BIOL 3010

As many others have said, this is the hardest bio class I have taken. For me, the material was no harder than any other bio class, and arguably there is less of it in genetics than a class like cell. However, Cronmiller gives an absolutely crushing workload - over 15 hours a week just to stay on top of the class and 3x that the weeks before tests. Brittany was a way better TA than Ariel and talked through the HW answers at her office hours which I didn't learn until the middle of the semester.... The tests don't seem that hard when you take them but they are very tricky. Cronmiller says you don't have to worry about the details, and that is true in that you don't have to really know details like names of obscure proteins that come up but you should know every small detail, tip and trick about functionality of things, because that is where she gets you on tests. Also, make sure you understand probability really well by going to office hours early. You can logic your way through it but there are a lot of tricks that would have been nice to know at the beginning of the semester rather than then end. On the 3 tests I averaged an 87 and on the final I got a 78. However my other homework and discussion grades were good so I managed to scrape out the A with about an 89. She doesn't tell you what the grade cutoffs are but based on my own experience I would guess about a 4% curve. I did progressively worse on the tests, mainly because I got sicker and sicker of the class as the semester went on, but I would say the first one was the easiest. Do not take this class with another time intensive science class if possible - the hours spent in the library suffering through reading, practice problems, and homework problems pretty much every day of the week is exhausting. That being said, it is doable and I think I learned some valuable information and problem solving abilities from the class even though I didn't technically need it for my major.

When choosing which semester to take this Biology core course, I do not recommend taking this class in conjunction with Physics and/or Orgo. The tests all fall in the same week every time. I didnt take those classes and I think that was huge factor in my enjoyment. I would recommend taking Microbiology with this course, as there is a lot of overlap.

This class just requires a lot of commitment. As long as you pay attention and keep up with the work you can do well. The only negative aspect of this class is the Head TA, Brittany Sutherland. As long as you do not ask any questions that she considers "stupid" then you are good. There were multiple times where I couldn't fully understand the concept we were learning in class, so I would ask questions. In response I would either get no answer or a good answer with a snarky response. When I mean snarky, I mean rude. It came to the point where I did not want to ask any more questions. If your genetics class does not have her as a TA then you are set and all you need to do is work hard. If you have her, I'm sorry; my only advice to you is to not talk to her or ask her any questions.
Make sure you stay on top of your readings.
It is also important to do all the assignments with the goal of learning and not with the mindset of getting everything done for the sake of it.
Cronmiller is also great! Its a shame its her last semester.

Difficult class, but this is the last semester Cronmiller is teaching. It's a necessity for pre-med, so good luck!

This was by far the worst class I've taken at UVA. The fact that Claire isn't teaching next semester is a gift from the Lord Almighty for all you lovely underclassmen.

Class was an absolute waste of time with Cronmiller just talking about her love Mendel and counting corn. Everything is self taught and the amount of work for this class is ridiculous for 4 credits. Everyone who put off taking gen should be so happy because cheers, she's leaving.

Coming from someone who got an A in Cronmiller: I took this class with two other extremely difficult classes, Organic Chem and Physics. When I started the semester, I had no idea what I was getting into, and despite doing well overall in the semester, I almost never had free time for anything and I was always stressed out. My advice is that you should not be taking any other hard classes when taking this class. Genetics is not a joke; it requires at least 5 hours of prep time outside of class per week, and a lot of that time should be dedicated to working practice problems, because I'm telling you, that is the ONLY way you will properly understand how CC's tests will be. She is an extremely tough grader, and she doesn't give partial credit, so you need to be able to know how to entirely work a problem front and back so you can get it correct on a test. While her lectures are fun to attend, she doesn't cover much in her lectures; you are going to have to read the textbook in order to be on your feet for every class. The best way to do well on a warmup quiz is to be able to skim over the readings and then take the quiz immediately so the information is still fresh in your head. The key to doing well on weekly homework assignments is to go to office hours, and get a study group! In that way, you'll not only complete the homework but be able to discuss any doubts you have so that you can be prepared for discussion activities and exams. While exams are totally worth only 54% of your grade, that doesn't mean you can take it lightly. The lack of partial credit can make your grade tank, and from experience, I can tell you that my test grades got progressively worse as the semester went along, and that was because not only did the tests get harder, they also progressively got more tiring, because my genetics exams were always the day before my orgo exams, and were in the same week as my physics exams. Don't do what I did! The final was very difficult, and I didn't do as well as I wanted, but there was a curve! Despite what CC says about not curving, she did curve! I got an 88.5 which was an A, so she curved roughly about 4%. Of course, this can vary among semester, due to the average and standard deviation, but if you put in the hard work, read the textbook, do the practice problems, and go to office hours, you should succeed! (Of course, sadly she's leaving, so I'm not sure about the other teachers).