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.

Tomaso is a fast lecturer and covers a lot of material, but the lectures are recorded and he's accessible if you have any questions regarding the material. Exams are mostly critical thinking and involve less memorization of details. If you keep up with the material and really understand every concept you can get a good grade in this class.

Dr. De Tomaso goes fast during lectures, but he does record them, so feel free to rewatch every one of them. His exams are fair, as you do not have to be super specific. Immunology, in general, is difficult, so you might have to read the textbook chapters. Overall, the class is difficult because of the subject itself, not because of the instructor.

Took this class along with the honors. Good teacher who focuses heavily on research and experiments, tests are little memorization and have large sections on interpreting data and designing your own experiment. Hard to finish in time but TAs grade answers leniently. Overall I liked him but def not an easy A if you dont have research experience.

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.

The concepts are easy, but the exams are difficult, as you have to apply what you have learned in various scenarios. Nonetheless, the grading is heavily normalized. Dr. Mahan is a solid instructor. Be sure pay attention to what he writes and says in lecture. Do note any of the points he has "starred," and be sure to go to office hours, if you can.

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.

one of my favorite professors at UCSB! you definitely have to take his biochem class. as long as you go over lectures thoroughly and pay attention in class, you'll do just fine.

Quite literally one of the hardest upper division biology classes at UCSB. The tests are only based on his lectures, but are still so hard. The averages for midterm one and two were around a 43 and a 50. I will say it was a SUPER interesting class and he's a great teacher, but overall not an easy course.

Toughest class I've taken at UCSB. I received all A's in my other upper-division bio classes, yet was barely able to survive this class. De Tomaso focuses so heavily on research that you leave lectures not knowing what's going on. His tests are poorly constructed. The other reviewers are definitely outliers because most of the class did dismally.

Most interesting class I've taken at UCSB. He presents the material in a way that usually begins with a research question and ends with an experiment that led to a major discovery in immunology. Tests are challenging and require critical thinking and less memorization of specific details from lecture. Great professor and great class.

Rothman is a very good lecturer, and is very accessible outside of class. He really seems like he wants his students to succeed in this course. The exams aren't too tricky, if you go to lecture and stay on top of studying for this course, it won't be hard at all to pass and do well.

What a mess this class was. Yeah, he's hilarious and is available for lots of office hours but when the average for both midterms is 40% and he decides to make the final 10x more difficulty covering material that was never taught.. you gotta take a second to look at the teacher. Interesting subject, complete garbage professor.

Rothman is an exceptional professor for biochem. The class is a lot of material, and going to class will definitely help with understanding the topics. The book is optional and only helps to give extra details on things from lecture. His tests aren't easy but aren't too difficult, it's just a matter of studying the material because there is a lot.

Disregard the trash comment below. Study effectively bc exam scores don't lie. Easy A for a 5-unit course.

Very information heavy and lectures very fast. Class is split into 3 lectures a week and a review session. The amount of information he covers in a 50 minute lecture is equivalent to other upper div MCDB courses that are taught in a 75 minute lecture. So expect to do 1.5x the amount of work. Lectures are on gauchocast so attendance isn't mandatory

Hands down best class I've ever taken at UCSB. He presents the subject in a way that makes students feel like they themselves are at the forefront of research. The material can be complicated but he teaches so intuitively that I barely found myself having to memorize anything and you really can't help but leave deeply appreciative of the system.

Dr. Rothman is very inspiring. He is a great lecturer, and often mention current science news in his lectures to keep it interesting. He is very talkative and supportive outside of class.

I would highly recommend taking a class with Mahan. His tests are really hard but he actually cares about the students doing well so if you go to his office hours it helps a lot. If he stars something on the board, 98% chance it will be on the midterm or final.

Great guy, great professor. Tests are really hard and require you to think outside the box which makes it very tricky, especially if you only have 50minutes. Large part of grade for 132L is also for an exam which isn't too related to the actual lab which is dumb. Should have been more based on lab performance and results in lab instead.

Great professor. Very funny too. Got to lecture and you will be rewarded. Does not curve much. Memorize all slides and things said and read the textbook and you will do okay. Not super easy material but the professor presents it well. Section helps as well.

Great professor! Lectures are very clear and organized. He's very personable and truly wants his students to do well. *Go to his office hours- he's really helpful when you show the effort. Tests are incredibly hard for the material learned in lecture. Learn every word/concept on every slide very well. Then you can do well in the course.

Amazing professor. So much charisma and his enthusiasm is infectious. He loves what he teaches and his lectures are perfect. Always available to answer questions and is a really cool guy to talk to. He knows so much about immunology and if he doesn't know something it's because it hasn't been discovered yet! Tough material but best class in MCDB.

Tomaso teaches in an intuitive style that differs from most of the other professors in the MCDB field. He explains things with the big picture first and then fills in the details and almost completely devalues memorization as a form of learning. He uses real research examples and focuses on cutting edge and relevant material. Tests are long beware.