Chris Armour - University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA

Professor: Chris Armour

Department: Science

College: University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA

Rating # 1

Overview:

• Course: BIPN100
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

My favorite biology class taken at UCSD. He really knows what he's talking about and gets you interested in the topics. He takes more of a medicine spin on physiology and even if you're not interested in medicine it provides a wonderful angle on things. The class is a significant amount of work but I learned so much that's been useful in everything

Rating # 2

Overview:

• Course: BIPN105
• Grade Received: A-
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

Dr. Amour is the best professor I ever had at UCSD in 4 years there. He is passionate about the material, insanely knowledgable, and really cares about forming relationships with his students and helping them understand physiology. I don't have enough good things to say about him. BIPN 105 is a lot of work, but it's also interesting and rewarding.

Rating # 3

Overview:

• Course: BIPN105
• Grade Received: C
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

The effort and time you put into this class will not get you the grade you deserve. No podcasts. No lecture slides. Lectures may or may not help you on the lab reports. Lab reports are graded extremely harshly. Not everything's explained in lecture, so if the research you do yourself isn't the answer he was looking for you'll get marked down.

Rating # 4

Overview:

• Course: BIPN100
• Grade Received: B-
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

HAVE to go to lecture and take notes, does not podcast but the lecture goes pretty fast so use your phone to record the lecture and go back to fill in the gaps. Starts and end the lecture on time-- fills the whole lecture, normally don't let out early. Exams are pretty hard and often test on details not emphasized during lecture

Rating # 5

Overview:

• Course: BIPN105
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Take hand written notes during class and record every single lecture on your phone. Following lecture, re-listen to your recording and add to your notes. All the physiology for lab reports comes from lectures, so use your notebook when writing discussions. Lab reports 60%, final 40% (KNOW ALL DETAILS FROM LECTURE, LABS, AND PROBLEM SET).

Rating # 6

Overview:

• Course: BIPN105
• Grade Received: Not sure yet
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

One of the hardest classes you'll take at UCSD. John is a great TA. Probably 90% of the reason I got an A in BIPN 100, and probably just as big of a factor in my survival of this class. The failure who complained about John probably barely passed BIPN 100 since a lot of the concepts are from that class. Attend and record all the lectures.

Rating # 7

Overview:

• Course: BIPN105
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

This is the hardest class you will take in undergrad. Expect sequential all nighters, and tons of critical thinking! If you are a typical UCSD memorizing drone, avoid this class. You learn a ton, Chris is an outstanding professor, and John is an AMAZING TA. Whoever wrote that comment about him is obviously mad that laziness doesn't reward A's.

Rating # 8

Overview:

• Course: BIPN105
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Dr. Armour knows his stuff. Definitely take John's lab!!! He is a beast when it comes to physiology. He may be tough but that's what a curve is for! Just pay attention to detail. Like make sure if you say "too much," you don't accidentally spell it like "to."

Rating # 9

Overview:

• Course: BIPN105
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

Dr. Armour knows knows his stuff. Don't take John's Lab!!! Doesn't know much physiology. Average or below average TA and grades at his average knowledge, which can cost you a lot of points if you give to much detail.

Rating # 10

Overview:

• Course: BIPN100
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

This was by far my favorite class and professor. You absolutely need to attend lecture and sections but if you commit to studying the lecture notes, section notes, and problem sets, this class becomes 20x easier. I got an A and still managed to take another class. He is crystal clear and also gives real-life applications.

Rating # 11

Overview:

• Course: BIPN105
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

This class was honestly the hardest class I've ever taken... but SO WORTH IT! I learned so much and seriously developed my critical thinking skills.. almost wish I'd taken it before the MCAT. He works as hard as his students so they respect him! Only writes letters of rec for people who get an A+ though so work hard

Rating # 12

Overview:

• Course: BIPN100
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Armour only teaches this during SSI; it's a lot of info to cram into only 5 weeks, but it's definitely doable. Attend every lecture, take meticulous notes by hand, constantly review them, attend discussions, and you're set. Textbook isn't needed, he tells you everything you need in lecture. Tests are extremely fair. He's a great professor!

Rating # 13

Overview:

• Course: BIPN100
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Armour by far has been my favorite biology professor. I took his class during the summer session so it was lots of information crammed into such a small period of time but he went through it very gracefully. He is very clear on what he expects you to know. Take down ALL HIS NOTES and be sure to review constantly. Overall, his class was great!

Rating # 14

Overview:

• Course: BISP105
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

Oh boy, where do we begin? This class is widely seen as a rite-of-passage for UCSD pre-meds with prospects of medical school. Your ability to cope with the prodigious amount of work being thrown at you will be put to the test incessantly. Don't even dream of skipping a single lecture, review session or section in this course.

Rating # 15

Overview:

• Course: BIPN105
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

Reading back from 2014, in 4th year of med school, on this course I took in 2007 and reading my lab reports for this course, I can't believe I learned so much stuff.

Rating # 16

Overview:

• Course: BIPN100
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.5
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

He definitely knows his stuff! TOP NOTCH BIO PROFESSOR! Since its summer sess, he goes through it really fast. He only lectures on what you will be tested on, and he lets you know if he's talking about something that you won't be tested on. The material is very intensive, YOU MUST PUT IN THE TIME TO EARN YOUR GRADE.

Rating # 17

Overview:

• Course: BIPN105
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

BIPN 105 is def time consuming. You need to go to all the lectures and labs if you wanna do well. That being said, Professor Armour is extremely helpful, funny, and makes taking this hard class very enjoyable. He's extremely friendly, knows his stuff, and is very willing to help his students in any way. The final is KILLER. so make sure you STUDY

Rating # 18

Overview:

• Course: BIPN105
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

Chris is one of the best professors at UCSD, hands down. He's friendly, caring, and a great instructor. The only thing is that his class is one of the hardest classes I have ever taken.

Rating # 19

Overview:

• Course: BIPN100
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

He's probably one of the coolest professor i'll encounter in UCSD bio dept. I practically went to all his office hours, I regularly attended 2 sections run by 2 different TAs and their office hours (I had no life that summer) but it was really fun and interesting! Dr. Armour definitely makes you earn your grade but it's totally worth the horror.

Rating # 20

Overview:

• Course: BIPN100
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.5
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

Also took him during the summer and so glad I did. He knows his stuff and he tries his best to help us too. Since the materials condensed, it takes a lot of stamina to stay focused during lecture. DO NOT take another rigorous class @ the same time. Do ALL the problem sets/tests beforehand and if you don't understand why you're wrong, ask armour.