This professor has taught a long time so he has everything down. Do all the Web Exercises(just copy/paste) for easy extra credit. The key to his class is memorization, you have to memorize all the names and structures.

If you followed along and came to every class he rewarded you on the tests and the quizzes. As a lab teacher he was helpful in explaining certain topics.

the lab material itself is not very hard. quizes every week-easy grade just listen to his lecture.

Very kind, fair, and focused, but not necessarily easy. If you show up to class and do the web exercises (extra credit) you shouldn't have any problems. This class really enriched my understanding of the natural world, though I didn't expect to enjoy it. If you just want an easy grade, look elsewhere.

Any student who complains that Lawrey makes you read the book should not be in college. He is a great professor and made class super interesting. And for the record, I work full time, take 18 credits, and still made an A. Pay attention and use his back exams.

hes a good teacher, explains well, and his exams arent too hard, they come right out of the class notes and the sample exams, if u study and go to class ul do well in his class. take him for lab i understood most of the material from there. Oh and get the notes from ur friends who took it b4 and take the old exams too...veryyyyyyyyy helpful

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He thinks that the entire class LOVES botany and that it's easy like 1-2-3 to understand Plant Biology. Straight forward exams like his sample exams but still a lot of information to try and understand.

I had Dr. Lawrey for both 'Plant Biology' and 'Evolution.' I believe he was my best professor. In both classes, his pre-printed out notes were very organized, clear, and helpful. His exams are easy, and they're actually straight from the notes (I never studied the textbooks!). Sure, botany was SO boring, but I studied the notes and got an 'A.'

TAke him, hes not so interesting in class, but exams arent confusin, straight from the notes, the subject itself has alot of info but i cant thnk of a better teacher to take for plant. jst actually put some effort in and study and ul do good

easy A

Study his powerpoint lectures... use the book for picture references only, no need to read it all. Study previous exams if available and make sure to take him for lab as well. At all costs, avoid taking Torzilli for lecture and/or lab. Take lawrey, made the class interesting. Awesome teacher! Easy A!

He is okay...he is very moody sometimes.

If you go to his classes, you will be fine. I think he is a fair teacher and much better than Torzili. yeah, he is moody but sometimes he is really nice as well. He will not ask any type of questions in his exams if he has not talked about it in the class.

great teacher

He's a very boring lecturer. The class is however very easy. I got a C but that was mainly my fault. idk why other people say he's hateful. I asked him to take the final a few days prior to the actual date, and he let me do it in his office... if that's not nice, idk what is. I also went to his lab once, he was excellent at explaining the subject.

he is really nice.. answers all questions and goes over stuff that he thinks is confusing.. (very good review) MuSt go to class! his tests are easy if u r prepared for them .. read read read...don't take him for lab.

As long as you study, you're good....attend your classes, read and do his example tests his posts up online....

Very easy to understand with lectures. Tests come straight from slides. If you complain enough, he'll give you the slides. Easiest professor in bio so far.

Never ask him what you have to know for a test/quiz or he will explode on you! haha ;) Overall, a good professor.. very clear.

Excellent professor. Explain everything well. 4 exams come straight from the lecture notes and slides. The final exam is not cummulative. If you can, take lab with him and he can help you learn the material from his lab. STRONGLY recommend.

Very interesting topic, not very technical. Exams are not difficult if you go to class. Multiple choice is straight from the notes, but you must clearly understand theories and how to use them for the essays. Fun poster project which is an easy A. He does get frustrated with stupid questions and poor writing, but he's willing to help if you ask.

He is by far the best biology teacher at mason. He is easy to comprehend, exams are straight from his notes...Easy A if you take some time to study!! Take him for lab also! HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

My rating is below, i'm just correcting my smily face!

This guy is a great teacher until it comes to the test day. Then he gets a PMS attack and will make you feel stupid if you ask any questions. He also gives the "my-class-won't-get-any-easier-so learn-to-study-harder" speech after every test. The class isn't hard but he could be more approachable.

Professor Lawrey is very intelligent professor that being said he expects you to also have a grip over the information. If you ask him a question from the material you are covering that day he will definately help and provide crystal, clear, sharp answers. BUT if you ask him questions concerning previous lectures he will give a I DONT CARE look.

I had this professor sometime around 1999 for a couple of classes, and I remember him as a great teacher and being very helpful. He expects you to come to class prepared and ready to learn. If you want an easy A, he's not the guy to give them, but if you put in the work that's expected of you, you'll do fine.

You REALLY need to study the material and know it well in order to get a good grade. The exams seem to be a little tricky and that is why you need to know the material well! His lectures are clear, but doesn't curve exams and you basically get what you get.

The people on here saying that he's so hard are obviously not ready for college. The tests are extremely easy if you ATTEND CLASS and pay attention. He's one of the best lecturers at Mason; take advantage of that! He can be a bit abrasive and doesn't curve, but you will learn a lot. I got an A with little studying, but never missed class.

I don't know where all the bad complaints come from. I never listened to his lectures, I just read the text and got an A in the class. If you take the time to study the material, the tests are easy. He doesn't try to trick you. Take him for lab also since it will give you a better idea of what he puts on his tests.

