This class it not an easy 'A', esp the material towards the end. Rolf does not try to be anybodies friend but I think that he did a pretty effective job teaching the material. The voice does get to you, though.

i thought he was great and this was the most interesting part of bio. take CLAS if ur stuck but hes really friednly and funny, tries to be helpful. Actuaully made me WANT to take upper div genetics and look into grad schools for it!

Most helpful and technologically proficient prof I have ever had. Extremely nice and concerned about your acquisition of the covered material, which needs to be studied carefully. I am surprised by the # of negative reviews. Interesting humor in lectures as well.

He's actually pretty enthusiastic about everything. He's funny at times, and actually makes sense. His tests are pretty hard which shows with his low test score averages.

Very dorky, very nice, tests are hard, but a pretty generous grader.

doing the HW will get you a good grade

Super difficult class. Easy C if even if you don't learn ne thing a&b seem out of reach Info was boring & unclear. Prof. on the other hand is understanding, caring, & 1 of the most approachable professors I've ever met in all my years at UCSB. He's not like other MCDB/EEMB professors that r too involved in their research to talk to their students.

good teacher and willing to help but the subject matter can be tricky and the fina; had about 20x the info that either midterm did so it was unexpectedly stressful to study for

this class was very fast paced probably because it was during summer session. Tough class, you will have to study a lot. Christoffersen is very helpful and actually cares about his students

The dude is totally chill. Don't be a moron though, because No One likes morons and you will hate yourself for taking this class while not being wicked good enough...Sucka. seriously wtf.

The class as a whole has a lot of info to cover. He teaches the genetics portion. You have to keep up on your reading, attend lectures, and do lots of practice problems. Extremely approachable and easy to talk to, totally willing to help you out in office hours and after class. Has all lecture slides online and old exams, offers extra credit quizze

So I don't get why everyone is directing so much hate towards Christoffersen. He's the man, he just really hates stupid people. Don't be stupid, do practice problems, and skim the book to get an A+.

very helpful and fair grading. hes nice : )

Tests resemble past ones, not the quizzes or clicker questions. Go to class and read the book.

MCDB 101B requires a good amount of studying and practice problems. Definitely go to CLAS, or you'll be stumped when exam time comes. Dr. Christoffersen is a great guy. He's funny in lecture, and will do everything he can do to help if you attend office hours.

I love Rolf! He is really funny, nice, and a good professor with a passion for genetics. 101B is not a hard class, but it is a little challenging to get an A. He throws a few curveballs on tests, but no malicious intent. Talk to him in office hours and he is really helpful. Take CLAS with Emily if you can, she is so awesome!

Hardest MCDB class ever, with ridiculously difficult exams. The final took the whole 3 hours and I still couldn't finish it. Go to CLAS. Emily was really helpful. He's a great teacher though, just have to work extremely hard for an A. Very approachable, funny, and helpful, tries to get you to pay attention in class. 101B was NOTHING like MCDB 1A.

go to lecture for ICLICKER POINTS. 20 points is the difference between an A and a B (yes it goes through A- and B+ so its practically 4 steps). only the top 20% will get A's so watch ur placement in class. your job is merely to beat out the other people so ATTEND CLAS. his office hours are nice but not too necessary.

These people are crazy. Christoffersen is an amazing professor, and I don't even like genetics. He gives you every opportunity to succeed. He posts lecture slides, lecture videos, extra credit quizzes, and more. He's very knowledgeable and helpful. It is a hard class, but if you go to lecture and do the quizzes and homework, you'll be fine.

His test was very straightforward. What his questions were in lecture were just like the ones on his test. Going to lecture and reading the book will help you in this class

Teaches the genetics portion of MCDB 1A, which seems like the most interesting but most difficult portion of the class. Be sure to do the problems from lecture, the book, & the extra credit quizzes--they're good practice for what you'll see on the final. Lectures are recorded so you can watch them online, but go to class for the clicker pts!

Teaches the genetics portion of the class, which makes up the majority of the final. It's relatively difficult, compared to the first 2 parts (biochem and cell bio). He offers extra credit (online quizzes) and is very flexible with office hours. Very accessible, I loved him! He's great at explaining material, make me interested in genetics.

