Joseph Esdin
Department of Physiological Science
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4.3
Overall Rating
Based on 370 Users
Easiness 3.9 / 5 How easy the class is, 1 being extremely difficult and 5 being easy peasy.
Clarity 4.2 / 5 How clear the class is, 1 being extremely unclear and 5 being very clear.
Workload 4.0 / 5 How much workload the class is, 1 being extremely heavy and 5 being extremely light.
Helpfulness 4.1 / 5 How helpful the class is, 1 being not helpful at all and 5 being extremely helpful.

TOP TAGS

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GRADE DISTRIBUTIONS
61.2%
51.0%
40.8%
30.6%
20.4%
10.2%
0.0%
A+
A
A-
B+
B
B-
C+
C
C-
D+
D
D-
F

Grade distributions are collected using data from the UCLA Registrar’s Office.

41.3%
34.4%
27.5%
20.7%
13.8%
6.9%
0.0%
A+
A
A-
B+
B
B-
C+
C
C-
D+
D
D-
F

Grade distributions are collected using data from the UCLA Registrar’s Office.

75.6%
63.0%
50.4%
37.8%
25.2%
12.6%
0.0%
A+
A
A-
B+
B
B-
C+
C
C-
D+
D
D-
F

Grade distributions are collected using data from the UCLA Registrar’s Office.

78.2%
65.2%
52.1%
39.1%
26.1%
13.0%
0.0%
A+
A
A-
B+
B
B-
C+
C
C-
D+
D
D-
F

Grade distributions are collected using data from the UCLA Registrar’s Office.

81.4%
67.9%
54.3%
40.7%
27.1%
13.6%
0.0%
A+
A
A-
B+
B
B-
C+
C
C-
D+
D
D-
F

Grade distributions are collected using data from the UCLA Registrar’s Office.

68.0%
56.7%
45.4%
34.0%
22.7%
11.3%
0.0%
A+
A
A-
B+
B
B-
C+
C
C-
D+
D
D-
F

Grade distributions are collected using data from the UCLA Registrar’s Office.

43.0%
35.8%
28.7%
21.5%
14.3%
7.2%
0.0%
A+
A
A-
B+
B
B-
C+
C
C-
D+
D
D-
F

Grade distributions are collected using data from the UCLA Registrar’s Office.

50.0%
41.7%
33.3%
25.0%
16.7%
8.3%
0.0%
A+
A
A-
B+
B
B-
C+
C
C-
D+
D
D-
F

Grade distributions are collected using data from the UCLA Registrar’s Office.

63.2%
52.6%
42.1%
31.6%
21.1%
10.5%
0.0%
A+
A
A-
B+
B
B-
C+
C
C-
D+
D
D-
F

Grade distributions are collected using data from the UCLA Registrar’s Office.

72.9%
60.7%
48.6%
36.4%
24.3%
12.1%
0.0%
A+
A
A-
B+
B
B-
C+
C
C-
D+
D
D-
F

Grade distributions are collected using data from the UCLA Registrar’s Office.

57.0%
47.5%
38.0%
28.5%
19.0%
9.5%
0.0%
A+
A
A-
B+
B
B-
C+
C
C-
D+
D
D-
F

Grade distributions are collected using data from the UCLA Registrar’s Office.

77.7%
64.8%
51.8%
38.9%
25.9%
13.0%
0.0%
A+
A
A-
B+
B
B-
C+
C
C-
D+
D
D-
F

Grade distributions are collected using data from the UCLA Registrar’s Office.

77.2%
64.3%
51.4%
38.6%
25.7%
12.9%
0.0%
A+
A
A-
B+
B
B-
C+
C
C-
D+
D
D-
F

Grade distributions are collected using data from the UCLA Registrar’s Office.

77.1%
64.2%
51.4%
38.5%
25.7%
12.8%
0.0%
A+
A
A-
B+
B
B-
C+
C
C-
D+
D
D-
F

Grade distributions are collected using data from the UCLA Registrar’s Office.

88.9%
74.1%
59.3%
44.5%
29.6%
14.8%
0.0%
A+
A
A-
B+
B
B-
C+
C
C-
D+
D
D-
F

Grade distributions are collected using data from the UCLA Registrar’s Office.

59.3%
49.5%
39.6%
29.7%
19.8%
9.9%
0.0%
A+
A
A-
B+
B
B-
C+
C
C-
D+
D
D-
F

Grade distributions are collected using data from the UCLA Registrar’s Office.

92.9%
77.4%
61.9%
46.4%
31.0%
15.5%
0.0%
A+
A
A-
B+
B
B-
C+
C
C-
D+
D
D-
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Grade distributions are collected using data from the UCLA Registrar’s Office.

75.8%
63.2%
50.5%
37.9%
25.3%
12.6%
0.0%
A+
A
A-
B+
B
B-
C+
C
C-
D+
D
D-
F

Grade distributions are collected using data from the UCLA Registrar’s Office.

52.9%
44.1%
35.3%
26.5%
17.6%
8.8%
0.0%
A+
A
A-
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B
B-
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F

Grade distributions are collected using data from the UCLA Registrar’s Office.

39.6%
33.0%
26.4%
19.8%
13.2%
6.6%
0.0%
A+
A
A-
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Grade distributions are collected using data from the UCLA Registrar’s Office.

45.7%
38.1%
30.4%
22.8%
15.2%
7.6%
0.0%
A+
A
A-
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B
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F

Grade distributions are collected using data from the UCLA Registrar’s Office.

51.9%
43.2%
34.6%
25.9%
17.3%
8.6%
0.0%
A+
A
A-
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Grade distributions are collected using data from the UCLA Registrar’s Office.

24.6%
20.5%
16.4%
12.3%
8.2%
4.1%
0.0%
A+
A
A-
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B
B-
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C-
D+
D
D-
F

Grade distributions are collected using data from the UCLA Registrar’s Office.

44.7%
37.3%
29.8%
22.4%
14.9%
7.5%
0.0%
A+
A
A-
B+
B
B-
C+
C
C-
D+
D
D-
F

Grade distributions are collected using data from the UCLA Registrar’s Office.

52.2%
43.5%
34.8%
26.1%
17.4%
8.7%
0.0%
A+
A
A-
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B
B-
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C-
D+
D
D-
F

Grade distributions are collected using data from the UCLA Registrar’s Office.

50.1%
41.8%
33.4%
25.1%
16.7%
8.4%
0.0%
A+
A
A-
B+
B
B-
C+
C
C-
D+
D
D-
F

Grade distributions are collected using data from the UCLA Registrar’s Office.

52.6%
43.8%
35.1%
26.3%
17.5%
8.8%
0.0%
A+
A
A-
B+
B
B-
C+
C
C-
D+
D
D-
F

Grade distributions are collected using data from the UCLA Registrar’s Office.

43.7%
36.4%
29.1%
21.8%
14.6%
7.3%
0.0%
A+
A
A-
B+
B
B-
C+
C
C-
D+
D
D-
F

Grade distributions are collected using data from the UCLA Registrar’s Office.

51.1%
42.6%
34.0%
25.5%
17.0%
8.5%
0.0%
A+
A
A-
B+
B
B-
C+
C
C-
D+
D
D-
F

Grade distributions are collected using data from the UCLA Registrar’s Office.

43.2%
36.0%
28.8%
21.6%
14.4%
7.2%
0.0%
A+
A
A-
B+
B
B-
C+
C
C-
D+
D
D-
F

Grade distributions are collected using data from the UCLA Registrar’s Office.

35.2%
29.3%
23.4%
17.6%
11.7%
5.9%
0.0%
A+
A
A-
B+
B
B-
C+
C
C-
D+
D
D-
F

Grade distributions are collected using data from the UCLA Registrar’s Office.

50.1%
41.8%
33.4%
25.1%
16.7%
8.4%
0.0%
A+
A
A-
B+
B
B-
C+
C
C-
D+
D
D-
F

Grade distributions are collected using data from the UCLA Registrar’s Office.

31.6%
26.3%
21.1%
15.8%
10.5%
5.3%
0.0%
A+
A
A-
B+
B
B-
C+
C
C-
D+
D
D-
F

Grade distributions are collected using data from the UCLA Registrar’s Office.

43.1%
35.9%
28.7%
21.5%
14.4%
7.2%
0.0%
A+
A
A-
B+
B
B-
C+
C
C-
D+
D
D-
F

Grade distributions are collected using data from the UCLA Registrar’s Office.

