Greg McCormac - American River College

Professor: Greg McCormac

Department: TBD

College: American River College

Rating # 1

Overview:

• Course: BIOL400
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Great professor. Really funny and chill. Lectures and labs are short and to the point. You will have to read the textbook. He assigns these professional lab reports to read and then they are included in the lab practical. Exams are multiple choice and short answer. Multiple choice is all based on the textbook and short answer is lecture material.

Rating # 2

Overview:

• Course: BIO310
• Grade Received: B+
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

McCormac is very approachable, is clear on grading criteria, and overall made intro to bio manageable. His exams are graded on a curve. They go beyond reciting from the txt; you need to apply the knowledge to the questions. The textbook is free as well. His lectures were interesting and made the classtime fly by. The presentation was ez A!!

Rating # 3

Overview:

• Course: BIOL400
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

He is awesome, tho lectures aren't very well organized and hard to follow you need to read and really understand the chapters. Multiple choice and short answer standardizes tests to the highest scorer. He's very lenient as well. Ask for help and study if u really want a career in biology u need to know ur shiit anyway. Don't complain if ure lazy!!!

Rating # 4

Overview:

• Course: BIO310
• Grade Received: WD
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

This class was terrible. Long dry lectures. Exams were irrelevant to lectures. No study guides. Lab reports and pre-lab quizzes. Doesn't take role but you need to come to class.

Rating # 5

Overview:

• Course: BIO310
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 4.5
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Does not give homework, but rather occasional lap reports. All of his tests are around 40-50 multiple choice questions with 2-5 free response questions. Does not grade for attendance but you will need to attend in order to pass. He is very helpful and approachable. Be ready to study outside of class! Very funny guy. CURVES TESTS!!

Rating # 6

Overview:

• Course: BIO300
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.5
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

Tests are hard, each test consist of around 4 chapters, each chapter has 30ish terms. He doesn't take attendance but you need to show up in order to pass, notes feel like they don't help and the book is on OpenStax which is free. Also prepare for a 10-15 minute presentation.. I was interested in Biology before I took this class. Good luck!

Rating # 7

Overview:

• Course: BIO310
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Professor McCormac is a laid back, funny professor. His lectures are interesting but his tests go deeper. No study guides. In order to pass his class: read, memorize, and understand the chapters, and do the extra credit assignments (up to 40 extra credit points). Perks of taking his class: he grades on a point scale and curves all his tests.

Rating # 8

Overview:

• Course: BIO400
• Grade Received: B
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

He's funny and laidback. He wants to help! His lectures are pretty clear if read the material before hand. An easy A if you study for his exams. He has about 40 points of extra credit. Multiple choice are from a testbank. The final is a compilation of all of the multiple choice exams plus a few extra. Loved the class!

Rating # 9

Overview:

• Course: BIOL300
• Grade Received: B
• Overall Rating: 4.5
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

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

Comment:

Summer Course How to pass this classwhat to expect: - textbook is free (openstaxcollege) - be there. If you're not the best test taker, be there. Participation will help ALOT. - do all your assignments. - (3) test. Test go deeper than the book. - (1) group project - (1) individual 15-min presentation. - McCormac is very down-to-earth.

Rating # 10

Overview:

• Course: BIOL300
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 1.0

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

Comment:

He was hilarious! I absolutely loved how clear he was on everything and if you had a question he answered it. He was very clear about his expectations of us in the class. I took it over summer. Somehow, he made Biology interesting to sit through for 3 hours a day 4 days a week for 4 weeks. He changed our textbook to a free version online. AWESOME!

Rating # 11

Overview:

• Course: BIO400
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.5
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

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

Comment:

Although a lot of my friends discouraged me from taking his class, I am so happy that I took it. He was a really good teacher and clear about his expectations. He pays a lot of attention to lab reports but other than that his class is easy. I definitely recommend taking his class:)

Rating # 12

Overview:

• Course: 300
• Grade Received: A+
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

First of all this was supposed to be a GE class and there was nothing basic about the class it went over topics that we should learn in chemistry, nutrition, ecology, and evolution. The test are never based on notes I mean for me I study from my notes and since there is no study guide everything is more stressful than it should be and essay questns

Rating # 13

Overview:

• Course: 400
• Grade Received: A-
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

I'm so glad I took this class with Greg! He's very down to earth, approachable, and easy to talk to. While his class was hard, every upper division science class is! Science isn't an easy A. You have to put in time and work to understand the material. A year later and I've retained loads of what I learned about molecularcellular biology from him!

Rating # 14

Overview:

• Course: 400
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.5
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

He has a very good personality but his exams are very hard. He doesn't really go into details of the material. If you take this class it will be a very huge challenge for you. Good luck!

Rating # 15

Overview:

• Course: BIOL300
• 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:

I enjoyed my time in Professor McCormac's class. His class is generally fairly dry, but he does crack a joke once in a while. He is a good lecturer, and often explains things better than the text. In my class, we were required to have a textbook, but we had the option to use a free online version.

Rating # 16

Overview:

• Course: BIO400
• Grade Received: A+
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

Avoid taking this professor. Very unclear and rather lazy in teaching methods. Skips around, and doesn't seem to care if you pass or not.

Rating # 17

Overview:

• Course: BIOLOGY300
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

McCormac is very intelligent when it comes to biology, but he does not know how to explain biology at a non-major college level. His lectures jump from chapter to chapter within the same class time, which makes it hard when you are trying to study for an exam. The exams are very challenging. He doesnt seem to care if you succeed in the class.

Rating # 18

Overview:

• Course: BIO310
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

He's hard but fair. He is willing to help, is easy to talk to, and is not bad to look at!

Rating # 19

Overview:

• Course: BIOL300
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 1.0

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

Comment:

Greg is a great guy. He's helpful and his humor made his lectures more than tolerable. He made it clear that he was available whenever you need help. The class was super easy and everything you're tested on is in the notes. He gives out lots of extra credit and standardizes his tests. This is probably the easiest biology class you could take.

Rating # 20

Overview:

• Course: BIO400
• 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:

McCormac was great. I loved his class. His class was tough, but to all those before me who complained, I would like to remind you that this class is a 5 UNIT SCIENCE CLASS. It is not supposed to be easy. Yes the tests are hard, but guess what, he grades on a curve. I learned more in one semester with McCormac than all my previous bio classes.