Mandy Schivell - University of Washington, Seattle, WA

Professor: Mandy Schivell

Department: Biology

College: University of Washington, Seattle, WA

Rating # 1

Overview:

• Course: BIO200
• Grade Received: B+
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

This is absolutely the best class I've taken here! She cares a lot about students, and gives SO many opportunities for help (Friday lectures are office hours and you can ask her questions directly, it's awesome). I highly recommend taking a class with Dr. Schivell, she was so enthusiastic that I never wanted to miss class. Also, POGILS are helpful!

Rating # 2

Overview:

• Course: BIO200
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Very unclear with what she expects students to know and teaches material in a very surface-level way but the tests cover it on a deeper level with information we never discussed or read about. Didn't learn much from lecture and had to teach myself a lot from the text book, even though she claimed we wouldn't even need the textbook.

Rating # 3

Overview:

• Course: BIO200
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Love this class! Lectures are great. She gives really awesome test previews and a lot of practice problems that help a lot for the exams. Reading before lecture is really import if you actually want to understanding lecture.

Rating # 4

Overview:

• Course: BIOL240
• Grade Received: A-
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

BIOL 240 Intensive Introductory Biology: Human Health Emphasis It is 15 credits and all of intro biology in ONE 10 WEEK SUMMER QUARTER! It is not easy but doable. Schivell was one of three profs. Her lectures were clear and test questions were ok, she needs to work on making test questions clear about what she is asking which she self admits.

Rating # 5

Overview:

• Course: BIO401
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

I took this class to boost my grade however I was wrong. I ended the class with one of my worst grades ever. The reason is of the grading. If you have been getting A's on papers, homeworks, and tests in other class well you are wrong because the grader which is usually not her grades like no one I have ever experienced before.

Rating # 6

Overview:

• Course: BIO200
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Schivell explained concepts very well, but when tests came around, they were much more difficult than what was mentioned in lectures and in practice problems. I really recommend doing all practice problems and going to class everyday. Go to TA office hours with questions!

Rating # 7

Overview:

• Course: BIOL200
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

She's obviously really sweet and cares about her students, but her exams are pretty damn hard compared to the level of understanding she leads to you believe you need during lecture. She seriously underemphasizes memorization of topics (instead focusing on general understanding of processes) but you definitely need it for exams, so watch out!

Rating # 8

Overview:

• Course: BIO200
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

Amanda is the worse professor I've ever had. She is nice, but is a terrible professor. Her exams are not fair & are ridiculously hard. I learned a lot and invested to much time and effort, and despite all of it, I did terrible in the class (even though I did very well in Bio180). Bio200 is the worse grade I've had at UW & I'm a junior. Save ur GPA!

Rating # 9

Overview:

• Course: BIOL200
• Grade Received: B
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

This is such a weed out class, it's ridiculous. Schivell is actually an amazing teacher and you will learn tons, but that doesn't mean you will do well in the class. Tests cover ALL hypotheticals like mutations and such that are never covered in class. After a reasonable 1st quiz they purposely made all tests extremely hard to have less high scores

Rating # 10

Overview:

• Course: BIOL434
• Grade Received: A+
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

She is hands down the BEST PROFESSOR i've ever worked with at UW. I've taken many biology classes, and this class wasn't even in my field of interest per se, but WOW. she is SO compassionate, caring, funny, inspirational, just an amazing person and a teacher. She isn't just another professor. She will leave impact in your college career. TAKE HER!

Rating # 11

Overview:

• Course: BIOL200
• Grade Received: A+
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Despite getting a 3.8 in 180, I left knowing nothing. I dreaded 200, but to my surprise Dr. Schivell's lectures were really engaging and organized. She has very clear expectations for what you do and don't need to know for exams. There's a lot of reading, but that's true for all bio classes. Overall, I loved this class! I wish she taught 220 :/

Rating # 12

Overview:

• Course: BIO200
• Grade Received: A-
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Honestly one of the best professors I've ever had. She knows her stuff. She doesn't give you any more information than you'll need to know and she'll stop you if you're trying to understand something that's not necessary for the test. She's enthusiastic and was a large part of the success in that class

Rating # 13

Overview:

• Course: BIO200
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

I'm not sure why so many people dislike Dr. Mandy. I thought her class was awesome! The class definitely requires a decent amount of studying and reading but it's totally doable. I found her lectures to be very helpful (just a bit messy) and re-watching via Panopto is helpful when studying/reviewing. Dr. Many is also super smart and nice!

Rating # 14

Overview:

• Course: BIOL200
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

I should have waited next quarter to take this class with another professor. This class was very hard to keep up with especially because her notes are very messy and difficult to read. Also, her voice gets to be annoying after a while. However, she is very knowledgable about biology and is certainly passionate to teach it.

Rating # 15

Overview:

• Course: BIO200
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Dr. Schivell knows what she is doing. Her class is one of my favorite of the bio series because of how well she covers the topics. She also helps you prepare for the midterms and finals by releasing a "preview" of some of the material that will be on the test like pictures or graphs. Very good professor.

Rating # 16

Overview:

• Course: BIOL200
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

I loved taking this class with Mandy! She is a really clear lecturer and her classes were engaging. She wrote on her slides in class, which is slightly annoying because her handwriting is kind of messy, but it is easy to follow along. Clicker questions were really easy. Labs were really fun also.

Rating # 17

Overview:

• Course: BIO200
• Grade Received: C+
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Horrible lecturer. Super hard to follow and is boring on top of it. Went from a 3.6 in 180 to a 2.0 in 200 and then back up to a 3.5 in 220. MCD is even my major now and I feel like she did not set me up for success in my harder molecular/cellular classes.

Rating # 18

Overview:

• Course: BIOL466
• Grade Received: B
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

I love Mandy, she is an awesome person and professor and I feel lucky that I was able to take so many classes with her. She is always there to help when you need it and genuinely cares about her students. Her classes are pretty engaging, I like I her teaching style and her exams are easy as long as you pay attention in class.

Rating # 19

Overview:

• Course: BIO200
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

An uninspiring professor. Overall a terrible lecturer and drags students down. If I had to take this class again, I would try and do everything to not take it with her.

Rating # 20

Overview:

• Course: BIOL200
• Grade Received: A+
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Really fun Biology class! Lectures keep you engaged the whole way through, so time flies :) I personally preferred the material over Biol 180, and Professor Schivell provides an excellent introduction to key biology concepts in this class. You can really feel that the UW Biology department is invested in good teachers.