just put the effort into learning, and it will pay back, her tests were very similar to the practice test she gave out.

I liked Finkelstein even though her lectures were a little dry. She is very knowledgeable and always answers any questions you have. There are some scientific articles that are hard to understand but she helps you learn how to analyze papers better which I think is a good skill to have.

People that are complaining about her have no reason to, they just were likely not willing to put in the work. Her class was excellent, she is easy to work with, and she knows more than any other professor I have had. Just look at the grammar of the people who didn't like her.

Dr. Finkelstein is a great teacher and is the most helpful person ever. Not going to lie, really tough but rewarding.

great class. she has clear lecture slides and she provides great supplemental detail! to all those people leaving (-) comments, they prob just don't know how to sort out supplemental detail from what she wants you to know, which she makes clear even in 1b. Very knowledgeable & a GREAT resource for plants, genetics, or developmental! give her a try!

Had her for mcdb 1b too. She's one of the smartest people I know - I don't just mean knowing the material. There is so much people can learn from her, and I think you have to take something other than an intro class of 800+ before you can properly judge anybody - she is so much better than these comments

I went to her office hours frequently and she is very helpful and approachable! This class was not easy but if you actually go to lecture and study you will find the tests are fine. She is such a nice sweet lady and does not deserve most of these comments. I think she's a great teacher.

She's a nice teacher. Lectures might be a bit all over the place. But the tests are straight forward. I have to disagree w/ these other ppl's comments about her, because she's a nice person and very approachable and helpful. If you think her class is hard, it's probably your fault. Because I worked hard and I got a really good grade. No complaints.

she teaches WAY TOO FAST!!! she thrOws SOO MUCH maTeriaL aT yOu in one LeCTure. tip: if ur LosT, RAiSE UR HAND and maKe her repeaT iT if iTs nOT cLear! oTherwise, yOuLL be SOO LOST... cause she'LL keep on gOing and throWing mOre maTeriaL aT yOu!

Professor Finkelstein's class is a real challenge. Her tests are brutally detailed, requiring complete mastery of every tiny concept. Studying hard with resources like Unstuck study helped me survive, but it's still one of the toughest classes I've taken.

Worst professor I've ever had. Got high/low 60's on every test and ended with a B-, that just shows how much everyone struggled. She seems like a nice person but her tests and lectures are literally insane. You will think you did good on exams but end up blindsided. But dont worry, youre in good company. AVOID IF YOU CAN. If not good use CLAS

Ruth is one of the most unorganized and unclear professors I have EVER had. I spent so long attempting to parse her lectures and put them in somewhat of an order. The plants section of the final was brutal and felt unrelated to much of the material that she had haphazardly taught us. She laughed at students who asked questions/ got iClicker wrong.

Genuinely the worst teacher I have ever had in my 20 years of existence. Boring, monotonous, poorly taught lectures followed up by the most unreasonably difficult and unnecessarily detailed tests of my life. Bio majors, I implore you to not make the same mistake I did and take little bio instead. AVOID HER AT ALL COSTS.

Her tests are so detailed. Be prepared to know every single detail about every single topic. I reviewed the slides at least 8 times and reviewed for hours, just to get completely thrown for a loop on the test. You need to know and remember everything, search for the smallest error in the answers.

Do not take a class with Professor Finkelstein. Not only is she a very monotone teacher, but she is also very bad at teaching. She will make the exams very detailed yet barely explain anything during her lectures. She should retire soon or look at her ratings and fix the way she runs this class.

Awful professor. Please retire

I absolutely despise Ruth. Her exams are insanely difficult. She will mention something once and put it on the exam. It doesn't matter if you learn the material, they care about you memorizing all the slides (impossible). The exams are purposely made to trick you, so you must know every detail. I'll be lucky if I pass, and I studied like crazy.

Finkelstein ruined this class for me. Her lectures are unbelievably monotone and she often explains topics using scientific vocabulary never previously introduced. To top it off, she'll casually introduce key terms/topics without any indication of their importance and her tests will focus on specific details of these underexplored topics.

She isn't terrible to learn from if you have a basis in what shes teaching. However, because you do need to actively seek outside class resources to understand whats going on (the book is meh) this makes her an awful professor. Only reason I'm doing decent is because I have heavily relied on Khan Academy and then watched the lectures.

RUTHlessly hard exams, monotone asf, do not take

Extremely monotone lecturer. Teaches things giving no background which makes it sooo hard to understand. The worst professor I have ever had.

The most inadequate professor I have ever had. She briefly introduces topics without any consideration that most students have never seen this information. I hope she reads her reviews because something needs to change with her teaching. It is disappointing to see such an interesting class ruined by such an awful lecturer who zero teaching skills.

I actually felt her lecture style was decent. She was definitely pretty organized. However, the test was just gnarly man. MCDB 1B is THE weeder class for your entire UCSB undergraduate biology education. Expect to have to work for it because if you do, you will definitely come with your head above water.

Memorize every little detail on her slides and you might get a C on the exam. Hardest class I've taken at UCSB. In all honesty, I think that this class says more about the intro bio department, which is the least empathetic and caring department I have ever met. I liked biology before taking this class. I don't anymore.