I truly have no idea why he has so many good reviews. I get that he's "cool" and that he's an overall nice guy but I can't stress the number of times you're left utterly confused in this class, both during lecture and especially during your exams. Granted that he doesn't design the exams and the department does but still, he knows what's going to be on the exams, and in my opinion, he does NOT prepare you enough for what the exam is going to be like. I've lost count of the number of times he'll ask the class a seemingly important question during lecture just to leave you "to ponder on that". He hardly ever answers your questions during class, regardless of if your hand is raised or if your question is written in the chat. The point of me saying this is because I want to stress that as a professor, he is definitely not as helpful as others on BruinWalk have made him out to be. Again, he may be nice, he may be cool, but he's definitely not helpful. His lack of helpfulness legitimately made 7A look like a complete breeze, especially for me who really struggled with the content taught in 7B. If I were you, I'd take this class with another professor. Professor Pham's section supposedly had informative and detailed slides that in my opinion, would've been MUCH more helpful than any study resource we were provided with in this class.

I was also a bit underwhelmed after the raving reviews from the past, but I feel like people make this class and professor to be worse than it really is. Although some of the take home labs were "useless", they could easily be completed in 30 minutes to 1 hour. As for the other labs, they were very useful in that similar problems would show up on the exam, especially pedigrees and phylogenetic trees.
As for the exams, I agree that they were poorly written and vague for some questions. However, Phelan does not write these exams, and you will still have to face the same unfavorable exam format had you chosen a different professor.

Dr. Phelan is a very engaging and entertaining lecturer, and I feel that had I chosen a different professor, lectures would be a lot more of a drag. There are complaints about how his lectures feel like personal stories and pictures on slides, but LS7B isn't as content heavy or detailed as LS7A is. There is only so much that can be covered in lecture--the rest of your learning has to come from you doing practice problems and reading on your own. There are also some complaints about Launchpad workload being too heavy. I felt that it was the same if not lighter than 7A, especially since you can get away with skimming some of the chapters or even not reading them at all in the later half of the course.

In all, I believe that Phelan is a good choice for 7B, especially since he will probably be more fun during lecture in person. Complaints about workload that I saw in GroupMe seemed ridiculous to me; I did not feel the same way at all. The important thing is that you are able to differentiate which content is important and which are extraneous information so that you don't waste your time. This class was personally one of my easier classes, and I would recommend it.

Best Professor ever had . Topics are really interesting.i wish to take this class again if i have chance

If you don't take this class (even if you have crappy mathematic and scientific skills), you're missing out.
You basically learn about sex and drugs and emotions all quarter long.

the most interesting professor i have ever had at ucla, if you have ANY interest in science whatsoever take this class.

DR. PHELAN IS THE BEST PROFESSOR I HAVE HAD AT UCLA.
I look up to this man! Every lecture I looked forward to coming to class and sitting in the front row, thrilled to know what new material he was going to introduce to us.
Ever wonder how a class is going to apply to your life and how it's going to make a difference in the future? WELLLLL.. This is one of those classes that you will definitely learn from and gain information that will be useful throughout your life. Material is very, very interesting.
He loves what he does and is great at it! I honestly wish I could rewind time and take his class all over again. He is absolutely AMAZING.
HIGHLY RECOMMEND HIS CLASS.

AHhhh, DR PHELAN IS AMAZING!! Take his course!
He goes on a point system instead of percentages, and gives a curve! This helps because I got a C on the midterm and I am still in line for an A in the class (I haven't taken the final yet).
He makes lectures very interesting. And when he asks the class to do something (like be nice to a stranger) DO IT! He gives that person a boost in the grade-book.
My TA was amazing! Dom Gonzalez! If you get him, stay in his discussion!..
There are quizzes in discussion, one gets dropped and he gives you the possible questions ahead of time.
There is a midterm and a final (do not be discouraged if you didn't do so hot on the midterm, you can still pass!)
And a debate in discussion. The debate and quizzes really aid your grade in the end.
Overall great professor! I am thinking about taking him again just because, and I am a sociology major lol

I'm a hardcore north campus major who dreads science GEs and I got a solid A in this class! Loved it. I would recommend it to anyone, GE or req, because Phelan is the definition of what every UCLA professor should strive to be like. Here's a breakdown for LS 15...

Professor:
Entertaining, relatable, thorough lectures. Gets students engaged. Podcasts the class, ~80% of people still show up.

Class Points:
150- Midterm
250- Final
15- Online Prep-U Questions
40- Section Debate
20- Section Attendance
84- 8 Section Quizzes, 12pts each, drops lowest quiz score

Midterm and Final:
Curved generously. I got a rawscore of 74% on the midterm (which ended up being a B+) and an 80% on the final. With a perfect score for everything else, I landed an A. Get your hands on past tests from the test bank to get a feel for his midterms. Do Prep-U questions to prep for MC sections--he uses 3-4 of the same ones on the tests. Short answers are free responses that are graded harshly/leniently depending on your TA.

Quizzes/Section: find past quiz answers. He does not change the questions. Easy 12 pts to get weekly along with the 10 pts just for showing up.

Book: Read "Mean Genes." You don't really need to read the "What is Life" textbook. TA's go over those chapter pretty well in section (try to get Randy Reyes, he was great.) Mean Genes references come up in Phelan's tests.

Amazing professor!
Everyone should take him if they get the chance
Class wasn't particularly hard
There is a lot of work but its fun work so it is okay!
A lot of the questions on the midterm were from old tests! so def have a look at them!
Highly recommend him! he is absolutely amazing

Phelan was FABULOUS.

Life Science 15, dare I say it, may change your life. You'll learn more useful stuff than the life science majors do. Being able to take his class is a great opportunity, almost a privilege -- don't miss out on it!

That said, it's a little more difficult than most other GEs out there -- but DON'T let that stop you from taking it. His personal anecdotes will make you laugh, his teaching methods will help you learn, he will never make you memorize something without a good reason, his pictures will make you smile, and his take-home messages will stay with you forever and help you live a better life.

Oh, yeah -- when he tells you every lecture that you should go to his office hours, even if it's just to say hi...even if you don't consider yourself the office-hour type, you should actually go. I waited till the end of the quarter and I'm now kicking myself because he's not only a fountain of knowledge, but he'll talk to you like an old friend. If I'd visited him earlier, I would've come back every week. Professors like this are becoming increasingly rare, so don't pass him by.

Well, that's all...nothing I write here could possibly do Jay Phelan and his class justice.

TAKE LS 15.