I really enjoyed this course! Professor Manson is very knowledgeable and enthusiastic about teaching evolutionary biology. Keep in mind that my perspective may be different from some as I love studying evolutionary biology, but the course is definitely doable even if that is not your background. Make sure to attend the lectures and do the PollEv questions for participation. For the exams, I found it helpful to review the lecture slides, objectives, PollEv questions, and homework questions. She will also post a practice/previous exam for you to study as well. All in all, I really enjoyed this class and it is definitely doable in my opinion.

This is honestly a really fun class and a breath of fresh air after BIOL 2100. Loved Manson and found her lectures engaging.

Class structure:
- Four midterms with one drop and a cumulative final
- A pretty straightforward lab (which never took the full 3 hours)
- Lecture three times a week
- Textbook readings before each class and homework after each class (which I actually found pretty helpful)
- A ton of extra credit opportunities

Tips for this class / how I ended with an A+:
- Flashcards: I did my flashcards everyday. I don't have the best memory and recognized that I would not be able to remember the concepts for an exam if I had only studied a week. I made the flashcards (Quizlet/Knowt/Anki) as I read the textbook, and then did them for around 15-20 mins most days. (Another benefit of this method is that you don't have to spend a lot of time studying before exams because you already have the material memorized)
- Whiteboard method: Use a white board to draw out phylogenies (plant/animal) without looking at you notes. Once done, open your notes, see what you forgot, close your notes, think about it for a few mins, then add it from memory to the white board.
- Going through the learning objectives with friends, taking turns explaining them to each other.
- Going to P2L--so useful for synthesizing the previous week's lectures.
- Go to office hours (seriously so helpful) and rewatching Professor Manson's lectures on tricky topics.
- Using additional resources (amoeba sisters and professor dave explains on YouTube, and Khan Academy).

Learn what works best for you and you'll do great in this course!!

This course was much easier than BIOL 2100. For reference, I ended that course with a B and this one with an A+ (100.93%). The extra credit does help out quite a bit of course, with it taking the form of homework ec or extra points added to exams. Lab is easy and is the kind of stuff you'd do in HS.
I personally never actually read the textbook and found that memorizing the lecture slides/notes and using active recall was enough to do well on the exams. That way, you can effectively rule out certain answer choices since she likes to be tricky with her wording.

Dr Manson is a knowledgable professor who knows what she is talking about during lectures and on the topic. As someone who ended this class with an A or A+... the grades have not finalized yet. I do find this class a lot easier than BIO 2100 which I ended with a B.

For this class, the homework were a waste of time but I did them for homework credits. I think the homework could be useful before lectures because if you have not read the assigned textbook chapters before class, you can be lost during lectures as she builds off the textbook chapters we read off of.

The lab was easy and the TA I had was super sweet. I did not worry about lab as much but it can also depend on your TA is what I heard.

As for the midterms, I would say they are difficult as the wording is similar to the wording on the BIO 2100 exams. So when you are taking the midterms, read each question carefully and do process of elimination. What I would do during midterms is write an explanation to why my answer was right compared to the other answer choices. It is easier to find the answer if you could justify your answer. Dr. Manson also provides a lot of extra credits for homework, lab, and the midterms/final. There are 4 midterms but she allows you to drop your lowest midterm score so she takes 3/4 of the highest midterm. The final is not optional and it is cumulative. In my opinion, the final was very easy compared to her midterms which were specific. The final had 45 questions and the material was surface level so I did not study in depth. She also gave you 3 hours to finish the final but if you understand the material broadly, you should be able to leave early before the 3 hour mark.

Moreover, what I did to study for the exams was watching her lectures recordings before the exams and taking in depth notes about them. She likes to explain things in depth that are not covered in the slides. I also would make concept maps and connect how things are related to one another. I did venn diagrams later in the semester to compare animals. Make sure you draw and understand how to do a phylogenetic tree in the beginning because she has these trees on every midterm and on the final as well. I did go to her office hours and ask questions that I had or sometimes just sit there to listen to other people's questions just to take notes. P2L was not as helpful to me because there was not an actual structure whenever I went but it can work for others. Lastly, I would always study at least 4-5 days in advance before the exams because the material can be a lot to grasp so its better to study ahead of time.

I took this class after taking Biol 2100, which was my benchmark for UVA bio. I think that 2200 is easier overall, but not because the class and content itself are inherently easier. Manson for the Spring 2026 semester built in so much extra credit into the class that I had over a 100% going into the final.

My negatives: I found her exams to be tricky and frustrating at times. They can be nitpicky. With that being said, I did manage to do well on her exams because I would study at least a week in advance. Another thing I will say is that she reiterates many times in class that this is not a memorization course. This is FALSE. You have to put in an absurd amount of memorization, as she expects you to know phylogenetic trees like the back of your hand.

My positives: Professor Manson is seriously just so so nice. You can tell how much she loves teaching and truly wants to be a resource for you during the class. I felt so comfortable in lecture and in office hours. She will answer all of your questions. I got the flu the first week of classes and missed lab, and she was very understanding of that as well. Additionally, Manson is VERY passionate about the material. I do not think anyone is more passionate about evolution than she is. It makes her lectures way more fun.

