Dr. Polayes is the best. Yes she gets mixed up every now and then, but who doesn't? She made the lab very easy for me and a lot of other students in my class. She helps us whenever she sees us struggling.

Dr. Polayes is a very good teacher. She makes the subject very clear and she has an interesting sense of humor. I would recommend her, even if its 8:30 in the morning!

Dr polayes is so much fun and so is micro lab. I would recommend taking her for microbio lab. Her quizzes are easy and come straight from the lab manual.

Dr. Polayes makes herself available to students for any additional questions. Her lectures are verbatum of lecture notes found online. She grades generously, but the exams are hard. The final was a killer.

Prof Polayes is a pretty good professor. I think her exams are very fair--the answers come right from the book in almost all cases. Biochem is going to be extremely tough no matter who you take it with, but her exams are atleast manageable.

Yes, the tests are hard, but all genetics tests will be hard. She has clear and understandable lectures and lectures on what she tests on. Very nice and very helpful with anything you need, if you pay attention you will do well!

This is a new course and a very good one. Dr. Polayes teaches "real world" microbial genetic techniques and is excellent in getting the material across in a understandable way. The lab is alot of fun and very interesting. As usual her tests can be hard but she is a generous grader if you are close to the actual answer.Take it with her if interested

She gives you notes through Webct, and leaves blanks so you have to go to class. She's pretty interesting and explains things well. The exams are hard, but very manageable as long as you study. Many of the questions are common sense if you know what you're doing. I would recommend her. She gives credit for trying too!

The teacher is awesome! Granted, her exams her a bit tough, but as long as you study, you're set. She has a sense of humor and makes the lectures interesting. She's also, by far, one of the best lab teachers ever. I recommend this class WITH this professor.

Talks too fast, goes fast through her slides. You couldn't keep up with her lecturing since you had to fill in the blanks on the slides you print out. Moreover it was a detailed review of cell bio. Lost interest after her hard fill in exams (esp. final!).No MC Questions. Her exams are nothing like the sample ones. Gives partial credit.

Dr. Polayes is awesome! She uses lots of fun anecdotes in her lectures and is always happy to see students come to her office hours to ask questions. Even though her tests are very difficult, she grades very generously.

tough class. soo much to learn. great professor very understanding.

her exams were very hard. but she is very helpful if you need help with something. if you take her study your ass off.

I had her for genetics lab. She's very friendly and helpful. Her exams can be tricky, but not impossible. It's hard to tell what she's going to put on them. Lab reports were not difficult, but it's also hard to tell what exactly she wants. Just put everything you know. Overall, not bad.

good teacher. takes her time to explane everything and make ure you undrestand it.

I only had micor lab with her. She is a very nice person,knowledgeable, and explains things thoroughly. She expects that you have read the ex before coming to class. if you attend all the labs, do well in quizzes and assignments you can get a B+. extra work needed to get an A.

She is a great and very helpfull professor. Yes her exams and quizes are very hard but come on! If you do not study, put in the effort,expect an easy grade in the 3,4,5 Level BiO classes than I do not think BIO is the class you should be taking. She tries her best at teaching and helping students. Definately one of the most friendly and helpful.

This Professor is very knowledgeable, friendly and extremely helpful. She will help you during her office hours and even other hours. I must say her exams are hard but she provides study guides that are pretty much a clear crystal guide to studying for exams. If you study her study guides thoroughly it is guranteed that you will do well on her exam

Dr Polayes is awesome! She ius definately the best professor at George Mason University, If any student says that she is terrible at teaching, grading or that she is extremely hard and tests out of unknown material they are literally out of their MIND! I can tell you that a lot of students prefer taking classes with her! shes great!

I don't agree with the other comments. I found her a really awesome teacher, knows what shes talking about, and doesn't make you fall asleep in class! Really helpful outside of class, and sweeet. If you can answer all the questions on her study guides, you'll do fine for the exams

An A is hard 2 get. I heard Prof. Madden is easier. I worked so hard 2 get a B. The study guides are 20-30 questions per chapter & the final study guide was 169 ?s. GO TO CLASS, she gives out extra credit sometimes. All multiple choice tests. She drops 1 test. She likes tricky questions. Quizzes only add to your grade, they never take away from it.

