He is estremely intelligent. He does a very good job at teaching and is clear on what he wants his students to know. His tests are difficult, however, if you know the information you should be able to apply it to his 5 essay questions that are worth 20 points each.

I enjoyed Merkler's class..he was pretty clear on what he wanted us to learn for the tests. I took Weinzerl before and it was pointless to go to his class; you at least learn and get something out of Merkler's lectures. His exams were difficult, but just study his notes, the book, and do ALL assigned hw problems

He is a good teacher and you WILL get something out of his class. His exams, however, has nothing to do on what he teaches. My only advice is to do well in the laboratory portion of the class, since his two exams are only 20% of the final grade. With some luck, you can escape with an A.

This online class is easy if you've taken Organic Chemistry. Just do the assignments and turn it in on time. It's that simple. If you have any problems, just go visit him in his office and I'm sure he will help you. You should not get lower than a B in the class if you DO THE WORK.

This class is a lot of work but Dr. Merkler is very helpful outside of class. I went in with practice problems and he explained them very well. He rambles sometimes but its interesting and relevant, especially to medicine.

I absolutely loved his humor, because with out it this course would be so dry. He's the only prof with undergrad, grad and phd in biochem so he knows what hes talking about. Read the book word for word! His exams are straight from it. Exams are Really tough, but he gives practice ones.

Merkler is just fine as a prof. Def not as big and mean as people made him out to be. He has quite a sardonic sense of humor which comes across wrong to people who don't get it. I personally found him funny. My complaint: he spent too much time on basic stuff we were solid on. He should of spent more time lecturing Biochem.

Awful. Enjoys keeping good students from attaining A's. If you know everything about biochem (concepts and details) you can do well. This is impossible if you are taking any other courses, have a job or sleep. He makes this course much harder than it already is.

He really wants to make sure his students learn the material well, so his tests are created to make you think, so if you don't do all the problems in the back of each chapter, read the book, go to lecture, and ask questions, you will be lost. You will have to work extremely hard to get an A or B, even people with a C feel they earned it.

Dr. Merkler is excellent. He is the most knowledgable person at USF in the field of biochemistry. He is very helpful at office hours, he spent several hours explaining how to solve biochemistry problems from a previous exam that I had done poorly on. This help enabled me to pull my grade up by the final exam.

Sooo funny. I love Merkler.

hilarious guy. very good at teaching you real world concepts and how biochemistry is related! he is by far the best professor at usf. oh yea his exams arent that bad. awesome awesome guy.

He is not really as mean as he sounds. Super helpful in office hours. Helps to make biochem less boring by breaking the material up with jokes and practical examples. Tests are hard but do-able. He tells you what will be on the test in lecture, so make sure you go. The class isnt easy no matter who you take it with so dont expect it to be.

MERKLER IS AWESOME! biochemistry is a beast of class and you have to put the work in...he tells you in lecture what you need to know, so class is mandatory!Pluse he isnfunny and makes class worth going to with is funny stories!!!

Awesome human. He cares about his students, the world around him, and the future. Biochemistry is HARD. You will learn an enormous amount of stuff that you'll forget, but you will learn. He's a great professor and I'm glad I had the experience of attending his class. It's Merkler....Not Merckler..

Great person! really cares about his students, wish every professor i had at usf was as awesome a person as merkler! biochem is a hard subject, merkler makes it enjoyable to be in class every time, funny smart, sexy. every professor should be like merkler!!!

great guy! hard class but he is worth taking it with!

I love merkler! Hard as heck class!!

Brutal classs but worth taking if its with him.

Class is hard there are alot of little details exam are tough but do-able

Explains material very well learned a great deal goes above and beyond teaching material I did very well on the ACS biochem exam thanks to him but his exams are tough questions definitely make you think out of the box

I enjoy going to class, he's funny and teaches with real life examples so you actually get what you are learning and why it's important. You have to read the book there is no way around that and his tests make you think but I have an A right now and I'm taking 2 more bio classes and labs. He really tries to help you if you have questions. Take him!

Look, this guy is awesome. There's no other way to put it. I've never even been close to falling asleep in his class even though it is was at 8:35am. He's interesting and he tells you what's important to know for the exam and, most importantly, what you don't need to know. Kawabanga!

Material is easy to understand but each test contains A LOT of material. Do not fall behind in this class. Test questions make you think and some are unnecessarily hard. Study the book like mad.

I <3 Merkler!!!!! One if the best professors USF has!