28.9%
24.1%
19.3%
14.5%
9.6%
4.8%
0.0%
A+
A
A-
B+
B
B-
C+
C
C-
D+
D
D-
F

Grade distributions are collected using data from the UCLA Registrar’s Office.

25.9%
21.5%
17.2%
12.9%
8.6%
4.3%
0.0%
A+
A
A-
B+
B
B-
C+
C
C-
D+
D
D-
F

Grade distributions are collected using data from the UCLA Registrar’s Office.

44.0%
36.7%
29.3%
22.0%
14.7%
7.3%
0.0%
A+
A
A-
B+
B
B-
C+
C
C-
D+
D
D-
F

Grade distributions are collected using data from the UCLA Registrar’s Office.

18.6%
15.5%
12.4%
9.3%
6.2%
3.1%
0.0%
A+
A
A-
B+
B
B-
C+
C
C-
D+
D
D-
F

Grade distributions are collected using data from the UCLA Registrar’s Office.

19.0%
15.8%
12.7%
9.5%
6.3%
3.2%
0.0%
A+
A
A-
B+
B
B-
C+
C
C-
D+
D
D-
F

Grade distributions are collected using data from the UCLA Registrar’s Office.

17.3%
14.5%
11.6%
8.7%
5.8%
2.9%
0.0%
A+
A
A-
B+
B
B-
C+
C
C-
D+
D
D-
F

Grade distributions are collected using data from the UCLA Registrar’s Office.

ENROLLMENT DISTRIBUTIONS
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Reviews (321)

3 of 33
3 of 33
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Quarter: Winter 2020
Grade: A
Verified Reviewer This user is a verified UCLA student/alum.
April 3, 2020

This class was an easy A but not fun at all. Like most people I read the "this class will make you get your life together" review on this site and thought the class would be worth a shot, it was not. The class is barebones health education material stripped straight out of the course reader. I'm pretty sure you could distill all of the information we learned into a 10 minute ASAP Science video.

Lecture is literally just Professor Esdin writing on blank powerpoint slides for an hour. The stuff he writes is literally copied almost word for word from the course reader, but attendance is still mandatory so you're forced to sit through every lecture. He also has a weird "no photographing my slides" rule for some reason. The material was applicable to life and helpful and all, but it really could have been much more than it was.

The labs were the best part of the class because they actually helped you gauge your own health. They are held only once every other week and take about 30 minutes a piece despite being labelled as 2 hour sections. They are fun in that you gain some introspection to your own health status, but the same effect could be achieved by weighing yourself and wearing a fitbit.

RANT: You will be forced to buy or share an iProfile subscription. iProfile is a literal scam. The UI looks like it was designed right when the internet came out. It's a health tracking app that supposedly helps you track your calories and exercise, but it's so bad that any information it gives you is probably wrong. It was obviously designed by white people (I am white, so I can say this) because they don't have ANY ethnic food listed in their "50,000 food items to choose from." If they have anything that wasn't developed in Western Europe then it's the shitty microwavable brand version. Literally they didn't have (to name a few):
- pho
- bean burritos
- quesadillas
- SUSHI!!! (wtf lol how do you not even have sushi)
- Ramen
- any indian food at all (they had curry powder mix as their only curry option)

Don't even get me started on the activity tracker. I hated this dumb app.
Rant over.

The multiple choice questions in this class were really, really easy but sometimes vague and confusing (discarded SAT question -style). It was either hard to tell what the question was asking or there were two very similar answers.

Take this class if you're just shilling for a good GPA, avoid this class and watch some YouTube health science videos if you don't want to waste a GE.

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Quarter: Winter 2020
Grade: A+
Verified Reviewer This user is a verified UCLA student/alum.
March 24, 2020

**SELLING COURSE STUDY GUIDE FOR $30**
**EMAIL - ************* - IF INTERESTED**

Esdin is the GOAT. He wakes up at 4AM and gets his day started right. He's inspired me to live a healthier life.

1. Make friends in lecture & ask them to sign you in. Attending lecture is not necessary for doing well.

2. The midterm and final are non-cumulative are all multiple choice. They cover material in the course reader so reading that will be essential.

3. Start your project early. It's not that hard to get a free 100 points.

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Quarter: Fall 2020
Grade: A
COVID-19 This review was submitted during the COVID-19 pandemic. Your experience may vary.
Dec. 21, 2020

I am SELLING my 80-pages TYPED UP NOTES for only $20! They have all of the content taught in classes instead of the $100+ coursereader you would probably purchase. My notes are super complete and neat and use all of the content from the textbook and lectures. You can contact me at ************* if you are interested! Price can be negotiated and you will receive the notes right away! I got an A overall (96%) and a full mark on the final too.

I am also selling the coursereader, completely in new condition and untouched for much cheaper, email me if interested!

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Quarter: Fall 2020
Grade: A
COVID-19 This review was submitted during the COVID-19 pandemic. Your experience may vary.
Verified Reviewer This user is a verified UCLA student/alum.
Dec. 15, 2020

I AM SELLING MY 25-pages TYPED UP NOTES FOR 25$. They are super complete because I incorporated my notes from the textbook into my lecture notes — you can contact me at ************* if interested!! Selling the course reader, fully highlighted, for 40$ (Price can be discussed).

Dr. Esdin is a very engaging and dedicated professor. He explains material well and makes you understand everything quite easily. I took this during COVID so the lectures were asynchronous. The class overall is pretty easy if you do the work and the reading.

However, the only down side for a lot of people who took this fall quarter was that his questions quizzes and exams were ambiguously written, which meant that practically all of us lost points on questions because of his wording...(even though we knew the material perfectly). Midterm is harder than final (I got 100% on the final). No extra credit offered. Class breakdown:

- 5 lecture quizzes (100 pts)
- 5 lab quizzes (75 pts)
- Attendance in lab (25 pts)
- Attendance in lecture (84 pts) — there are 3 points quizzes after each lecture
- Project (100 pts)
- Midterm (50 pts)
- Final (50 pts)
- Prof evaluations (6 pts)

Would definitely recommend. Also don’t be discouraged if you lose points at the beginning; I thought I would barely get an A- but turns out the quizzes get easier so I ended up with a 95% (A is 93%+).

TA Ingrid is amazing try to take her!!

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Quarter: Fall 2018
Grade: N/A
June 26, 2019

The course reader required for the class is quarter dependent so please do not buy old course readers. A workbook, that cannot be purchased separately, comes in the package with the reader and it must be turned in for points.

Interesting class with material relevant to daily life. It will help you become more aware of how your diet and fitness decisions impact your overall health. In order to get an A, you must read the course reader and thoroughly understand the content within it. There is also a project that is not difficult to do.

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Quarter: Fall 2025
Grade: A
Verified Reviewer This user is a verified UCLA student/alum.
Dec. 24, 2025

The general consensus with everyone I spoke to in this class was that we all took the class expecting it to be super free and it ended up being harder than expected.

I’ve realized that a lot of the highly-rated reviews that this course has are from a few years prior when Esdin’s exams were open-note and/or online, and this quarter they were closed note and in person. With that being said, the exam material wasn’t insanely difficult, but getting an A required A LOT of studying—much more than I had anticipated for a GE that was rumored to be easy. If you’ve taken AP bio or another anatomy/physiology class, you’ll be much more prepared for this class and it honestly might not be too bad, but as a non-stem major I definitely studied more for this class than any of my others this quarter.

As far as the professor goes, Professor Esdin was clearly super passionate about what he was teaching and it was really interesting! I feel like I learned a lot of practical information about my body and the food I eat. On the other hand, I had Jocelynn as my TA and she wasn’t the most helpful or kind… Luckily, the lab slides get posted on BruinLearn and the lab quizzes are really straight forward. Another big 100 point assignment is the Lifestyle Assessment Project, which is just a lot of tedious busywork but if you follow the guidelines you’re almost guaranteed to get full credit. Also haven’t mentioned this yet but the two lab quizzes are online and proctored and the second one was pretty much extra credit (one simple question)—god bless Professor Esdin for that.

Anyway, my general advice would be this: Take this class if you are genuinely interested in the course topics and prepared to seriously study for the midterm and final. This class is by no means an “easy A” but I’m a music student who has never taken AP bio and I managed to get an A through embarrassing amounts of studying. Professor Esdin is very nice and lowkey wholesome—I had this class 3 days a week at 9am and he was always in a good mood which was nice.

***ALSO attendance is graded. You have to answers a few IClicker quiz questions at the end of each lecture to get your daily attendance and you can have up to 6 absences and still receive full participation credit.

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Quarter: Winter 2024
Grade: A
Verified Reviewer This user is a verified UCLA student/alum.
Oct. 15, 2025

I took this class a long time ago, but from what I can remember, it was a really chill course. There is a quarter long project where you track your exercise, calories, etc., and it's tedious but easily do-able in 3 days (coming from experience). There is also a midterm and final that were take home and not proctored. He might've changed this since I took the class. Overall, the content was interesting and even though I wasn't a stem major, I would totally take this class again!

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Quarter: Fall 2024
Grade: A-
Verified Reviewer This user is a verified UCLA student/alum.
July 24, 2025

Literally made a bruinwalk account just to leave this class a review. Esdin is THE BEST yall. This was my first time ever having an 8am class at UCLA, and it was 100% worth it. Esdin lectures in such an engaging way, you literally just have to listen to him as if he's telling you a story and take some notes here and there to retain all the info for the class. I took the midterm and final all from memory just from straight up learning from what he spoke about in lecture (also of course, reviewing a bit of my notes the night before the tests). The workload is VERY doable; there's a report you have to do at the end, but it's a lot of just copying over data you collected, it was a bit time-consuming but def very easy. There's no homework, just some light studying before quizzes in discussion. Aside from all the technicalities, this class was also genuinely SO beneficial and interesting! I learned how to actually eat properly and understand how my body processes food. To be quite honest, I would say this is the one class at UCLA that I have actually taken away beneficial knowledge from and have applied to my personal life ever since! Seriously, I have learned so much and my lifestyle is much healthier now. Esdin is just such a sweet diva fr. Really hope I can get him again as a professor one day!

Helpful?

0 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
Quarter: Spring 2025
Grade: A
Verified Reviewer This user is a verified UCLA student/alum.
July 22, 2025

I would highly recommend taking this class with Esdin. I took this to fulfill a life science + lab GE and I honestly enjoyed the class more than I expected. The things you learn about diet and exercise are actually useful beyond the class and it definitely inspired me to make changes to my personal habits.

In terms of difficulty, I would argue that it's not as easy as some of the other reviews mention but it is 100% manageable if you put in a little time. The grading is based on the following:

Exam 1 - 100 points
2 Lecture quizzes (20 points each) - 40 points
3 Lab quizzes (15 points each) - 45 points
Attendance/Participation in lab - 25 points
Attendance in lecture - 44 points
Lifestyle Assessment Report - 100 points
Final Exam - 100 points
Total: 454 points

Lectures were mandatory and attendance was tracked with iClicker. Esdin is very funny and an engaging lecturer, but even though the lectures were interesting they were not useful. He goes over some basic ideas but you will need to read the textbook to do well on exams and quizzes. The lecture quiz is difficult and you need to thoroughly read the textbook for it!

Lab sections were mandatory but pretty boring in my opinion. The TA spends a painfully long time over the instructions for the Lifestyle Assessment Report, which is all available on the instructions PDF anyways. You learn some new topics which will be tested on Lab quizzes, but never on any of the actual exams or quizzes. The Lab quizzes are super easy as long as you go over the Lab slides (posted on Canvas).

The Lifestyle Assessment report is a paper that's worth a decent part of your grade, but everyone gets 100% on it. It is not difficult at all, but it is VERY tedious so I recommend you don't procrastinate. It is less of a paper and more of a report, so all you have to do is put things in sentences for full credit. No original ideas or actual writing involved.

Exams were fair, but you will need to study. Make sure to read the textbook fully, because everything in it is likely to show up on exams.

Also, DO NOT BUY YOUR OWN iPROFILE AND COURSE READER!!! The iProfile software (~$30) which is mandatory for the Lifestyle Assessment Report can be shared by multiple people. It has a feature to add profiles. Get a group of friends in the class and split the cost. The Course Reader (~$70) is definitely necessary to buy, but again you can share this with friends. Unfortunately, only one person can use it at a time because it's an external software, but we got around this by taking screenshots of the pages. It's really weird that we have to buy it since Esdin wrote it and can give it to us for free, but he for some reason chooses not to. I tried to buy a secondhand one from a previous quarter, but he changes it from quarter to quarter so that most likely won't work.

