One of the best professors I've had at Davis and it's her first quarter teaching here! She is really funny, approachable, and easy to understand. She really values class feedback/participation and is a fair grader. Would definitely recommend her to anyone for BIS 102!

Dr. Monfared. Wow! I know BIS102 is a hard classwe've all heard the horror stories about other professors. We just had our first exam, and it was extremely fair. She cares about students and want us all to do well. If you want a modern approach take her! Also, she is hilarious.

At first it seemed like this class was going to be easy. She goes at a slow lecture pace and the first test was pretty easy, but her writing assignments are unfair. Your grade is determined by other students yet there is no clear grading scale and instructions were very vague. It ended up dropping my grade 7% because other students gave me a C.

Best Bio Prof Ever! She is very clear and straight to the point. She will let you know what to remember for the exams. Writing assignment is fairly easy and casual. You get grades for writing and doing peer review and it's only 10% of total grade. People who are complaining about unfair graders clearly didn't put enough effort on their papers.

I loved Professor Monfared. It was her first quarter at UC Davis when I had her for BIS 102 and she made the class super enjoyable and easy. I really liked the comprehensive format of the exams and she was always able to answer any concept questions I had about the class.

Monfared is one of the best professors I've had at UC Davis. Her lectures are excellent and exams fair. She is very helpful and organized online, and she really cares about her students. Hilarious too!!!

One of the most genuine professors here at Davis. She really cares about her students and wants them to do well. He lectures were very clear and cohesive. Her lecture notes mirror her tests. Going to office hours really helped. Do the practice tests and you will do really well in her class. Wonderful teacher.

Professor Monfared is one of the most approachable professors here at Davis! She makes a possibly intimidating subject manageable and interesting and she makes the classroom a very safe learning environment. Take good notes during lecture, ask questions during Office Hours, and do all practice problems/tests. All exams are extremely fair.

One of the best professors I've had! She is really nice, approachable, and pretty funny too! She takes the time to explain the material in very clear manner. Her tests weren't too terribly difficult either, and she has a good curve. If you can take a class with her, you should!

If you have to take BIS 103, take it with prof. Mona. She has really clear and hilarious lectures. Never felt bored in that class. 20 point EC opportunity. Her tests are solely based on her lectures so didn't even have to read the textbook. Highly Recommend!

BIS102 is my first upper division course and I originally thought it would be very hard. However, professor Mona's lecture is super clear and test is very straightforward. If you want to get clear lecture and good grade, I highly recommend professor Mona!

She writes out all her lectures and uploads podcasts, so it's okay if you don't make it to class all the time. She's funny though, and her lectures are straightforward and engaging. Her tests are also very doable since some questions come from practice finals and homework. There was literally no curve for the class at all since people did well.

She has a good sense of humor, always asks students feedback and care about students learning outcome. Tests are multiple choice, true and false and short answer or calculation. Very organized and if you study her lecture notes and podcast you will not have any issue.

Truly wonderful. Her lectures are more than good, you actually learn. She has the overhead lecture style, and she speaks really slowly and writes out explanations nicely. It was her first quarter teaching when I took her so she was a little nervous, but she did great job. Really just a solid professor, you can't go wrong with her.

Hands down the best biochem professor on the planet. She teaches the material in a manner that allows you to truly grasp the material while making all the info from intro bio and chemistry click. Her sense of humor makes you want to go to class and makes the material more interesting. Absolutely recommend, you will not regret taking this class!

Dr Monfared is the best professor I've taken in my upper div classes. She is so funny and that makes you look forward to going to class. She gives her past exams for you to study and the class uses piazza to post questions and answer questions, and she replies emails fast. Put in the work in this class and you will not regret it.

Biochemistry isn't an easy class, and it takes diligent studying as well as success in previous science-coursework to really succeed. Dr. Monfared is the best you can get (in my opinion) when it comes to clarity and fairness in testing. However don't get disillusioned and think "good professor" easy class study hard and you'll be fine with her

Prof Monfared is an amazing lecturer! She cracks jokes in class, is engaging and really cares about her students. She's very receptive and clear in her teaching style and the way she presents the material. Tests consist of MC, T/F, FRQ. 2 MT (60%), 1 Final (40%). As long as you review the lectures and do most of the practice problems, you'll be OK

I found BIS 102 to be difficult, but she is such an amazing professor-- very organized, kind, and caring about her students. Her lectures are clear, and she also has a good sense of humor that makes them entertaining. One word of warning is the grading-- it only consists of 3 exams, so it's imperative that you do well on all three of them.