Took Plant and Evolution with him. Really good prof. Is a bit moody but it's amusing when it's not directed to you. Don't take it personally. Use the notes and read from text. Tests are consistent with lecture so going to class is recommended! Got A's in both classes. Not as hard as some may say.

The class was awesome. I learned more in Dr. Lawrey's evolution class than I did in all of my other classes combined for the semester. I'd say it is definitely worth your while to take this class.

I am an A student but this plant class was tough. Old exams!

He is very sweet and he says everything that will be on the exam. His exams were very easy if you go to class every time and if you study the PowerPoint slides. The textbook wasn't greatly necessary to get an A in the class. He is easier than Dr Weeks. Highly recommended!

Prof. Lawrey is so nice. He is so helpful. I don't undersdtand what's up with the bad reviews. This class is extremely hard but if you can pass this class with an A/B you can pass every class at mason. I took this class over the summer and had to basically memorize 15 chapters and still ended up getting an A.

Had him for lab. I liked him, was a nice guy and was clear. He was very good with questions and very approachable, not overtly serious. His quizzes were fair and involved a bit of studying. The only con was he had high standards on two assignments to collect photos. wasn't helpful on it and hard to know what he wanted. still did ok tho, recomended

Had Dr. Lawrey for lab. I learned more in his lab than in Birchard's lecture. Really nice guy. He does have high expectation for the DIC and his quizes can be challenging, but do well in lab and it will help your lecture grade. Don't wait till the last second to collect images and make sure you edit them at home.

Dr.Lawrey is a very nice professor and a very nice lecturer. The material requires understanding and if you truly understand the material, the exams are a piece of cake. You don't need to read the book, you don't even need to memorize the slides inside and out. Just get the big overall picture of everything and you will be good.

Had him for lab. Quizzes and DIC projects are hard. Your quiz grades will keep you from getting an A unless you really study for each one. Ppl frequently avg 5 or 610 on quizzes. That said he is very nice, approachable and helpful when asked. I really liked his personality, it's just hard to get an A cus of the quizzes.

Review all the questions he asks in class and old exams. Draw the trees for 310 including why each branch is different. Pay attention to lectures. He quizzes well for exams and gives meaning to words with root terms. Great Prof!

I took this over the summer and there is a lot of information to memorize, but if you keep up with the work and draw the trees (as others have said), you'll be fine.

He will make you work very hard, but you'll learn a tremendous amount. His lectures are interesting and engaging. I had him for lab as well and recommend him - you'll learn just as much from casual conversation with him He can be a little abrasive if you catch him off-guard, but don't let it fool you. He's a very nice guy.

Dr. Lawry is your best bet at an A in Biodiversity. He isn't difficult, it's just that Biodiversity as a class itself covers SO many materials. There's a lot of things to memorize but this class is doable if you thoroughly study his slides and do the quiz questions on his slides. Make sure you draw the tree and understand the overall big picture.

His lectures are very informative and he includes videos, etc. in his presentations. However, he can sometimes be unreceptive to questions. It is a difficult class by nature, but he also tends to use a lot of trick question.

This was the hardest A I've ever had to work for (& this includes getting an A in both orgo chem and biochemistry). You really have to work for it if you want an A. DRAW THE TREE FOR EVERY EXAM. Thoroughly go over the slides AND the lab materials bc they go hand in hand. He curved my class by 1% at the very end. Exams avg. never go lower than 72%

This course is difficult by itself. It needs a lot of memorization and having good or bad prof cannot help you in this class. I have good memorization skills so this class was easier for me than gen chem. The good point about him is that he will provide you with his power points and you don't need to read the textbook.

Fascinating material, boring presentation. It's unfortunate that the professor has such a soft monotone, because he genuinely cares and imparts valuable info. He incorporates sample questions into his lectures, which are helpful, and basically tells you how best to study. The tests have some tricky questions, but if you memorize well you're fine.

This class is just a lot of memorization. I took biodiversity with Dr. Lawrey over the summer. He is a nice guy and pretty laid back. A lot of the work is put in at home and you won't do well unless you put the time in at home.

Dr. Lawrey always has a mean face, but he is one of the sweetest professors I have ever seen. He makes you work hard for a good grade because his lectures are amazing and he knows a lot. I didn't study much so my grade was not that great. Do not take A &P if you're taking this class.

Dr. Lawrey was very nice and his exams were actually very easy if you know some one with practice exams or go online and find them and review yourself and draw the tree and be able to recite it without looking at it. For lab he was very lenient as well, nice professor. Not a stressful class

I enjoyed his lab because he was laid-back and wasn't a harsh grader. Quizzes came from slides and from recitation activities. Make sure to study pictures and microscope slides for practicals.

Dr. Lawrey is a very nice professor! If you have previous practice exams, then use them! They're very helpful! Grade is based on three exams total, and he gives you one makeup exam to replace one of the first two exams! I recommend him as your biodiversity teacher!

Boring lectures, easy exams and labs. Hes a nice guy and loves the topics. He grades you by 3 exams so just memorize the tree and study hard. Its doable.

This course is based on memorizing a lot of things and the tree. To pass his exams, draw the tree while studying as much as you can. Review your notes as much as possible. But quizzes are open notes and easy. Doesn't give study guides but he holds review sessions with practice questions to study with. