I took MCDB 40 in the fall of 2011. Although not a science major and therefore only taking science classes as GEs, I took an incredibly thorough AP Biology class in high school and passed the AP with a 5. With all that biology experience, I found this class to be quite basic; in fact, none of the material was as in-depth as my AP bio class. However, to be fair, if you have very minimal experience in biology, you will likely find this class to be difficult. While Pham had great teaching intentions and seems like a nice guy, he is very hard to understand and the lecturers are dull. I honestly wouldn’t have bothered going to class, but he requires a clicker for every lecture and does count clicker participation in your grade. Some pluses are that there is basically no homework as the minimal reading (not even from a textbook but from a self-help type book for those living with HIV/AIDs) is unnecessary and no one bothered. The only other homework was watching 3 different movies, which was actually quite fun. Discussion sections are also required and not much happened in them, although I would recommend my TA (I believe his name was John). Another caution is that service hours are required for this class. If you are without a car, as I was, you will have to find a way to get to West Hollywood or downtown LA, where all of the AIDS-related organizations seem to be located. Thank god I had Fridays off or I never would have completed those hours, so be forewarned when you sign up for this class. In the end, I did end up with an A+ but it was far from being a great class.

This is class was not a easy GE course. I study hard for the midterm and and final and I got a overall grade B. The finals and midterms were all graded by the TAs so if you have a bad TA like me, you are in bad shape. Another thing about this class is that 12 hours of community service is require. So, if you don't do the 12 hour of community service it will be a big impact on your grade.