Genetics is not the easiest subject to understand, but he explains it relatively well, and, more importantly, he gives extra credit quizzes and iclicker questions which are extremely helpful because many of his test questions are taken straight from those iclicker and quiz questions.

Couldn't understand him in lecture due to the confusing nature of the subject matter and his nasally voice. However, he was much easier to understand when I would watch the lecture online. His portion of the final was very difficult, and I regretted not reading the textbook studying earlier. He's extremely helpful and offers many study aids.

I love Rolf, he is always smiling and is always willing to take the time to help. His sort of condescending attitude I feel turns students off from talking to him but if you take the time to get to know him you will really succeed. I mean his google account profile picture is his golden retriever. He's great, give him a chance.

His lectures are clear. He provides alot of help through online videos on how to do problems and online quizzes. His questions on the final are moderate in difficulty.

He is a great teacher who wants you to pass. He has online quizzes for extra credit & is one of the two main people in charge of Biomentors (which is super helpful and I would 100% recommend). Some problems can be a little tricky but do enough of each type of question and you should be good for the final.

In my opinion his lectures were the best of the series because it takes more thinking than straight memorization, which I prefer. He is straight forward in that he gives you book problems, quizzes, and in class questions to practice from and also straight up tells you he likes trick questions. Use the resources he gives you and you will do fine.

A lot of students don't like Prof. Christoffersen or genetics in 1A. However, he is actually very willing to help, but he makes you figure things out (doesn't just give you the answer). He gives extra credit genetics quizzes (and these are GREAT practice for genetics problems). His part of the final was pretty easy if you learn how to do genetics!

Just like 101A, 101B was only possible with Emily Bryant in CLAS. Rolf is a really nice guy, and not a bad lecturer (especially once you're used to Thrower). I took this in summer, and it was nice to get done in 6 weeks, but got a B cuz I completely screwed up the first midterm. Still was nice enough to ask me to be a Biomentor, so take him.

One of my favorite professor in the MCDB department. Had Low for 101A and hated him. Low was terrible at transitioning from one concept to the next so it was hard to make connection and understand the big picture in his class. Rolf, on the other hand, is a much better lecturer. He also record his lectures so if you don't get it in class you can lis

He spends much efforts to ensure students understand what is going on. He gives much review problems and answer students' questions very seriously. The final review session also does great help.

great professor to take for 101B covid edition. All recorded lectures with question embedded in. Tests are 80% of the grade but the midterms were very doable and easy if you solved all the practices tests and the homework problems. Professor was very assessible outside of class. 55% of the class got an A or A-!!! Great class.

I took MCDB 28. As a non-stem major and someone who hates math & science, I loved this class. There was no math involved and he makes confusing scientific concepts extremely digestible. He's an easy grader. Discussions and questions are always encouraged. Its an extremely manageable class and he goes over extremely interesting genetic topics.

I took MCDB 28 and genuinely loved it. The lecture slides are not super interesting in my opinion but Rolf conducts really great and thought-provoking class discussions. He’s really funny, clearly super smart, and it wasn’t hard to get a good grade.

He made everything so easily able to be understood- technically attendance was mandatory but he would give credit if you watched the online lecture. Small assignments every week but done in class and 2 paper assignments.

Genetics is a hard part of the MCDB 1A class, so expect to do a lot of practice problems. He is accessible in office hours, and if you ask questions he will make the effort to work it out or show why something is going wrong. Know that you have to work, but you can really use him to your advantage to do well in the class. Fat curve btw

Christoffersen's lectures were nowhere near amazing, but he provides resources like extra practice problems to help students succeed on his portion of the final. Once you do all of the practice, the problems are not that difficult, so don't be discouraged if you don't understand anything after his lectures. Also, utilize CLAS.

Professor Christoffersen has been my favorite professor here at UCSB! MCDB28 is a great class with no midterm or final exams. We do weekly quizzes and have two short essays that get peer-reviewed and revised. He is a really amazing guy, super sweet and funny! I took this class for fun since it doesn't go towards my major, and I am SOOO glad I did!!

Great professor, I really enjoyed this class, It was super easy homework-wise and also very interesting. He's a great guy and you can tell he enjoys teaching the subject. Take this class!

Honestly a nice enough professor with reasonable expectations and class policies. Not great, but not even near the worst class/professor I've had here. Pay attention, do the practice problems and it's pretty much a guaranteed B.