She was a great professor! Kept the lectures interesting for such a boring subject. Do the homework (Even tho its not graded) and DO the practice midterms/old midterms she gives you because she'll pull questions from them or make similar ones. Super helpful in office hours. Definitely best bio professor I've had. Grade only consists of 3 exams

I had Monfared for BIS102 and 103 and she is by far the most effective professor I've had in college. Never have I had so much dense, boring material presented so clearly and engagingly. She's kind, she's funny, she's fair, and she really wants her students to succeed. Can't recommend enough.

Dr. Mona is by far one of the best professors. She's kind and funny! Her lectures are clear and tells you exactly what to prepare and expect on the exams. LOVED HER! Take her if you have the option!

Dr. Mona is one of the best professor I've ever had. Her notes are very clear, focuses on what you NEED to know (not extra stuff), is humorous during lectures, and prepares you well for exams. She really cares for her students, and makes sure all students understand as well as challenges us during lectures before explaining topics. ONLY TAKE HER!!

She is so sweet, clear, enthusiastic, and knows how to simplify a naturally difficult topic. She made me really love biochem, and I was so intimidated to take this class. She really cares for all her students. She is very fair and prepares you well for the exams. She shared the class with another prof, unfortunately.. TAKE HER & ONLY HER!!

She's a very good lecturer. Loved her lectures, however, her final was a bit of a trick. two exams, 25% each and 2 writing assignments 5% each and final is 40%. Little curve (3% for us). So if you're doing much worse than average, drop her class early, don't count of my curves. I suggest you do her practice exams and problem sets.

Dr. Mona is so clear, thorough, and helpful. Really spends time to go through problems instead of just the facts. Unfortunately, she shared the class with Dr. McKenney; take it ONLY with her if possible. Mostly self-studied after McKenney took over

Dr. Monfared is an amazing professor. She is very clear of the expectations of the class walking in. She writes out every lecture, does in class activities, and has a blue/yellow card as a check in to the class. She is also an extremely fast at emails and very helpful in office hours. The exams are fair, and she provides tons of old exams.

Dr. Monfared is probably one of the best professors I have ever had. She simplifies her explanations, but did not dumb the material down. However, her lectures are not a good indication of what will be in the exam. I recommend that you go over the old exams she gives, along with the assigned practice problems. Not an easy A as everyone said.

Dr Monfared covers important concepts and goes over material at an appropriate pace. The class is honestly not as difficult as Ochem and only gets more difficult at the latter half of the class. I do not understand why some people expect this to be an easy class because it is not, its biochem. Her exams are similar to her practice exams.

I really enjoyed 102 with Dr. Monfared. She simplifies concepts so that you can understand them in lecture, but if you have to go work problems from the book and some old exams to really go in depth. Highly recommend!

Professor Monfared is the best professor I have ever had at UC Davis. Her material is easy to learn and understand. Exams requires you to actually understand the lecture material. Everything up to Midterm 1 should be review of classes that you have taken in the past. Do practice problems and practice exam,they'll give you an insight of the exam

Dr. Monfared is by far my fav professor next to Lievens. She is really straightforward, funny, engaging and explains the material very well. Her tests are very doable just do the practice exams, I loved this class would take it again in a heartbeat very fun class

BIS103 is hard and requires SO much memorization, but that's not Monfared's fault! She does everything she can to make the material clear and easy to follow. Be ready to work hard and cram a lot of information into your brain, but exams are perfectly fair. Funny and kind to students. I'm going to miss her class!

Class is based off two MTs (30%e) and final (40%). Tests are very fair and there was nothing unexpected; everything to know for exams are in her lectures. Lectures were interesting and she was very funny and made genetics enjoyable to go to. Go to class and take good notes on the slides and her words and that's all you need to be able to get an A.

