This course was taught by Dr. Boris Zhorov this past year. I think he's been teaching it for years now. This means that a lot of his test questions are actually recycled from previous years. So, if you can get your hands on previous years' tests, you should be in good shape.

In terms...

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I'm an overall good student and even I found this class was very difficult/I didn't learn anything. If you don't cheat on the midterms you're basically screwed. He asks about random fine details you're supposed to have known by reading the textbook but he doesn't assign readings. The lecture content is boring on its own but his monotone, incomprehensible voice makes in intolerable.

I wouldn't recommend this course unless you absolutely need to take it.

This course was pretty ridiculous -- literally too much memorization, emphasis on irrelevant small details instead of the major concepts. Dr. Day requires a lot of memorization from you, but at least he has the quiz bank, which is a life saver. I think Zhorov's expectations would be more realistic if we had a quiz bank, as well. Needless to say, I decided to drop the course after the first midterm -- it just wasn't worth the frustration.

Just took this course in the summer.
There was one midterm worth 40% and the final was worth 60%.

I found it to be pretty easy, especially the exam. Took this course in the summer because so many people complained about it and I was really scared about the "memorization" since I haven't done that in years.

I ended up procrastinating and did the majority of my studying the night before/day of the midterm and exam. That was more than enough. I didn't even "memorize"...just went through the slides 2x and tried to understand what was going on rather than memorizing a whole bunch of random things. Finished the course with a 12.
The assessments contained a mixture of ridiculously easy questions, a couple of tricky/ weirdly worded ones, and 1-2 very random questions. Lots of people finished within the first 15-20 minutes of the given 2hrs. They weren't too bad, but I can see why people would be frustrated. Even if you miss the random questions, there aren't too many of them...at minimum a 10 is achievable.

The only reason to go to class is that the prof tells you what you should/ shouldn't know for the tests. Otherwise, it's really pointless because you can't really hear or understand him.

got this course right now. easily worst and most boring course you can take at mac. the stuff you learn wont benefit you because of the way its taught and tested. midterms have been fairly easy, but the exam is fully cumulative and this course covers a lot of bullcrap so i imagine exam wont go too well. you wont go to class at all. prof is hard to hear and the content is so bad anyways.

Took this in Winter 2013 with Dr. Zhorov.

Breakdown was 30, 30, 40 (midterm I, II and final exam).

Content: learn the basics of metabolism and physiology. About as dry as it sounds.

Professor: I realize the content is dry to begin with, but he does nothing to make it interesting in the slightest. Except for his "running away from the tiger" story - which he somehow manages to relate to every single concept that you go over.

Evaluations: If you thought Dr. Day's courses were memorization-heavy, you're in for an unpleasant treat. Will ask the most random questions, at least half of which have nothing to do with the important aspects of what the courses sets out to teach you (i.e. what is the half-life of ornithine decarboxylase?). Know exactly what each slide says. Try getting a hold of past exams, they will help a lot.

Overall, a boring course. If you're looking for an easy course, look elsewhere. Of course, depending on your memorization skills, this can be fairly easy. Just be prepared to learn almost every slide by heart. Also go to class, just so he can tell you what NOT to memorize - probably the only reason to attend really.

Essentially for his test questions, it's either you know it or you don't. It's really hard to reason his questions out (although maybe a few you can) because he tests on fine details. Again, like most comments have already emphasized: memorize the slides!!! If you are good at memorization, 12 is easily achievable (even without the textbook since he only draws 2-3 questions from it for each evaluation). If you hate memorizing, don't take this course.

Overall, I had mixed feelings about this course. It was easy and hard at the same time because the questions were straight-forward but you had to memorize like 250 slides for one midterm.

Originally Posted by Schen

Essentially for his test questions, it's either you know it or you don't. It's really hard to reason his questions out (although maybe a few you can) because he tests on fine details. Again, like most comments have already emphasized: memorize the slides!!! If you are good at memorization, 12 is easily achievable (even without the textbook since he only draws 2-3 questions from it for each evaluation). If you hate memorizing, don't take this course.

Overall, I had mixed feelings about this course. It was easy and hard at the same time because the questions were straight-forward but you had to memorize like 250 slides for one midterm.

Did you take it in the summer? or during regular year and did you take it with Zhorov ?

Originally Posted by Silver

got this course right now. easily worst and most boring course you can take at mac. the stuff you learn wont benefit you because of the way its taught and tested. midterms have been fairly easy, but the exam is fully cumulative and this course covers a lot of bullcrap so i imagine exam wont go too well. you wont go to class at all. prof is hard to hear and the content is so bad anyways.

IS the course easy or really hard? I am thinking of taking it next summer but i am not sure if its a good idea. It will be the only course i will be taking so if it is memorization heavy then i think i can handle that

i found it to be an easy course if you studied. it takes 0 thinking. just read over slides many many times. for me the exam was annoying because my exams were crammed but the midterms were easy if you devote 3 days to them. exam prob needs like 4-6 days depending on how well you know midterm stuff. overall, class avg i assume was high.

Hey guys! For anyone who took this course, how did you find the midterms/final exams. I heard there's a lot of trivial questions. Did most people end up doing better than they expected and is it 11/12able? Thanks!

Definitely 11/12-able. Midterms and final exams were very easy. If there were ever confusing questions, Zhorov would give bonus marks. Pasts tests are an excellent resource.

Does the course get curved ?

Originally Posted by rajguj

Does the course get curved ?

average for test 1 was high 70s, and average for test 2 was over 80 this semester, if anything they would curve down, but he won't do that

I took this class Winter 2014, and I found it extremely easy.

Mark Breakdown:
Hasn't changed in years.
2 Midterms worth 29% each (non-cumulative)
1 Exam worth 42% (cumulative)

Dr. Zhorov was definitely not the most interesting professor I've ever had, but he got the job done. Everything you needed to know for the midterms was in his lecture slides, so you didn't necessarily have to go to class all the time.
For his midterms, he took a lot of questions directly off of past midterms (sometimes he changed the wording a little bit, so be careful when answering the questions if all you've done is memorize the answers to the past midterms!).
Honestly, I prettily much just memorized the past midterms and a few random details from the notes and finished with an 11 in the class.
It was a fairly easy elective, and I would definitely say it's a bird course.

Any opinions regarding this course during the summer? Is it too condensed?