MCDB 1B
William Smith
3.1
22 reviews
LOW S H
Seng Low
2.5
219 reviews
NGUYEN A T
Alice Nguyen
1.1
71 reviews

312
2.233333333333333
EEMB2LL . Nguyen A T 5 Months Ago

She don't provide what student need: I have no idea how to do the programmins for statistic analysis, but I can't find any guide for this. If you get sick and miss a lab, drag your tired body to get the doctor note. Since without it you will lose whole credit for the lab, and there is no compensate lab or lowest one drop, so say bye to your A!

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MCDB139 . Low S H 5 Months Ago

This class has been relatively easy in comparison to other MCDB upperdivision courses. Everything is 100% memorization based on her slides and what she says so make sure to listen carefully and write everything down. Low is funny and I enjoyed listening to her lectures.

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EEMB2LL . Nguyen A T 5 Months Ago

The definition of "this is just a job". She's not even a real professor, just a coordinator. Unfortunately, that means a lot of the planning for these intro level mcdb/eemb classes get handed to her, bureaucrat-style. Terrible communication, if you reach out to her either in-person or by email, good luck getting a response back.

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EEMB2LL . Nguyen A T 6 Months Ago

Literally the meanest professor/coordinator ever. Every single class I have taken run by her had something go drastically wrong (like having 800+ students take a final 3 times). She also has 0 empathy for students, almost didn't excuse my friend from a lab because she couldn't send her a LITERAL OBITUARY fast enough.

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EEMB2LL . Nguyen A T 6 Months Ago

Literally the WORST HUMAN to ever grace ucsb campus. is the least understanding person and hardly responds to emails on top of how HORRIBLY she coordinates classes. My house literally flooded and she said It wasn't fair to other students for me to submit my assignment late. (bro my house flooded). awful courses for an awful coordinator

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MCDB111 . Low S H 6 Months Ago

It is hard, ngl. But if you can do well, you will remember content for the rest of your life and will ace any physiology MCAT question. Grind every single slide, every single word until you understand. Watch lectures on full volume because she literally SAYING what will be on exam and gives you an answer. Every time the explains, it will be in exam

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EEMB3 . Nguyen A T 6 Months Ago

Absolute joke of a coordinator. She split a single course into 3 different professors, already confusing students, and 1 of the professors is teaching ENTIRELY on zoom. 0 accessibility, 0 transparency, 0 accommodations, and honestly the worst professor in all of UCSB. You cannot avoid her classes, but hopefully she loses her job one day.

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MCDB139 . Low S H 7 Months Ago

her online recordings just make me chuckle

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EEMB2LL . Nguyen A T 7 Months Ago

Honestly so so so unbelievably unfortunate that Alice heads a lot of the prerequisite classes for Pre-Biology majors because she is just so unaccommodating. I'm not sure why she makes everything so difficult and gives me the impression she does not care for the students taking her class to succeed. All of these reviews about her are 100% justified.

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MCDB1LL . Nguyen A T 8 Months Ago

I have never had the misfortune of dealing with such a terrible person until I had to take a class the Alice Nguyen was in charge of. She is the most unaccommodating person if you have to miss any classes and she doesn't allow you to make up any grades if you do. Avoid any classes with her name attached at all costs.

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MCBD6 . Low S H 8 Months Ago

I did the bare minimum and passed, but tbh it was my past biology knowledge and the curve that saved me. This is a difficult class for PBS majors bc it requires gen chem levels of studying which a lot of people don't realize until it's too late. Drill the textbook.

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MCBD6 . Low S H 8 Months Ago

Quizzes and practice exams are NOTHING like the actual exams. The exams are very difficult and be prepared to be tested on topics that are only covered in the textbook or briefly in lecture. Lectures are also very dense in material. The article summaries are an actual assignment that counts for credit, not extra credit like she makes it seem.

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MCDB1LL . Nguyen A T 8 Months Ago

I don't really know where to start... she is extremely power hungry and bureaucratic. I had an instance where a TA told me something regarding the course policies and I took it to be truth (as one does). Turns out that wasn't the case and when I did everything else right (turned in my assignment EARLY) she didn't listen during our meeting at all.

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MCDB1LL . Nguyen A T 8 Months Ago

WORST professor in the MCDB department. Has no sense of social skills whatsover, and is not lenient to different circumstances. Never met a "professor" like her before. DO NOT recommend! Would rather take this class at cc than here. Not a great coordinator, the worst by far at UCSB.

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MCDB1LL . Nguyen A T 8 Months Ago

if I could give 0 stars I would. probably the least empathetic person you'll ever meet in your life. and the lab manual, quizzes, and poster project are all very poorly written. on the good side, it's easy as long as you don't miss a deadline.

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MCDB132 . Low S H 8 Months Ago

I'm typically an A/B+ student but I had to withdraw from this course after the first two midterms were graded so difficultly that I was going into the final with a D+. The worst part is, when I asked her about my exams that I felt were marked down incorrectly, she took away MORE POINTS from other questions on my tests and my grade went down more.

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MCDB1LL . Nguyen A T 8 Months Ago

Absolutely abysmal class. Only 1.5 units but the biggest hassle of a class. O chem lab is ten times easier and more fun. Least enjoyable class I have taken. Intro bio team is not helpful at all with turning in assignments late, getting excused absences, etc.

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MCDB1LL . Nguyen A T 8 Months Ago

This is a joke of a class. The department is very strict about turning in labs and every time we have gone in for a lab, it is a waste of time. She has students conduct experiments knowing the equipment does not work and then marks students off for being late or not turning in a lab with very strict and not lenient policies. VERY poor quality class

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MCBD6 . Low S H 8 Months Ago

Just don't take this class. trust.

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MCDB132 . Low S H 8 Months Ago

She wasn't as bad as some people had said she was but she wasn't great either. The entire grade is based on exams, and she wants extremely specific answers to her test questions. She goes over the material so fast but all lectures were recorded so you can rewatch them whenever needed.

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MCDB1AL . Nguyen A T 8 Months Ago

One of the worst human beings I've ever had the misfortune of meeting in my entire life. Not only is she hard to reach outside of class (which she doesn't even teach herself), she is also EXTREMELY insensitive. You can't miss any labs unexcused. My boyfriend thought he had covid and she still made him go to his lab because he didn't have a DR note

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MCDB1A . Nguyen A T 9 Months Ago

Does not respond to emails, very unhelpful. Pretends to be a resource for students to reach out to via the "Intro Bio Team" but refuses to help students, posts practice tests with incorrect answer keys, does not respond to any emails/will not meet with you if you have questions. Unhelpful and honestly just rude.

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MCDB1A . Low S H 9 Months Ago

Honestly her slides and her lecturing for 1B isn't horrible. She does move fast and you definitely have to utilize the recordings because she moves quickly. However, if you go to her office hours and talk to her after lecture she's very dismissive and does not do a good job answering questions at all. Not approachable at all.

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MCDB111 . Low S H 10 Months Ago

grade was determined by weekly section quizzes, two midterms, and a non-cumulative final with averages around 60-65. exams are insanely specific, the frqs are decent in that you can get half credit but the multiple choice section is impossible. go with another professor for this already difficult class

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