BIOL 3030

If you can, TAKE THIS CLASS WITH DEPPMANN!! This was the last class I had to take to finish my biology major and pre-health requirements and it's the most fair, appropriately paced, and enjoyable upper-level STEM class I have taken at UVA. Deppmann listened to us and was willing to help us more than any teacher i've met in any department. And as pre-health students know, that's especially rare to find someone so accommodating in the biology department. Yay Deppmann!

Professor Deppmann is the best!! The reviews for this class were so horrible so I was scared to take it, but he made the information much easier to understand and learn effectively. I am so glad I took biochem with him and if you can you should too. The grade breakdown was 5% HW, 10% adaptive quizzes, and 85% exams (4 of them, 1 dropped). Most people in the class got As or A-s, which is unheard of in a high level biology class. This class is definitely not easy, but it is much more pleasant with a competent professor. GOAT Deppmann for sure

Based on what I have heard from friends who took biochemistry with other instructors, I would definitely recommend taking it with Deppmann if you can. He is kind and cares about his students, as well as silly which always makes class more interesting.

Grades were made up of 4 exams (5 total, one drop), 2-3 homework assignments due each Sunday (with 2 drops), and weekly adaptive quizzes (1 drop). For the homework and quizzes, your accuracy on quizzes/number of question attempts on homework does not affect your grade as long as you complete the assignment. The exams were all multiple choice, in person, on a scantron and paper, and were pretty manageable if you studied your material and prepared. There was also extra credit offered at every discussion section (once a week, 2 hours) and each point would give you an extra +1% point on the following exam.

Deppmann was always very understanding and would take the class' opinions into account when making decisions about the course. He reworked the days we learned chapters to give us off on the Tuesday before Thanksgiving and also listened to our input and changed the final exam from cumulative to non-cumulative. I would recommend taking this class with him. It is definitely very doable, but will take some work to do well. #tCFF23

Take this class with Deppmann! He is very understanding and cares about his students. This class is much more relaxed than the other two biochem classes you could take, and his exams are very straightforward (never trying to trick you). You get an exam drop too which is really nice!

#tCFF23

This was probably the simplest and most pleasant biology class I've ever taken at UVA and Professor Deppmann is a wonderful professor. He was always super understanding and helpful. He is also very humble and was always willing to admit when a question on an exam was unfair. Professor Deppmann's exams were not too bad and he was always available via Piazza and OH for questions. The discussion section was optional but typically offered extra credit for exams but I didn't always find it super helpful but they are working out some new ways to make it more engaging so I would give it a chance.
Grade breakdown was 85% of 5 exams (one drop including final) and 15% of homework and online quizzes (all participation-based). This class is super doable because each exam has about 6 lectures worth of material and with enough studying an A is possible. Would definitely recommend this class for pre-meds looking for a lighter course load biochem class.
#tCFFall23

This is a very difficult course. This was the first time Professor Deppmann had taught this course, but he did so very well I thought. I think overall the content is very hard to deliver, so it is on the student to work through and understand it for exams. The textbook was VERY USEFUL so is a necessary read, with lecture supplementing the textbook. The professor tried to make the content interesting, often incorporating jokes and entertainment (with breaks!) throughout lecture. Overall this class is a necessary evil, but the professor makes it at least somewhat manageable.

Deppmann is awesome. He's knowledgable, and he really cares about his students. This class has the fundamental components of a typical biology class, but he does tons of fun activities during lecture so that it's less monotonous. He offers a lot of extra credit for every exam during the discussion section (which are also really hands on and involved). On that note, his exams are incredibly fair. If you study, you will for sure do well on the exam (not something I can say for all biology classes at UVA). This professor is determined to make you succeed. I would recommend either doing the textbook reading or focusing on lecture. His lectures follow the textbook almost to a tee, so I chose to focus on lecture and occasionally reading to supplement anything I didn't understand. There are weekly homework assignments and quizzes, but they're all completion so do them. If you work hard, you will end up with a good grade.