Overall: You can 100000 percent get an A in this class if you are willing to put in the work. Manson wants to help you, is there for you, and is so so supportive. The class itself can be dull at times, but Manson's enthusiasm makes up for it. For anyone nervous about this class, you can TOTALLY do it.

Where do I begin? This class is nothing like I expected if I'm being real. I'm not a bio major, and I expected an intro class to be pretty straightforward, and in regard to the lectures, it was. You can tell she is very knowledgeable about the topics she teaches, but she tends to fly through the complicated things and spend ages on the simple topics. Now, let's take a trip into the exams. Let me first say, DO NOT waste your time reading the textbook, it is a COMPLETE waste and she never pulls anything from it for the exams. The exams... 4 midterms and one cumulative final, are all lecture-heavy. So make sure you have insanely detailed notes and write everything down that she says that is not on the slides. I swear she writes the exams to try to trip you up, you would think you were having flashbacks to the SAT reading section. While you're able to decipher what topic she's pulling from for the majority of the questions, its all about applying the very basic knowledge you have to a complex concept. She does give you a few simple questions, but everything else is meant to really trip you up. All I can say is study hard and good luck.

I really enjoyed this class (I say that not even having done well in it until the end, as in I had a C- until exam 3). Dr. Manson is a great professor, she keeps class engaging and fun. I enjoyed all the units, and it even gets better as it goes. It's very manageable to get a good grade in this class if you go to each lecture, do the SmartBook's and HW's, participate in lab, and start studying several days in advance of exams. I effectively studied for this class by reviewing the slides and then teaching an invisible class in a room with a whiteboard (you can teach in your head if there are others around, or teach it to an actual person, if they are not in BIO 2200 even better). When using the whiteboard connect concepts to other related concepts (I think everything in the class will connect to at least one other concept in the class, it's bio so everything connects somehow). Other active studying strategies are great too, but pure memorization is not ever going to be your friend in bio or pre-med. You need to keep learning fun for yourself and active.

I loveddd this class!! Definitely my favorite this sem. I took bio 2100 last semester and found bio 2200 to be so much easier. that said, i still studied a week before exams! I haven’t taken the final yet, but I've gotten low 90s on all of midterms by writing out all the learning objectives and everything i know about each one. then, i copy and paste the lecture into AI (usually claude) and tell it to make me exam style practice questions. this class is definitely doable and fun!! Lab + related assignments are pretty straightforward but can be a bit of a pain depending on how strictly your TA grades. We usually get out early tho. #tCFspring2026

Dr. Manson is very knowledgable and accommodating. If you ever had an issue with anything, she was always available and able to work with students to fix any problems. I ended the course with an A+ and I do believe that ending with an A is very doable. Her exams may seem difficult but if you pay close attention to lecture and wording, you will be fine. She records her lectures and I highly recommend rewatching them for any confusing concepts. There were times where I feel I had to do my own research to fully understand a concept as lecture did not explain it in enough depth, but she never tests outside of the material she provides. She has homework and reading grades which help to "buff" out your grade and are very easy to do. Lab is only once a week but it is hit or miss depending on your TA. The workload for lab is very simple (we never had to stay until full time), it just depends how strict your TA is when it comes to grading. The class is not much work besides exams, however, it is important to study in advance and take good notes on the things she says in lecture.

Manson is a super sweet professor and is so willing to help her students. That being said, I found this class very hard. I got an A but spent countless hours studying and still didn't perform as well on most of the exams as I wanted to. I also hadn't taken 2100 before it so I can't compare the two. The strategy that started to work for me was to rewatch lectures the day of and take notes on literally everything that she says. Most people I knew in the class would rewatch all the lectures the week before the exam, but I think by doing it the day after you really drill the concepts into your mind and you won't fall behind. Then start dedicated studying the weekend before the exam (exams are on Fridays). I would make a quizlet and study that and also draw out phylogenies once you get to that point in the unit. Phylogenies will always be on an exam so it's really good practice for them. She also gives practice exams both through the online textbook and she writes her own with about 20 practice questions. Don't do these questions until you feel very prepared for the exam so that you can get the most out of it. I've heard her office hours are very helpful but I was never able to go because they were all during my class time. If you don't want to you really don't need to do the HW in my opinion. By that I mean you can just look up answers if you want to, you still have to do them for credit. Everything on the tests comes straight from lecture and there will be things in the textbook that you absolutely do not need to know. The textbook can be really helpful if you're struggling with a concept and need to reinforce it with more material/figures though. The final was 10x easier than all of the other midterms and it really only talks about surface level material. Most people finished in under an hour. Overall she's an awesome lecturer and I don't think she's out to get you with the exams, but they are challenging. Just make sure to do all the textbook HW and check all your work with TAs in lab so that you leave yourself with as much as a buffer for exam grades as possible. She offers a few different opportunities for extra credit too which is great.