Rosario really cares about his students and is so passionate about what he teaches. His energy lights up everyone in the lecture hall and the content of each lecture is always so fascinating, even though I'm biz-econ! Stay true to you, Rosario.

Seems I'm the only one among the comments who take this class for a geology-related field (geochemistry minor.) Indeed, the lecture part of the class, including the midterm and lecture final, are fairly easy. Just attending every lecture will guarantee a 90+ in your exams. However, if you actually want to learn something for your major/minor, he may not be your best choice because he spends a huge amount of time in class playing irrelevant videos.
The lab part is a bit more tricky and highly unrelated to the lecture. Just treat them as separate classes and don't assume the lab will be as easy.

As a political science/public affairs double major, I was looking for an easy, yet fun and engaging science GE... I definitely found those qualities in this class! The grade breakdown was 10% Exercise Quizzes (he pretty much gave all the answers during lecture and he pretty much gave you 100% as long as you turned it in), 15% Midterm, 25% Labs, 10% Lab Final, 40% Final. So yes, there are two separate finals for the class, but they're honestly not bad at all (especially the 40% final which is based on things we learned in lecture). He also gives opportunities for extra credit, which has the chance to boost your grade by at least a couple percentage points hehe

The labs were not too difficult, and especially going to your TA's office hours practically guarantees that you do well on them. Professor Esposito (though he refused to be called professor when I talked to him in office hours once LOL) is such a kind man, and he genuinely cares about relating the course content to UCLA, Los Angeles, and us students! Lecture attendance isn't that necessary, BUT PLEASE remember to at least listen to his Bruincast audio files, because he mentions what will be on the tests SEVERAL DIFFERENT TIMES. Best of luck to you all, I highly recommend this class.

Rosario is the cutest, sweetest professor evaaaaa. It is very evident that he loves his job and cares very much for his students. When I went to his office hours, he seemed genuinely excited to answer any questions I had. His midterm/final are EXTREMELY easy and straightforward as long as you go through his lecture slides. In class, he would literally tell us what was going to be on the exam. Make sure you pay attention to the pictures he adds too because he tests on those a lot.

On the first day of class, he asked us for songs/movies/etc from pop culture that relate to geology and took our answers and interwove them throughout the class. Some questions were even on the final. It really helps to go to lecture, but if you can't, at least listen to his bruincasts. After the midterm, I only went to lecture like 60% of the time, and of those times, I would come in with only 20 minutes left... but that's just how easy his class is. tbh, I wish I went to class more because he is a funny dude. Also, I never really took notes. I just had a section in my notes app where I would take pictures of the slides he specifically said would be on the final and some quick things about them.

The lab was kinda annoying, but honestly it was fine and not as bad as everyone made it out to be. I had Heather as a TA, and I liked her! People just didn't like her because they thought she was a harsh grader, but tbh I think they were just dumb/lazy... She's a bit awkward, but a lot of people would be when you're teaching in front of 30+ unresponsive college students who mostly took the class because they heard it was an easy not because they actually had any interest in it. I would talk to her throughout class, and she was actually kind and interesting and talked about her fieldwork in Australia (I think it was)--ended up being on our lecture final too.

TLDR; take the class, its easy, professor is sweet, heather isn't as bad as people think, and there's lots of extra credit.

You can find the textbook for the class online (librarygenesis.com) and you kind of need the workbook. You can get by with sharing with someone though or even taking pictures of the pages you'll need on a particular day. I rented the workbook and only really used it a couple times. So it's not super necessary to spend money on textbooks.

There is no curve to the class. Professor Esposito truly believes, and wants, all his students to earn A's and not limit it to only a certain amount of people. Grade breakdown along with my own grades to earn a B-

Lecture:
mid-term- 15% (88%)
final- 40% (81.5%)
lecture quiz exercises- 10% (100%)

Lab:
exercises- 25% (71.63%)
final exam- 10% (67%)

Professor Esposito is a really nice guy and genuinely wants his students earn good grades. He also stood right outside of the classroom for like 10-15 minutes everyday in case anyone had questions on anything. He also made an effort to get to know people and remember their names, mine included. I sit in the middle-back and never participate but he still remembered my name. He's from Italy and has a little of an accent but nothing you can't get used to. The lectures/slides are all posted on CCLE along with a Bruincast (audio only). Justin Higa was my TA and he was really cool too. Definitely recommend. I've heard bad things about Kirkpatrick though, so try to stay away from her (no personal experience with her though).

The lecture quiz exercises are questions posted on CCLE, answers given during lecture, given until next lecture to answer the question. Midterm was fairly easy but the final was a lot tougher (for me personally). During Lab section which you really have to go to you are given a packet of work which is mostly done in class. You have to see and name rocks and that sort of thing. You can walk around looking at the different rocks and can work with other people too, so it's not too bad. The exercise aren't too hard either, my grade is just so low because I skipped the first one and that lowered my overall grade for that part. For the Lab final, it's pretty much the same thing but it was a little tough just because I had a midterm the day before (for a different class) which I was more worried about, so I only studied for the lab final for like an hour or two.

All in all, it's not too hard. I would recommend this class, especially with this professor. I was taking it along with a much harder class which I was more focused on and I commute. So if I can get a B-, you can definitely get a better grade. I think it's a pretty manageable class to get your lab req done with.

Also, there was a final study guide made by some students and which was shared with the whole class. It came in pretty handy. If you'd like it (pdf) send me a text with your e-mail. **********

r/ucla

Rosario Esposito is one of the most kind and helpful professors at UCLA! The in-class exams were very fair and everything you should know for them is taught in lecture. However, the labs were tough sometimes and the lab exam (which was only worth 10% of our grade) was a bit rough as well.

The in-class textbook is about $150-200, but I'm selling a PDF version for $5. Message me for my Venmo at ********** if you're interested!

Take this class! It's a great GE. Rosario is so, so sweet. His lectures are fun, engaging, and he is a great lecturer. He doesn't give you study guides, but if you use the slides as a study guide you'll be fine. The labs for this class are difficult but if you get the right TA, you can do well. I only had to go to office hours for the lab, and not the class. The lab final was difficult, but I think he curved it. The midterm and the final were really fair. Make sure you go/listen to the lectures because for much of the exam content is from him saying it to us/showing it to us in class. I would for sure take this class again.