Prof Deppmann is the best - he truly cares about his students and made the lectures engaging and related to things we could understand. He is such a fun professor. The tests were not bad at all - the average was 87 and there were 5 exams but only 4 counted for 85% of ur grade - the rest of 15% is based on completion of hws and quizzes (can u get 1 drop)if u forget. Extra credit opportunities were offered for each exam (with 2-3 maximum) and rounding up grade if 0.5. He goes kind of fast in lecture so would recommend reading chapters beforehand and taking notes and have lecture notes add anything u missed.

Deppmann’s a really sweet professor and he’s always telling jokes and stories. He realllly likes using chatgbt and AI for things and it’s kind of hard to prepare for his exam as he says “everything is fair game” and will literally put a question on a topic that was on one slide or page of the textbook! He even said he was making the course harder compared to previous years so good luck!

Grade breakdown: homework - 5% | quizzes - 10% | exams (5, all multiple choice, can drop one) - 85%

The homework and quizzes were basically completion grades and he gives out extra credit (by %, not points) for each exam by going to discussions and signing up for a bonus assignment. We were also given a few drop opportunities for homework and quizzes. Lectures were not recorded and basically are laid out the same as the textbook, but I think the textbook was better to get an understanding of what we were learning. Just going to lecture and taking notes may not be enough to get a good grade out of this class as he breezes through the slides. The exam was a mix of memorization and application questions, and definitely memorize the general chemical structure of things because he’s willing to put those on exams too. I found his exams much more straightforward than most other bio classes I've taken.

Deppmann is a genuine professor who isn’t trying to fail anyone and really does try his best to be accommodating and understanding when things go wrong. Overall, I would say this class was one of the easier bio classes you could take at UVA (compared to something like cell bio), so I would recommend it as an elective! #tCFF24

Deppmann, the man that you are. Deppman is the most amazing professor I have ever met in my time at UVA. He is wonderful, funny, passionate, caring, open to critique, literally anything you could ever want. He is such a breath of fresh air in the biology department, really puts pre-meds (and anybody else) at ease during this challenging journey. LOVE THIS GUY

Facts about the class
- 25 (?) Homework
- Adaptive Quizzes
- 5 exams (not cumulaive) 45 MCQ
- one exam drop
- extra credit
- piazza heavy course
- "optional" discussion
- one HW and one adaptive quiz drop
- no recorded lecture
- textbook (used a lot)

Diving deeper...
EXAMS:
- direct, to the point
- material is straight from textbook
- he's not trying to trick you
- conducted during 2 hour discussion section
- flashcards are the way to go for studying (TAs provided quizlets they made when they were students, helped a lot)
- draw out all pathways (glycolysis, CAC, Calvin, etc)
- don't waste your time studying the homework (it's way past the scope of the test)

HOMEWORK:
- honestLy BS, I didn't learn much from it
- very difficult
- you need to get one question right to get full credit on the homework (graded on completion)
- just do it, you get points, helps your grade

ADAPTIVE QUIZ:
- again... BS
- completion, just finish the thing, get points, be happy

LECTURE:
- no recorded lectures, although you can record on your phone
- lecture style is a bit confusing, but he's entertaining, so still GO
- opportunity for in lecture extra credit

DISCUSSION:
- GO GO GO
- every discussion section you get the opportunity to sign up for extra credit (1% to your exam grade)
- avg of 2 discussion sections before an exam, so opportunity to get 2% EC
- if you "win" the EC category, you get another point (so max of 3% EC each exam)
- can't do EC if you don't go discussion
- TAs review material in discussion and make it very engaging & entertaining (if you answer questions, they give you candy)
- helpful to go simplify material and learn!!!

Dr. Deppmann and the teaching team were wonderful, amazing humans. I wish nothing but the best. EVERYONE should take his class. Honestly one of the best experiences I've had at UVA.