Honestly just take this class with a different professor. Gober is a biochem veteran and undoubtedly knows the material well, but he tries wayyyy too hard to make the class "applicable to real life" rather than teaching students what they actually need to know. Like everyone else said, his exams are more about if you wrote down the EXACT wording he used in lecture rather than you if you actually understood the material. Gober comes across as friendly and helpful, but he blindsided us with the final. The final was extremely difficult and we did not have near enough time to finish. I studied more for this class than any other UCLA class and barely pulled off a B+. I had friends take other profs and easily get A's without studying near as much. Save yourself the stress and take a different prof!

Honestly, this class was pretty hard. I really did not like the format of the exam where if you did not have a specific keyword, you would get marked off. Like why even have a free response exam. After the first exam, I did not attend a single live lecture since it was all about keywords. I would spend on average 2-3 hours watching lecture recordings and writing down word-for-word the things Gober said. Tbh, this is just not the right way a class should be conducted. The only thing I liked about this class were Gober's jokes and accidental swearing during lecture. However, Gober is currently taking a sabbatical so the next time he teaches this class it will most likely be in-person. Hopefully it will be a better experience in-person.

As other review have mentioned, pretty keyword heavy. Since all lectures are recorded during covid, best approach I found was to just rewatch them all at double-speed before exams and jot down whatever he had to say verbatim. Test grading was suuuper nitpicky though. Textbook is p much irrelevant, if you can't get it for free then don't bother.

DO NOT TAKE THIS CLASS WITH HIM!!! He is the worse professor I have ever had the displeasure of meeting. The class is disorganized and the test is purposefully hard because of COVID-19. He does not give a damn about his student or their mental health. The finals were supposed to be easier than the midterms which was not the cause. In fact, a good portion of the class did not get to finish the final as it was like nothing ever seen before. This professor cares more about himself, making a joke, and creating a new course in the CHEM 153 series than he does about actually teaching you something. His grade distribution is way off probably due to how many people dropped or how many people pass-fail this course. Take this with anyone else if you value your mental health.

The worst professor to absolutely encounter. would not recommend at all! whatever not covered is what will show in exams, the worse grader. ready to deduct points if its not the exact words he's looking for.

Y'all- okay let me tell you about this class. I would not take this class again, even though I got an A. I felt like the tests were a measure of how well you copy down every exact word Gober was saying during class, and not truly testing your conceptual understanding of something. If you actually do take this class, God help you lol. I don't know how I pulled an A in this class, but a lot of it had to do with me watching the lecture double speed morning of the test, and copying down every exact word he was saying. I felt like grading was really unfair. There were answers where my friends would get points, and I wouldn't, even if I regrade requested. Make sure you use your regrade requests, because on the first midterm, I got it up by 8 points, and that could've easily been the difference in my grade. As for the MCAT, it wasn't that helpful because I was more preoccupied with not missing one word Gober said, as compared to actually learning and applying the content. As for Gober himself, he is funny and such, but ehhh, I don't really like his style of teaching. Overall, wouldn't take again!

save yourself the time and just take tienson. will not prepare you for the mcat at all. this class was just so disorganized and the tests were a mess.

Absolutely the worst out of the worst Professor I have ever taken in college. Lectures are disorganized, Professor is very inconsistent with his teaching method, and literally test us on another level expecting us to know the phrases that he likes word by word. Don’t be judge by his grade distribution, it’s not accurate. Very unpleasant experience ever.

Took in Fall 2020. He should retire soon in my opinion. Unclear, disorganized, unreasonable , worst Professor ever. I have never felt so lost and helpless in a class ever, that’s how bad this professor is. He purposely made the exams more difficult than before because we were “online” given the COVID situation.

He's definitely "funny" and I was sure he was going to get on my nerves, but he was actually hilarious and made the lectures really engaging. All the lectures were recorded (covid) so participation didn't really matter, but it was super important to take very detailed notes on what he goes over in lecture. No textbook or extra assignments, just 2 midterms and a final with a bit of extra credit. He's a fair grader, just make sure to put lots of info into your test answers.