I don't understand what all the negative comments are about. Dr. Polayes is a pretty helpful professor. To get a B in her class is pretty straight forward does not require too much work. However to get an A you have to work really hard. Her exams are summary and straight forward. she gives you a study guide which she takes all her questions from.

Dr. Polayes is a very nice teacher. I was able to get an A in this class. I really liked the class. You do need to use all your resources for this class and it is really possible to get an A. Make sure you get a new textbook so you have the code. She takes questions from the book online. Review the notes she puts up and make sure to read the book!

Dr.Polayes is one of the most energetic teacher I've ever taken. Excellent professor. She's always there to help you clarify any misconceptions. Her exams are hard though. Her study guides are extremely helpful. I also had her for lab and she was amazing. Always got out earlier. You have to put in a lot of effort to get an A in her class.

Dr. Polayes is a great teacher, it's a 400 level course so you have to put in the work to get the A. She does teach a lot through the text figures so you will probably need to read the book to fully understand the material. The lab was also very interesting, overall I highly recommend this class and Dr. Polayes!

Dr. P is the best professor on campus! She is super nice and helpful. She is of the few teachers that cares about her students. Her exams are comprehensive but her study guides tell you what to focus on. Put in some effort and you will do well, and enjoy it!

Great instructor, tough class to take over summer. Requires a lot of studying. There are 4 exams. Each exam contains 10 MC questions and 16 or 18 short answer. Luckily we got the whole 3 hr class period to take the exams. There are 8 MC pop quiz questions given randomly throughout the 5 wk course which counts towards 4% of overall grade in class.

I LOVE HER!! I had her for Lab and she is awesome. So much fun to have as a lab instructor and you never get bored. Take her class its awesome!!!!!!!

Dr. Polayes is the smartest professor I know of! She cares about her students a lot. The thing is with her classes, you have to study your butt OFF. It's not hard, but it is do-able. Awesome adviser!!!!

Dr. Polayes is probably the best when it comes to biochemistry. I recommend recording her lectures because no one can digest the content in one lecture. Relisten to each lecture and focus on the topics she drilled in lecture. Aside from the lecture, she was very approachable if you had questions. She would give you better replies thank the book!!

Dr. Polayes is an amazing professor. She is extremely knowledgeable, and gets through an incredible amount of material quickly, in great detail. She's accessible by office hours and email. The material is challenging and doing well requires a lot of work, but it's worth it. This was my favorite class this semester.

Very knowledgeable and you must go to class or you are doomed in my opinion.

Dr. Polayes is super nice, she makes you work but if you study you will do well. I highly suggest taking her classes!

This is upper level biology. There is a lot of occasionally difficult information to learn, but if you do the homework, keep up with the reading, and really make sure that you understand the big concepts, you will do OK.

Dr. Polayes is very fun and energetic. She helps you through the course if you ask for it. I can tell you that her exams are very hard and you need to really know everything by heart and she is a hard grader but she will help you a lot. I would recommend her :)

There were a total of 4 exams and the 4th one was not cumulative (which is great). Dr Polayes talked REALLY fast and sometimes hard to keep up with, but as long as you record her lectures and read the textbook you should be fine. She doesn't give extra credit on exams nor does she curve, but gives out class questions that boost your grade!

She is very straight forward, you MUST go to class and take notes on what she says during her lectures because that is what she will test you on! If you can keep up in class (she speaks very fast) and study the powerpoints you will do fine. She makes the class enjoyable because she actually likes the material she is teaching! TAKE IT WITH HER!!

The course material is challenging. However, she is a good teacher. To make sure you get the most out of her lecture you should skim through her notes before class and then match up the abridged material in her notes with the full material in the text book. If you read before class, you'll be fine. If you don't read, you'll be lost.

