BIOL 3240

If there's one class I'd recommend people to take as a premed, it'd be this class. Kittlesen is an amazing professor who is extremely knowledgeable and passionate about immunology. The class is lecture-based and the only work he assigns are chapters in the textbook to read before class, which are optional. I'd recommend reading them before class because it's very beneficial in lectures since you have a vague understanding of what is being discussed. His exams are open-note but they certainly are not easy. They require you to apply your knowledge and synthesize information from different topics, so you won't be able to get away with memorizing information. He also tests on experiments that he discusses in lecture, so be sure you fully understand those. I got an A in this class, and the most important tool in my success was the lecture recordings! I found it super helpful to relisten to all of the lectures prior to an exam while going through the slides, making sure I emphasized being able to answer all of his learning objectives (he makes the test questions from the learning objectives). Overall, this is an extremely interesting class and if you put in the effort, you will certainly be able to succeed. #tCFS24

If you genuinely love Biology and have the space in your schedule to fit a fairly intense class, I would 100% recommend Immunology with Prof. Kittlesen. You really do come out of this course enlightened about this field, which is not really something I experienced in other Biology courses here. That being said, this class is not easy, but Kittlesen absolutely sets you up for success.

Exams make up 100% of your grade, and there are 5 of them (Lowest score is worth 15%, and the others are 21.25%). They are open-note, online, and mostly multiple choice/select all. I thought his exams were fair and of moderate difficulty, and he also scales the scores to a slight curve depending on overall performance of the class. The curved averages for the exams were in the 80s, so the exams are not insanely difficult, but you still need to know your stuff. He bases his questions off of the essential questions on each slide deck, so my primary goal before each exam was to make sure I could answer those confidently. He also audio records the lectures, so rewatching them are also crucial for exam prep as he only asks questions on content covered in the lectures. He hosts a Q&A during the lecture session right before each exam, which is super helpful to attend because he clarifies what you can expect on the exam.

As for Kittlesen, he is wonderful! He's kinda quirky but also incredibly knowledgable about Immunology since that's what he specializes in. He's a very entertaining lecturer and presents information very clearly, so try to attend lectures as much as possible. Highly recommend going to his office hours as well - he loves hearing and answering questions!

Overall, amazing class, amazing professor, and you will learn a lot. Just make sure you don't take it with a bunch of other demanding classes!