MCDB 1BZ
William Smith
3.1
22 reviews
LOW S H
Seng Low
2.5
218 reviews
NGUYEN A T
Alice Nguyen
1.1
70 reviews

310
2.233333333333333
MCDB6 . Low S H 3 Years Ago

Low is one of the worst professors I've faced at SB so far. I ended up getting an A just from watching + notetaking the lectures. You should write down every part of the slides and what she's saying out loud too. I took the class remotely bc of COVID, so open-notes were helpful during exams, but without that the class would've been 100x harder.

0 helpful 1 unhelpful
MCDB6 . Low S H 3 Years Ago

She was a terrible professor and person. she completely disregarded the entire pandemic and didnt not care for students at all. this class was 95% based on test scores which didnt even match with the lectures. her exams were so specific yet her teaching was so vague since she was lazy enough to use previously recorded lectures. DO NOT TAKE LOW.

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MCDB6 . Low S H 3 Years Ago

Gotta work really hard for it and had to self study almost all of it. On my part I hear she is good during office hours and her TAs were helpful. Her tests were very specific which made self studying the textbook a requirement to get an A. Her lectures and structure is confusing and largely unhelpful. Focus on textbook and OH if u wanna do well.

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MCDB6 . Low S H 3 Years Ago

Online lectures are prerecorded from last year in class so they are very difficult to learn from. Lots of background noise and lecture doesn't match up with the slides she gives us. Tests are difficult and super specific. May be different in person, but it seems as though she put no effort into the class. Had to teach myself everything before exam.

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MCDB6 . Low S H 3 Years Ago

Truthfully, just dont.

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MCDB111 . Low S H 3 Years Ago

During OH, she's really chill and answers questions, but her tests really take you out. They demand an incredible amount of detail with little to no leniency for grading, and definitely not enough time to take it. Tiny things from lecture end up covering huge portions on the exams, so if you miss it, you're screwed. Nice person, not nice professor.

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MCDB111 . Low S H 3 Years Ago

Took her for online fall quarter. She uses pre-recorded lectures that are of bad sound quality and she moves away from the recorder sometimes which makes her thick accent harder to understand. Seemed to be no communication b/t her and TAs for material covered. Pulled review pdfs from many years prior that had info that was not in main slides. 1/10

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MCDB6 . Low S H 3 Years Ago

She is one of the worst professors I have ever come across with. She does not accommodate for students needs and quite literally calls people stupid when she is approached to clarify something. Her lectures are just audio recordings from pre-covid classes with distracting background noise. DO NOT TAKE HER IF YOU CAN

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EEMB2LL . Nguyen A T 3 Years Ago

Lacks empathy and contributes to the (minimal) toxicity in the bio major. I dont understand how she has a job considering the immaturity and lack of self-awareness that she has. How did she even end up running the Intro Bio Labs? I cant believe the intro lab classes for the most impacted major on campus is this disorganized. UCSB deserves better.

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MCDB6 . Low S H 3 Years Ago

Professor low is definitely a great professor. She is reachable during OH, answers every question I had without any hesitation. For maintaining the course as university-level as possible, she made the exam a little harder than the impersonal class. But it is absolutely workable if you try to focus on the course material. For bad student, it is hard

1 helpful 5 unhelpful
EEMB2LL . Nguyen A T 3 Years Ago

If I could give her a zero I would. She is by far the worst faculty member I have ever had experience with at UCSB. This class was horribly organized, had unclear requirements, and Dr. Nguyen displayed a complete lack of compassion for her students on several occasions. I was actually excited to this class but this professor ruined it. TA was nice

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EEMB2LL . Nguyen A T 3 Years Ago

Class is terribly organized, she doesn't respond to emails, changed grading policy to be harsher mid-quarter during a pandemic, even though the class uses 3 different websites to turn things in, all with different times due which is extremely confusing and difficult to keep track of. She is also uncaring and unsympathetic to student hardship.

