The most important thing to know about this class is that the tests are almost completely based off of the course reader. To do well, you will have to memorize almost everything that is in the course reader. Other than that, the class was pretty easy. The big class project is extremely easy and can be finished in less than 3 hours if done efficiently.

Lectures are pretty interesting and you should go as attendance is part of the class grade and Esdin sometimes includes little hints for the tests during lecture. It was a pretty cool class and I would definitely take it again.

Selling COURSE READER AND IPROFILE ACCOUNT for $40. The course reader does have my notes on it but I passed the class so hopefully they'll be helpful. Course reader is in good condition too.

Contact me if you want it **********

Do not be fooled by all of the positive reviews. Sure, at first glance, this class seems very simple and straightforward. For the most part, it is. The homework and project are extremely simple, the lectures are interesting, and the lab quizzes are as easy as can be. The thing is, everything before is worth only half of your grade. The other half is determined by how well you do on Dr. Esdin's two gruesome exams. I find it interesting that people praise this class for its easiness and simplicity, but succeeding in the most important part of the course (the exams) is not nearly as easy.

The exams are each about 40-50 multiple choice questions that consist of tricky wording, "all of the above" answers, and your favorite "a and b" or "c and d" answer choices. Not only that, but there is not study guide. He has a "review" session where he lightly covers a few topics of each chapter, but even says himself that you still need to study the course reader because the few topics he brushes over are not all that is going to be on the exam. This amounts to having to study 40% of the course reader, every single word, for the first exam, and the other 60% for the final. This can put your grade and GPA in jeopardy.

TLDR; Don't take this class unless you want to study an entire course reader in order to do well on the exam.

This course sucks. The content is super detailed, and professor explains so little in the lecture. The lecture is very tedious, and the course reader is so expecnsive.

The Class Content Itself: The material is very relevant your lives and is very interesting. It has changed the way I approach my diet. It's also very interesting. The lectures are interesting too.

The Grading: About half of your grade is determined by the exams. Everything else, I got 100% on and is pretty easy to get full credit on. For the lecture quizzes, I suggest taking it with friends. Have one friend take it and you all collaborate on it, then the next person takes it. These quiz questions give a rough estimate of the difficulty of questions on the exams. The only hard part about this class is the exams. The first midterm was very hard. I ended up getting in the high 80%s. The questions are very specific and often involve the wording of a sentence. He'll also often ask questions that have choices like "A and B" or "all of the above". So, you pretty much have to memorize everything in the reader. The final was a little bit more fair and less specific and was not cumulative. I got a score in the low 90s. My raw score was about 95% in the class.

Note: the professor does not upload his slides. So, you have to take your own notes.

Overall, I wouldn't say the course is hard, but I wouldn't say it is easy either. I find that the best way to study is make flash cards of most things in the reader. Read each chapter, then every once in a while, just skim the chapters multiple times. When I would eat and go to the gym, I would pull up flash cards. The class was all memorization, but it is foolproof in that if you memorize a lot, you will can get an A.

Material = amazing. Lectures = amazing. Exams = amazing. Professor = AMAZING. this all being said, just make sure to study and know everything for the exams. it may sound overwhelming but the material is very interesting, applicable, and should be something everyone is aware of. I had fun studying for the class. Definitely an easy A if you attend lectures, take the quizzes, go to lab, follow step by step the instructions for your lifestyle assessment project, and study. Would 20/10 recommend, you'll learn to love Esdin!

Was selling course materials, but they are sold.
Good luck everyone ! Great Professor BTW

Context: I am a Computer Science major and this is the first bio class I've taken in like 4ish years.

I really enjoyed this class! I felt a lot more motivated to lead a healthier lifestyle and I learned a lot of stuff about diets. I felt like the content we learned was useful, the professor makes it really easy to understand even if you don't have a background in biology.

Project: A bit tedious, but very straightforward. Make sure to follow the directions. It may be useful to start early, since it does take a few hours to finish. I worked on it when I wanted to be productive, but my mind was super dead and only able to do busy work.

Quizzes: He reminds you about them, which is nice. I'm pretty sure the ones in the discussion are graded only on completion.

Workbook/Course Reader: The only negative about this class is that you need to buy the course reader. The workbook is pretty easy, you just need to read the course reader. All of the contents for the exams are based on the course reader.

Exams: An hour long, multiple choice, very straightforward. All of the questions are based on material from the course reader. Attending class is useful, because sometimes he says stuff about particular questions that will be on the midterm/final. The final is not cumulative, which is great. Time isn't really an issue during the exam if you've studied. I've finished all of the questions in like 15 min, and then I stayed around to check my answers for another 10 min.

Attendance: There's a sign in sheet passed around each lecture. You can do fine on the tests without attending, as long as you have someone sign in for you and you check if he's given any hints about the exams.

TA: My TA was Hannah. She was super nice! She held office hours before the project was due and she went over our reports to check for any glaring errors/clear doubts.

I got an A- in the class because apparently, I don't know how to read on the midterm and final, even though I try my best. But in general its a great class with a great lecturer and you will learn alot you can apply to your daily life. Work load is fairly light, however there is a fitness project and I recommend doing that ASAP so you can fix all the kinks as you go.

EVERYONE SHOULD TAKE THIS CLASS!!!

I took this during my senior year and it has by far been the best class i've taken (and i've taken lots of classes here thus far). You learn the most applicable and useful information in this class. This class is not a chore whatsoever and the information you learn will stick and will make you want to be conscious of what you eat in a very good way.

That being said, his exams, quizzes, and project are VERY FAIR. No trick questions, his TAs are very knowledgeable and often funny, and everything is very straightforward. He reminds you of tests and quizzes 2-3 time via email to make sure no one forgets. Very nice of him. Most of my other professors wait until the night before to announce where the exams will take place.

For the tests, just read the book. You should get an A easily on his exams if you do just this.
For the project, he provides a very detailed outline of what he wants. If you follow it, you will get a 100.
Dr. Esdin is amazing, no exceptions. The other reviews you see about his tests being tricky or that this is a hard class is absolutely untrue. He pretty much spoon feeds you in this class and you'd have to be very lazy to not get a good grade. I was honestly very sad when this class ended