She's not terrible. Tests are tough, but it is a 483 level class... So expect to put in some hours in this class. Start studying a week or so before each exam and you can probably expect a B or so. Not a good lecturer, mumbles a lot and sometimes gets mixed up. She smart, but annoying lol Slept in literally every class which is probably why no A

Class is a decent amount of work - there is a substantial amount of information on every exam. To get a good grade, I Recommend always going to lecture (even though it's long!), attending the LA review sessions, and doing the practice exams/review questions. DO NOT READ THE BOOK. Overall, Polayes is a great professor and made the class enjoyable.

Dr. Polayes gives you information with a firehose, and it is all good. Read the book. It does help. Work with classmates. Study early, ask questions early. Late questions or questions right before the exam may not get the same attention due to time constraints. Loved having her for a prof.

Polayes is a great lecturer. She goes through all of the testable material thoroughly, and doesn't give any surprise Q on exams. She also gives out many easy"mini" assignments throughout the semester that make 20% of your grade. This helps make the class not so test heavy. Only downside to her class is she taught at 4:30PM-and I don't do afternoons

She is a wonderful lecturer. She answers all questions during lecture and makes many good analogies on the different mechanisms. Only advice: Beware of her study guides. They didn't really help, if anything they hindered my studying in my opinion. Focus on the slides, and if you don't understand something ask or look it up in the book.

Wonderful Lecturer. Answers all questions. i disagree with other posters. I liked the study guide. Some of the questions on free response came straight from the study guide. however Slides are KEY to doing well. I got 95.5, 76, then 96 on her 3 exams. I spoke with after class. All of the in class assignments are EXTRA CREDIT. So? Go to class!

Dr. Polayes is a great professor. Her lecture style took some getting used to, but when you realize that the stories she tells you in class really help you remember the material, you'll thank her. She makes you earn your grade in the class, but the class is so interesting that you'll want to read the textbook (that's what i did). I loved this class

Dr. P is an amazing professor. She knows her stuff and is very enthusiastic about the material which made the class so enjoyable. This is a 400 level class, so its going to be difficult (if you want an easy A don't take Biochem with her or any other professor). Her exams reflect the lectures. By far one of the best Proffs at GMU.

Amazing professor. She made me love biochem. Her stories make everything easy to remember. I wouldn't take this class with anyone else.

Dr. P is by far one of the best professors I have ever had if not the best. Her class is by no means easy, so if that's what you're expecting don't take the class. She is pretty funny, very enthusiastic and helpful outside of class as well. You have to attend every lecture if you hope to do well. If you want to actually learn Biochem, take her.

Textbook is a must purchase. Lectures are okay but you need to review. Textbook was golden goose. Really well written textbook. Exams were very difficult and this class I had to study the most.(took biochem 2, immunology, and Pchem at same time). She does curve, I got a low A- and she bumped me up. Put the effort in, get rewarded.

Polayes is pretty interesting during lectures and she's very caring. She gives out a couple homework assignments and has random pop quizzes during class (So go to class) , which is great because it gives you a chance to improve your grade. Her tests are tough though, so please study.

She is one of the best professors at GMU. She is so passionate about what she teaches that it's contagious. LAZY PEOPLE beware she actually makes you work for your grade. This is biochem, you put in the effort and you get the grade you deserve. Her exams are hard but very predictable. Overall amazing. If you want to learn take it with Dr. Polayes.

One fo the best professor on Mason. She really makes you work hard for the grade. She tends to speed through ppts., but iI really enjoyed it because it wasnt a boring class. Really nice and approachable. Really helps during office hours. Overall a really good Proff.

Not very sure why everyone is bashing her, studied weeks before and still did well on exams, just study her PowerPoints in depth, you'll do well .. oh and it's Biochemistry what did you expect?

Biochem is not an easy class. Make sure you have a good grasp on organic chem I, otherwise you will struggle. You go through so much information during lecture that many things slip through the cracks. The textbook was good at reexplaining content from class. Dr. Polayes is a good professor, but she goes through the lecture pretty fast.

