Laura Katz - Smith College

Professor: Laura Katz

Department: TBD

College: Smith College

Rating # 1

Overview:

• Course: BIO232
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

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

Comment:

She's a great person and holds great lectures. However, office hours can be cut short and it's not easy to secure an appointment outside of class. Still, overall I recommend taking a class with her.

Rating # 2

Overview:

• Course: BIO232
• Grade Received: A+
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Easily the best professor I have ever had. She is extremely knowledgeable and skilled at teaching complex concepts. Through her teaching and mentoring she has been incredibly inspirational and anyone would be lucky to have her as a professor.

Rating # 3

Overview:

• Course: BIO370
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Reading is fascinating but a LOT. hers arent the kind of classes you can take on autopilot, but you will get a lot out of it and leave with a better understanding of bio

Rating # 4

Overview:

• Course: BIO370
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 1.0

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

Comment:

The best teacher I have ever had.

Rating # 5

Overview:

• Course: BIO232
• 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:

Laura Katz is one of my favorite people at Smith, period. Even if you aren't a bio major, take a class with her. She is very funny and cares so much about her students. She is always striving to be as inclusive as possible. She knows a lot about bio too and her lectures are compelling. Evolution was a fun class but demanded a lot of participation

Rating # 6

Overview:

• Course: BIO232
• 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:

She's really a great professor! Her lectures are amazing, and she is always careful to admit when she doesn't known something.

Rating # 7

Overview:

• Course: BIO371
• Grade Received: A+
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

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

Comment:

This was a really fun lab, you got to design your own experiment so you had a lot of freedom. We ended up missing three labs due to snow days but Laura was super adaptive and we ended up finishing our research right on top. You have to do a few things outside of lab (usually just show up a few minutes early) but it's really reasonable.

Rating # 8

Overview:

• Course: BIO370
• Grade Received: A+
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

This was my first class with Laura and she is seriously my favorite professor at Smith. The class was incredibly interesting, you learned a lot about weird biological "exceptions" that go against the rules nature you typically learn in other classes. Work load was very manageable, only one exam, and super supportive and available out of class.

Rating # 9

Overview:

• Course: BIO370
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Microbial Diversity is really interesting and teaches you new perspectives in science. The class isn't difficult, but is reading heavy. Laura explains things simply, cares about students doing well, and is accessible outside of class.

Rating # 10

Overview:

• Course: BIO232
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Laura is a sweetheart and her lectures are more fun than the others I have seen at Smith, as she tries to be engaging. There's a lot to be done for the class but it is a good class and you will learn a lot so even if you have presentations, papers and readings you'll be fine! Laura is also very nice and approachable.

Rating # 11

Overview:

• Course: BIO100
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

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

Comment:

This class was great! Laura worked really hard to make the class a safe space for class discussion. One brief in-class test and a few writing assignments - two of which were short news articles. Readings were mostly very interesting and relatively short. Overall, a low maintenance class. Laura is enthusiastic, funny, and a great professor!

Rating # 12

Overview:

• Course: BIO100
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

I did learn a lot in her class, but she made the students teach the majority of classes. The homework was incredibly overwhelming, sometimes we had a couple days to read 80+ pages on top of writing assignments. It probably averaged to around 60 pages of reading per week plus two or more writing assignments. She randomlycalls on students to answer.

Rating # 13

Overview:

• Course: BIO100
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Laura does the most she can to give her students the highest grade they deserve. If you do the reading and pay attention in class, it will not be hard. Participation matters, but she provides plenty of chances for every student to get these points. Above all, she genuinely cares for her students and acts upon feedback. I'd rate above a 5 if I could

Rating # 14

Overview:

• Course: BIO232
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Laura is an awesome professor. She is very relaxed and doesn't care if you are late or miss class occasionally. We had a take home exam, and were never expected to do any tedious memorization. She also gave us one free drop on reading assignments.

Rating # 15

Overview:

• Course: BIO232
• 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 consider Laura to be an incredible professor. She has clearly put a lot of effort into being an intentional, effective, compassionate instructor and it shows. I would feel comfortable going to her if I had an issue, and truly believe that she does her best by her students. Evolution could be a lot of information but I found her lecture style good

Rating # 16

Overview:

• Course: BIO100
• Grade Received: A-
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Interesting enough as a person, but extremely disorganized in BIO100. Course was repetitive. Had some redeeming points, but would not take it again. Assignments were vague and arbitrarily graded

Rating # 17

Overview:

• Course: BIO372
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

I took a seminar with Laura. She has a very unique personality in class and is great at facilitating discussion. I was awkward around her because she has such a frank personality (also because, me), but she made me a better science writer for sure! Her honesty can be a little too much for some students to take. Overall, she's great!

Rating # 18

Overview:

• Course: BIO232
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Laura is definitely a game changer in the course of my career. I can't recommend her enough.

Rating # 19

Overview:

• Course: 232
• 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:

Laura is amazing

Rating # 20

Overview:

• Course: BIO152
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

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

Comment:

I really liked Laura. The weekly quizzes were a pain, but she was very clear about what would be on them. I was worried because I heard she quizzed people in lecture, but it was actually very low pressure and I often "passed" when she called on me, and there was no judgment. I learned a lot in her class.