Worst course ever. Three quizzes and a few long assignments determine the majority of your grade. Extremely unorganized class, very slow response times. Unclear grading criteria, very tough grader and does not allow you to dispute your grade. Encourages and enforces tough grading for the TAs. Asked a TA to regrade because the TA was "too lenient".

This was the worst class I have ever taken. This 1 credit class took up as much time as some of my 5 credit classes. She writes vague questions and grades too harshly. She replaced quizzes with massive papers for online class. They were in a highly specific, rigid style. This wasn't in the syllabus, she made class harder after COVID for no reason.

Do NOT take this course, especially on the pre-health track. This one-credit course will ruin your GPA, and it's not worth it. Writing assignments and lab report instructions were super vague with little instruction on what specifically is wanted. The grading is inconsistent as one quiz was regraded bc there were higher marks.

While Prof. Akum seemed very nice, I found her course material to be very sloppy. From the formatting of lab handouts & slides to the wording of question, things were not orderly or concise, which led to overly complicated explanations for fairly simple concepts. She also frequently waited to upload assignments due on Monday until Sunday afternoon.

Dr. Akum wants to make your life harder. There is a prelab/postlab for every experiment, super long packets to read, and four quizzes that each have 40 questions and are 45 minutes long. The TAs are forced to grade extremely harshly by Dr. Akum and the questions are so ambiguous. Talk to your TAs and make friends with them, you'll need it.

Prof. Akum is not only absurdly harsh, but the grading scheme is so inconsistent that even if you pull material directly out of her videos/modules for pre/post-labs, you somehow get points off. So many aspects of the course are unclear that even the TAs are confused. This class should be worth more than 1 credit for the amount of effort it needs.

For a 1 credit class, Professor Akum does way too much. Along with weekly post labs, pre-labs, and lab simulations, she makes us take quizzes and even a final exam?? The quizzes itself have very ambiguous questions that are worded horribly. She also feels the need to email us 10 times a day for whatever reason.

Professor Akum is absolutely awful. She is unsympathetic to any situations faced by her students, whether they are grading inconsistencies or life events. Only take this class if you want to meet one of the worst professors NYU has to offer. She's a harsh grader for no reason at all and seems to want to make her students' lives awful.

Do not take her class

Barbara is the lab coordinator of BIOL-UA 123 and has to be one of the WORST professors I have ever encountered here. She expects so much from A 1 CREDIT CLASS: pre-lab quizzes, post-lab questions, quizzes, and even a final! The questions are worded so horribly and ambiguously. Do not take this if you want to have a good GPA

I don't know about the course reviews but for a 1 credit lab this was not it. I am taking chemistry and bio but a 1 credit class stresses me out more than the others themselves. Its strange and absurd how difficult the post lab and quizzes are.

Yo this lab was so dumb. The quiz questions were sometimes asking for the most specific details from the lab modules and procedures and for some reason there were consistently grammar and wording mistakes on almost every quiz. TA's would sometimes argue over how to grade certain questions, I think I put almost as much time into this as POB II.

I don't understand, why does NYU only allow her to teach one 1-credit course and one 0-credit course? Oh wait---

She is unreasonable sometimes in treating students and asks students to spend so much more time in this course than they should.

dont take her. she's literally impossible and is a terrible grader.

Very hard exams that do not even closely resemble practice exams, study guide, or info from lectures. You will waste time attending lecture or studying materials she gave because the test has totally different topics with the exception of a few questions. She does not curve, she is very blunt and no-nonsense, and doesnt care about student success.

1. Always make basic mistakes like saturated fat contains double bonds, etc, during her lectures. 2. Exams are extremely difficult as you have no idea how and why points off. 3. Unreasonable and unhelpful lectures because of her repitious mistakes so being semi-forced to buy the expensive textbook

SO MANY MISTAKES!!!! Not to talk about the factual mistakes made in lectures, in homework problems, and in each midterm, she is not even showing the exam locations clearly ( she said there was a table explaining but there wasn't and the location where google map revealed was wrong)

ONE OF THE WORST PROFESSORS IN MY EXPERIENCE!! She overcomplicates the simplest concepts in the course for no reason. Your grade in the course will be heavily weighed on exams which are extremely difficult and the lectures are unhelpful. Professor needs to consider some changes or find a new career!

Everything I learned, I learned from the textbook. Her slides are confusing and the videos she assigns are unhelpful - don't watch them. Exam questions are about super specific things you'll only know from reading the textbook, and the wording is always awful.