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EEMB2LL . Nguyen A T 3 Years Ago

literally the worst and least organized professor ever, does not respond to emails, is NOT understanding, changed the grading policy mid quarter to be less accommodating during the pandemic, and is m o n o t o n e

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MCDB111 . Low S H 3 Years Ago

complete disregard for pandemic. 2 midterm 1 final, equal weightage. tests fully misaligned from lectures. used old live lecture recordings and overlayed with ppt. unresponsive to emails. tried to raise concerns after 1st midterm and was ignored. friends took with another prof and did not struggle half as much as i am. avoid when possible.

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MCDB6 . Low S H 3 Years Ago

Low's recorded lectures are from live class pre-pandemic audio and therefore not adapted to online learning at all. Gave rarely any clarifications or communication all quarter. She ghosts students' questions on Nectir and email. Tests are more complicated and nuanced than they would be irl. The absolute worst and most uncaring prof of all my 3 yrs.

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MCDB6 . Low S H 3 Years Ago

For all of the reviews stating how she's funny and all, you're just falling for the bait. She is narcissistic at the core and condescending to her students. Her lectures during the pandemic are just pre-recorded lectures from the regular school year. She is incompetent for this job because quite frankly she doesn't work at all. One of the worst.

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MCDB6 . Low S H 3 Years Ago

Our grade is basically 2 midterms and a final. The midterm tested us on things that were not in the lecture, in the textbook, or verbally stated. She is very condescending and quite frankly the worst professor I have had at UCSB.

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MCDB6 . Low S H 3 Years Ago

If I could rate her worse I would. She is by far the worst professor I have ever had. She is degrading and does not care about her students. Her tests are awfully specific and sometimes covers materials that aren't even covered in her lectures or in the textbook. When asked to clarify material or questions, she completely disregards her students.

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MCDB6 . Low S H 3 Years Ago

Her test questions are purposefully made to waste your time. She's degrading and rude to students. Marks things incorrectly. Her lectures online are just prerecorded laid over powerpoints (sometimes they don't even match up). Asks questions about material that was never taught (oftentimes not even in the textbook). Worst STEM teacher I've had.

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MCDB1AL . Nguyen A T 3 Years Ago

The class wasnt well run but not necessarily that difficult besides that. Dr. Nguyen didnt do her PhD in a molecular biology field, which was apparent when she tried do discuss even intro molecular biology topics, and especially more obvious in hindsight as you go on to upper div MCDB classes. Not the same level of quality as other UCSB profs.

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MCDB1B . 3 Years Ago

Weekly multiple choice quizzes & 3 exams (mostly short answers). Grading for short answer questions is all over the place bc he doesn't give feedback on exams unless you email directly. His lectures are pretty interesting and the material is straightforward. I would recommend reading the book along with the powerpoints to study for the midterms.

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MCDB1B . Low S H 4 Years Ago

For mcdb 1b and 111: Her lectures have a ton of info that you MUST memorize to do well (I read the slides over and over and did a bunch of practice exams/quizlet flashcards). I think she explains concepts well but she does go very fast; also she does a good job of maintaining your attention. Never went to OH's so idk how she interacts w/ students.

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MCBD6 . Low S H 4 Years Ago

This is my 2nd class I've taken with Low online. The lectures are pre-recorded so you can watch them at your own time. She gives out quizzes every week which are not hard at all if you read/watch lectures. Online the lectures feel pretty long but it could be different in person. Midterms are usually 75% multiple choice and a couple short answer.

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MCDB1B . Low S H 4 Years Ago

I'm usually an A student, look what I got. AVOID AT ALL COSTS- taken during pandemic/fires, 3 million acres on fire/air is hazardous. Good: funny, knows material well Bad: unapproachable, uncompassionate, unclear grading, condescending, doesn't answer emails, makes fun of people, DOES NOT CARE ABOUT YOU AT ALL. Curve helped by 1%.

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