Jay is a legend who explains everything super clearly and keeps you engaged. Pay attention in class, take notes, and you will never really need to use a textbook. Look up the quiz answers online before and you should be able to get most of them. Good class.

Phelan gave the best lectures I have had at UCLA thus far. He's funny, engaging, and makes the content clear and interesting. Tests are graded fairly and curved well; he likes to give out as many A's as possible. The class itself is heavily contained in lectures. Always go to them or watch the Bruincasts. 90% of the content on exams is covered in lecture. Good class and great professor overall.

- selling the pdf version of the textbook, What Is Life? text 302-530-7784 for my venmo and i'll share it.

- TAKE THIS CLASS. i find myself thinking about and applying what jay taught us in my daily life pretty often actually. i really teared up during the last lecture too! the exams will be tough know that, but lots of preparation (being able to recite answers and definitions out loud and going through each take home message will help) plus the curve will do you right. jay wants you to do well and he wants you to learn something about life through the course!

I absolutely loved this class with Professor Phelan. I took this course fall quarter of my freshman year and it was an ideal introduction to college. Phelan is so incredibly engaging. I remember being sad when I had to miss a lecture. definitely take this class because you learn SO MUCH and its so fun. As long as you show up to lecture and pay attention in labs you'll be set

his textbook is priced pretty ridiculously (like $90) and im selling my paperback edition for only $35! text me at (818)261-6849 if interested :)

Hands down this is the best class I've taken at UCLA. The lectures were funny and designed to be relevant for any major (this is a life science class for non life science majors). The class definitely picks up after the first midterm but I thought the workload and grading was all very reasonable. There's an extra credit music video that I highly recommend doing, mostly because it's fun.

This is by far the best class I've taken at UCLA. Professor Phelan is always engaging and really funny. He really does care about the students and loves teaching this class. I never missed a lecture because I always wanted to go to class, but if you miss it, he does Bruincast it. There are weekly quizzes in discussion, but they're straight out of the packets he gives us each week. The final grade is based off of a midterm (30%), final (45%), and section participation (25%- which includes quiz grades and a debate). If you pay attention in class, do the packets, and go to discussion, the class is pretty easy, but it does require you to put in work. It's an easy A in terms of content, but the writing does need practice. Both the midterm and final are the same format- multiple choice and short answers. Also, mean genes is a required book, but it really isn't necessary- it's a great read though! I recommended this class to everyone I know and even applied what I learned outside of class.

Professor Phelan is genuine and engaging. He really believes in what he's teaching and makes efforts to be as clear as possible. His lectures are dynamic and they fully cover the material tested on the midterms and final exams.

If you ever need help, he's willing to explain concepts more in-depth during office hours, and if you miss any information during a lecture, you can watch the lectures on BruinCast.

Other than that, the class material is very interesting. Initially, I was not interested in biology at all, but the information he teaches can be applied to real life. That's what makes the class unique and very beneficial.

Overall, great professor and a great course to take.

I extremely loved this class. Even though I might be biased due to my passion for biology, all the people I know that took this class enjoyed it and recommended it to everyone. Not only you learn about our body and the biology behind it, but you also get to apply new knowledge to real life situations. It is clear that the professor loves teaching this class, making his lectures fun and interesting.

Dr. Phelan is an extremely engaging lecturer. He is truly interested in the material he is putting forth and his lectures exemplify this. I learned an immense amount of information and the course made me reconsider a lot of assumptions I had made in my life prior to taking the course. He wants his students to succeed, and offers extra credit if you need it. Lectures are Bruincasted. While the assigned workload is pretty low, there is a fair amount of material you need to understand to succeed on the exams and definitely do not underestimate the difficulty of the class. Relatively easy GE, but 100% worth taking for the professor (probably one of the best lecturers I've had at UCLA), and for the knowledge you will acquire.

tl;dr: Professor Phelan is the best. Perfect balance of fun and teaching. Class is not too difficult. Would take again.
Professor Phelan has to be the best professor on campus. This is the beginning of my second year here and I'd already given up hope on finding a professor who was funny and entertaining until I came across him. He never fails to make the class laugh at least a couple times every lecture. He likes to entertain and he likes to tell funny anecdotes from his own life, but there is always a connection to the topic at hand. He likes to connect what we're learning in class to our own lives and offers examples at how it does.
The class itself is not too hard. There are weekly quizzes which are based on weekly problem sets (usually about 5-8 Q's) in which one question from the problem set is the quiz question. The midterm and final both can be pretty tough if you don't study, but as long as you put in the work, it should be a fairly easy pass. During discussion sections there are weekly debates between two groups but it shouldn't really be too bad even if you're shy, especially if you have a chill TA who makes you feel comfortable (Ana Rubio in my case, would definitely recommend).
Answers for the problem sets can also be found online (StuDocu.com). Good Luck. 100% recommend and would take again.
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