Mona is a great professor- both hilarious and competent at teaching the material. Her tests are fairly difficult, though. The practice questions and in-class question were similar to the tests, but the test questions were longer and more complex. The entire class grade was solely based off of the 2 MTs and Final. Overall solid choice!

Amazing lecture, great paced, easy to follow, checks in with students during lectures, always open to feedback and questions. Tests are fair and she gives good partial credit. I would definitely recommend and will take her for future classes. Super helpful in office hours as well and very approachable.

Monfared is an exceptionally great lecturer. She makes biochem (which is slightly dreadful) bearable because she is so fun. Lectures are a very bare bones and skeletal form of the material. Make sure you take time to understand her practice tests and problems. Tests are a little tricky, but pretty fair. 10/10 Would take again

the best prof ive had. she writes and dictates her lecture notes in class which makes it so easy to follow. has relevant examples. exams are challenging but fair. is very helpful and caring if you go to her OH. would highly recommend taking her class. canvas is organized and she gives you all her old MTs to study from

Love love love love love Mona. Bis 103 is such a trash class and I can't imagine getting through it without having her as my professor. She is hilarious and makes the class bearable. She does a good job of explaining the logic of pathways so it helps with the memorization. There was a small curve (to get the average to a 79%).

Monfared is a wonderful professor who makes biochemistry bearable by incorporating humor in all of her lectures. She provides all of her past exams for practice, but the ones you actually take will be just different enough to be challenging, even if you are well-prepared. Keep up with the lectures and ask questions in OH to do well!

Taking biochem with anyone BUT Dr. M would be a huge mistake. She is by far the best professor I've ever had, and made an otherwise difficult subject enjoyable and exciting with her great sense of humor and devotion to students. She is friendly, approachable, and super sweet. She's the best, and that's a fact.

Dr. M is great! She is very enthusiastic and excited to teach. She wants to help us succeed and works hard to make hard classes manageable. Her teaching style makes hard content a lot easier to learn. Tests are super hard, but fair and you know what to expect going in. I had her for both 102&103. Take her, you won't regret it.

Dr. Mona is the best there is for BIS 103 as she truly cares about her students' success. GO TO HER OFFICE HOURS! Dr. Mona takes ideas from office hours to write her exams. Practice exams are similar to actual exams, but the questions are never exactly the same. Review lecture slides and do lecture learning objectives for an A!

I took Dr. M for BIS 102 and 103. Her lectures are very straight forward and really wants you to understand the material. Both courses had an assignment (102 paper 103 powerpoint) but not difficult. Make sure you do the weekly questions and you'll be fine! Slight curve at the end. She will add X% to get the average to C+/B-

Professor Monfared is exactly what you want from a Professor. She is fun, helpful, and truly makes the material interesting to learn. One infographic project plus 2 midterms and a final are the grade book so you must study for each midterm very thoroughly. She appreciates questions and never lets a student think their questions are "dumb". TAKE HER

Truly an amazing professor, she made biochem a fun class that wasn't daunting at all! Biochem is still a hard subject but Dr. M makes it digestible. My biggest tip would be to carefully read the midterm questions. She gives out prior exams to study from and you may not think she reused a question but it turns out the wording is slightly diff.

mona has an incredible galaxy brain however you will leave the class with the glycolysis song etched into your soul forever 10/10

The best professor I have had at UC Davis. Professor Monfared made me want to learn the material and provides practice questions, YouTube videos, piazza, tons of previous exams, and many other resources to help you succeed. Handled COVID 19 extremely well, DO NOT HESITATE TO TAKE HER!

Dr. Monfared is one of the best professors on campus. Her lectures are organized, detailed, and consistent with exams. She is not patronizing or intimidating; I am very comfortable asking her questions. Go to office hours, listen to the recorded lectures if you need to review the material, DO THE HW, &review the practice exams. Highly recommend.

While challenging, Dr. Monfared is as good as it gets! I took her for BIS 102 as well and she is the nicest professor who is always willing to help outside of class. Her exams are difficult but her learning objectives clearly state what will be on the exams. The Final was non-cumulative!