Wonderful professor. She goes in depth of the material which is great because when you take upper level microbiology classes or virology the subject becomes very easy. I would recommend her to anyone who is interested in learning the subject. I would recommend the textbook and watching youtube videos. also her mini assignments and study guide help

This isnt a hard class as most students say it is. If you show up to class, take notes of what she is saying in class, do the study guide/mini assignments you should be fine. She goes very in depth, is accessible after class during office hours and is very helpful. Wish she taught most of my classes. watch youtube videos they help :)

Professor Polayes is a solid choice for Microbiology. She doesn't just base your grade off of tests as I've experienced in other Biology lectures; she gives out worksheets and small essays to help boost your grade throughout the semester. She can also be pretty entertaining at times. I don't regret taking her.

As long as you study the PowerPoints super well and can answer the questions from the study guide, youll get an A. Only went to class for the mini questions you get grades on

I understand why Dr. Polayes is polarizing, but I thought she was outstanding. She zooms through material so it is hard to keep up and her exams are hard, but her lectures were enrapturing and some of the best at Mason. She was very passionate about biology. Her class has helped me in my high level courses immensely. Hope I can take her again.

Biochemistry is a tough class, lots of information to remember but Dr. Polayes knows her stuff and is a great professor. Test are really hard but based of big picture information. She's a really fast talker so be prepared to listen and follow. Test are half multiple choice and half open answer. If you want to learn, take her, but it'll be hard.

Dr. Polayes is amazing! As long as you come to every lecture, take plenty of notes and do the quizzes, youll be fine! Didnt use the textbook at all and still ended up with a good grade. She really wont ask you about anything she didnt cover in lecture. And come to her office hours she will help you! Really enjoyed this class and the lab.

An amazing professor! Her lectures are interesting and so are her exams (who would want a test asking for definitions and to list stuff?) Memorizing alone won't help, you need to understand the material in order to answer her questions. She is very caring too, she wants you to do well, so go to her office hours! I really enjoyed the labs too

I was really scared to take this class but once you do it, you realize it wasn't that bad. You're graded on 4 exams and 12% from easy in class assignments. I recommend recording the lectures and printing out the notes. The second half of the semester online wasn't bad at all, she's accessible for office hours and the exams turned into miniquizzes.

I took Dr. Polayes for both biochmeistry I and microbiology. I felt it was easier to succeed in biochemistry though she is rather difficult for either course. Test questions are very specific and some of the information is not from the slideshows, so be careful. She is very knowledgable about the subject and gives good lectures.

Attend and pay attention to her lectures. Take note on everything she says in lecture. She is nice and willing to help.

Her tests will have some questions that was ONLY covered in her lectures. Take notes on EVERYTHING she says in her lectures, read the book and take notes, and memorize. That's how I passed the exams.

She is the best. Very genuine professor. She is very passionate about microbiology and biochem. Her lectures are interesting. As long as you turn in her assignments and listen to her lectures, you will do fine.

The lectures are engaging and so interesting. She's very smart and hilarious. Take notes and you'll be completely fine even without going to the optional review sessions. No lockdown browser, drops the lowest quiz grade.

First, biochem is a hard class. There was so much info to take in. She tries to explain it in a way that you will understand BUT because all the info it's so easy to get lost in the material. Her exams are based on applying what you learned (fill in blank/short answer). Most of the class did well but man we had to work for it.

First & foremost, there is NO CURVE. Do NOT rely on a make-believe curve. Attend both live sessions each week to understand the material better. Exams are timed, open notes, and no backtracking. Exams are MCQ, T/F, free response, fill in the blank, etc. Exams were fair, but the final was quite difficult so make sure you study the most for that one.

Dr. Polayes is a fantastic choice for biochemistry. This class is HARD no matter who you take. She conveys the material in a way thats easily absorbable, and her tests will challenge you (but theyre fair). Really nice, caring person that clearly loves what she does. Exams are bulk of the grade, but if you study hard, an A is achievable.

Dr. Polayes Microbial Diversity is incredibly interesting. She gives the study guide with all the exam questions ahead of time, and picks a few for us to answer. All short answer, in person. The Lab can be tricky for this class, and she can get annoyed if you dont come prepared. If you do the work, youll be fine though!