Thomas Reimchen - University of Victoria, Victoria, BC

Professor: Thomas Reimchen

Department: Biology

College: University of Victoria, Victoria, BC

Rating # 1

Overview:

• Course: BIO345
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

Let's just say I have a cumulative average of 94 over my four years at UVIC, and this class was BRUTAL. I barely scraped by with an A. Sure, the material is very interesting and Reimchen does a good job at bringing up the controversial subjects, but his tests ruin the course. The saving grace is the easy essay on the final.

Rating # 2

Overview:

• Course: BIO215
• Grade Received: B+
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

Reimchen is a super knowledgeable, engaging professor. IT IS NOT A CLASS FOR AN EASY A. Go to lectures and you will get a lot out of it. Labs are really easy, but lecture tests are pretty hard to study for. Test questions require knowledge of all concepts/random facts to answer, most students don't do well but worth it you leave a good ecologist!

Rating # 3

Overview:

• Course: BIO215
• 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:

He has very unclear, disorganized lecture slides that he releases after each lecture. He talks about a lot of stuff that isnt on his slides which is why I think its important to go to lectures, or else you would miss this info. He also has very hard exams with questions meant to trick you. My advice is start studying early! Good luck!

Rating # 4

Overview:

• Course: BIO335
• Grade Received: A+
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Dr. Reimchen does not teach his classes like other professors, but here is my guide to do well in his classes. 1) Go to lectures - He provides context to his powerpoints that will be tested 2) Do not simply memorize - Understand the connections between the things he talks about 3) Understand the abstracts on the slides 4) Do some outside reading

Rating # 5

Overview:

• Course: BIO215
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Tom is a super great prof who is extremely knowledgable. His lectures are super interesting as he includes his own research into them; however, you will not get a good grade if you miss this classes. His lecture slides are a little bit of a mess, but my tip is to write down what he says in class. Overall not too bad of a prof, just work hard!

Rating # 6

Overview:

• Course: BIO335
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Like other commenters I found Dr Reimchen to be engaging in lecture but little else. His lecture slides are poorly laid out and incredibly difficult to study from, his tests focus less on understanding concepts than on minutiae from slides and trying to guess his opinion. In person he is quite difficult, so approach after class at your own risk.

Rating # 7

Overview:

• Course: BIOL335
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

Professor Reimchen is amazingly talented and incredibly smart but unfortunately this doesnt make him and great lecturer. I have taken 3 courses with him and while I love listening to his lectures I despise the tests because they arent an accurate test of my knowledge. I highly reccomend is classes but only if you ave an easy work load and work hard

Rating # 8

Overview:

• Course: BIOL335
• Grade Received: Not sure yet
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Makes up for the hard tests and the high expectations by being super interesting, full of knowledge, and a great scientific mind. Only lecture I NEVER got bored of. Every lecture went by very quickly, felt like 10mins. The hard work that comes with his classes is worth the opportunity to learn from him.

Rating # 9

Overview:

• Course: BIO329
• Grade Received: A-
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

He is interesting in lecture but sometimes his tests can be really hard and if you go and ask for clarification on a question there's a very large possibility you will leave crying because he is quite harsh and does not listen to a word you say

Rating # 10

Overview:

• Course: BIO215
• 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:

Tests things that he doesnt teach. Expects you to know exact dates and numbers rather than the concepts he teaches

Rating # 11

Overview:

• Course: BIOL215
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Reimchen is extremely passionate and inspiring which makes lectures very enjoyable, that being said his teaching style is not the greatest. He lectures quickly, power points are non-sensical, gives you no practice/supplemental material and tests as though it's possible to memorize every word he says during lecture...

Rating # 12

Overview:

• Course: BIOL345
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

This course was brutal. Reimchen is an extremely challenging person to please. Test was impossible as his multiple choice questions are worth 4 marks each, include 5 right answers, and if you don't pick the most correct you lose a ton of marks. Tests are entirely subjective... don't bother going to his office to argue, he will not even consider it.

Rating # 13

Overview:

• Course: BIO215
• Grade Received: Not sure yet
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

His tests are notoriously difficult, but this is not a class to take for an easy A. I've read comments about him being too opinionated and testing on his opinions, but his views are backed up by scientific articles. Read the articles and consider the findings, you really can't argue with facts. Warning: the lab is very difficult.

Rating # 14

Overview:

• Course: BIOL215
• Grade Received: A-
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Reimchem is a very knowledgeable and passionate teacher. Lectures are very interesting and important because he says a lot of things that aren't on his slides but are often on his tests. He made this required course for my degree a lot more interesting than it could have been and I left this course with a new outlook on the world. True inspiration.

Rating # 15

Overview:

• Course: BIO215
• Grade Received: A-
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Reimchen really inspires you to care about the world around you and how it's happening. He really cares about his work, and his personal stories about his field work and diving experiences are captivating. Great lectures, very detailed and up to date. Class is not easy but it's interesting enough that studying doesn't feel like a chore at all.

Rating # 16

Overview:

• Course: BIOL329
• Grade Received: C+
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Reimchen is the reason why I haven't taken many biology courses at UVic, which is tragic because he teaches a lot of courses I would love to take. He is good at presenting material in lecture but OH MY GOD his tests.... nonsensical, opinion based, won't listen to legit arguments from students, just crazy. You can't win.

Rating # 17

Overview:

• Course: BIOL329
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

Interesting content but tests are hard. He always says focus on the big pictures instead of the numbers. But the numbers don't lie, and Reimchen does.

Rating # 18

Overview:

• Course: BIO215
• Grade Received: WD
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

This course was the reason I switched my major from Biology. The information was interesting and he delivered it well, but his tests are nonsensical. He tests his own opinion - he is not objective in his test making. 5 correct answers with 1 slightly more correct is illogical. This is coming from someone with an 8.1 GPA in another science degree

Rating # 19

Overview:

• Course: BIO215
• Grade Received: B+
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

The material for this class is very interesting but Reimchen is less than wonderful. He shames students who leave class early or come late and the final exam is really hard! It is all multiple choice with some questions worth 4 marks, and those questions are random statistics. On the final exam only around 5% of students scored higher than 80%.

Rating # 20

Overview:

• Course: BIO215
• Grade Received: B-
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Lab is stupidly hard. But Reimchen is an amazing and passionate prof, highly recommend him as a prof.