Prof: Esdin is exactly what you would think if you thought about a really good stereotypical college lecturer. He’s witty throwing in occasional jokes, he has good pace and explains concepts very well (and a cool accent that is fun to listen to but does not interfere with understanding). He makes good analogies to tangible concepts to us and explains the content very well. He is a very engaging lecturer and not the kind of lecturer that you would fall asleep to in class. Some say he has a bit of an ego, but I don’t mind that. That being said, this is the LS7 series, what are you going to learn in class that you haven’t already done in the preclass readings. The class is structured so that he’s just going to put up clicker questions (which is not his fault) and is going to answer them, that’s just the way the 7 series is. He’s never going to actually teach you that much because you learned it already. However, he’s the best professor you can get for the way the class is structured.

Class:
It’s the 7 series, what more can I say about it. The structure sucks. You learn it yourself with all the preclass assignments and come to lecture to answer clicker questions. The midterms are tricky as always with very carefully chosen wording. There is a lot less extracredit in the class compared to 7A. I would say content-wise it’s the most interesting but exam-wise its the most difficult. I can only assume you are premed and you are finally learning content you are interested in. But I would say the exams are the most tricky out of all the 7 series, especially the first exam. If you are reading this, heed my warning, the first exam is the hardest of all the exams. So many people do not know what to expect and absolutely bomb it. And because of that one, despite how they do on the final and on midterm 2, they end with a B+. So really prepare yourself for the first midterm. Most of the diagrams they show on Midterms 1 and 2 are ones they went over in lecture so make sure you know those inside and out, every little detail. Every little detail. Everything.

Overall: Take Esdin if you can, he’s a really nice guy and he is very engaging and super helpful.

Extra Notes: One small thing I heard, I’m not sure this is true, but it could effect you decision, but if you are deciding between Khankan and Esdin, Esdin releases the midterm answers after the scores come out so that you can learn from it and use it to study for the final. One my friends who had Khankan in the past said that Khankan did not release the midterm answers after she took it.

The easiest GE for scientific inquiry! Professor Esdin has a great sense of humor and is very understanding of individual's special needs. The class grade is quizzes, tests, and a project. The project was super fun because we got to monitor what we ate for a week and analyze our health and diet. The quizzes and tests are really easy as long as you pay attention in lecture and read the Course Readers. It costs me $95 to buy the iProfile for the project and the course reader in Westwood :( , so try to find a cheaper alternative. Participation in lectures is required, but one time the Professor canceled a lecture for us because a lot of people haven't finished their projects LOL. Overall, this is a great class you should take, very practical and interesting.

Professor Esdin was definitely my favorite professor this quarter! He's so so so forgiving and understanding of what students are going through and this is reflected in his quizzes and exams. The final is take-home and only consisted of around 35 multiple choice questions so you could use your lecture notes and textbook as resources during the exam. I would definitely recommend to take this class as a lab GE because the labs mainly consisted of presentations expanding on future lecture material and the lifestyle project, a fairly easy but incredibly tedious compilation of an assessment of your diet and fitness, what diseases you may be more prone to, and recommendations of how you can improve. I'd say that I learned a lot that can be applicable to my daily life from this course and it is clear that Professor Esdin cared about the health of students. He shared a lot about his personal life, made good analogies to explain material, and overall made the biology we covered a lot more enjoyable. Also, his lectures are Bruincasted so it's fine if you can't attend in-person lectures some days (there is iClicker for attendance but its pretty easy to do if you're outside of class). Also, Ingrid Cely is a great TA!! Very knowledgeable, has detailed slides, and wants to become a professor so she's very easy to ask questions to!

By now, you've probably gone through the 7 series and you are over the badly worded and weirdly written tests. 7C is definitely the hardest, but imo it's the most interesting of the 3 because it involves human physiology.

Pros
- You return to genome browser in Weeks 8-10 and it shows up quite a sizable chunk on the final. This could be a con if you hate genome browser, but I preferred the test questions involving genome browser compared to the body/organ systems.
- Esdin is very clear during lecture and he's engaging. I'm the type of person to not pay much attention during lecture, but Esdin managed to make me pay attention
- Some lectures are "buffers" where Esdin will talk about exam-related material (how to approach problems, examining diagrams)
- You can get extra credit for things such as Campuswire engagement and surveys
- The final is slightly curved in the sense that the total number of points (when you add all the questions) is different from what's put in the gradebook

Cons
- None for the professor
- The course in general is similar to 7A and 7B in terms of the structure - there's pre-class reading guides, PEQs, Clickers, discussion worksheets, etc
- Midterm 1 for 7C is usually the most brutal, but it definitely gets better. For me, in terms of difficulty, it went like this: M1 >>>>> M2 >= Final (the Final felt the most straightfoward imo, but ymmv). On Midterm 1, I got a C, but I got As on Midterm 2 and the Final
- There's a 2-part Group Phase for M1 and M2. First part is on Gradescope where you look back on 10 of the most commonly missed questions and try to revise your answer, while the Second part is a 15 minute Canvas Quiz. As you may guess, the 15-minute second part was high-blood pressure inducing.

Tips
- Go to Problem Solving Sessions and look at the Learning Objectives
- PAY ATTENTION TO THE HANDOUTS THEY GIVE DURING LECTURE

You will definitely learn a lot in terms of how to study for this class. It's a lot more of "If you did x y z, what would happen to this process" and "what are the effects if you removed something from the system". Make sure you understand the diagrams and what they're telling you - my advice for you is to have a general understanding of each system/process, but it matters more if you understand what that means on the diagram.

Solid GE course! Taught me a lot about diet, nutrition, and general health! selling physical coursereader for $20! email ************* if interested!

Worst class ever. Fk this bullshit life science.

Well what can I say….. the class was tough and the exams were impossible. Very difficult conceptual questions that were ten times harder then the clicker questions or the CLC worksheets. I felt very discouraged each time I got my score. No matter how much you studied you could never get a good mark. Esdin, while a good lecturer, had an an aura of arrogance which was hard to ignore and made students feel even worse. The class was divided in two: half of the students get A’s on exams while openly bragging about having access to old exams, colluding with others and using Chegg, and the rest of us who attempt it honestly and leave with the C.

great class and great teacher! easy ge

Selling textbook: **********

Take this class! Easy GE, and overall a fun class. The only homework assignment is due at the end of the quarter which is a project. You use your own personal health data for this project and keep track of your diet and exercise for a week. Professor Esdin is a great professor, and is easy to follow along. The content is engaging and you do not need any background knowledge of physiology. My TA, Muhammad, is also really nice and there to help you. However, you are required to purchase a $100 textbook. I will be selling my textbook for much cheaper! Text me at **********.