AP bio knowledge carried me. Not sure if she likes writing trick questions, or she genuinely thinks the questions are fair. If you did not take AP bio and you are now taking this class with her godspeed my friend...

Most annoying NYU prof. Exams dont reflect material and barely gives sources for us to study. Lectures suck and especially for lab, extremely uninformative. She writes gibberish for questions to overcomplicate the most minor topics. please avoid to keep your sanity

she does not care about student success at all cuz she is trying to let us fail by making the exams and ps insanely hard with confusing wording she makes bunch of mistakes in lectures as well as assignements if u want to get a decent gpa, avoid!

Very picky about attendance polls that she doesn't open for long enough. Had only one poll for today's class that closed in the first 2 minutes. So, if you were late you missed points for today. Does not lecture well and makes exams unnecessarily hard.

Prof. Akum has to be one of the worst teachers at NYU. Her long lectures that are mandatory coupled with the unclear guidelines on what she expects us to learn, which are unhelpful compared to reading the textbook. Tests are a matter of luck as to difficulty. Hopefully she can improve as this is her first time lecturing but I doubt it.

Such a difficult class for no reason. Tests are not easy or reflective of the material learned in class.

So unnecessarily hard. This class is a projectile vomit of information and unless you memorize every detail you will not do well on her exams. Lectures are unhelpful as I don't think she knows what she's talking about half the time. Would advise to avoid but she is probably the only option.

I bet she snickers to herself while writing exams. Lectures are difficult to follow as she often backtracks and does not explain clearly. Wording of her questions are very vague and come out of the blue. By far my least favorite of the 3 lecturers for POB. good luck to those taking POB I entirely with her instead of only half

girl do not walk but RUN in the other direction. if you can take bio off track I would because this is the TRENCHES. she has called students stupid on multiple occasions, teaches the content ineffectively, and writes exam questions that are unclear. words cannot describe how bad of a teacher she is. bout to have me like kendrick on drake.

Ambiguous questions for tests, especially starting second semester.

The professors dont realize a good amount of students cheat off the exams, assume students are doing well when the other half are struggling. The professors don't explain the material well, just read off the slides. if u request a regrade, they don't even respond appropriately or communicate well. they just say "No"

A very bad professor. Lectures and exam material have no correlation. Does not care about students' grades and or concerns. Had to take unfortunately because no other POB2 professor. Terrible professor.

She is not clear about what will be on the exams. Gives us tutorial sheets and problem set to work on which are very insightful in terms of knowledge but NONE of it relates to what will be on the exam. Her exam review sheets are unhelpful, using descriptions like "know the basic characteristics of this" then puts specific information on the exam

AVIOD IF YOU CAN. Exams are worded so poorly and filled with mistakes on their part. Even if you try to request a regrade for something they will respond in all caps "NO"

RUNNNNNNN!!! exams are riddled with errors, like wrong directions, grammatical issues, and even multiple choice questions missing the CORRECT option!!! The content itself is easy but Barbara finds a way to overcomplicate everything. Study guides are completely useless. You can still do fine in the class but get ready to put in a lot of work.....

She was bad enough when she taught material she had some understanding of but for spring semester POB 2 she taught the first half of the semester not knowing a single thing about the topic and it was so obvious. Good luck to all who have to suffer with her and my deepest condolences.

I sincerely believe that this professor does not find any enjoyment in teaching and does not care for her students' success. Not only are her tests so poorly worded, but her slides often have mistakes as well. In order to take a test, you need to have some advanced decoding skills or you won't understand what she's asking. I wish I was joking.

Exam questions are ambiguous and she provides only 24 hours to appeal for a regrade. The averages are in the low 70s, yet she refuses to curve or round final grades to the nearest integer. She makes inappropriate comments about gender and disabilities. Her exam question asked about the genetic makeup of a woman who is "apparently female."

Awful at writing test questions.

Her exams have nothing to do with her lectures. Her lectures have nothing to do with the book we bought. I learned nothing from her. Do not take this professor unless you want a permanent scar on your GPA, and your dreams. Advisors force-register freshmen into these sections, NYU doesn't care what happens to them after.

Guys I've been in this class for a total of three days and I already hate it. The problem sets (aka homework) and quizzes are nothing like the lecture notes. In fact, the lecture notes give you very basic information that is usually information you already knew from high school biology. The actual graded work, however, is much more advanced.

gpa killer

Barbara just seems confused. She is reading over the slides and I can't even determine if she has a good knowledge of the material she is teaching. She is all over the place and I have NO clue which chapter in the textbook we are. Quizzes are nothing like what she teaches and we have to depend on videos she assigns to learn most of the material.

