To be honest this class was not it. Professor Hong is a wonderful lady and a great lecturer but the grading system in this class literally sucks ass. Let me start by saying that this class is not curved. I went into this course thinking that this was somehow a good thing and would make make it easier. WRONG, if anything it made the class much harder. I spent countless hours writing my lab reports and was docked down for literally the dumbest shit. A person can follow the exact prompt that was given to them to the T but it really doesn’t make a difference. They look for very specific things in the reports and you basically have to just figure out what that is, if not you will get marked down significantly. There were two test that were administered this quarter, the first one was quite easy but the second was largely focused on information that was barely mentioned in class. Let me just say, that I’m all for professors assigning people tough lab reports, and giving out challenging exams that force you to think critically, but as a professor you should make the class curved then if you’re going to make the class this hard. The point system in this class made it a million times more stressful than it had to be and I do not feel like the grade I received was at all a reflection of the knowledge that I extracted from the course. DO NOT BELIEVE THE GRADE DISTRIBUTIONS IN THIS CLASS, the majority of people do NOT gets As. Bottom line if you want an A take a different Professor. And if you must take this class do so with a very light course load and treat every point like it’s gold. The TAs in this class are basically given god like authority over a persons grade and if they are anything like the one I had, they will dock you for the most minuscule shit. I went into this class thinking that it was the type of class I could get an A in if I worked hard but this was sadly not the case. Even in the midst of this pandemic, the grading was extremely subjective and punitive.

Dr. Hong has been great throughout the quarter and was always open to questions! I appreciate her effort to communicate with students as she often sacrificed her time for review sessions, question sessions, campuswire, etc. This class starts off really loose and suddenly starts to be more time-consuming from week 5 as this is when lab reports start to be due weekly. Lab reports are a lot of work and the grading standards seem to heavily vary based on your TA (however, lab report grades are normalized at the end for grading to be fair). I think most reviews indicated that lab reports > exams in terms of grades but personally, the exam has been the only challenging part for this class while I excelled in lab reports. I think the averages for both exams were 72-73ish but this class is not curved (but extra credits are offered). I scored low on my first midterm but Dr. Hong offered higher weight on the second exam (final) if we scored higher in the final and vice versa. Exams were hard to do well on bc they were slightly vague in terms of what they were looking for while they also had very specific grading criteria. This class was definitely beneficial but I still have no idea how to tackle the exams despite having pretty high confidence in mastering this course. I think the overall grade mean for this class was a B+ (87%) and please do not think this is an easy course based on Winter & Spring 2020 grading distribution cuz that was when the pandemic/riots were in considerations! Overall, this course helped me to be a better scientific writer (for lab reports) and I feel that I mastered the course materials really well.

Dr. Hong is a very kind person who is very passionate about helping her students. The syllabus is very concise, and nothing is hidden for the most part. Despite this, the class is not curved and the grading scale is set up in a way where the grade you receive at the end of the quarter does not accurately reflect your knowledge of the course material. Let me explain.

There are three lab reports you will do throughout the quarter, two of which are very big components of your overall grade. She has a general rubric to follow for writing the reports, but the TAs will always take points off for minuscule things, even if you have followed the rubric completely. She will mention how she wants her reports written, and you will follow it ,and she will still design a grading rubric for the TAs which contradicts what she said in class. She will also give you a lab practical which is very straight forward, but grades on the accuracy of your experiment. This doesn't accurately examine ones understanding of various laboratory techniques in that there could be an array of different variables that will skew ones results (bad equipment, contaminated samples, etc), which is why experiments are always run a multitude of times, in the real world. But due to the fact that many students do poorly on this practical, it somehow becomes a "norm" and the professor doesn't seem bothered by it, keeping in mind there is NO CURVE in the class. I would not recommend this class unless you need it, because even someone with the utmost mastery of the course content will still end up with a grade that does not accurately reflect that individual fairly.

The professor was very nice and understanding and always willing to help students but bottom line do not take this class if you don't have to. The exams require detailed memorization and the averages for the midterm and final were around 75% and this class is NOT CURVED. The grading distribution is a lie, the average grade is a B and getting an A is rare.
If you do have to take this class make sure to get a good TA because they impact your grade a lot and learning of the labs which is important for the exams. Make sure you know details of the slides and experiments (but not numbers/volumes).