AWESOME AWESOME AWESOME GUY a lot of material and a lot of detail but he is super helpful and funny..he really makes you think and work for your grade...do well on the first 3 exams bc the ACS is nothing like his exams..BEST PROFESSOR I'VE EVER HAD AT USF

BEST PROFESSOR USF HAS TO OFFER!! YEA HE CAN BE MEAN BUT HE CAN ALSO BE NICE AND SUPER HELPFUL!! I LOVE THIS GUY

Class is soo hard!!!!!!! Dr. Merkler is an amazing guy, very nice and office hours are welcome. But his tests are hard! 3 exams, one Drop. last two accumulative. 30 questions each. Final is 45. So study STUDY and STUDY. do not procrastinate!!

I dont know what you people are talking about i took him fall'11 & spg'12 and he was great. yea he was tough but he was helpful, friendly, allowed "helpsheet" and even would tell us what we shouldnt put on it and what would be helpful. he was friendly and really cared. his stories were awesome to hear and everyone did well.

DR. MERKLER IS AN AMAZING PROFESSOR, TOP NOTCH AT USF. HE DOESNT HAND YOU AN ANSWER HE MAKES YOU READ THE BOOK AND LEARN YOU HAVE TO WORK HARD HE WONT BABYSIT YOU ITS AN UPPER LEVEL COURSE NO BABYSITTING YOU HAVE TO WORK HARD, MERKLER WILL HELP YOU ALONG THE WAY HE IS A GREAT GUY VERY KNOWLEDGABLE HE IS HAPPY TO HELP

Merkler is not difficult,he just makes you apply concepts when he gives exams.You cant just memorize or study definitions you have to know how to apply them. He tells you what you should focus on and what isnt. There is a ton of information to learn so dont procrastinate. Study, do the hw go to office hrs and ask Q's you will get an A or B

How to pass.... GO TO OFFICE HOURS! He is so nice and helps so much! Read as much of the book as u can, it helps. Dont memorize the material, understand it.

OMG he is a tough professor, but for good reason. He wants students to understand the material not just memorize it. He mainly teaches the material and gives a few conceptual questions on his exams plus a small detail questions from his slides. He is incredibly helpful though and so smart. He really wants you to do well. Visit office hours!

Dr. Merkler has a reputation about being the "tough professor," but honestly if you go to class and read through the book, you will be fine. He posts old exams that are the exact same lay out as his current test so DO THEM ( he uses a few of the same questions) He is very enthusiastic, he cares, and simplifies the topics so they are understandable.

Though he would prefer not to teach, he's actually a good professor. I was told he was "the devil", not true. He's a professor and a really good one at that. Attempt to actually understand what it is you have difficulty with before going to his office hours. He will spend hours helping students in office hours, GO! its worth it!! BTW Go to class!

By far Dr. Merkler is the best professor I have ever had at USF! He is tough and is not an easy A class, be expected to put work into this class. Dr. Merkler will spend a numerous amount of time with his students in office hours, me personally at least 2-3 hours a week and sometimes way more. His class helped me improve my MCAT score as well!

I recommend you take this professor while abroad if you want to get a good grade in the class. Biochemistry is a tough class and i dont know hows his tests are over a regular semester. He gives a good amount of extra credit and is extremely knowledgeable in his field. Tests are difficult! You have conceptualize a lot!

I do not know how anyone could say anything bad about Dr. Merkler. He is an amazing professor. Yes, you are taking biochemistry and the class will be tough. You will have to study but he will be there for you if and when you need him. GO TO OFFICE HOURS. Get to know him and he is awesome. He is 100% the best professor I have ever had.

Merkler's tests are extremely difficult to most! He wants you to expand your learning to over all benefit with your future career. By taking this class, you will in turn be more knowledgeable than any other biochem student at most universities because he makes you study well beyond the topics even provided in any general biochemistry textbooks.

Taking Dr. Merkler's class, you'll definitely learn biochem, but you'll struggle to do well. His tests are tough, as he expects his students to know more than terms/definitions and actually apply their knowledge. While this isn't a bad thing, it can still be very annoying. Even so, he's a great lecturer, even if he does go off on a lot of tangents.

Pros: He's very nice, & has a 'decent' curve. Cons: His exams were extremely hard because of all the minor details he asked. His PP slides sucked (paragraphs) & he rambles and veers away to talk about his research (SHOWS UP ON AN EXAMS). Struggled throughout the class, wish I would have taken anyone else. The class is doable, just use the book.

Biochemistry is a tough subject but a crucial one for the MCAT. Dr. Merkler prepared me well for it. He is definitely a difficult professor b/c he is BIG on critical thinking. However, if you are planning on pursuing medical school I highly recommend taking him. He preps you hard for the MCAT and explemifies the material with medical relevance.

I took him in Italy and he was an amazing professor! It is obvious that he is very knowledgeable in his field (which leads to a bit of sidetracking during lecture) However he cares about his students and gives plenty of extra credit especially on tests. Great professor, i would take him again.

