Tienson is one of the best professors I've had at UCLA. I'm not a biochemistry major and was very nervous about taking the class. However, she does a great job of simplifying difficult concepts, is an engaging lecturer and gives fair exams. She prepares you well with tons of study questions and review sessions. Her exams are always based off what she lectures from and if you work hard you can get a good grade in her class. Also she is incredibly nice if you ever go to her office hours. She's really dedicated to ensuring all her students do well in her class. I highly recommend her if you're taking 153A! As long as you stay on top of lectures then you'll do well in the class!

She seems to be the only one teaching this class, with weiss teaching it on occasion. Weiss is said to be even worse. So unfortunately, just take it. 153A is loads of memorization regardless of who you take it with.

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

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.

Great Professor. She really cares about her students' success in her class. I would recommend her for chem 153a compare to any other professor. I'm selling the book with the folder for only $65. This book is only for chem 153A, so if you are planning to take the other biochem series, u should get the complete edition. message me if interested: *************

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.

THE RELIEF after finishing this class. You will have no life when you take this class, wait until winter / spring for a better professor! She expects you to rememberize a whole biochem textbook, which is expected of a UCLA biochem class, but there must be easier professors out there who just give out A's like candy. I dont really appreciate her condescending attitude though.

As others have pointed out, this class requires you to memorize everything you can imagine and more. If you struggle with endless memorization like I do, then avoid this class at all costs. You will be in for a lot of pain, like I was. If you are good with loads of memorization then you should be just fine. Others have called her cruel, but I disagree, this class for some, like me, is impossible.

Another user posted that she doesn't reply to email. She tells you at the beginning of class that she won't reply via email to content questions, but will instead have you post your question on the online discussion forum and will answer it there. That way, everyone has access to the information. She's excellent at replying on the forum, especially to questions about the study questions.

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.