Otherwise, solid class, easy way to get you life science + lab credits in. Pretty much a guaranteed A. Highly recommend!

Helpful?

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Quarter: Spring 2025
Grade: N/A
Verified Reviewer This user is a verified UCLA student/alum.
June 10, 2025

This was not...an easy GE. Especially if you're a non-stem major I think. Both midterm and final were closed-book in-person. I still liked this class but can't deny that you do have to study hard for it.

Helpful?

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Verified Reviewer This user is a verified UCLA student/alum.
Quarter: Winter 2020
Grade: A
April 3, 2020

This class was an easy A but not fun at all. Like most people I read the "this class will make you get your life together" review on this site and thought the class would be worth a shot, it was not. The class is barebones health education material stripped straight out of the course reader. I'm pretty sure you could distill all of the information we learned into a 10 minute ASAP Science video.

Lecture is literally just Professor Esdin writing on blank powerpoint slides for an hour. The stuff he writes is literally copied almost word for word from the course reader, but attendance is still mandatory so you're forced to sit through every lecture. He also has a weird "no photographing my slides" rule for some reason. The material was applicable to life and helpful and all, but it really could have been much more than it was.

The labs were the best part of the class because they actually helped you gauge your own health. They are held only once every other week and take about 30 minutes a piece despite being labelled as 2 hour sections. They are fun in that you gain some introspection to your own health status, but the same effect could be achieved by weighing yourself and wearing a fitbit.

RANT: You will be forced to buy or share an iProfile subscription. iProfile is a literal scam. The UI looks like it was designed right when the internet came out. It's a health tracking app that supposedly helps you track your calories and exercise, but it's so bad that any information it gives you is probably wrong. It was obviously designed by white people (I am white, so I can say this) because they don't have ANY ethnic food listed in their "50,000 food items to choose from." If they have anything that wasn't developed in Western Europe then it's the shitty microwavable brand version. Literally they didn't have (to name a few):
- pho
- bean burritos
- quesadillas
- SUSHI!!! (wtf lol how do you not even have sushi)
- Ramen
- any indian food at all (they had curry powder mix as their only curry option)

Don't even get me started on the activity tracker. I hated this dumb app.
Rant over.

The multiple choice questions in this class were really, really easy but sometimes vague and confusing (discarded SAT question -style). It was either hard to tell what the question was asking or there were two very similar answers.

Take this class if you're just shilling for a good GPA, avoid this class and watch some YouTube health science videos if you don't want to waste a GE.

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Verified Reviewer This user is a verified UCLA student/alum.
Quarter: Winter 2020
Grade: A+
March 24, 2020

**SELLING COURSE STUDY GUIDE FOR $30**
**EMAIL - ************* - IF INTERESTED**

Esdin is the GOAT. He wakes up at 4AM and gets his day started right. He's inspired me to live a healthier life.

1. Make friends in lecture & ask them to sign you in. Attending lecture is not necessary for doing well.

2. The midterm and final are non-cumulative are all multiple choice. They cover material in the course reader so reading that will be essential.

3. Start your project early. It's not that hard to get a free 100 points.

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COVID-19 This review was submitted during the COVID-19 pandemic. Your experience may vary.
Quarter: Fall 2020
Grade: A
Dec. 21, 2020

I am SELLING my 80-pages TYPED UP NOTES for only $20! They have all of the content taught in classes instead of the $100+ coursereader you would probably purchase. My notes are super complete and neat and use all of the content from the textbook and lectures. You can contact me at ************* if you are interested! Price can be negotiated and you will receive the notes right away! I got an A overall (96%) and a full mark on the final too.

I am also selling the coursereader, completely in new condition and untouched for much cheaper, email me if interested!

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COVID-19 This review was submitted during the COVID-19 pandemic. Your experience may vary.
Verified Reviewer This user is a verified UCLA student/alum.
Quarter: Fall 2020
Grade: A
Dec. 15, 2020

I AM SELLING MY 25-pages TYPED UP NOTES FOR 25$. They are super complete because I incorporated my notes from the textbook into my lecture notes — you can contact me at ************* if interested!! Selling the course reader, fully highlighted, for 40$ (Price can be discussed).

