Prof. Low was the most hilarious professor I have taken so far. Although exams were quite hard and sometimes difficult to understand, all you have to do is take good lecture notes and make sure you fully understand each concept taught. I thought she did a pretty good job explaining everything and she made her lectures fun with jokes. I recommend
The exams and quizzes are very very very difficult. Professor Low is very funny but the information she is teaching is extremely challenging and she goes very quickly and tests us on SO much information.
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
Funny and easy to talk to, Professor Low was one of my favorite professors at UCSB. She writes confusing questions on her tests, so be on the look out for lots of double-negative statements and "E. None of the above" being the answer most of the time. Sit in the front and be sure she knows who you are - she appreciates candidness.
For being a conceptual biology course this class proved rather difficult. Her tests tended to take the general gist of the material and ask the student to make serious extrapolations. I recommend keeping up in the textbook, if you do so lectures are not necessary. Learned more doing the book on my own then spending 1:15 bored in class.
Material was not very hard but tests and quizzes were very tricky. The class average was extremely low but she used a bell curve. She is funny in lecture and teaches in a very clear way but her accent makes her difficult to understand sometimes.
MCDB20. favorite class. The teacher is lovely, very clear and explains well. Sections are mandatory because you get quizzed,quizzes are not too tough if you read the book and go to lecture. The slides are posted online. I got a B in the class but i could have gotten an A if i had read everything i had to. does require some time, i do recommend!
I enjoyed lecture, she made the class fun! The tests were straight-forward but be sure you STUDY THE SLIDESHOWS and READ THE BOOK!! It's a lot of information to take in in such a short amount of time but if you study you'll be fine.
Emphasis material, when this is done it is not on the test. Material is 50/50 slides and lecture material, but tests heavy things barely talked about. don't take.. do this class with anyone else. She's also not very accessible outside of class.
This class is tough, but manageable if you put in the work. The exams are challenging and cover tiny details, so studying the textbook thoroughly and using tools like Quizlet and Unstuck ai are key. The curve helps, but don't rely on it - stay on top of the material.
I took MCDB 1B in the summer, and Professor Low got more negative reviews than she deserved. She knows the material and sets clear expectations. While her lectures are detail-heavy, all intro bio requires memorization. It's essential to learn to accommodate different teaching styles. Just go to her office hours, and you will do better on tests.
The stuff you learn in MCDB 1B is super complicated and hard, and Low isn't the best person to explain all this content to you. She expects you to know the content as she's lecturing, and one of her favorite things to say during her lectures is, "I told you already!!!" She's low-key kinda funny, but funny doesn't make good professors.
Anything emphasized in class will not be in the test. The questions are designed in very ambiguous ways an often times will compare most to least correct. Also seemingly frustrated at questions.
Looks at student as though they are beneath her. Expects you to memorize everything she says. Anything heavily emphasized will not
Exams are ridiculously specific, questions comes from obscure concepts touched on during lectures so you have to memorize every word she's saying on top of lecture slides. When asked about the wording/ambiguity of the questions during the exam, she seemed annoyed and gave brief, dismissive answers that offered no help. Would not recommend.
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.
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
Low gets more hate than she deserves just because her tests are SO HARD. Her lectures are hilarious and you can tell she knows her stuff. I put in more work than I ever have for MCDB 1B and it was well rewarded. If you can truly understand what shes teaching, even the minutia, an A is very possible. Test questions were specific but still relevant.
her online recordings just make me chuckle
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.
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.
insanely difficult exams, and it's just so much material. she vaguely goes over stuff and then adds them to the exam. she's not as bad as ruth, however combined for this course they're no help. the weeder course is definitely weeding. I went to all the lectures, to CLAS, and rewatched ALL her videos, and I still bombed her midterm. boo introbioteam
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.
Just don't take this class. trust.