Tienson is really fast when she talks, but I managed myself to get an A. (got above average for the 1st midterm, and did really well on the second midterm and the final). Just memorize everything she tells you to memorize, and look at the studyguide she gives you carefully. MEMORIZE EVERYTHING and you will be fine.

Good Professor but very hard. She purposely makes the exam hard and her study questions doesn't really help at all. I disagree with her grading as your answer have to be matched with her keywords from answer keys. After i view my exam solution keys, I don't even know or derive her key words in solution keys. You won't get any partial credit if you don't match her keywords and that sucks. The TAs for this class are stupid. They do not come to her lecture and hardly anyone know anything. Just be prepare when you take her. Not an easy exam I would say. The material itself is interesting and doable so is her quiz but definitely not her exam. Her exam was a BOMB

MEMORIZE LIKE NO OTHER. Her tests are all WRITTEN because she doesn't believe in multiple choice. I made the mistake on the first midterm of not memorizing her study questions... I got a D (around 3% above the average?). Luckily I learned and memorized study question answers before the 2nd midterm and managed to get a B (which was a lot higher than the average). She doesn't reveal the grade distributions for the final but I ended up with an A- in the class. HAVE HOPE because you can definitely boost your grade! Just memorize how she words her answers and practice writing out the answers... leaving out one little detail can get you -1.. and all those -1's add up :(

Oh and don't be scared by her quizzes - they're pure memorization. It is preferred that you have photographic memory. I easily got 100% on all the quizzes (but she drops the lowest one - useless.. she should just count all of them to boost grades)

She really has a nasty attitude. Don't take this class unless you really have to. She's a b**** and often makes you feel stupid for asking basic questions. Her tests are often unfair and nothing like the stupid practice questions she gives us. I hated her class, ended up getting a B. Her lectures are boring, she's horrible and doesn't explain things at a good pace. Don't understand why she's a professor here. I learned nothing and instead memorized a bunch of bs that's not going to help me because she doesn't care about you learning the material. Instead just memorizing it and matching your answers to her dumb test keys. She's a miserable human being.

To be honest, avoid taking Chem 153A with her. I want to point out a few things.

1. What every one said before was very true. I regret not taking these evaluations seriously.

2. I studied very very hard. Almost every day I dedicated 3 hours studying for it. Note: I never studied this hard for any of my science classes and I still managed A's. But this class, i only got a C+ with all these effort

3. Her attitude is a little upsetting. She makes you feel like you are an idiot regardless of what questions you asked.

4. Lecturing style is boring to be honest even though it is only 50 minutes.

5. Last word of advice: Do not take this class with her unless you absolutely have no other choice.

if you are thinking about taking biochem 153a with her. please reconsider!!!! please please take this advice seriously. i regret taking this class with her. it is not worth your time and gpa. i am an A student, but omg she made biochem 10000 times harder than it should be. my gpa suffer a lot because of this class. honestly no matter how much time and how many time you do the study guide. it is impossible to answer her questions because you dont know what she want. for the 2nd midterm, people walked out of the room pale. one girl almost fainted. omgosh. she wants you to answer questions word by word as her answer key. you tell me who can do that unless you have access to her key. deduct points for no reason i mean no reason. very hard to approach in office hour. very hard person. try to find her lecture video and pay attention to the part when people ask questions. you dont have to take my comment seriously now but you will see when you see your gpa. it is NOT worth it.

Tienson taught 153C well but the midterms/final were quite bad. Prepare to memorize EVERYTHING: structures, enzymes, every step of regulatory pathways, how to chop down or synthesize any amino acid, and the ATP cost of everything. Also you have to memorize the study question answers verbatim to get the "key words".

Despite this, exams were a very poor assessment of knowledge. Averages were all around 50. If you memorized everything, you'll still be thrown for a loop by horrendously vague questions ("What is the overall effect...", "What is a possible problem that arises...") or pathways she never went over. And if you DIDNT memorize everything it will be even worse. Time-management on midterms is critical because nobody will finish (final is more reasonable in this aspect).

