Was a great class. Hope I can take another class with her later in the LS series.

I felt this class was pretty difficult being a first-year University student. A lot of the material was jam-packed and went through so quickly that it became difficult to understand at times. That being said there were extra credit points for doing pre-class assignments and points for doing the readings so you definitely had some wiggle room on the midterms. I also feel like her office hours were somewhat helpful but only if you want further information.... she won't explain a whole concept to you. I learned a lot of the information needed for this class from being in a PLF and from my TA who was amazing!! Overall this class was difficult if you had no previous AP biology experience and just having taken a regular class in high school is not going to help you.

Dr. Pires is a very interactive professor. She provides everything a student may need to succeed in this class -- extra credit assignments, small homework assignments that can boost your grade, and review sessions before midterms and finals. You read and complete worksheets before class so that you have some knowledge of the material before the actual lecture. The lectures are also bruincast.

That being said, LS7A squeezes a lot of information into a short time period, and so it can be easy to become overwhelmed or fall behind. I would recommend not only going to her office hours, but going to your TA's office hours for a more in-depth explanation on confusing topics. I would also recommend forming study groups early on; they really help when midterms come around.