You'll probably hear a lot of life science majors tell you that the 7 series isn't something you need to stress about, which is fair to some extent, but this is just about my personal experience. I didn't take AP Bio in high school and felt very behind and frustrated during the first few weeks of the course. I did poorly on the first midterm and was pretty discouraged, but I proceeded to work my butt off and I religiously attended professor and TA office hours, as well as the CLC problem-solving sessions (super helpful imo!). Don't be afraid to take advantage of all the resources you have, there's nothing wrong with struggling or needing help. That being said, I did pretty well on the second midterm, but the final was pretty hard. I didn't do great on the final (B-), but with all the launchpad, clicker, and extra credit points, I was able to get an A. Pham is a really sweet and genuine guy - very dadlike if you will - but I honestly didn't feel like he explained a lot of concepts and ideas well. I even went to Maloy office hours with friends because he tended to explain things better. It's all about what you make of it!

Lifescience 7a was harder than I thought it would be in weird ways. After the first test I felt extremely confident about my grade and understanding of the material however I was really surprised with the grade I got. Pham is a nice professor and he was willing to answer questions in office hours but there were very very limited resources for studying in that class and all he would recommend is studying clicker questions and handouts which again were extremely limited resources. Also there was an extremely heavy amount of homework online through launchpad which could take anywhere from 2-3 hours to finish on a given day. The midterms didn't feel hard but had tons of tricks and extremely questionable wording and the final exam was really challenging.

Yes, Pham has an accent. It's obvious. BUT this in NO WAY SHAPE OR FORM HINDERS STUDENT LEARNING. Pham is so nice to his students and stays hours and hours during his office hours so that everyone can ask questions, even the dumb questions. Although, I felt that this course was easier than AP Bio and was less about actually knowing/memorizing information than it was about interpreting graphs and data of provided scenarios. The material in the online Launchpad 'textbook' that costs over $100 isn't really even the main focus of the class, and it's only used to complete weekly practice review questions or practice exam questions (which, may or may not be on Quizlet for your convenience). What you really should study are the clicker question slides and learning objectives that are found in the lecture powerpoints. The exams (2 midterms and a final) are all multiple choice and it's common to get a B or above. As always, the more studying you put into it, the better result you'll receive. Anyway, Pham is very passionate about molecular bio and I definitely recommend him as a professor.

Pham is hilarious! I loved being in class with him. He is a little slow paced with lectures, which makes preparing for exams difficult. I learned a lot and made a good grade in the class, but I made Bs on all the exams (two midterms and a final). Pham knows what he is talking about and is extremely helpful during office hours.

Professor Pham is the goat. His accent is a little strong but its easy to get used to. He truly cares about his students and just an overall nice guy.

For Launchpad I recommend taking handwritten notes on the material, it makes the class 10x easier although it may mean having to spend more time doing launchpad.

The tests for this class are kinda tricky but if you know the material well they're very straightforward. The only reason bio is hard is because of the vocab (and taking notes on launchpad will drill that vocab into your head).

Pham is great and he is what made this class bearable. He genuinely cares about his students and wants students to do well. The course itself is tough as the exams are quite unpredictable and hard to get used to. Can sell past worksheets and study guides I’ve found to be useful at *************

I'm so glad I took this class with Pham. I definitely felt like I learned a lot about genetics. A lot of the material builds off of the LS7 series and expands on topics that are learned there. There's not a lot of memorization, it's mainly problem solving and as long as you understand how to approach each of the problems (by doing all the practice midterms and finals that Pham posts on CCLE) you're set! And there's a bunch of extra credit as well.
Pham is so nice and such a great professor, but lectures are not too engaging. It's mostly just clicker questions. I mostly learn from doing problems in discussion and watching the online lectures that he posts. Overall, this is a good class. I would recommend it.

Hello, so I'll give a review of the 7A class itself first, and then get to Dr. Pham.
To let you all know, all LS 7A (and I believe the entire series) classes are given the same midterms and finals, so it really does not matter which professor you get for any LS 7 class. I was terrible at ap bio back in high school and I gotta say that the 7A class was kind of rough for me.
First, the entire series requires you to buy a $100 online textbook (called Launchpad) that you take notes on, and there are quizzes and short "exams" you must take in order to get points, if you find yourself struggling on these questions --> go to quizlet my friend, the answers are there. Based on my experience of 7A, please do not rely on Launchpad content and their quizzes to study for the midterms and exams, you do not need to know every little detail, only focus on the overall concepts and learning objectives, it will save you time and paper from taking notes. I forgot to mention that the LS 7 series is instructed like a "flipped classroom," where you learn & teach yourself the content before lecture, and during lecture your professors will simply review the content with you.
You will basically get tested on the content from lecture. This includes info from lecture slides, the small handouts you are given during lecture, and sometimes worksheets from discussion. To do well on the exams, focus on the lecture handout and go through the clicker questions one-by-one, and understand how to get the answer from the information given to you. If you don't know how to get the answer for a clicker question, go through the bruincasted lecture, find the specific question on the video, and see how the professor explains the answer. (this is how I studied for midterm 2 & the final and I was able to score 10% higher every exam using this method that a friend told me, & I completely failed midterm 1)
For 7A, you must go to lecture because you need to answer clicker questions for points, you get points for simply pressing an answer, you don't get deducted anything by getting a question wrong.
Now going on to Dr. Pham, this professor is a G. He made this class bearable for people new to bio (like me). He always has an answer to everything and he is VERY clear on explanations and concepts. I think students like him because he is willing to slow down the pace of the lecture and go through clicker questions step-by-step if students cannot understand what is being taught. He is even more helpful during his office hours because he will stand side-by-side with you, draw the handout, and explain every little thing on the handout with you. Even during lecture when he says something wrong or explains something weakly, he will admit to the students that he was at fault and then reexplain the entire question.
I took 7A with Pham and Lazazzera, and I am sure Pham was liked more than Lazazzera because he was just better at explaining things than Lazazzera.

You won't learn much in lecture, mostly just do the clickers. But the exams are basically a repeat of the old ones and you just have to put in the work to master all types of questions. Go to office hours and work with classmates and you'll get an A

Given that I took this class the first quarter of my freshman year here at UCLA, I definitely made dumb mistakes that prevented me from getting an A, however, Professor Pham is an amazing lecturer and explains everything very well. He's a funny old man and made lectures more entertaining. The required "textbook" where you complete the homework assignments and weekly quizzes on is called Launchpad and is just sooo expensive but the subscription lasts for at least a year, so you only buy it once for the whole series essentially. In order to do well, you need to make sure not lose any points that are easy to get such as in Launchpad, discussion, or extra credit points. The tests take some getting used to and are difficult, but comparable to the type of questioning in AP Biology. Overall, would recommend Pham to everyone!