10/10 recommend taking biochem in italy. Definitely was challenged but it was so rewarding. Prof. Merkler is extremely personable, caring, and fair. Biochem, however, was (in my opinion) harder than orgo 2 considering this was a 6 week class. Just be prepared to work hard. This was an experience ill always remember.

Biochem is HARD, no matter who you take it with. Merkler is actually a decent prof, but you will need to work hard to do well. If you're taking BCH 4034, it's a lot harder than BCH 4033 imo. Be prepared for a lot of cold memorization.

You will do well on the MCAT if you do well in this class.

Dr. Merkler is truly a great professor. You will have to work for your grade in this class but if you ever plan to go to grad school this is the class to take. If you read the chapters in the book and keep up with the studying, his class isn't that difficult to pass. The only thing is he does give pop quizzes so make sure to know all the material

Dr. Merkler is one of the best professors that I have ever had. He was so knowledgeable and truly wanted to make sure his students knew biochemistry. On multiple occasions, he would stay after class to answer questions and make sure his students truly understood the material. He really cares about ALL of his students. Take his class if you can.

He's not an easy prof but he is a good lecturer and really cares about his students. You just have to ask for help if you need it and not be afraid of him. He will prepare you vary well for the MCAT as his questions require good knowledge of the material and critical thinking skills .

Im confident I thoroughly learned biochemistry with Merkler. You need to study efficiently and consistently. Exams take a lot of critical thinking & prepare you for higher ed. My tip is to go to class, review his ppt slides, and ESPECIALLY do the textbook practice (helps build critical thinking skills!) If you do the work, you will do great.

Dr. Merkler is truly a great professor. He is very knowledgeable on the topic, particularly Biochemistry. If you put in the effort, and ***go to class*** the course is passable. Honestly, if you ***go to class*** you will have an easier time with the tests, and you will get plenty of insight into how the material fits together in the bigger scheme.

I took him for lab sure it was hard but like most of the lab class at usf is hard so. All you have to worry about is the exam but most of his question from the exam is a reuse exam question if you have practice the old exam he gave you it should be an easy A since the postlab/prelab quiz is easy.

It's a hard class, so then people blame the teacher but I think he's reasonable and the tests are heavily conserved with the past exams he posts. Study the powerpoints, do the practice exams and you'll definitely do well. 3 exams (100pts each), 1 final(160 pts), no drops, 4 quizzes (10pts each). Offers between 10-20% extra credit on each exam/final

Dr. Merkler genuinely cares about students succeeding, which means he doesn't "dumb down" concepts just to get you a better exam score. He expects you to recall information from other classes and actually learn classes instead of memorizing them. The exams aren't unfair, and aren't notably difficult if you go to the lectures.

His class is really hard, but is very knowledgeable about biochemistry. The exams are the hardest exams for any science class I have taken, but they are pretty fair and you really have to understand and apply the concepts to do well. He is very helpful to explain concepts though, and can give you a hard time but is a very kind professor overall.

I got the oppurtunity to spend a lot of time in and out of the class with Dr. Merkler. The people you see complaining are the same people that don't show up to class or put in the effort till the day before a test. Is the class hard? Yes. But if you are in class and do the work you'll get a good grade. Dr. Merkler is a good teacher and person

I want to continue on the previous review I posted by emphasizing the laziness of other students when complaining about this class. Everybody that complains about having to come to class or not getting an exam dropped needs a reality check and maybe to rethink what they want to do in life. Most of those students are premed. Yikes.

Dr. Merkler isn't going to make a hard subject easier just to make students like him more. I don't know why anyone is going into biochemistry (or advanced biochem 2?) expecting it to be easy. The exams are beyond fair and he's incredibly accessible for office hours and outside of lecture questions. One of my favorite USF professors overall.

People don't show up to class and then wonder how they didn't get a good grade. The people complaining are usually on their phones if they are even in the class at all. Dr. Merkler clearly cares about his students and that they actually learn the material so they can succeed later, not just get a good grade in the class

This class is going to be hard regardless of teacher. Merkler was very charismatic and made a hard subject manageable. That being said, this class requires a TON of studying outside of class, but Merkler has office hours and welcomes people to stop by with questions. The tests are very difficult but the class is manageable if you put the effort in.

2 bonus questions on every exam, final grades are curved. Lectures go by very quickly and there are some occasional off-tangents, but he does a good job covering what he can overall. Best to study the material yourself again, anyways, since it is a lot. He's a good professor, all things considered, I appreciated him and his humor throughout.

Overall, I enjoyed the lab. They were usually interesting and hands on which made them pretty cool. Dr. Merkler was clear with the grading criteria for the lab reports and quizes so that was helpful. The 2 exams are hard so make sure to study first them.

The course was fair and the material was very interesting. Best TA I have ever had here at USF!