By far best professor at UCLA! Engaged with audience members in the lecture. This class changed my perspective about school as Phelan focuses on making sure all students learn the material instead of emphasis on the grades.

I honestly loved this class a lot. Even if I wouldn't have gotten an A it still would have been worth it because Phelan is the best. I laughed numerous times throughout lecture and honestly miss sitting in his class everyday. The tests are hard but do able. On the midterm I got a C- and on the final I got a B- and I still got an A. Not sure how all I know is I bet the curve saved me. The extra credit music video was fun and that definitely could have helped. Overall just enjoy the class.
Selling a brand new What is Life textbook the 4th edition (the newest edition) text me at ********** for pricing! I'm willing to negotiate.

ALL of the reviews say this, so it won't be anything new, but Dr. Phelan really is an amazing professor. He's probably the most charismatic professor and lecturer I've encountered so far at UCLA.

His lectures are engaging and entertaining, with handwritten slides, pictures, and funny anecdotes. The weekly discussion quizzes are not that hard, try to incorporate key concepts and as much detail/explanation as you can into your answers and memorize them for your discussion section, as one question will be picked from the bunch. It's usually not the first 2-3 questions (which are based off a particular section in the textbook chapter), but for one of the later quizzes it was.

The tests are a bit difficult to study for, but the tests themselves are not terribly difficult in my opinion. The multiple choice is tricky and sometimes will ask for very specific details that Dr. Phelan only went over very briefly in lecture or was covered in a sentence in the textbook, so there's nothing you can really do about that, but the short answers aren't that difficult if you have a good grasp of what you've learned in class so far. Yes, there are a lot of short answer questions (if I recall correctly, it was 6 on the midterm and 9 on the final) and sometimes there are a lot of parts to each question, but if you truly know your stuff, it shouldn't be too difficult. As I stated earlier, just write as much as you can and incorporate key concepts/terms in there. On the final, I filled up the whole page for nearly every short answer question and it took me a long time (I think the entire final took me about 2.5 hours out of the 3 total allotted for it), but when I left the room I felt pretty good about the exam. (I got an 82% on the midterm and 92% on the final.)

Make sure you go to the exam review sessions! They help you get a clearer idea of what to study. Going to office hours (either Phelan's or your TA's) is probably a good idea too, though I never did, so if you're very shy or you have a time conflict with their OH or you're just too busy, it's still possible to get a good grade without.

Phelan is a great professor!! I came into this class thinking it would be easy because of his Bruin Walk reviews, so I ended up taking it for advantage up until the midterm. I didn't study much for the midterm and my grade proved it, and I studied way more for the final and still did bad. Go to lecture and study all your notes, and even if you don't do too well, the curve will save you !!! I don't think the readings are mandatory for the exam but they are for the quizzes. I wish I would've taken this class more serious in the beginning so my grade would've been better. However, I still recommend Phelan because he is great and you will learn a lot.

Overall, the professor is great, humorous, and engaging. The material is very interesting. The only thing Is that both the midterm and the final are pretty difficult. I studied for almost a week, staying up late hours and still failed them. Honestly, the curve is the only thing that will save you from failing.

P.S. I am selling both books for 50 dollars altogether. Call me if you are interested **********

I liked the structure and material in this class. It got into the major life science concepts without worrying about the intricate details. The weekly quizzes weren't that bad when you got used to them, as long as you did the problem sets. Midterm and final were very hard, but also very generously curved. Would recommend this class!

Same thing all of these other reviews said Phelan is a cool guy, but this class isn't as easy as everyone makes it seem. You have weekly quizzes and you do get the questions ahead of time but if you have a tough TA like I did then if you are not specific you won't get the full points. You also have a partnered debate which isn't too bad. But the tests... wow the midterm and final are extremely hard. He gives a review session before each test and the one for the midterm was helpful but the final.. nothing from the review session was on the final. Overall, they grade really really tough so keep that in mind when taking this class. However, the curve is really great. I did good on the debate, decent on the quizzes, failed both the midterm and final, and did the extra credit video and I somehow passed with a C? I don't know how either.. but yeah this class is really stressful but you can do it if I could.

Whether or not you should take LS 15 with Professor Phelan depends on what you want out of a GE.

If you take GEs to learn about topics that interest you: Take this class! By far the most engaging and interesting GE I have ever taken at UCLA. Every week of lecture has at least one or two things that are applicable to your everyday life. Phelan himself is cool and quirky and tells lots of interesting stories.

If you take GEs to boost your PGA: Do NOT take this class. Compared to other GEs (even other science GEs ) this is a tough class. The exams consist of tricky multiple choice questions and short answers that require you use specific words or phrases to get full credit. I've never got anything but an A in a GE but I fully expect to receive a B/B+ in this class.

I found this class to be very rewarding but it is not what most of the reviews make you think: you will have to work hard and study hard to get an A in this class. I think it is worth it.

Take this class if you can!! Phelan is AMAZING professor and this is the one class I've taken so far that I didn't mind actually going to lecture. He is funny and even though it's a huge class size, he's super engaging with his students. The midterm and final are a bit challenging but you'll do fine if you show up to lecture, and the weekly quizzes are easy and come right off the practice sets.

This class was one of the best classes I've taken so far at UCLA. Selling the required textbook "What Is Life" 4th edition, Mean Genes, and the answers to the problem sets which are our weekly quizzes in discussion. Text me at ********** to negotiate prices!