This class was super easy. The class consists of a midterm, a final, clicker points, 3 lab reports, group worksheets(super easy), and an enzyme analysis activity. The midterm was very straight forward and easy. I started cramming the day before and got 98%. Just study her notes and powerpoints. For lab reports, you will get an A as long as you follow the instructions she gives you during the lecture. I always started writing lab reports from scratch the day it was due(11:59pm) and got high A's in all three lab reports. There are no separate rubrics for lab reports because all you need is the lab instruction Dr. Hong gives you at the beginning of the quarter. Just make sure to follow all guidelines and you'll get A in lab reports. Enzyme analysis activity was like a mini quiz that we did at the end of the quarter, and it was super easy(got 25/25). You just have to use a software in excel(she'll walk you through it in lecture) in order to figure out the type of inhibitor she'll gives you during the quiz. I was worried about this because I've never used an excel before, but it turned out it was super easy no need to worry. For this quarter, the final was optional so I opted out of the final. There were also plenty of extra credits to help you boost the grade. I am a transfer student with no research experience and no writing skills, so I was really worried about this class. But it turns out that this course was no different than my community college ochem lab classes! Dr.Hong is super sweet and she is very knowledgeable and it was a pleasure learning from her!

Professor Hong is a decent professor to have and she's genuinely a nice person.

I think the review that reflects my experience in the class is the one saying that they were knocked down to a B for underperforming on the exams. That also happened to me. If you are taking this class be ready to study for the exams because they are more important than I originally first thought.

I did not enjoy the class primarily because I didn't think the labs were ever worth my time. It's only slightly more engaging than 23L, another class I disliked.

She is very nice and generous.

Good class over, just a bit tedious. Definitely will teach you about biochemical methods that are useful and ACTUALLY used in labs at UCLA.

Bad parts:
1. Lab practical. Worth 30 points, everyone I know got 10/30 or 15/30. Don't really know how that was graded, be prepared to lose points.
2. Lab reports. A majority was just copying from lab manual and was tedious. Start early, and check with your TA if anything is missing before you submit so you don't lose points here.

Good parts:
1. Midterm/Final exam was very fair.
2. Class is actually curved. Someone I know got 90.5 in the class raw, but still ended with an A.
3. Highly recommend TA Binsen Li. He makes sure everyone knows what they're doing. Bonus if you can make him like you. He'll make the lab section way more fun.

Dr. Hong really cares about her students. She is very approachable and is willing to take time to explain concepts to you well. Her accent and interesting ways of saying things made the lectures interesting.

In terms of work, it is often tedious. Lab reports are a bit of pain, but it is doable. You will find yourself confused what to say sometimes due to a lack of clear directions. But that, I believe, is part of learning how to write scientifically about your results and experiments.

I think you will get the most values out of this class by thinking about why your experiments failed and talking to the prof about it. Also, the lectures are podcasted and she posts detailed notes with her slides, so read them to prepare for the exams. Exams are fair, but it requires a bit of applying what you learned in a new setting or troubleshooting experiments, which is fun.

The hardest part of the class comes after the midterm. After the midterm there are 2 reports/worksheets due every week. Granted one is a draft and one is a final, it still makes it really hard to keep up with the amount of material in lecture and in the laboratory. The in lab quizzes ask some pretty specific stuff, especially about the toxicity of the chemicals or the reaction that is going on during the lab. Personally, I really liked my TA, ERIC LEE! He was really awesome in answering questions during lab and gives great feedback to writing lab reports. Even though I did not do well in the practical or either exam, my lab reports really saved my grade. I really wish that the lab reports were worth more for the class as this is a lab class. Hong is very easy to reach out to as well, she normally has 3 office hour sessions a week and takes appointments. She also has really awesome notes on her lecture slides that she posts about a week or two after the lecture was completed. I do recommend going to the review sessions for the midterm and final, but only if you like working in groups as you . will be working in groups to complete the review packet and Hong and other LAs will be there to assist/answer questions/demonstrate. Yeah this class is a lot of work, so be prepared for it after that midterm! Read your lab manual and the data sheets Hong posts on the ccle!