Literal incorrect information in the lab manuals. She does not respond to emails. Her quizzes are confusing. She is a bad professor.

Worst professor, does not care for students and wants students to fail.

Terrible professor with terrible style of teaching. Exam questions are ambiguous and I'm sure many kids sitting in lecture are clueless as to what they are learning. Class will significantly drop your GPA!!!

DOESNT ANSWER EMAILS.

By far, the worst professor I have ever had at NYU. Makes the most obscure Problem Set Questions and Exam Short answer questions. Has EXTREMELY unclear grading criteria. If it's not her way, it's wrong.

Thanks Barbara, you makes me hate in BIO.

1.Careless lecture: skip details and make mistakes 2.Reading her words take more time than actual thinking 3.Exam way too detailed: meaningless b/c memorization is only needed 4.Replaceable by Chat: dk why she get salary if she contribute nothing in students' learning 5.Advice: quit or transfer to other universities

Doesn't explain thoroughly what to study for and includes material on exams that were not covered in lecture.

The average of midterm 2 is 68 and no curve. GPA KILLER!

Her tests are extremely hard with no curves or care if people fail. She puts tricky and misleading questions to try to fail students. In class she briefly discusses topics leaving out essential details to do well on the test. There were topics on the test that I haven't even heard the name of.

Hard to understand but is usually only prof for POB 1. Doesnt follow the textbok in any way shape or form and will usually go on long tangents on unimportant things instead of focusing on material that will be on the exams. Exams short answer sections are often on things she didnt teach//mention.

The material isn't *that* bad, it's standard college-level Intro Biology content, but oh my god is she the actual worst professor I've had in my entire time at NYU. Test questions are inconsistent with the slides AND textbook, and are worded horrifically. Ace PSs and quizzes. Sincerely, NYU, I beg of you to reevaluate the teaching of this course.

Professor Akum, in simple words, is terrible. Although the content is a bit hard to grasp at first, it is beginner level Bio for college. But Professor Akum makes it much more complicated then it should be. She's caring, and easily accessible after class. It's honestly just better to watch her recorded lectures after lecture.

Barbara was one of the worst professors I have ever taken. The success of her students is not her priority, rather an afterthought. Her tests are poorly worded, often misleading students and is very stingy with giving points back even though she's the one who messed up the question. Exam averages are in the 60s, and she doesn't curve the class.

Don't take this class :)

Never choose her!

Terrible professor, doesn't know what she is teaching, and doesn't consider students' understanding for Bio... Flies through weekly lectures without making sure that students understand the topics; 100% self-learning is required. Random, odd, and difficult exam questions! Be ready for a class average in the 60s, WITHOUT CURVE RUN when you see her.

She's a pretty decent person but that's probably where it stops. Tests are vague, unclear and badly worded. Definitely had to self learn essentially all the content.

GPA KILLER!!!! Insanely hard questions on the exams, and her lectures do not prepare you for the types of questions she asks. HIGHLY do not recommend taking her for this class.

Go to lecture, read the textbook, and you'll be fine. The course is easy by nature but Barbara's unclear questions and grading make it slightly harder.

Terrible, cannot write test questions well. No curve

My 89.97 cannot be rounded up to an A-

really good lecturer but will def get some info wrong awful exam writer reading the textbook is an absolute waste of time wont round my 92.69 to an A so f*ck her and this class

Akum is one of the worst professors I've had. Her lectures are quite literally just her slides. The tests are solely based on lectures and if you miss anything you're screwed. All her test questions are worded so ambiguously and are very confusing and nit-picky. Each test requires hours of preparation to do remotely well on. STAY AWAY FROM HER!

Didn't teach well

The worst professor I've ever had.

She has no care for her students. Very nasty demeanor. Unprofessional and gives NYU a bad image of what a professor is. All of my encounters with her has been negative.

lecture slides are difficult and hard to follow, and barbara is not a good lecturer. Exams are horribly worded and questions are very roundabout and easy to trip up on. I got a 5 in AP Bio but somehow when I came here I ended up doing very poorly and now my GPA is STRUGGLINGG. avoid her if you can! take POB off track if you want to save your GPA.

this class is so hard because the quizzes and exams are super difficult. the professor genuinely sucks at teaching and goes over hard and complex topics very quickly, students have no time to take notes or understand. you have to learn everything on your own but she posts incomplete slides that are difficult to learn from. physiology w her=torture

shes hell bro. had physiology with her and she literally cant teach. mf gave out quizzes every week and they are HARD ASF. just dont take her if ur looking to save your gpa