She's just awesome. Extremely fair, super understanding and empathetic, really organized, material is clear, etc. Genetics isn't easy, but she does a great job of organizing her lectures so the materials are clear, lots of examples, super helpful, really sweet and nice.

Dr. Monfared is so passionate and humble about the class and consistently goes overtime to help her students. She listens to the students and tries to make the most reasonable accommodations to help her student perform to the best of their ability. She and the TA's go way above and beyond to help make sure we know what we're learning.

Monfared is a gem! Super accommodating during these times. Class is graded by 2 midterms, final, and participation surveys. Due to COVID/fires, she gave a 24-hour exam window. Very responsive over Piazza and helpful in OH. Clear lectures but made mistakes here and there. She definitely makes genetics easy to understand.

Dr. Mona was really great with online classes. her exams were straightforward and her office hours were very helpful. super approachable but the class is almost all tests, so better study hard for those.

Monfareds lectures are super well organized. Take really detailed notes and do the practice tests and the tests shouldn't be too hard. I didn't do the reading and I don't think it's necessary to get a good grade. One of the best professors I've had a UC Davis.

Dr. M is so good. I highly recommend her. She is caring and is very thorough in her teaching. She provides past exams, practice problems and even works through some practice problems if we need help. BIS 102 was hard but she made it enjoyable and easy to understand. She is funny and is a great chill professor who lectures really well!

an amazing professor and gives wonderful lectures

Mona is among the best here at UCD. She's an associate professor of teaching, and it really shows. Really compassionate and has a great sense of humor, too. Her tests can be tricky and really require you to know your stuff, but she bumped up everyone's grades at the end even though she didn't have to.

Sheesh, Dr. Mona is straight up the best professor I've had at UCD. She's clear, hilarious, down-to-earth, and accommodating. Only complaint is that her lectures cover the basics of what you have to know for exams; a lot of the tricky problem-solving stuff you have to learn through practice exams/problems/on your own, so allocate time for that.

Super interesting lectures and very straightforward exams. Grade is composed of 3 exams and 9 quizzes. Take her class if you can!

I like the way her lectures were split up to not make things overwhelming, but her exams were tough. Im one of those students who struggled to understand the concepts of metabolism, so I was always scoring below the average. Open book helped, but some test questions are generalized so its best to really know the content down to the last detail.

Mona is a great professor. Her lectures are organized and what she expects you to know for exams is very clear. She gives practice exams that highly prepare you for the exam.

Dr. Monfared's course was fair and required a good amount of effort. Lectures were great and exams were all fair, but may have a few tricky questions.

I've had Mona for BIS102 before and she's just as much of a delight. She's a great lecturer. That being said, I felt that BIS103 was more difficult than BIS102 due to all of the memorization required and dense lectures. Also, BIS103 was asynchronous this quarter, which I feel detracted from her lecture quality, but she's a great choice overall.

Her lectures tell you everything you need to know and are crystal clear. Her practice exams and actual exams are practically the same, so study the practice exams closely and try to think of ways she could word that very same question differently. Also do the learning objectives, it helps you understand what you need to know from each lecture!

I LOVE HER!!! she is by far my favorite professor I have had and I highly recommend. Great lectures, fair exams, and overall just the sweetest. LOVE U MONA!

Professor Monfared is an amazing lecturer and also really cares for her student. There were weekly quizzes at the end of the week that are graded for completion. She also explains all the difficult topics and really breaks everything down to make it understandable. She makes biochem fun to learn and has resources for what works for you.

Dr. Monfared is an excellent professor and person. She strives to ensure the immense amount of material we have to learn never feels too overwhelming. She gives multiple perspectives on the same concept, which appeals to different learning styles/paces. It is quite apparent that she is mindful of her student's well being academically and personally

I FREAKING LOVE HER! Greatest, sweetest, funniest, and overall most AMAZING professor at UC Davis! She makes Biochem (gasp) actually fun to learn! Even though lectures were recorded I wanted to go in-person because she's that great! Cheat sheets on exams too! TAKE HER CLASS! LOVE YOU MONA MONA! :)

I loved this class with Monfared, she truly cares about the well-being of students and what they need in order to succeed. Provides lots of practice midterms and practice finals that are very similar to the actual ones. Makes jokes in class and respects our opinions. Yes, I took her with a difficult subject, so it's not easy.

