Best Professor! Take this class he's the goat for real! Don't miss out, course is pretty hard but overall he wants you to pass the class with an A.

hes king tbh I might fail the final but he slays

definitely not an easy class; however, a class i would 100% take again. the work load is very manageable + your TAs are there to support you, so section was always fun :) partcipation matters here, but they're just going over the content + an assigned debate, but it's not bad as long as you prepare. there's a lottt of content (IMO), so you definitely should study, but professor phelan goes through it in great detail with care, so you have nothing to worry about

This class was very engaging and I enjoyed lectures. As for the assignments I think they were pretty manageable. I recommend always completing the problem sets and looking into the textbook for answers or examples. This will help on the quizzes because they are always one of the questions from the problem set, so it is always something you have seen before. The lowest quiz score will be dropped. The discussion post assignments were easy. As long as you answer completely and thoroughly you should be fine. For both the midterm and final the professor had optional review sessions where he gave out similar questions to the ones on the exam. I recommend answering every single one of those questions in paragraph form and maybe with peers to practice. If you can answer any of those from memory and think of examples then you will be prepared for the exams. Overall, I like how the class related to everyday life. I have learned some things that I will always remember and take into consideration now. This is a great GE and you are given all the resources to succeed.

This class is AMAZING! Phelan is an incredible professor. I went into this class with little enthusiasm because I never previously considered myself a science person. Now, I LOVE science and am often telling my friends all the cool facts I learned in this class. It is definitely not an easy A but if you put in the work, you’ll be happy with your grade. The midterm and final are pretty difficult tests, but Phelan writes prep questions before each test and if you really study them and understand the concepts, you’ll do well on the exams. I learned so much in this class, I highly recommend!

I can't say enough about how much I loved LS15. It really was the perfect class to take my 1st quarter here. Professor Phelan is the absolute GOAT. The class was dense and challenging at times, yes, but I learned so many things relevant to my everyday life. This is literally the most useful and interesting class I've ever taken. And take it with Tanner D. if you can - best TA ever.

Tips:
- Go to office hours for both Professor Phelan and your TA. But especially Phelan's. His office hours are in his office in a circle setting, where he talks about his personal life and is equally curious about yours. He's such a genuine and knowledgeable person, and attending his office hours was one of my favorite parts of the class.
- Make your notes really, really good, and add pictures from lectures (pictures of slides that he doesn't post) and/or the textbook. Some topics can be complex and confusing, and the more notes you have to work with, the better.
- If you can afford it/are willing to spend the money only: buy the textbook. I know this might sound crazy, but the textbook reading was VITAL to my success in this class. There's a few chapters each week to read, and though it does go way more in depth than what's covered in class, reading it builds your foundation/background knowledge substantially. It really helped me understand the class concepts better and let them sink in. But I wish I had a physical textbook to do this.

I definitely want to take more of Phelan's classes in the future. This is an excellent GE choice, though not the easiest - I think it's worth it because it's so valuable.

Loved Professor Phelan. He was super insightful and I felt inclined to go to office hours because I just wanted his advice. He knows so much about the process of going through school and is just a genuinely nice and caring person. This might be the most useful and fun class that I have taken at UCLA in terms of every day life. TAKE THIS CLASS!

I also have both textbooks and I'll give them both to you for $10. Text me **********.

UPDATE: I AM SELLING A PHYSICAL COPY OF "WHAT IS LIFE WITH PHYSIOLOGY FOURTH EDITION" AS WELL AS "MEAN GENES." TEXT ME AT ********** FOR PRICE AND MORE INFORMATION.
This class was amazing but it is NOT an easy A!!! While it is one of the "easier" science courses, it is still a science class so you are expected to learn the usual bio stuff. I feel that this class made learning that material a lot easier and far more interesting because it related an organism's behavior to their biology. I will say, however, that the midterm and final are very difficult. The midterm had 6 short answers whereas the final had 9. You definitely can get an A if you take the time to study. Overall, I feel that everyone should take this class but they should put in the effort to get a good grade. I am also selling a hard copy of "What is Life- With Physiology (4th Edition)." Feel free to text me at **********.

- selling the pdf version of the textbook, What Is Life? text ********** for my venmo and i'll share it.

- TAKE THIS CLASS. i find myself thinking about and applying what jay taught us in my daily life pretty often actually. i really teared up during the last lecture too! the exams will be tough know that, but lots of preparation (being able to recite answers and definitions out loud and going through each take home message will help) plus the curve will do you right. jay wants you to do well and he wants you to learn something about life through the course!

This class was one of the best classes I've taken so far at UCLA. Selling the required textbook "What Is Life" 4th edition, Mean Genes, and the answers to the problem sets which are our weekly quizzes in discussion. Text me at ********** to negotiate prices!