BIOL 3010

Cronmiller is by far the best teacher of this class. Dr. Hirsh and Adler leave a lot to be desired. It's easy to fall alseep durin their lectures and they often seem less than enthusiastic about the material. Despite the fact that Cronmiller is the most enjoyable, she is also the hardest and her tests are a force to be reckoned with.

We had three profs for this class- which made every test a surprise. The test averages are SO low- an indicator that tests didn't always have relevant questions (the AVERAGE of the final was a 59). I spent a lot of time studying for each test, but often the info i studied wasn't even on the test. But I did manage to get an A.

tough class... you think you understand the material, but then you sit down to take the test and your first thought is WTF!?

She's kind of condescending and the material is quite difficult. I didn't enjoy this class very much. Only take if bio major/premed.

Claire teaches all of our genetics class. She is a bit condescending and insists that we are all "memorizing" and that we need to get to the top of her learning pyramid. Her tests can be difficult but as long as you do the suggested problems in the back of the book and truly understand them, you should do fine. It is important to learn to apply multiple concepts on her test problems because they are not always straight forward.

By far the best class I've ever taken at UVA in the bio dept. Claire is very enthusiastic and will go above and beyond to make the concepts clear. That being said, this is not an easy class. If you are looking for an easy A, don't take it- you will regret it later.
This class requires a lot of work but it is worth it. This was taught by Cronmiller only (instead of 3) so it was better. While her tests are hard, they are fair and do really measure your comprehension level. They are not multiple choice so you need to know it rather than recognize it.
The TA manisha was also very helpful.

oh and just a tip: don't wait till the night before the tests to do the textbook problems. You will fail. Miserably.

I wouldn't have taken this class if I weren't a biology major. And even so, I almost reconsidered my major because of it. I no longer like genetics, for Professor Cronmiller made it such a chore that it no longer appeals to me. Her lectures are generally good (not great) and I liked her powerpoints, but when asked to explain something during lecture, she would fail miserably. If you want clarification on a certain topic, go to office hours, she's much more helpful there. Discussion is pretty pointless except for the quizzes, so unfortunately, that makes attendance mandatory. It was an okay class, but could've been better/ worse.

this class was horrific. Cronmiller, despite being enthusiastic, has a tendency to talk down to the class, expecting us to know how to do problems which are neither outlined in the book nor covered in lecture. Her tests are logic based and free response, but there is hardly ever partial credit given so you cant afford to make little mistakes ever. Discussion is pretty useless, except for the days you only do problems from the book. Wouldn't recommend the class unless you have to for the bio major--it killed genetics for me.

This class was terrible. Cronmiller was condescending, the tests weren't fair, and it pretty much ruined genetics for me. Only take it if you have to and hope that it goes back to the three teacher system.

Cronmiller replies really quick to emails, as long as you catch her when she's awake (she's still awake sometimes at 11 pm).

The class is manageable if you pace it well. Do the recommended problems every week, and every time you it a hiccup, simply shoot her an email.

Secret to getting a 95/95 on each of the tests, which is basically in the same format as the problem sets.