Otherwise, I think she is good at lecturing and teaching the material, it was much the same style as 153A. Except to clarify some bad slides, you dont need the textbook. Prepare to feel fuqqed by tests. She says she curves the average to a B which is pretty generous.

Took 153A and 153C with Tienson.

153C Grading: 100 points MT1, 100 points MT2, 200 points final exam, 80 points protein brochure, 20 points clicker questions (not graded for correct answers). She gives a really generous grading scale where the average is a B.

The average of the class when I took 153C was 310 points out of 500 points. Average on MT1 was a high 50, MT2 was a low 50, and average on the final was 108/200 points.

PROS: generous grading curve, good lecturer but can speak fast sometimes, explains concepts well enough to understand the material, podcasts available, she provides a bunch of study questions, always mentions her OH are available, her test questions ARE NOT vague, extra credit available, textbook not needed

CONS: hard tests, sometimes a negative attitude when students don't answer her questions

There is a lot of information to remember in 153A and 153C (WAY more in 153C since you're expected to remember 153A pathways). I highly recommend UNDERSTANDING the study questions. People say her tests are nothing like the study questions she hands out every weekend but that's because the test questions are phrased in a different way but she's testing the same concepts from the study questions. If you know the concepts then you don't need to memorize the study questions verbatim. Also, at the end of every test are 10 freebie points where she asks you to name structures.

Also, if you're a premed, I recommend taking 153C (with or without Tienson). There is a lot of 153C material on the MCAT.

This class will be tough regardless of who you take it with.

Stay on top of the study questions when she posts them. Oh you probably didn't take what I just said seriously. Stay on top of the damn study questions when she posts them!

Tienson will lecture fast, so be ready.

Everyone says biochem is all about memorization, but I honestly disagree. You need to have this stuff memorized, but you also need to be able to apply it to an extent. Don't be that premed (since most of you reading this are) that just memorizes and spits everything out onto the paper. Her tests have word limits for the answers because so many people have done that.

GRADING
My class was graded out of 500 points, where a 390+ would guarantee you at least an A- (this will change for every class based on averages from tests-she keeps you posted after each midterm). While this sounds doable, don't be alarmed when the first midterm average is between 45 to 55 out of 90. Take advantage of every extra credit opportunity she gives you, ace the really easy quizzes, and go to lecture and get your easy clicker points.
My breakdown:
Midterm 1: 83.5/90 Average was around 56
Midterm 2: 51/90 Avg was around 48
Final: 170/200 Avg was 121

Grade: A

Don't do what I did and slack off after doing well on the first midterm. You never know which buzz words you'll miss on her next test, even if you think you know your stuff well.

People are right when they say Tienson has a bit of an attitude, but she does give you plenty of opportunities to ask questions (both in person and online). Form a study group.

Overall, stay on top of the work and this class won't be extremely stressful. Slack off, and you will regret it. Go in ready to work! Don't bet deterred from taking 153a with Tienson. There are far worse professors out there.

TL;DR
She's a fine professor
Work hard and stay on top of study questions
Just bite the bullet and take the damn class

If you liked Hardinger for ochem, you'll probably like Tienson. She writes her own study questions and they're really helpful, and her tests are similar formats each year. She really knows her subject well and is very straightforward with her expectations. Yes it's a lot of work and memorization, but this is an upper division biochemistry class at UCLA. Sometimes learning the basics of a topic involves memorization, get over it. And she actually does a great job of explaining why things happen, so you do have to understand the fundamentals and can't just regurgitate on her exams (quizzes, yes). Don't get scared off by some of the negative reviews, but expect a walk in the park either. You will get out of this class what you put into it.

She talks fast, so I'd recommend watching the videocasts. She's always happy to answer questions or explain things in more detail, and she has a million office hours. Other people reviewing her complained that it's hard to answer her questions correctly, but if you do the practice questions you can see what kind of answers she expects. She might take some points off for small things, but she told us that a 77% in the class is usually around the cutoff for an A and she tries to make the average in the class a B. She's very blunt and doesn't sugarcoat things, but she is definitely not a bitch. She knows her subject inside and out and really wants to transmit that knowledge to her students.