I took this class because I thought it would be an easy A. However, I was wrong, and a lot of people took the class because of the same reason and were proven wrong too. So first things first: this class isn't an easy A. You're going to have to put in some work.
The class is on a point based system. You've got a couple of quizzes related to the topic of the week, discussion posts, a debate, a problem set presentation, LOTS of reading, a midterm, and a final. The lowest score you get on the quiz is dropped. I got pretty good scores on everything like the quizzes and discussion posts and my group even won the debate, but I did pretty bad on the midterm so it hurt my grade. PROTIP: Do the short responses for midterm/final first and then work on the multiple choice. I didn't do that for the midterm and I did bad and then I did better on the final because I did the free response first. ALSO: the multiple choice questions were pretty tricky for me, too. So be aware of that and read the questions carefully. I got below the class average on both the midterm and the final and I was able to get a B+, so not too bad I guess. I underestimated how much I'd have to study for this class, so remember to review!
I never read Mean Genes, but I hear it was interesting and helpful. You'll be fine without it. The actual textbook that he requires is vital, however, so make sure to read that. I made the awful mistake of procrastinating on the week readings and had to cram a lot of the chapters near midterm/finals week.
Professor Phelan is a great professor and makes his lectures interesting and fun to watch. He offers extra credit, which is great and you should be taking advantage of these extra credit opportunities. He also has review sessions before the midterm and final. As long as you can answer all the 30ish questions he gives in the review session, you'll be fine on the exam.
In conclusion: Read the readings for What is Life?, do the questions from the review session, watch the lectures, study, and remember: this is not an easy A.

***I took this class during the COVID-19 pandemic in an online format.
--
OVERVIEW: Maybe I had an individual bad experience, but I'm not sure why this professor's reviews for this class were so raving. Perhaps the online format is a little different, but I did not feel like Phelan lived up to the other reviews. "Going above and beyond" and "explaining concepts thoroughly" are phrases I would not attribute to Phelan. He seemed very reluctant to answer questions and help out, ignoring questions in Zoom chat and being unresponsive to emails. Lectures would often go on tangents about his personal life, which isn't productive when LS7B is so information dense and every minute is valuable. Dr. Pham was much better in LS7A, at least. Even considering that the LS series is just horrible, I still think Phelan wasn't the best choice.
--
GRADING: Grading is pretty straightforward. There's mandatory lectures, enforced with clicker questions, of which you can miss about a week. LaunchPad practice questions and exams were the same, you could miss a week's worth and get full credit. Same goes for the labs. The two midterms and final were worth a lot more points, not curved, but there were extra credit opportunities if you did a "mini-final" and reflection assignment afterwards. Other EC opportunities were available for completing surveys about LAs. The class isn't curved, so you need to earn every point yourself.
--
HOMEWORK: This section isn't really relevant to Dr. Phelan. I don't think he really controls the format of the homework and labs. But my god, if you thought LS7A was bad, LS7B makes 7A look like a cakewalk. The amount of LaunchPad material is crushing, even if you just skip the material and do the questions. I can't imagine how much time it would take to actually do all the material as they intended. Lots of stuff isn't gone over in lectures because of the sheer material density, and the practice exams make it feel like there's a full on test every week. Again, Phelan doesn't control this, so it's not his fault the homework is so bad. Labs aren't much better, they're very time consuming and I didn't find them very helpful, though that may vary with students. They seemed very poorly designed, like the entire LS7 series. Not much to say other than you just have to sit through them.
--
EXAMS: Most in this section also isn't really Phelan's fault. LS7 exams are just horrible, and it doesn't get better in 7A. The actual length of the exams isn't bad, but the questions are consistently confusing, poorly-worded, ambiguous, or just straight-up wrong. No amount of studying will prepare you for a question you have no idea what it's asking. The main gripe I have with Phelan is that he seemed to be just as unaware as students of how to go about regrade requests. His policy is that regrades are not processed unless it affects our final grade, which puts the stress on students trying to determine if we will get the grade we need, when it was a mistake made on the instructor's part. Trying to reach out to him via email or during class won't result in anything, and the only saving grace is that tests are graded really fast because they are online and multiple choice. Just don't expect your grading to actually be right.
--
TIPS: This class is the definition of grind. There's so much you're expected to do yourself, and while the LaunchPad makes it difficult to fall behind, they're also not comprehensive enough to truly prepare yourself. This class is 5 units, but it's probably about 6-7 units worth of work. It's much harder than 7A in my opinion, but this varies between students so take it with a grain of salt. I have quite a negative review here, but it seems that many other students had good experiences, and I'm just one view. To be honest, the class time is probably the most important factor for LS, since professor matters less for such a standardized series.

I LOVE JAY PHELLAN AND HIS BOOK AND HIS CLASS AND HIM❤️

TAKE THIS CLASS!!! Okay so all my life I was like ew biology sucks its so boring BUTTTT I took this class and it completely changed my perspective!! Like lowkey considering switching my major to something related to evolution or genetics. Also, this class lowkey gave me an existential crisis like YO your emotions aren't what you actually think they are :o and oh boy don't get me started on the theory of kindness :/// BUT YOU WILL FEEL SELF MOTIVATED TO ATTEND EVERY SINGLE LECTURE!! My advice: study for the weekly quizzes so you don't need to put too much effort into studying for finals like I'm so happy we got weekly quizzes it made the final much easier. I don't know my grade yet in the class but I got a 79% on the midterm and As on most of the quizzes.

