Catherine Potvin - McGill University, Montreal, QC

Professor: Catherine Potvin

Department: Biology

College: McGill University, Montreal, QC

Rating # 1

Overview:

• Course: BIO215
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

I LOVE POTVIN !

Rating # 2

Overview:

• Course: BIO215
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Passionate about her class which makes the material interesting - but she contradicts herself A LOT. She will tell you two things that literally don't make any sense together. If you want to do well ask for a lot of clarification. TEST WAS HARD. AND LOOOOOONG. Questions are not clear - and she's not nice about helping you on the exam. Beware.

Rating # 3

Overview:

• Course: BIO215
• Grade Received: B+
• Overall Rating: 4.5
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Overall a good prof. She obviously cares about her material, and ranks among the most helpful of McGill profs for francophone students, often repeating difficult concepts in French. Her material wasn't the easiest, but if you go over the slides and practice problems you can do well.

Rating # 4

Overview:

• Course: BIOL215
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

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

Comment:

Even tho the course content is very boring, prof Potvin is very dedicated and tries to transmit her passion for ecology. Exam questions are fair and the material is easy to understand. Her grasp of english is okay, no one is perfect. Cares about her students: gives an additional translation of important concepts in French (for francophone students)

Rating # 5

Overview:

• Course: BIO553
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.5
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Prof. Potvin goes out of her way to create a positive learning environment for her students. She is engaging and insightful and combines theoretical knowledge with practical skills in her course.

Rating # 6

Overview:

• Course: BIOL553
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.5
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

She is an amazing teacher and extremely passionate about her work. You must be rigorous, but she engages fully in the material. ALSO she is great at leading field trips.

Rating # 7

Overview:

• Course: BIOL215
• 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:

She confused the students a little at the beginning with some concepts, but just check the textbook or ask a TA and you'll be fine. She really loves the material she is teaching and she tries to transmit her passion to students. Good overall teacher.

Rating # 8

Overview:

• Course: BIOL215
• 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:

Very charismatic, very passionate person.

Rating # 9

Overview:

• Course: FRENC101
• 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:

She is cool, stop with the hate.

Rating # 10

Overview:

• Course: BIOL215
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.5
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

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

Comment:

She's not a bad or boring prof, but she isn't particularly engaging either. She definitely shows a passion for her field though. Also, her material is really easy to understand.

Rating # 11

Overview:

• Course: BIOL215
• 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:

Relatively easy to follow lectures, and her exams aren't too hard. You don't have to memorize every detail, just understand the concepts, which is nice. She isn't very clear on the math she presents, but it's not that complicated anyway. People who complain about her French accent are just being jerks. There is no problem at all understanding her.

Rating # 12

Overview:

• Course: BIOL215
• 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:

Prof. Potvin is easily the worst professor i had in first semester U1. Hey grasp of the English language is very weak, and although she is genuinely interested in her topic, her skills are lacking. She often uses words that are not synonyms interchangably, and her grasp of mathematics is weak.

Rating # 13

Overview:

• Course: BIO456
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

Catherine may be intimidating at first, but she is a wonderful professor who cares deeply about the subjects she teaches. She has enormous amounts of energy and so much to contribute. McGill is fortunate to have her.

Rating # 14

Overview:

• Course: BIO215
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

really bad... abouheif is the best for this course, avoid her...

Rating # 15

Overview:

• Course: BIOL215
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.5
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

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

Comment:

good prof, easy exam questions. easily the best prof you'll have in 215.

Rating # 16

Overview:

• Course: BIOL215
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.5
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

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

Comment:

A nice, dedicated and organized professor, easily had the best lecture slides of the three. Zoned out constantly during her lectures and her grasp of english can be lacking at times.

Rating # 17

Overview:

• Course: BIOL215
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

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

Comment:

Structures her lectures well, gives review at the end and gives helpful questions at the end to guid the students. She has a good feel for the students, she knows to slow down when people have puzzled looks on their faces. Great person, very friendly and helpful.

Rating # 18

Overview:

• Course: BIOL215
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.5
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

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

Comment:

She truly is passionnate about tropical ecology and integrating her personal research experience into lectures is a plus. One problem, though, she insists and translating most terms to French, and that's fine, except she occasionnally busts out a vital French sentence without an English translation.

Rating # 19

Overview:

• Course: BIOL215
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

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

Comment:

Not bad, better then the other 2, easy questions on the exam

Rating # 20

Overview:

• Course: BIOL215
• Grade Received: B
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

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

Comment:

she's so condescending!