Professor
Tina Austin
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Most Helpful Review
Winter 2023 - By far the worst professor I have had at UCLA. She was rarely on time for class and very disorganized. I was really excited to take this class because I had such a great experience with my pre-req for the minor but I hated every minute I had to be in class. She does not set clear expectations for assignments and rarely grades them herself. Attendance is mandatory and one of our classmates was forced to come to class even though they were very ill because Austin was going to dock points for not coming to class. It is hard to get ahold of her over email and if you do she can be very rude and abrasive.
Winter 2023 - By far the worst professor I have had at UCLA. She was rarely on time for class and very disorganized. I was really excited to take this class because I had such a great experience with my pre-req for the minor but I hated every minute I had to be in class. She does not set clear expectations for assignments and rarely grades them herself. Attendance is mandatory and one of our classmates was forced to come to class even though they were very ill because Austin was going to dock points for not coming to class. It is hard to get ahold of her over email and if you do she can be very rude and abrasive.
Most Helpful Review
Spring 2023 - I went into this class as a non-STEM major, and while a class on stem cells seemed daunting, learning complex and relevant topics was a rewarding experience for me. Professor Austin is wonderful--she is knowledgeable and passionate about the material. Although this class is a GE, there are a lot of MCDB/STEM majors. The professor is aware of that, and at times, I felt overwhelmed as some bio topics were briefly glazed over in lecture. However, going to the professor's office hours and asking the TAs questions helped close that gap. There are numerous opportunities for extra credit, and all of the assignments, quizzes, and presentations are manageable. I never felt like my time was wasted or that I didn't gain anything from this class. The professor changes the material each quarter and makes it relevant to current day. This quickly became my favorite class. Also, the professor selects very committed, helpful TAs. I also want to mention that Professor Austin really values participation. I personally went to all of her office hours + occasionally raised my hand in class; I want to emphasize how important participation is to succeed in the class. She actually cares about her students and makes a note of the ones who are participating and trying to engage with the material. All in all, would recommend.
Spring 2023 - I went into this class as a non-STEM major, and while a class on stem cells seemed daunting, learning complex and relevant topics was a rewarding experience for me. Professor Austin is wonderful--she is knowledgeable and passionate about the material. Although this class is a GE, there are a lot of MCDB/STEM majors. The professor is aware of that, and at times, I felt overwhelmed as some bio topics were briefly glazed over in lecture. However, going to the professor's office hours and asking the TAs questions helped close that gap. There are numerous opportunities for extra credit, and all of the assignments, quizzes, and presentations are manageable. I never felt like my time was wasted or that I didn't gain anything from this class. The professor changes the material each quarter and makes it relevant to current day. This quickly became my favorite class. Also, the professor selects very committed, helpful TAs. I also want to mention that Professor Austin really values participation. I personally went to all of her office hours + occasionally raised my hand in class; I want to emphasize how important participation is to succeed in the class. She actually cares about her students and makes a note of the ones who are participating and trying to engage with the material. All in all, would recommend.
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Most Helpful Review
Fall 2022 - I am writing a review on this class because I do feel like the other reviews are a bit misleading. Tina was by no means a bad teacher, but her slides were incredibly disorganized. Her exams were hard. They required you to memorize her slides word for word, and there were about 300 slides for each midterm. Pretty sure the average for the second midterm was a C. She's a very nice person, but honestly, after taking other MCDB classes that require 165A, I genuinely did not feel as prepared as I should have. One professor I have for an MCDB upper div said to my class "you should have learned this in 165A" and I had literally never heard of the topic. I do believe she tried her best, and she got better as the quarter went on. She did give extra credit, and the presentations were pretty fun to do! But do not go into this class thinking it's super easy and fun. It still requires a lot of work.
Fall 2022 - I am writing a review on this class because I do feel like the other reviews are a bit misleading. Tina was by no means a bad teacher, but her slides were incredibly disorganized. Her exams were hard. They required you to memorize her slides word for word, and there were about 300 slides for each midterm. Pretty sure the average for the second midterm was a C. She's a very nice person, but honestly, after taking other MCDB classes that require 165A, I genuinely did not feel as prepared as I should have. One professor I have for an MCDB upper div said to my class "you should have learned this in 165A" and I had literally never heard of the topic. I do believe she tried her best, and she got better as the quarter went on. She did give extra credit, and the presentations were pretty fun to do! But do not go into this class thinking it's super easy and fun. It still requires a lot of work.
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