Dr. Esdin is a very engaging and dedicated professor. He explains material well and makes you understand everything quite easily. I took this during COVID so the lectures were asynchronous. The class overall is pretty easy if you do the work and the reading.

However, the only down side for a lot of people who took this fall quarter was that his questions quizzes and exams were ambiguously written, which meant that practically all of us lost points on questions because of his wording...(even though we knew the material perfectly). Midterm is harder than final (I got 100% on the final). No extra credit offered. Class breakdown:

- 5 lecture quizzes (100 pts)
- 5 lab quizzes (75 pts)
- Attendance in lab (25 pts)
- Attendance in lecture (84 pts) — there are 3 points quizzes after each lecture
- Project (100 pts)
- Midterm (50 pts)
- Final (50 pts)
- Prof evaluations (6 pts)

Would definitely recommend. Also don’t be discouraged if you lose points at the beginning; I thought I would barely get an A- but turns out the quizzes get easier so I ended up with a 95% (A is 93%+).

TA Ingrid is amazing try to take her!!

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Quarter: Fall 2018
Grade: N/A
June 26, 2019

The course reader required for the class is quarter dependent so please do not buy old course readers. A workbook, that cannot be purchased separately, comes in the package with the reader and it must be turned in for points.

Interesting class with material relevant to daily life. It will help you become more aware of how your diet and fitness decisions impact your overall health. In order to get an A, you must read the course reader and thoroughly understand the content within it. There is also a project that is not difficult to do.

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Verified Reviewer This user is a verified UCLA student/alum.
Quarter: Fall 2025
Grade: A
Dec. 24, 2025

The general consensus with everyone I spoke to in this class was that we all took the class expecting it to be super free and it ended up being harder than expected.

I’ve realized that a lot of the highly-rated reviews that this course has are from a few years prior when Esdin’s exams were open-note and/or online, and this quarter they were closed note and in person. With that being said, the exam material wasn’t insanely difficult, but getting an A required A LOT of studying—much more than I had anticipated for a GE that was rumored to be easy. If you’ve taken AP bio or another anatomy/physiology class, you’ll be much more prepared for this class and it honestly might not be too bad, but as a non-stem major I definitely studied more for this class than any of my others this quarter.

As far as the professor goes, Professor Esdin was clearly super passionate about what he was teaching and it was really interesting! I feel like I learned a lot of practical information about my body and the food I eat. On the other hand, I had Jocelynn as my TA and she wasn’t the most helpful or kind… Luckily, the lab slides get posted on BruinLearn and the lab quizzes are really straight forward. Another big 100 point assignment is the Lifestyle Assessment Project, which is just a lot of tedious busywork but if you follow the guidelines you’re almost guaranteed to get full credit. Also haven’t mentioned this yet but the two lab quizzes are online and proctored and the second one was pretty much extra credit (one simple question)—god bless Professor Esdin for that.

Anyway, my general advice would be this: Take this class if you are genuinely interested in the course topics and prepared to seriously study for the midterm and final. This class is by no means an “easy A” but I’m a music student who has never taken AP bio and I managed to get an A through embarrassing amounts of studying. Professor Esdin is very nice and lowkey wholesome—I had this class 3 days a week at 9am and he was always in a good mood which was nice.

***ALSO attendance is graded. You have to answers a few IClicker quiz questions at the end of each lecture to get your daily attendance and you can have up to 6 absences and still receive full participation credit.

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Verified Reviewer This user is a verified UCLA student/alum.
Quarter: Winter 2024
Grade: A
Oct. 15, 2025

I took this class a long time ago, but from what I can remember, it was a really chill course. There is a quarter long project where you track your exercise, calories, etc., and it's tedious but easily do-able in 3 days (coming from experience). There is also a midterm and final that were take home and not proctored. He might've changed this since I took the class. Overall, the content was interesting and even though I wasn't a stem major, I would totally take this class again!

