Hardest class I've taken at UCSB. You have to eat, sleep, and breathe her lecture material. Write down everything on the slides and everything she says. She'll mention something once for 2 seconds and it'll show up on the exam. If you think you won't need to know it for the exam, yes you will. Use the Anki app (free) for studying, it helped a lot.

Joel is a good lecturer and he makes some good dad jokes. He's really helpful in OH and is a really nice person overall. The average was way lower than the top 8 students so he offered us extra credit which was really nice of him. The final was lowkey hard tho ngl. The midterm difficulty was understandable IMO.

Tricky exam questions not meant to measure your understanding of the subject but check how well you can read. MEMORIZE her slides. Textbook won't really help you. Quizlets help a bit. Just survive the class, it's rough

The slides are not digestible and there is no clear organization during her lectures so it's hard to learn anything during class. Don't wait to start studying, even if you're an academic weapon. Call her Dr. ____ Finkelstein cause this class is Ruth-less (seems like a nice person tho).

You'll think you have it bad with Professor Low at the start. Then you'll experience Finkelstein, and you'll offer your firstborn to satan if only you could get her back.

Honestly, I thought the other reviews were giving her a hard time but they are extremely accurate. Lectures are nearly impossible to follow and slides contain very little info and abstract terminology that she does not explain more than just reading straight off the slide. Seems like a nice person, but maybe lecturing just isn't her thing.

Does not convey the lecture material in helpful or explanatory ways. I learned all content for this class from the book or CLAS. Her lectures are jumbled and she jumps straight in saying terms you've never heard of or showing complex graphics and barely explains them at all. Would have failed this class if it wasn't for reading the entire book. I

Honestly, you'll have to teach yourself most of the material. Lectures are NOT engaging whatsoever and half of the time you can barely follow her line of thought. Seems confused about her own course content and it seems like she sometimes has zero interest in what she's saying. Would not recommend, and would not take again.

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

Terrible professor. Monotonous tone makes lectures unbearable, tests you on the most obscure and minuscule details, and overall makes the class very unenjoyable. Only positives were the curve (~8%) and that she played music before lectures started in-person.

I really enjoyed this class! Material was challenging, but Rothman is a great lecturer. He made a very difficult subject manageable and interesting, but you have to work for it. Problem sets and past exams are super helpful in determining what information is important. From there, I would study the hell out of his lectures and you'll be fine.

Prof. Finkelstein's teaching style did not align well with many students. It involved a lot of lecturing AT us and little to no interactive learning/engaging lessons. The iclickers and quizzes were slightly useful for gauging knowledge... but overall, a really poor learning experience. Tests were hard, and there was no traditional curve.

Finkelstein does not make this hard class any easier. Her lectures are extremely slow, and she asks for very detailed answers on her exams. Plant physio was tough, but CLAS helped somewhat.

Doesn't explain literally anything, regardless of whether the entire class gets iClicker questions wrong. Tests are ridiculously detail-oriented on things she mentioned offhandedly once, aren't on the slides, or even in the textbook!!! Not even enough time to look through them anyways She does provides a lot of resources for studying though

This is THE WORST professor I have EVER come across. I am so sorry if you ever have to sit through a class with this person. Her lectures are absolutely dreadful and her exam questions make you wonder why anyone would ever want to study biology. Seriously, I don't get what she is thinking when she comes up with these exam questions.

Her lectures are really hard to pay attention to because they are really dull and she has a very low voice. The slides she uses are really hard to take notes on because they are all pictures and very few words. I try so hard to pay attention in this class but catch myself zoning out every 5 minutes because she is so boring

Professor Rothman is 100% my favorite professor that I have had at UCSB. He really takes careful consideration in the organization of his often difficult teaching concepts and puts immense effort into making them entertaining. He is also a really cool guy to talk to. Highly recommend taking this class!

Made us go in person just to take exams, half the class failed and received no curve. The test questions were terrible and we fell behind in class due to his constant cringe jokes. Take the class with Wilton if you can.

My course was online, and you could tell he still wasn't completely used to it but the dude can really teach! He always takes into account ppl's questions during lecture and is super approachable at office hours. Study the lectures hard and ASK questions! Exams are tough but doable, I did better each exam. Push hard early if you want that A, GL! :D

Graded 100% on 3 exams. Dull lectures. Difficult exams very different from material in lecture. Tests you on tiny random details. Unwilling to accommodate students in situations out of their control. No curve. Grades exams harshly. Midterm on week 9. Added an extra lecture because he was too far behind. Do the problem sets, they help with exams.

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.

Funny and chill dude, great professor. The material is all in lecture, so make sure you write down EVERYTHING he says, no matter how small. Details matter big time in this class. If you need a deeper source of information, the internet was more helpful than the textbook.

Gives 3 exams, 2 midterms and a final. The final and the midterms are weighted the same. Dr. Rothman is an awesome professor, super funny, and extremely accommodating. He does all that he can to ensure that his students are successful. If you have taken 109c, this class is almost an exact repeat, so its very easy. Curves the class.

Writes pretty easy question for her portion of it. memorize the slides and you are Gucci.