Dr. Monfared is an amazing teacher! She's passionate, funny, clear, and helpful outside of class. Her class isn't a slam dunk, but she truly makes it accessible and fair, and you have access to many useful resources. Take advantage of the learning objectives and practice exams, they're your keys to success.

Professor Monfared is one of my favorite professors I have had at Davis. She is an amazing lecturer and is extremely clear about what will be on exams. For exams she also lets you have a "cheat sheet" which is super helpful given the content heavy course. Exams are multiple choice and straight forward.

I LOVE YOU MONA! So fun and accommodating, I loved having her. She made me love biochemistry (as a biochem major) even more! Tests were so clear and super relevant to her lectures. She cut out the excess of biochemistry and got straight to the point! Do the practice exams, and understand why you get things wrong or why answers are right.

Mona is really fantastic. Fair exams and you learn sooo much from her. Class starts off slow, so definitely try and ace the first two midterms, since the last midterm/final, the content becomes tougher and it may be smarter to ace the first two so you can chill on the last. She's super accessible, and kind. She's the #1 choice for 103, for sure.

Great professor! Took Bis 101 during summer session 2. Graded based on two midterms, weekly quizzes, and a short written project. She's organized and very willing to answer students' questions. Make sure to attend/watch her lectures and DO the practice exams!

her personal teaching style of new exams and old exams having the same problem solving theme and giving old exams to practice were really helpful. retook the course, recommend taking in summer because there are far fewer questions that need solving or diagrams for the big topics and more simple questions. recorded lectures, funny and patient!

Dr. M is passionate in teaching and tries to make the class engaging. She explains things clearly and provides a lot of practice problems that look just like the real exams. I personally found the lectures a little slow so I watched the recordings at 1.5x speed. Overall great prof and a doable class.

Material is difficult but her lectures and practice exams work on prepping you for the exam!

One of the best lectures at UCD. All BIS102 teachers only grade based on exams, but Monfared gives you all the resources needed to get the grade you want. The lectures are clear and concise and she is easily available outside of class as well. Also reuses past exam questions a lot of the time.

One of the best professors at UCD. Clear lectures and exams are very fair. Prepares us for exams well. Also curves at the end!

I took BIS 103 in the Fall and I really enjoyed this class because of Prof Monfared! She made it accessible and broke down the concepts really well! Exams were relatively simple and she allowed a sheet of notes in class during exams. Recommend making the sheet early and studying off of it and the practice exam. Fantastic prof!

If I had to retake BIS103, I would fight demons to have it with Dr Monfared again. She has amazing lectures. Full letter-sized paper, front and back, notes allowed for midterms/final. All multiple choice. Repeats practice questions on midterms. Clear learning goals. Fast grading. MANY OH sessions. Easy points with participation canvas quiz + FUNNY!

I want all good things to come this professor's way. Seriously. She deserves it. I'm a little sad I'm graduating and I probably won't have a professor as amazing as this one. If only she was the one teaching all my upper div bio courses!!

As long as you do the practice exams you should be well prepared for the actual exams. Lectures are clear and she is super open to answering questions during and after class. Also make sure to start on the note sheet early since there is a lot of information for the exams to know. Very fair class with a great professor who care for students.

After having 103 with Mona again after 102 I can safely say she is easily one of the best teachers on campus. Great lectures that are easy to understand and straightforward exams. Start your cheat sheet early if you can, 103 is more dense with pathways than 102

Professor Monfared is great. She is super caring, kind, and hilarious. She makes jokes throughout her lectures and makes you feel welcome in her class. The subject alone is very difficult and while I didnt get the grade I hoped for i'd still take her again anytime. She is easily accessible outside of class and helps whenever she can.

She is one of the best professors here and actually made me enjoy biochemistry! The way that she breaks down all the different processes is very accessible and she really focuses on understanding rather than memorization. The exams are multiple-choice (with a whole sheet of notes). I'm sad that I only got to take one class with her!

Her lecture is wayyy too easy compares to her exam. Graded only on four exams, multiple choice problem worth a lot.