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Verified Reviewer This user is a verified UCLA student/alum.
Quarter: Fall 2024
Grade: A-
July 24, 2025

Literally made a bruinwalk account just to leave this class a review. Esdin is THE BEST yall. This was my first time ever having an 8am class at UCLA, and it was 100% worth it. Esdin lectures in such an engaging way, you literally just have to listen to him as if he's telling you a story and take some notes here and there to retain all the info for the class. I took the midterm and final all from memory just from straight up learning from what he spoke about in lecture (also of course, reviewing a bit of my notes the night before the tests). The workload is VERY doable; there's a report you have to do at the end, but it's a lot of just copying over data you collected, it was a bit time-consuming but def very easy. There's no homework, just some light studying before quizzes in discussion. Aside from all the technicalities, this class was also genuinely SO beneficial and interesting! I learned how to actually eat properly and understand how my body processes food. To be quite honest, I would say this is the one class at UCLA that I have actually taken away beneficial knowledge from and have applied to my personal life ever since! Seriously, I have learned so much and my lifestyle is much healthier now. Esdin is just such a sweet diva fr. Really hope I can get him again as a professor one day!

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Verified Reviewer This user is a verified UCLA student/alum.
Quarter: Spring 2025
Grade: A
July 22, 2025

I would highly recommend taking this class with Esdin. I took this to fulfill a life science + lab GE and I honestly enjoyed the class more than I expected. The things you learn about diet and exercise are actually useful beyond the class and it definitely inspired me to make changes to my personal habits.

In terms of difficulty, I would argue that it's not as easy as some of the other reviews mention but it is 100% manageable if you put in a little time. The grading is based on the following:

Exam 1 - 100 points
2 Lecture quizzes (20 points each) - 40 points
3 Lab quizzes (15 points each) - 45 points
Attendance/Participation in lab - 25 points
Attendance in lecture - 44 points
Lifestyle Assessment Report - 100 points
Final Exam - 100 points
Total: 454 points

Lectures were mandatory and attendance was tracked with iClicker. Esdin is very funny and an engaging lecturer, but even though the lectures were interesting they were not useful. He goes over some basic ideas but you will need to read the textbook to do well on exams and quizzes. The lecture quiz is difficult and you need to thoroughly read the textbook for it!

Lab sections were mandatory but pretty boring in my opinion. The TA spends a painfully long time over the instructions for the Lifestyle Assessment Report, which is all available on the instructions PDF anyways. You learn some new topics which will be tested on Lab quizzes, but never on any of the actual exams or quizzes. The Lab quizzes are super easy as long as you go over the Lab slides (posted on Canvas).

The Lifestyle Assessment report is a paper that's worth a decent part of your grade, but everyone gets 100% on it. It is not difficult at all, but it is VERY tedious so I recommend you don't procrastinate. It is less of a paper and more of a report, so all you have to do is put things in sentences for full credit. No original ideas or actual writing involved.

Exams were fair, but you will need to study. Make sure to read the textbook fully, because everything in it is likely to show up on exams.

Also, DO NOT BUY YOUR OWN iPROFILE AND COURSE READER!!! The iProfile software (~$30) which is mandatory for the Lifestyle Assessment Report can be shared by multiple people. It has a feature to add profiles. Get a group of friends in the class and split the cost. The Course Reader (~$70) is definitely necessary to buy, but again you can share this with friends. Unfortunately, only one person can use it at a time because it's an external software, but we got around this by taking screenshots of the pages. It's really weird that we have to buy it since Esdin wrote it and can give it to us for free, but he for some reason chooses not to. I tried to buy a secondhand one from a previous quarter, but he changes it from quarter to quarter so that most likely won't work.

Otherwise, solid class, easy way to get you life science + lab credits in. Pretty much a guaranteed A. Highly recommend!

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Verified Reviewer This user is a verified UCLA student/alum.
Quarter: Spring 2025
Grade: N/A
June 10, 2025

This was not...an easy GE. Especially if you're a non-stem major I think. Both midterm and final were closed-book in-person. I still liked this class but can't deny that you do have to study hard for it.

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3 of 33
4.3
Overall Rating
Based on 370 Users
Easiness 3.9 / 5 How easy the class is, 1 being extremely difficult and 5 being easy peasy.
Clarity 4.2 / 5 How clear the class is, 1 being extremely unclear and 5 being very clear.
Workload 4.0 / 5 How much workload the class is, 1 being extremely heavy and 5 being extremely light.
Helpfulness 4.1 / 5 How helpful the class is, 1 being not helpful at all and 5 being extremely helpful.

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