Carol Pollock - University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC

Professor: Carol Pollock

Department: Biology

College: University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC

Rating # 1

Overview:

• Course: BIOL121
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 1.0

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

Comment:

Pollock doesn't teach the material at all. You read before class and she asks a few questions in class. Lots of group work. You don't learn from her at all. Tests are fairly easy. The only reason to go to class is the 5% participation marks. As long as you read the textbook, you'll easily pass.... My advice is to get another prof for biol 121.

Rating # 2

Overview:

• Course: BIOL121
• Grade Received: C
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Lectures are pretty disorganized and useless. Classes are generally more of a flipped classroom setting. Learned all the content by myself (didn't help I skipped lots). Her class had one of the lower averages compared to other classes.

Rating # 3

Overview:

• Course: BIOL140
• Grade Received: A+
• Overall Rating: 2.5
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Friendly and sweet outside of class, yet terrifying in the classroom. Thankfully we mostly interacted with a TA. The grading was rough, and the course was a ridiculous amount of work for a 2-credit class. Would not take again.

Rating # 4

Overview:

• Course: BIOL121
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

She put the class through an experiment which was to see if doing questions in class would help us on the final as opposed to teaching the material. This meant you have to learn everything by yourself and at home. I personally did not enjoy this method as she hardly goes over the questions in class. She seems nice, but is unapproachable imo.

Rating # 5

Overview:

• Course: BIOL121
• Grade Received: A-
• Overall Rating: 3.5
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

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

Comment:

Dr. Pollock was a knowledgeable and straightforward lecturer, but what comes into question is her approachability and understanding of her students. I didn't mind learning from the textbook, and her exams were fair.

Rating # 6

Overview:

• Course: BIOL140
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

Marking for course was very picky. lots of rules to follow. Lost a lot of marks on assignments for the most trivial of things even though criteria was completely followed.

Rating # 7

Overview:

• Course: BIO121
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.5
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

She is very disorganized and it even cost me some marks for an online quiz that she said was due at a certain date, but really was not. I ended up not finishing the online quiz since the page timed out and could not longer access it. Her response was that I should have known the possibility of a mistake made on the due date posted online.

Rating # 8

Overview:

• Course: BIOL121
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.5
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Read your textbook!!! (thats the only way to survive her class) her lectures aren't helpful at all (the only reason to go to class is for the clicker questions) and she doesn't explain the concepts/just expects you to know them. Overall I wouldn't take her class

Rating # 9

Overview:

• Course: BIO121
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

She is not a good professor at all. She should not be teaching. She is not organized and her notes and lectures do not make sense. Sometimes, she doesn't even answer her own clicker question correctly. Switch out if you can.

Rating # 10

Overview:

• Course: BIOL121
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.5
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

She doesn't post her completed notes online so attendance is mandatory which is good but she doesn't even follow her own notes ( which are blank notes). Overall she is poorly organized. If you want to study for the exam you have to rely on your textbook alot.

Rating # 11

Overview:

• Course: BIOL342
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.5
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

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

Comment:

Very well organized course. She's really approachable and helpful. A lot of work to do, but no final exam. If you do badly in this course it's ur own fault - everything is laid out really clearly. There are even detailed marking rubrics for every assignment.

Rating # 12

Overview:

• Course: BIOL121
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.5
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Nice lady, but bad teacher. Her overhead notes are useless and incomprehensible. The genetics exam was brutal. Our section's midterm marks were well below the other Bio 121 classes due to a different (and more difficult) exam. Just read the textbook! Avoid this prof if you want a high GPA.

Rating # 13

Overview:

• Course: BIOL121
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

A lot of the comments pertain to the course itself, not the teacher. Based on my experience with Bio 121 I can say that you have to study from the textbook, her notes are not detailed enough for studying, but rather just understanding. Just make notes from the pre-reading pages and you should be good.

Rating # 14

Overview:

• Course: BIOL121
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 1.0

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

Comment:

Take her class if you can!

Rating # 15

Overview:

• Course: BIO121
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

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

Comment:

The group assignments will bring your mark down if you get a bad group. Her clicker questions and vista quizzes are very helpful. The "keywords" she uses in her notes are difficult to understand if you didn't read the text before class. She has a lot of difficulty with technology but I really enjoyed her class.

Rating # 16

Overview:

• Course: BIOL121
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.5
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Carol is one of the sweetest professors ever! She is EXTREMELY approachable and kind to all of her students. Even though her writing is on the messy side, she makes an effort to prepare interesting pre-class notes that make the class material less dry. Midterms and the final were definitely challenging. Learn the CONCEPTS and you'll be fine.

Rating # 17

Overview:

• Course: BIO121
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

DON'T just go to this class and copy down the "keywords" she writes! You have to listen to what she says and take your own notes. Anyone who says her exams are based on bs obviously just didn't pay enough attention in lecture. She's a good prof, even though she is really quiet and needs a mic.

Rating # 18

Overview:

• Course: BIOL121
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.5
• Course Difficulty: 1.0

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

Comment:

Not a hard prof, you dont even have to go to class to get a good grade....I went to class everyday for prior to the first midterm, got 60%....after that, I didnt go to class at all, score 90% on the 2nd midterm. This course tho by itself was just really simple, memorize and go.

Rating # 19

Overview:

• Course: BIO140
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

Ridiculous woman. For a 2-credit lab course she makes you jump through hoops. Very repetitive. Not to mention very intimidating and unapproachable.

Rating # 20

Overview:

• Course: BIO121
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Without a doubt, she has the WORST notes I have ever seen. And we are expected to study from her notes??! She never gives enough time to copy down her slides and her handwritten notes via a stylus is ridiculous. She doesn't use a mic, so its impossible to hear her. Her midterms were brutal and tested how well you can bs. Good bs = good grade.