Dr. Phelan was my first college professor ever so he was the one to set my expectations-and he set them VERY high. Not only is he the funniest guy ever, his lectures are always interesting and engaging (also he ties personal stories into his main points which is very helpful) When he asks for class participation in class (which isn't very often), PARTICIPATE! It is worth it, trust me. The workload includes readings that go along with the lecture (the tests however are only based on information from lecture), attending lecture to take notes (lectures are also bruincasted in case you miss one), individual participation in a debate in your discussion class on a topic related to the class, problem sets given each second lecture of the week (not checked but recommended to complete because you are quizzed on), and weekly quizzes in your discussion section on only ONE question (out of 6-9 questions, they are also all on quizlet if you need to check answers) on the problem set. Make sure you pick your TA wisely, however, because some of them give harder quizzes than others... Personally, my TA Kacey seemed to be the most knowledgable and helpful but she gave the more difficult quizzes than the other TAs (when comparing to my friends) The midterm was a little difficult in terms of time management because it was a lot of multiple choice, long, and short answer questions in about an hour and fifteen minutes. All in all, this is the best class (out of four LOL) that I've taken so far! :)

THE BEST CLASS AT UCLA!! Professor Phelan is an amazing professor and such an engaging lecturer. The tests are not necessarily easy but, if you put in work, an A is definitely do-able. I highly recommend this class.

I LOVED this class! I can't say enough nice things about Professor Phelan. He was so engaging and you could tell he really cared about making sure we all understood the concepts. He tells funny stories, interacts with the class, and makes things that should be bland, interesting.
His review sessions are SO helpful! Definitely go to them, he has one for the midterm and one for the final. He goes over questions and key concepts and usually his practice questions (or some version of them) will show up on the test. He does a good job of emphasizing what's really necessary for the exams.
There are weekly quizzes in discussion, but you're given a list of questions to go along with the textbook reading and the quiz question will be one from the list, so it's not that bad.
I found reading the textbook super helpful. It helped me review the material he went over in class, because he does teach . He wrote the other book we read, Mean Genes, and it was really interesting and easy to understand.
10/10 loved this class

Selling the What is life? Newest edition.(4th) book loose leaf and also mean genes.
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Selling "What Is Life? A Guide to Biology with Physiology" (4th edition). and "Mean Genes"
**********
Amazing professor!

Phelan is an amazing professor. Even if you think you are not interested in life science in the slightest, TAKE THIS CLASS. there is quite a bit of weekly work but it's all interesting and the quizzes you take in section every week are given to you in a packet the week prior, the TAs just pick a random one and you have to answer it. Super easy, super interesting, and Phelan really makes it worth it. If you were to take only one class during college it should be this one - regardless of major.

By far best professor at UCLA! Engaged with audience members in the lecture. This class changed my perspective about school as Phelan focuses on making sure all students learn the material instead of emphasis on the grades.

I honestly loved this class a lot. Even if I wouldn't have gotten an A it still would have been worth it because Phelan is the best. I laughed numerous times throughout lecture and honestly miss sitting in his class everyday. The tests are hard but do able. On the midterm I got a C- and on the final I got a B- and I still got an A. Not sure how all I know is I bet the curve saved me. The extra credit music video was fun and that definitely could have helped. Overall just enjoy the class.
Selling a brand new What is Life textbook the 4th edition (the newest edition) text me at ********** for pricing! I'm willing to negotiate.

ALL of the reviews say this, so it won't be anything new, but Dr. Phelan really is an amazing professor. He's probably the most charismatic professor and lecturer I've encountered so far at UCLA.

His lectures are engaging and entertaining, with handwritten slides, pictures, and funny anecdotes. The weekly discussion quizzes are not that hard, try to incorporate key concepts and as much detail/explanation as you can into your answers and memorize them for your discussion section, as one question will be picked from the bunch. It's usually not the first 2-3 questions (which are based off a particular section in the textbook chapter), but for one of the later quizzes it was.

The tests are a bit difficult to study for, but the tests themselves are not terribly difficult in my opinion. The multiple choice is tricky and sometimes will ask for very specific details that Dr. Phelan only went over very briefly in lecture or was covered in a sentence in the textbook, so there's nothing you can really do about that, but the short answers aren't that difficult if you have a good grasp of what you've learned in class so far. Yes, there are a lot of short answer questions (if I recall correctly, it was 6 on the midterm and 9 on the final) and sometimes there are a lot of parts to each question, but if you truly know your stuff, it shouldn't be too difficult. As I stated earlier, just write as much as you can and incorporate key concepts/terms in there. On the final, I filled up the whole page for nearly every short answer question and it took me a long time (I think the entire final took me about 2.5 hours out of the 3 total allotted for it), but when I left the room I felt pretty good about the exam. (I got an 82% on the midterm and 92% on the final.)

Make sure you go to the exam review sessions! They help you get a clearer idea of what to study. Going to office hours (either Phelan's or your TA's) is probably a good idea too, though I never did, so if you're very shy or you have a time conflict with their OH or you're just too busy, it's still possible to get a good grade without.

Phelan is a great professor!! I came into this class thinking it would be easy because of his Bruin Walk reviews, so I ended up taking it for advantage up until the midterm. I didn't study much for the midterm and my grade proved it, and I studied way more for the final and still did bad. Go to lecture and study all your notes, and even if you don't do too well, the curve will save you !!! I don't think the readings are mandatory for the exam but they are for the quizzes. I wish I would've taken this class more serious in the beginning so my grade would've been better. However, I still recommend Phelan because he is great and you will learn a lot.