An amazing professor who provides you with a ton of resources. Lots of practice test, organized lecture readings (they help but aren't required), and practice problems at the end of each week. Her tests are harder than what is covered in lecture, so you have to do some work outside of class to get a good grade, but it's definitely doable!

She makes one feel belonged and truly loves her students. Even with hundreds of students in the class, I felt so close to her because of the way she cared about each one of us. I haven't felt this happy in a classroom before, all because of how she made me feel. She is like an angel living on earth.I absolutely love her from the bottom of my heart.

I felt stressed and overwhelmed after our first exam so I asked Mona for advice. She encouraged me attend her "office seshs," which l've heard are her UCSC version of office hours. Apparently, everybody leaves in high spirits, including Mona, and much anxiety is relieved. I went last week and boy I still feel the remedial effects!

Good professor, super thorough with how she teaches her class and is very receptive to questions. The wording on tests can get tricky but if u do the practice exams you will do more than ok... people complain about having to study a lot for this class but its biochem of course you have to put in the work :P

Mona is great! She gives us lots of things to study with and many old exams to practice (BIG help), and lets us make a double-sided cheat sheet for exams. As long as you know HOW and WHY things happen the way they do, you'll do just fine: anything you hate memorizing can go on the cheat sheet. She also asked us to tank her RMP score for fun lol

BIS103 is challenging, but Prof. Monfared made it manageable. She gives lots of practice problems which are similar to her exams. She also allows a double-sided 8.5" x 11" paper cheat sheet on exams; the final is not cumulative. Take good notes, review the learning objectives, do the practice tests and you will be fine. Highly recommend taking her

This is the best professor to take for biochem! She explains every aspect of the material as if we've never encountered it before because we've all had professors who assume we know stuff cause we've had STEM classes but not her, she will break everything down!! The best professor I've taken for STEM!

This isn't one of those classes you have to teach yourself, she will teach you everything you need to know for the exam. She breaks every pathway down so effortlessly, it almost seems like you're the smart one but its really her because I've had other classes where the teacher presented a pathway with little explanation & I was lost!

Have no doubt this class will prepare you for the MCAT! She should teach the biochem MCAT course, she's that good!

She is a great Professor. She tries her best to be fun and everything she does is centered around student learning. You won't regret taking her. Her exam questions are similar to the practice she shares. Her TA's were extremely amazing. The TA was helping both sections, answered questions so rapidly and was active on discd. Amazing experience ovrll

Did not take this class, but I audited. Was super excited to sit in on her lectures because of all the great things I heard about her. It was true and the lectures were so fun that I never wanted it to end. She is very caring and has a contagious smile. You will not regret taking her class! An asset to UC Davis

Breaks down concepts well, has a good attitude. 84% of grade are exams (28 per exam, final is not cum.) gain a strong understanding of material, cheat sheet is crucial. Utilize past exams she gives as study, sometimes repeat questions or reworded.

Awesome professor. breaks down concepts and makes them very digestible. Had her for bis 102 and 103 and loved her for both. Make a good cheat sheet for exams and do all the practice exams she gives and youll probably do well

Amazing professor (most of the bad reviews on here are an inside joke). 2 midterms and a non-cumulative final with a notes sheet allowed (front/back). Tests are more than fair, with practice exams very similar to the real exams. Dr. Monfared is so funny and truly cares about students doing well. I highly recommend her as a professor.

Professor Monfared is an exceptional teacher who genuinely cares about student learning. Her exams are fair and her lectures are engaging. I highly recommend using unstuck study alongside the practice exams she provides to ace this class.

Dr. Monfared is genuinely the best professor I've had at UCD. She's funny, caring, and explains the content so clearly. 2 exams + non-cumulative final w/ double-sided cheat sheet! I was very nervous about biochem before taking this class but she sparked my interest in the subject and this class was more doable than I thought it would be. TY Dr. M!!

Mona Monfared deserves the earth, moon and stars. I am a grad student now and was rthinking about prof. Monfared recently. She is actively interested in the success of her students and is always willing to help you understand concepts one-on-one. She is a sweet and genuine person, and I would take her for every class if I had to do undergrad again