Lawrence F. Cahill - University of California Irvine

Professor: Lawrence F. Cahill

Department: TBD

College: University of California Irvine

Rating # 1

Overview:

• Course: BION158
• Grade Received: C+
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

I dont recommend this class unless you have a lot of time on your hand to go through each experiment and try to deeply understand them. Memorization doesnt work in this class, because of the way questions are made. I would say this is the hardest upper diction Bio, tests are even harder than D103!! Study hard and know each experiment inside out.

Rating # 2

Overview:

• Course: BIO158
• Grade Received: B-
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Recovering from the B- I got from this class is going to be hard! Im writing this review so that you will NOT be the next student getting a low grade. The material is so heavy and confusing. He introduces so many complex experiments and you will have to know all these material inside out for the cumulative final, which was a nightmare!! Regret...

Rating # 3

Overview:

• Course: BIO158
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

Midterm has 40 MC, the average was 20. Final is 80 MC and it was the worst exam I ever took, almost all the questions are two of the above, non of the above and the problem is that even if you take super great notes, you will end up answering the questions wrong, because they are so tricky. No canvas, no PowerPoint, he just talks on and on.

Rating # 4

Overview:

• Course: N158
• Grade Received: Not sure yet
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

SAVE YOUR GPA!! The material itself is not that bad BUT his exams are the WORST!! Dont take him!! If you really like Neuro course, take N152 and N165. Do YOURSELF and your GPA a favor and DO NOT take this class. At first, you May like his way of lecturing, but when you take the midterm, you will regret it!! Take my advice! Im your peer.

Rating # 5

Overview:

• Course: BION158
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

He has been one of my favorite professors at UCI. His love and passion for the subject is contagious, and I will miss the amount of joy that he places in science. He is a prominent figure in neuroscience, like very well known, and he is so real. He also showed me a human brain in office hours, he wore gloves an everything and explained it.

Rating # 6

Overview:

• Course: N158
• Grade Received: B+
• Overall Rating: 3.5
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Cahill is an amazing professor who is so knowledgable on the subject he lectures without any material. No online notes, slides or lectures. All your notes must be hand written. His tests are tough with none of the above, all of the above and two of the above as options. If you work hard the results will come. Great class, great professor

Rating # 7

Overview:

• Course: N158
• Grade Received: B-
• Overall Rating: 2.5
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

DON'T TAKE THIS CLASS. Cahill is a great lecturer and very knowledgeable on the subject. However, his tests are absolute nightmares. 80 multiple choice questions with none of the above, all of the above and two of the above in almost every question. Makes mistakes on questions and doesn't allow you to ask anything during the exam. GPA killing class

Rating # 8

Overview:

• Course: N158
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Cahill is awesome! I feel lucky to be learning from him. How often do you read the textbook and see it referencing your own professors research? Very rarely. He's so knowledgeable of the subject he lectures mostly from his head. His tests are hard so this is not an easy A, but if you want to learn the subject from a true expert take Cahill!

Rating # 9

Overview:

• Course: N158
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Dr. Cahill is a GREAT lecturer and makes memory a very interesting class. His tests however, are VERY difficult. Around half his questions have none of the above, two of the above, all of the above. He will really try to screw with your mind during tests by changing minute details about the question answers, watch out for this. Great class.

Rating # 10

Overview:

• Course: BION158
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.5
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Record lectures or take really good notes, use textbook to clear up details you don't understand in class/lecture, know experiments very well and study previous midterms, he doesn't post anything online, tests are not about memorization, DON'T MISS CLASS, definitely not an easy A, but I thought the material was interesting

Rating # 11

Overview:

• Course: BION158
• 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:

Great for auditory learners, but if you are a visual learner you have an uphill battle on your hands. Dr. Cahill shuns slides, power points, has no website, and basically anything else tangible. He tests only on his words in lecture, so recording them is basically mandatory. Also, reuses exact midterm questions on the final. Nice guy, boring class.

Rating # 12

Overview:

• Course: BIO36
• 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:

Make sure you attend lectures because his tests are literally the things he says in class. You also have to be really good with logic, not memorization. Really review the material after each lecture.

Rating # 13

Overview:

• Course: BIO36
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

This professor was not clear with his lectures at all. He constantly went off on tangents that were not useful for the class. He said his tests were based off of what HE SAID not what the book said. I was really excited to take this class, but his teaching abilities killed it for me.

Rating # 14

Overview:

• Course: BIO36
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.5
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

He is a very interesting lecturer with a lot of enthusiasm. Very captivating. However, his tests are EXTREMELY difficult!! This was a GE class for non majors only and the mean for the midterm was 40%. Always "two of the above", "none of the above", etc. Or part of the answer would be right, but part would be slightly off.

Rating # 15

Overview:

• Course: BION158
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

Good professor. tests were tricky with the none/all/two of the above. You should do good if you're good with logic. most of the answers are true but are incorrect because they do not relate to the question so all you have to do is just critically think about the question. Tends to go off in tangents if you go to his office hours.

Rating # 16

Overview:

• Course: BIO158
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

Dr. Cahill's lectures are fun and interesting. However, he makes his exams tricky on purpose. It was inconsiderate of him to take OVER A WEEK to post the midterm and final grade for the class (the exams were scantron, so it should have only taken him 15 min max to get them graded). He NEVER even posted our final exam grades!

Rating # 17

Overview:

• Course: BIO158
• 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:

Professor Cahill is really funny and makes class intersting. Attendance isn't mandatory but I would definitely go. Do read the book because there is stuff on the tests that isn't in lecture. People complained that he is too hard but it is curved and he gives extra credit, so if you get a bad grade its your own fault.

Rating # 18

Overview:

• Course: PSYCH162A
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.5
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

Amazing professor! I did do so great in the class, but that's because I didn't really do the reading. Enjoyable class, he always seems to make lecture interesting even though he is old school and uses an overhead projector + the board.

Rating # 19

Overview:

• Course: BION158
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.5
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Says he's "fair but hard" and he's never been acused of not being "fair". Well he is hard but he's NOT fair. You can find exact examples he said, play him the recordings of his voice saying things and he'll still tell you you're wrong.

Rating # 20

Overview:

• Course: BIO158
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.5
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Attendance "not mandatory" but he has little sympathy for people who do not attend, but this was one of the few courses that I actually wanted to attend in 4 years at UCI. The course was very interesting and more relevant than most bio courses. Tests were hard (see earlier comment) and some test questions were drawn from questions asked in class.