Ginny Hayssen - Smith College

Professor: Ginny Hayssen

Department: TBD

College: Smith College

Rating # 1

Overview:

• Course: BIO400
• Grade Received: A+
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

I have taken Ginny's course as a 1st year and in senior year I took her 300 level as well as a special studies project. My experience the 1st time around has led me to believe that she is not suited for intro level. However, in upper level courses she is brilliant. She really wants you to learn and think. She is great 1 on 1 and will help you grow

Rating # 2

Overview:

• Course: BIO154
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Very mean lady, she is just plain rude. She does not actually teach, and instead makes you do busy work and memorize useless information. If you don't understand something in her class, good luck. She won't help you at all. It seems like she almost wants you to fail.

Rating # 3

Overview:

• Course: BIO130
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

By far the worst professor I have had at Smith. Does not teach during class. The assignments are all busy work. Shes also very rude. I would not recommend this class to anyone. An enormous waste of time.

Rating # 4

Overview:

• Course: BIO154
• 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:

Awful awful professor. Probably one of the worst at Smith. Her tests are worth about 10% of your grade so get ready to do petty worksheets in class and more worksheets for homework. Doesn't teach anything, just rambles on. Avoid taking any classes with her bc she will make your life a living hell.

Rating # 5

Overview:

• Course: BIO352
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 3.5
• Course Difficulty: 1.0

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

Comment:

Shes not very clear but I think if you do your work you will get a fair grade. she makes you think.

Rating # 6

Overview:

• Course: BIO154
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

Ginny Hayssen is a super polarizing professor but if you like a challenge you'll like her. You learn the material on your own and ask questions when you get to class. Really smart ideas on how education should be set up and makes you really think about all the work you do. Simply too much work to keep up but you'll absolutely learn.

Rating # 7

Overview:

• Course: BIO154
• Grade Received: Not sure yet
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

She maybe ONCE actually taught us anything during class. The rest of the time she pretty much just rambles. Her homework takes hours to do, and it's tedious work. Her quizzes test nothing but your ability for rote memorization. She essentially expects you to memorize the textbook, each chapter of which being something like 20 pages. It's awful.

Rating # 8

Overview:

• Course: BIO 154
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.5
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

I like Prof. Hayssen. She makes you think. Also she's really smart, so when she praises your answers it means a lot. I don't love the worksheets, but they force us to engage with the material.

Rating # 9

Overview:

• Course: BIO272
• 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:

This was the most valuable class I've ever taken. Ginny makes you work for it but she is very fair. If you do the work, you'll get a good grade. If you do all the work and work hard, you can get an A. Her style takes some getting used to, but you leave her class with an amazing knowledge of the topic.

Rating # 10

Overview:

• Course: FYS130
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.5
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

She knows a lot about mammals (she is a mammologist), but she can be mean or condescending at times. I wouldn't recommend taking her FYS Lions course. It's torture.

Rating # 11

Overview:

• Course: BIO272
• 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:

Very knowledgeable about her field- the kind of super-smart prof who understands things so well that she may have a hard time conveying them. A lot of work, but definitely worth it.

Rating # 12

Overview:

• Course: BIO244
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

She takes credit 4 everything her students do. Just read her papers, she never puts any names after hers. Just a tiny box somewhere at the end and gives them acknowledgements. Who cares for that. For the amount of work she makes you put in - she could motivate you by atleast putting your name on the papers "she" writes! Good /secure profs always ad

Rating # 13

Overview:

• Course: BIO272
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

Ginny's trouble is she's a bit of a genius and can't quite grasp the trouble we lesser mortals are having. The workload is incredible, the pace is breakneck, and it's really sink or swim. That said, you'll come out knowing EVERYTHING about whatever subject she teaches you, and as long as you do the work you'll get a decent grade. Hard but worth it.

Rating # 14

Overview:

• Course: FYS130
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

I would not recommend the Lions FYS. The syllabus is not clear (but is grammatically incorrect) and a lot of the assignments seemed useless. I don't feel that my writing improved, and Ginny gives C's to everyone at the beginning of the year, regardless of quality. The Cherryh novels were possibly the worst pieces of literature I have ever read.

Rating # 15

Overview:

• Course: BIO352
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.5
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Kind of a mean woman. I went to her office to get help once and she stopped me every time I said the word "like," which was just plain rude. She didn't really listen to me or answer my questions in the end.

Rating # 16

Overview:

• Course: LIONS130
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Totally the nicest and smartest professor I've had this semester, but she's a science teacher trying to teach English and that doesn't really fly. She's a pretty strange lady, but she's super personable, though. I mean, it was freakin' Spacelions...

Rating # 17

Overview:

• Course: MTH245
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Almost made me hate the subject I love. Made life miserable. Just not a pleasant person to have a class with.

Rating # 18

Overview:

• Course: BIO244
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.5
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Ginny is a brilliant person and has a wealth of knowledge to offer if you attend class, pay attention, and seek help outside of class as needed. She has a fun sense of humor and is so passionate about what she does. Despite the difficulty of the class, her passion and the interest she instills in her students is absolutely worth the work. You will learn a LOT! TAKE THIS COURSE!

Rating # 19

Overview:

• Course: MTH245
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

This woman drives me up the wall. Instead of simply answering fairly basic questions, she has to analyze why you didn't understand the question in the first place! Don't ever say 'like' around her either. I would never EVER take a class from her again.

Rating # 20

Overview:

• Course: BIO244
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

I can't stand this woman. She made my life unbearable and is the reason I now have a credit shortage. Everything I learned in her classes I taught myself through my own studies. If you're confused, you won't get any help from her. To top it all off, when I went to talk to her about dropping her class, she seemed disappointed that I didn't cry, and told me that I should be harder on myself.