AZARENKO O

Olga Azarenko

16 reviews
Lecture heavy EXTRA CREDIT Participation matters Test heavy Tough grader Get ready to read Clear grading criteria Graded by few things Group projects Amazing lectures Inspirational Hilarious Respected
Past quarters
MCDB 6
265 / 286 Enrolled
Principles of Molecular and Cellular Biology for Brain Sciences
Olga Azarenko 3.1
M W F
15:30 PM - 16:45 PM
MCDB 126
92 / 96 Enrolled
Basic Pharmacology
Olga Azarenko 3.1
M W F
08:00 AM - 08:50 AM
MCDB 226
1 / 4 Enrolled
Basic Pharmacology
Olga Azarenko 3.1
M W F
08:00 AM - 08:50 AM
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MCDB 126 Azarenko O Fall 2023 Total: 77
MCDB 6 Azarenko O Summer 2023 Total: 113
MCDB 126B Azarenko O Winter 2023 Total: 64
MCDB 126 Azarenko O Fall 2022 Total: 78
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MCDB6 . Azarenko O 2 Months Ago

Not sure why there are so many bad reviews... she is truly a great professor. Super passionate about bio and it shows through her lectures. Even at 8am shes enthusiastic and professional. Attending lectures is extra credit, 2 midterms, 1 final, weekly quizzes that are easy and very similar to contents on exams. Definitely would take again!

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MCDB126A . Azarenko O 3 Months Ago

Great engaging lecturer who taught and explained topics very well. Her 126A/B exams could be challenging but being an upper div course, they were doable if you took the time ahead to study. Going to office hours was helpful to get to know her and materials needed to succeed in the class. Definitely recommend studying at least a week before exams!

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126A . Azarenko O 4 Months Ago

Professor Azarenko was a solid lecturer and explained the course material really well. Lectures were recorded and attendance was optional but would be counted as extra credit. A majority of the course was memorizing drugs and their mechanisms, which was challenging, but doable if you spent a little time studying each week and went to class.

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MCDB126A . Azarenko O 6 Months Ago

Olga is a great professor and is super engaging even at 8am. I enjoyed the class content and found to be interesting to learn, but being an upper div major class it is obviously not the easiest. It is memorization heavy but not challenging to understand overall. Stay on track with the material every week and attend lectures, you will be fine

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MCDB126A . Azarenko O 6 Months Ago

A great professor with great lectures, but the amount of stuff you have to know is insane. You will enjoy lectures but you will hate finals week. Your mental well-being will depend on how nice the professor is feeling the day of making the exam, but besides that the class is exciting, and the topics are interesting.

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MCDB6 . Azarenko O 10 Months Ago

A bit of a language barrier, but Olga is super cool. She said there would be no curve on the first day of lecture, but proceeded to implement a curve after everyone failed the final. Do extra credit, and try to do well on the weekly quizzes (quizzes are free). Material heavy, but she did well teaching. Just don't go into this class thinking its ez.

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MCDB6 . Azarenko O 10 Months Ago

I don't know what all these bad reviews are about. Even though class content is challenging, she made the grading criteria super clear and had detailed PowerPoint and abundant study resources, even weekly compiled notes. She set up Zoom calls outside of office hours to help students with their questions. She is so patient and caring, LOVE her.

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MCDB126 . Azarenko O 1 Year, 8 Months Ago

She has gotten a lot of bad reviews, but since I have had her in person vs online, she seems great with her lectures and she does know a lot about the subject material. She may have changed drastically but so far she seems very nice. I also do not have trouble following her lectures, but her accent can make it tricky at times.

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MCDB6 . Azarenko O 1 Year, 10 Months Ago

She's decent. I took her as a summer class, and she was kind and respectful towards other students. All of her quiz answers can be found on quizlet or online. She has extra credit. Do that, get good grades on the homework assignments, and you'll be fine.

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MCDB126A . Azarenko O 2 Years Ago

If you're a Pharm major, my condolences. The hardest class I've ever taken and the worst professor I've ever had. You need to know physio before taking the class or else you won't be able to tell when she misspeaks. She's also impossible to understand, highly disorganized, and expects you to memorize the cause, diseases, side effects of 100+ drugs.

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126A . Azarenko O 2 Years Ago

In response to questions in the Q&A forum there were instances in which she just copy and pasted background information from the internet that vaguely related to the question without any citation. She frequently misspeaks when describing important concepts but never corrects herself, causing frequent confusion. Get ready to teach yourself.

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MCDB126A . Azarenko O 2 Years Ago

Avoid at all costs. So much ego, so little knowledge. It felt like she made her slides directly from wikipedia/webmd, with no professional background knowledge and no course organization. She was just as lost as all of her students. I'm surprised UCSB thought she was qualified to teach. If she doesn't curve heavily, most of the class will fail.

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