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Michael Ma BSCI421 Expecting a B- Anonymous 12/28/2011	The Bad: Dr. Ma is not very knowledgeable about Cell Biology. Prior to this semester, he had not taught the course in over 20 years. He frequently gave us the wrong information, or got confused in the middle of giving the lecture about what the subject he was talking about. He did not do a very good job of answering questions that the students had about course material. He was pretty ambiguous when it came to defining what is a B and a C in the class. He's pretty clear that the only A's will be those who get above a 90% which is virtually impossible because his exams are hard as hell and require an extreme amount of detail in a very short amount of time. For the final exam there were quite a few subjects he said we wouldn't have to know that were on the Final. The Good: Dr. Ma has a great personality. He is absolutely hilarious (he made the class laugh out loud on more than a few occasions) and he really does try to help students IF YOU GO TO HIS OFFICE HOURS. He tries to make the lecture material fun by incorporating jokes and real-life examples. He pics on people in the class for humor (this is good if he's not picking on you. lol). He will pass all of the exams back in class and call out the names of people who got A's so that they can be acknowledged (sort of like an impromptu awards ceremony) He'll tell you to double check everything he says with what is in the book and GET A STUDY GROUP and to review the lectures everyday. He comes off has a hard ass, but if you meet with him and he gets to know you he's actually really nice and a great source of advice for like life and career choices. The only way I got a B- in this class is because I had a study group that met weekly AND I recorded and transcribed his lectures word for word. Cell Bio isn't my thing but I found Dr. Ma's exams to tricky, his true/false and matching sections are worth 6-8 points per question and each one is only one word off. This is extremely hard because of the magnitude of information we must memorize coupled with the fact that he often gives us inaccurate information and stumbles through many lectures. Also if you want an A in the class the lab will not help your grade. The lab did help my grade be a 'B' I would recommend this class if you've taken the senior level biochemistry and genetics courses already and if you are a good notetaker. If not don't take this class. Spare yourself the stress and take something else.