MCDB 1BZ
William Smith
3.2
23 reviews
LOW S H
Seng Low
2.5
225 reviews
NGUYEN A T
Alice Nguyen
1.2
74 reviews

322
2.3000000000000003
MCDB1A . 6 Years Ago

funny guy but you could tell right away that he wasn't prepared to teach this class - pretty all over the place. things got better but he wasn't good enough of a professor to make his exams so difficult. average was so damn low for the midterm but it was honestly okay. final was a JOKE. SO specific on barely touched topics. Biomentors couldnt help.

0 helpful 0 unhelpful
MCDB111 . Low S H 6 Years Ago

Prof. Low was my most difficult professor at UCSB. She is extremely difficult to understand and talks very quickly. She will mention a word in lecture and expect you to know every detail about it come test time. Lectures confused me more, but there are iclickers. Test averages are always below failing, but she curves.

6 helpful 0 unhelpful
MCDB1A . 6 Years Ago

He explained things well. Midterm wasn't that hard but had questions about minor details that you wouldn't think are important so the class average was really low (but if you read over the slides you would know them). Literally never went to class because lectures were online.

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MCDB1AL . Nguyen A T 6 Years Ago

too much work! should be worth way more than 1 unit!!!!!!!!

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MCDB1AL . Nguyen A T 6 Years Ago

She has written down on the course policies that she gives makeup exams but she doesn't. Says you can contest your grade but when I complained about a grading mistake on my practical (and I'm 100% sure), the staff refused to fix it. Reuses questions she threw out other quarters because 1/2 students got another very close answer.

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MCDB1ALMCDB1A . Nguyen A T 6 Years Ago

negligent, incompetent, disorganized, lazy

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MCDB1AL . Nguyen A T 6 Years Ago

Several videos to watch in order to take a weekly quiz, reading the lab manual before lab, a ridiculous amount of questions in the manual that you need to answer, two practicals, and a fat research project without ANY guidance and sources that hardly make sense or cover necessary material. Good luck!

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MCDB6 . Low S H 6 Years Ago

Honestly I hated this class. At first I found her funny, but increasingly I got frustrated with her. The average during my quarter for midterm 1 was a 57, and for midterm 2 a 62. Her lectures move incredibly fast and are hard to follow, her class is boring. She blames the students for not succeeding and doesn't explain answers to questions.

6 helpful 0 unhelpful
MCDB6 . Low S H 6 Years Ago

Dr. Low knows her stuff. However, she expects the students to be just as smart as her and will not slow down, answer questions, or try to explain concepts in a different way. Basically, just be prepared for hard tests that are nothing like the practice tests. Read the book its easy but the class itself is very misleading and tricky.

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MCDB1AL . Nguyen A T 6 Years Ago

Trust me, too much work for 1 unit class. Lab manual is so unorganized

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MCDB1A . 6 Years Ago

He's a nice, engaging lecturer, but his exam was awful. It was way more specific than what he *or* the book covered, and I could barely understand it. Apparently, the rest of MCDB 1A didn't, either. He seems like an alright guy, but I wouldn't trust him as a substitute teacher

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MCDB1AL . Nguyen A T 6 Years Ago

I'm going to come off as so extra but I swear, this is most disorganized class that I've ever taken w the most disorganized lab manual that I've ever read. The lab manual constantly has conflicting information in it, is written out of order, is so grammatically incorrect and vague, etc. yet we are graded on our knowledge of extremely specific info

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MCDB6 . Low S H 6 Years Ago

Dr. Low knows her stuff. There is no doubt about that. However, she expects the students to be just as smart as her and will not slow down, answer questions, or try to explain concepts in a different way. Basically, just be prepared for this, and READ the book. Her lecture slides are straight from the book, but the book actually explains it.

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MCDB1B . Low S H 6 Years Ago

Reminds me of my tiny old asian grandma. She is very funny and can make a lecture hall of 900 kids laugh. She covers alot of material so you need to put in time to study in depth outside of class. Her tests are extremely specific and hard. Try your best to know important details. Print out powerpoint slides to bring to class.

1 helpful 1 unhelpful
MCDB1B . Low S H 6 Years Ago

Although she was pretty funny/eccentric, she moved incredibly fast in her lectures and didn't really give students time to ask questions. I felt like her test didn't focus on the big concepts discussed in class, but rather on the minor details that were briefly touched upon :( Read the book to prepare yourself for lecture and then memorize stuff

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MCDB1B . Low S H 6 Years Ago

I found Low's lectures to be incredibly disorganized and scattered. It was really hard to follow her slides because there seemed to be no organization whatsoever? It was all bullet points and in a really weird order. She moves super fast and is REALLY DETAIL ORIENTED. Her test was REALLY hard and tricky.

2 helpful 1 unhelpful
MCDB1B . Low S H 6 Years Ago

I was really surprised to see the other reviews! I personally love Low. She's hilarious and knows the material well. She does move fast and gives credit for correct iClicker questions but as long as you keep up with the reading, the pace won't bother you. Go to her office hours! She's super approachable and can help with whatever you don't get.

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MCDB6 . Low S H 6 Years Ago

Low appears to be nice and funny at first, but that changes throughout the quarter. She insults the students' intelligence. She makes attendance and iClicker mandatory, but the points amount to pretty much nothing. She lectures fast and will not slow down, even after students express their concerns. An extremely difficult class, would not recommend

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MCDB1B . Low S H 6 Years Ago

Low moves really really fast. I feel like her portion of MCDB 1B can be an entire one of itself. Sometimes she can be hard to understand and is not really good at explaining things, but she can be funny which is an upside. Overall would not recommend, take the other mcdb professors if you can.

0 helpful 1 unhelpful
MCDB1A . Nguyen A T 6 Years Ago

Objectively graded class, no curve or very low curve. Make a good connection with your TA because they grade your paper that is worth about 20% of your grade. Do all the pre-labs and labs on time, these are the easy points. 1 unit class, but if you want to get a good grade, study hard for the practicals.

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MCDB6 . Low S H 6 Years Ago

While it's clear Dr. Low is very knowledgable in her field, she expects everyone taking her class to understand material as well as she does. When the average for her midterm was an F, she told the class that "you just need to know EVERYTHING!" and that we clearly do not know how to study at the university level. Read and listen to lectures after.

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MCDB6 . Low S H 6 Years Ago

Taking this class with Low was challenging to say the least. I would watch lecture with the book open and she was essentially reading the book out loud. Additionally, there was zero guidance midterm material. While she is funny and entertaining, she would mock the class's intelligence and had little sympathy for those struggling.

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MCDC1A1AL . Nguyen A T 7 Years Ago

May be one of the most disorganized people for this job. She is in charge of coordinating the lectures and labs for intro bio classes and fails to do so well. The class is over complicated and the lab doesn't match the class at all. During my final she repeatedly screamed out errors she made on the final in a disruptive way. Very negative person.

16 helpful 1 unhelpful
MCDB1B . Low S H 7 Years Ago

Low is a great lecturer. Funny, straightforward, concise. She gets to the point, make sure you memorize everything she says; it will be on the test. Know the random facts she spurts out they will be tested too. Tests are tricky but if you study hard you will do well.

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