BIOL 4050

Just...don't take the class. That is all. There are plenty of other BIOL classes that you can take. I would avoid this one as much as possible.

I don't know what any of the people below me are talking about when they say Grainger is a "good" lecturer. He is TERRIBLE. Rushes through the material, dumps assignments/papers to read the day before the test for you to know for the test, and then in his lectures he focuses way too long on one thing and then when he realizes he doesn't have enough time to do the same for everything else in the chapter, he throws random facts around that never end up being on the test, but you have to know anyways because you don't know what he's going to ask on the test. The tests were RIDICULOUS. He expects a tremendous amount of detail on 5-6 essay questions in an hour and fifteen minutes, so unless you know everything off the top of your head then you're screwed, and even if you do know everything, you will be writing the ENTIRE TIME. There is zero time to collect your thoughts or think about what you want to say. All you do is essentially vomit all of the information you know about the question/topic. His lectures were extremely disorganized; often times he would be unprepared for class, flip through the pages of the book for "important" information, and then read it straight out of the book, calling it a "lecture". The only time he seemed like he was somewhat organized was when he was talking about his own research, which was interesting in its own right, but I didn't sign up for a class about frog eye development. If this is the only upper level biology class that you have to take, then this class may be ok, but if you have other upper level bio classes then STAY AWAY FROM THIS CLASS. The final is "somewhat cumulative" yet he doesn't tell you what to know for it, but he still expects you to answer questions in just as much detail, on top of the other 6 chapters of new material (that's how it was for this semester, I don't know about past years). BY ALL MEANS DO NOT TAKE THIS CLASS!!

One of the best bio classes I've taken at UVA. Definitely not an easy course by any means- lots of material, and tests are very difficult (essay questions that leave you scrambling to finish). However, the subject material is really interesting, and Prof. Grainger is a great teacher. Is very willing to work with you, but kind of hard to get a hold of... Great class overall if you are willing to put in the effort.

Grainger is very inaccessible, and the class itself is very difficult.

Definitely challenging!!! part of the course were really interesting to me, particularly medical applications of developmental biology. There's TONS of material to memorize, even though the tests don't touch on but ~10% of it. Regardless, you have to know it all because you don't know what you'll be asked on the tests. Dr. Grainger was very helpful after class and at review sessions, but don't let the large portion of "A's" in the class lead you to believe the class is easy. Be prepared to put in some time memorizing the minutia of life!

This was one of the better biology courses I've at taken at UVA. Professor Grainger is super smart, an engaging lecturer, and doesn't talk down to you. Don't take this class if you are bad at essay tests, though, because you have to write a lot quickly on each test in order to do well.

Professor Grainger is an interesting lecturer and really knows his stuff. The tests are very detailed and its important to go to lecture every class and take good notes, as he often expects you to know information that isn't in the book for the exams.

Information is interesting but the teacher is not very engaging. Also he is often out of town and the sub, while nice turns the class into a snore fest instead of presenting the information in a way that keeps you interested.

A very difficult, detail-oriented course. The tests are very writing-intensive. Grainger clearly knows the material very well, but moves a bit too quickly in the lectures. If you don't ask questions at the review sessions or his office hours to clarify, you might not know the concepts well enough for the tests.

This class is interesting, but insanely hard. The final is cumulative and is worth half your grade. Grainger is not the best lecturer; sometimes hard to follow and goes very fast.