Lynda McCarthy - Ryerson University, Toronto, ON

Professor: Lynda McCarthy

Department: Biology

College: Ryerson University, Toronto, ON

Rating # 1

Overview:

• Course: BLG143
• Grade Received: B+
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: No
• Attendance: Mandatory

Comment:

Midterm/final extremely difficult for 1st-year course, 30/100 are dedicated to Short Ans which will not be explicitly told. Short answers require you to know ALL specific structures/cycles taught in class (drawn in DETAIL). Bio is already content heavy, 5 pages of SA is ridiculous (coming from 2nd year with a 3.7 GPA) exams are made by Mccarthy.

Rating # 2

Overview:

• Course: BLG143
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: No
• Would Take Again: No
• Attendance: Not Mandatory

Comment:

wait.... we didn't even need the textbook...

Rating # 3

Overview:

• Course: BLG143
• Grade Received: C+
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: Yes
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

I never liked attending morning Biology classes, so I ended up skipping classes & still ended up doing well. After Dr. Bostan's time from first half, came Dr. McCarthy and in fact, she is really good and displays passion on what she teaches. She even hints us on final exam. I must say that the final exam was quite easy. Pleasure to have her :)

Rating # 4

Overview:

• Course: BLG143
• Grade Received: A+
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: Yes
• Attendance: Not Mandatory

Comment:

extremely knowledgeable and passionate which made going to lectures enjoyable. you can easily pass just by reading the textbook, but throughout all of the lectures she would point out important info that'll show up on the final exam. final was fair but you have to understand material not just memorize.

Rating # 5

Overview:

• Course: BLG401
• Grade Received: A+
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: No
• Would Take Again: Yes
• Attendance: Mandatory

Comment:

Dr. McCarthy one of the most charismatic and expressive individuals I've met! Knowledgeable, passionate an amazing lecturer and educator. Ecotox is probably to this date the most important course I've taken. It has changed how I look at the environment and given me more insight than I've ever had before. Also, shout out to Racheal Carson!

Rating # 6

Overview:

• Course: BLG401
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: No
• Would Take Again: No
• Attendance: Mandatory

Comment:

Professor is knowledgable about ecotoxicology and will get you excited about this unique field of study. You've gotta study really hard- tests are entirely short answer essays worth 10-15, or 25-30 mks per Q. Tutorial attendance mandatory. Notes are printed for you and handed in class. Prof can sometimes exaggerate or make a big deal out of things.

Rating # 7

Overview:

• Course: ES8930
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: No
• Would Take Again: No
• Attendance: Mandatory

Comment:

Very rude and disrespectful of students and their work. Criticism - yes! Constructive criticism - rarely! Very opinionated and if you disagreed she was not pleasant. She knows her stuff but communication ability is debatable. I would never take a course with her again if I had the choice.

Rating # 8

Overview:

• Course: BLG401
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: No
• Would Take Again: No
• Attendance: Mandatory

Comment:

This course is pretty heavy. There's group presentations, 3 assignments (but fairly easy), a midterm and exam. Yes she tells you what's on the exam but when you gather it all together, you quickly realize it's the entire course with details. No textbook. Learning how to write with both hands on exam is an asset!! It's very long!

Rating # 9

Overview:

• Course: BLG401
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: No
• Would Take Again: Yes
• Attendance: Mandatory

Comment:

She's phenomenal. She cares more about learning and understanding what happened. She's super enthusiastic and I always looked forward to her lectures. She tells you exactly what she will want on the midterm and final--you just have to know it. She cares for you and isn't the type of professor that's "out there to get you."

Rating # 10

Overview:

• Course: BLG143
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: Yes
• Attendance: Mandatory

Comment:

Amazing prof! Explains things very well, very straight up about whats on the exams. I tend to skip classes but never with her, she is an amazing speaker!

Rating # 11

Overview:

• Course: BLG401
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: No
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: Mandatory

Comment:

GREAT professor! Extremely interesting and helpful. Kind of wish I didn't take the course though just because of all the work. Honestly 6 hours would be a lot more reasonable than 3 for completing the midterm and exam. She expects you to know EVERYTHING at the same ridiculous level as she does. Get ready to make 25+ pages of notes for her tests

Rating # 12

Overview:

• Course: BLG143
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

ONE OF MY ALL TIME FAVOURITE PROFESSORS. ABSOLUTELY HELPFUL AND GENUINE. YOU CAN ALWAYS COUNT ON HER TO CALM YOU DOWN. THE BEST PROF OUT THERE, BY FAR.

Rating # 13

Overview:

• Course: BLG143
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.5
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: No
• Would Take Again: Yes
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

Very animated and lectures are amazingly done! She is super approachable and willing to help you out. Tells you what to look for in the midterm which is so useful and nice. SO nice and passionate about what she is teaching.

Rating # 14

Overview:

• Course: BLG401
• Grade Received: A+
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: No
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: Mandatory

Comment:

Amazing! Extremely approachable and actually treats you like a human being and takes the time to get to know you. I honestly learned more in her class than I did throughout my entire undergrad. Made me look at bio from a completely different point of view. Down to earth and inspirational. Can talk to her about anything. We need more profs like her.

Rating # 15

Overview:

• Course: BLG143
• Grade Received: A-
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: Mandatory

Comment:

She is amazing. She made this the best course I've taken so far and I'm not even in biology, BLG 143 was just my elective. I would totally recommend her as a professor. Don't skip class, she gives so many hints to the tests. And everything she says is helpful and intelligent - or hilarious.

Rating # 16

Overview:

• Course: BLG143
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.5
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: Not Mandatory

Comment:

She drastically changed my view on biology. I used to hate bio because in high school it was primarily memorization. She made me love it. I have an amazing understanding of WHY biological process happen rather than only WHAT happens!

Rating # 17

Overview:

• Course: ES8911
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: No
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

I LOVE Dr. McCarthy. She's smart, funny and direct. Instead of making us read endlessly to decide what we thought was important, she presented just important information (a lot of it, it was ecotoxicology after all). The world needs more Dr. McCarthys.

Rating # 18

Overview:

• Course: BLG143
• Grade Received: A+
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: Mandatory

Comment:

I had her in the fall semester but I'm writing this now because I missed her so much in winter semester haha You can really tell that she's passionate about her field which is probably why she gets a round of applause at the end of all her lectures. She tells you key points to know for the exams which are very helpful so take notes. Amazing prof!

Rating # 19

Overview:

• Course: BLG143
• Grade Received: A+
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 1.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: Mandatory

Comment:

good

Rating # 20

Overview:

• Course: BLG143
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

shes a very good, and explains what you need to know