You don't have to know anything about science to pass this course. All that is required is you memorize all those countless slides and pages in the textbook. Names of enzymes, how many ATP produced/consumed, structures of amino acids, pka's, cycles and chains blah blah blah. If you get through all your classes by mindless memorization, you'll be right at home in this course. However, if you like to understand concepts and study hard for that understanding, you'll do poor in this course. I came into 153A with enthusiasm and left very bitter and discouraged. I should really thank Nelson though, because it was her and this course that made me decide to switch my major out of biochemistry into chemistry.

Nelson isn't really THAT bad. Most people are just complaining because this is the first upper division course they have to take since it is required for so many other courses. YES, there is a TON of memorization, but not any more than some of the other upper division MIMG or MCDB course that you'll have to take. YES, it gets very specific (like all other upper division courses) and the things you memorize may seem foolish or not worth while. The way she seems to structure her course is to use very specific examples to illustrate very general principals, and she expects you to know everything about the specific example and doesn't put much weight on whether you understand the principal in general.

If you didn't do well in 14A, 14C, or 14D, review that material. A lot of the course is structure/reactions and acid/base chemistry. Don't bother memorizing every molecule in a 40 step reaction pathway, simply remember what reacts with what and you'll have a MUCH easier time. Do all the work you're told to do even if it seems trivial. Oh, and the fat curve or having a great TA helps. Also, the quizzes are free points and will boost your grade a lot if you don't mess them up.

Okay, for the record, the only reason why the people below and myself got A's in this class was because of the HUGE ASS CURVE. I still to this day have no idea what the hell happened in that class. It was a big blur due to the copious amount of caffeine I chugged to get through lectures. Did i study hard? Hell ya!!! But not any harder than all my other classes which I only get B's in. Why? THE HUGE ASS CURVE!! Thank god for all the other people who couldn't remember the difference between leucine and valine or between sphingolipids and the other thing with a squiggly chain of carbons.