Exams are definitely challenging. Must memorize and understand all the concepts to do well. Curve is decent though.

MCDB 6 was the hardest class Ive ever taken, but not impossible. 2 midterms and a final; all extremely difficult, but there is a curve. Rewatch her lectures online and study for at least a week before any exam and youll be fine. I found writing down all the notes from the slides helpful and listening to what she emphasizes in class.

Get ready to memorize almost everything learned in intro bio, in much more detail, in 1 quarter -- graders dock points if your answer is not what her key says nearly verbatim, and barely-covered details from the slides will be asked about. Luckily, exams are not cumulative and the textbook is only necessary if her verbose slides confuse you.

mcdb1A is a weeder class for med students, so you're better off taking this. It seems difficult cause most fail the first midterm, but it is heavily curved. she posts all slides online, so just memorize them and you'll get a decent grade

Yes she's difficult, but there is no way I'd recommend taking 1A over mcdb 6. I have many friends in 1A and it is 10x harder and has a lab. She isn't a great teacher, but if you are able to teach yourself material you'll be fine. The class is curved to a B-, so you'd have to try to fail. Hard to get a good grade though, but most of are fine w/ a C

worst professor ever. laughs when you get things wrong and likes to watch you suffer. very rude and not approachable. very hard to get a good grade in this class

PBS majors: I also thought that this would be an easy class to take since it's SUPPOSED to be tailored to our major, but you're better off taking 1A. Her lectures are so hard to sit through and she's just generally not an approachable person. If you're struggling (like I did) good luck cause you have to teach yourself. Extremely hard midterms/final

Took over the summer, so yes, I was expecting a more-than-average course load but Dear Lord. Holy. Mackerel. This lady surpassed all bounds of making this a weeder class. Unless you absolutely must, I would not recommend taking this course with Low because of how dull her lectures are and how unwilling she is to interact with her audience.

They changed the format of the bio labs, and I had hoped that they would be better, but in fact, they have become worse! The grading scales are harder, and the lab practicals are no easier than before. Unfortunately there's no way to avoid this class if you're a bio major, so good luck and may the odds be ever in your favor tbh.

Totally unorganized, making the material which was clear in lecture more confusing. Many of the questions she writes dont feel fair and her grading policy is rigid for a 1 unit class. If you every have her, Im sorry

The actual worst, she overcomplicates the lab practicals to the point where they're more difficult and time consuming than the actual classes. The lab manual is disorganized and barely corresponds to lectures anyways. Probably the worst person they could have chosen to organize the intro bio labs.

If I could rate her a zero I would

I am not someone who has a hard time focusing in class, but her monotone voice and lack of personality really makes it hard to get into the material. She does about 5 iclicker questions per lecture so bring that sucker to class. Tests are very hard, but as long as you study the lecture slides and do the online tests you will pass.

Lows tests are really hard. Nearly every question is which is false and it really tests you on details because one word can make a whole statement false. Definitely stay on top of studying, go to clas and the review sessions. Try to study the material before you go to clas so everythings review. Rewatch lectures. Iclickers graded for accuracy

Her lectures are extremely boring. Watching the recordings 2x fast is the only way to get through them. Iclickers for accuracy, a few extra credit quizzes, and a review session for the final. Provides good resources, but really makes you work for a decent grade. Definitely do clas.

The literal worst, the labs are completely disorganized and the practicals test on tiny details with not enough time to answer the questions. The manual is horrible, and there's no guidance on the research project. WAY too much work for 1 unit.

Worst class I have taken at UCSB. Prof expects you to memorize way too much info in such a short amount of time. Lectures are extremely boring. Her tests are way too hard!!!!! (especially if you're a non-bio major. I am not exaggerating when I say she made this class miserable. Would not recommend. Avoid at all costs

There is so much content for this class, and you really need to know the nitty gritty details or else you will get many questions on the exams wrong. Lectures are dull and hard to pay attention to. She is not really approachable and does not seem that interested or enthusiastic about teaching. Go to CLAS, rewatch lectures, organize your notes.

Dr. Finkelstein is a nice human being but an awful lecturer. Each lecture covers too many materials and you never know what will or will not be on the tests. Sometimes you checked on your phone for a second and could not follow her since then. Get ready to review recordings of the lectures. Questions are very tricky and very difficult to answer.

She knows her stuff but had a monotone voice which made it impossible to pay attention. Went to lecture for the iclicker points and watched lectures later at home. She went way too fast in lectures so even if you paid attention you'd have to go back and watch it again. The content is interesting but she made me hate bio. Tests are tricky

Very very boring teacher. Only plus side is that she makes everything accessible online including Ex credit, lecture videos, additional videos.. etc

Uses iclicker but only counts if you are correct. Two midterms and a final, both are extremely hard. If you do not study every day you will struggle I am not over exaggerating. I took this class twice and studied as hard as I could but still did not pass. When you ask for help she gets annoyed. Avoid it if you can. The hardest class I have ever had

Quite possibly the worst professor I've had so far at UCSB. She's almost impossible to follow, and doesn't present any of the concepts clearly. Memorize even the tiniest details on her slides, her tests are completely unreasonable and one word is enough to get the questions wrong if you don't know every single thing she mentioned. Awful

worst professor ive at at ucsb. she does not explain anything so majority of the class is lost and gets the clicker questions wrong. instead of taking this as a hint that shes not teaching well, she laughs when she sees that theres an even spread among all of the answer options. never had to use the textbook for bio at ucsb before but need to now