SELLING TEXTBOOK FOR $10, "What is Life, 4th Edition". Text me at (949)-835-6213 , I'll get back to you super quick! PDF version, very easy to use and the table of contents has a navigation setting where it will bring you to different sections (a must-have for this huge book). I loved this class, definitely take it if you're looking for a LifeSci course.

I absolutely loved this class and professor. Phelan was incredibly engaging and you can tell he was passionate about teaching the students. He made sure to lecture in ways that would stick with the students. The material itself also was incredibly interesting, and that is coming from someone who is NOT a fan of science/math things. It has a lot to do with using biology and science as a way explain why humans are the way we are and why we do the things we do. I found it so interesting! It was definitely my favorite class and I actually really looked forward to lectures.
The class itself consists of a weekly optional assignment of usually about 8 questions, but it's best to complete the assignment because one of the eight questions would be on the weekly quiz in discussion.
Discussion was unnecessarily long but still enjoyable. You are required to participate in one formal debate during the course of the quarter in front of your discussion with a partner, which seems really scary but really was not. I had Chris as my TA and he made it very unintimidating. It does not require an extensive amount of preparation and as long as you are confident and cohesive you'll get a good grade.
The midterm /final wasn't an easy A, but it is definitely possible and even likely if you just put a little bit of effort. He hosts a review session in which he gives you around 23 questions that if you know the answer to, you're guaranteed an A. Low and behold, I studied all of those questions and received an A on both. I suggest studying as soon as those review questions are given, and going to the test bank for the midterm.
I also recommend going to Phelan's office hours at least once, because he genuinely wants to get to know his students and he will answer pretty much any course-material questions that you have (though he's more reluctant if it's questions from the final/midterm review). However, I didn't continuously return because sometimes he spends so long talking to one person that you're sitting there awkwardly (it's in a group) while you wait.
Overall, I highly recommend this class and think Phelan was an absolutely amazing professor.

idk if this class got harder or if it is just phelan, but i felt like this class had so many of the common issues fount in ls7a plus new ones, which made it harder than ls7a for me.
-----
old issues:
-weird and vague questions
-mistakes on exams that were slow to be fixed
-----
new issues:
-very little info on slides; they were mostly just pictures, which made it hard to learn information, especially during the ecology/evolution part
-clicker questions are too easy and do not prepare for exams
-some information that was tested was not touched on in lecture, only launchpad (which, as we know, sucks)
-long launchpad and very hard PEQs ( esp in weeks 1-3 because I was not comfortable enough with pedigrees to tackle them)
-"labs" are freaking useless and there were a few weeks when they were just take-home busywork that took like 5 hours to finish and helped with absolutely nothing
-----
the good:
-phelan is very sweet and kind; his lectures make up in entertainment value what they lack in information density
-exams make up only about 1/2 of all of the points in class, and you can raise your score by 8 points (which is almost a grade up) using the reflections and mini midterms
-review sessions and PEQs are very helpful for exams--there were some questions that were basically identical on the exams
-----
overall, i thought that this class was harder than ls7a because the resource material was less useful overall, and the exams got more vague. the first exam was actually pretty easy after i studied the pedigree problems, and i got a 120/123. the second exam was SO FREAKING VAGUE AND UNCLEAR, im still mad. i thought it was very hard, and i got a 99/123, but i was able to raise it to 107/123 with the reflection and mini midterm. i think that the trend of one hard and one easy exam was common for everyone, even if not everyone agreed which exam was the easier one. the final was also very vague and had some strange questions, and i got a 189/200 on via a miracle i think.
-----
phelan is nice, but take this class with someone else if you want info-dense lectures.

Professor Phelan was a great lecturer, and the course material was really interesting. I’ve never considered myself to be super interested in science, but I found myself liking the practicality and real-world application that this course has. I took this class online, so I think I would’ve gotten more out of the lectures if they had been in person.

In terms of workload, this class has a few bigger group projects and quizzes, but isn’t overwhelming in any way. I definitely recommend reading / taking notes on the textbook before lecture, as Phelan’s lectures are more conversational and better to listen to, rather than take notes on. The textbook goes into more depth and technical terms, while the lectures are more about applying and talking about the concepts. All of the projects and quizzes are completed in the discussion, so participation is really important!

Extra credit was offered, and was a super fun assignment.

Overall, would definitely recommend this class and professor!

Dr. Phelan is the best LS 7 professor that I have taken thus far. He is super knowledgeable of the material, he tells great stories, and you can really see how much he cares about his students’ learning. His lectures are very engaging and his slides are very organized. His review sessions were very helpful because he actually prepared slides and went over questions that he thought are most important for the exam. Take LS7B with him, you’ll learn a lot.

If you're looking for an easy GE, look elsewhere. Professor Phelan is an amazing lecturer and his teaching content is entertaining and easy to follow, but there was just an unnecessary amount of work. Not enough time on the midterm, more than enough time on the final. MCQs were harder than short answers in my opinion. Got a 71 on the midterm and 90 on the final and got 20 points from doing the extra credit project and ended up with an A. Overall, thoroughly enjoyed the content but I do not recommend this class.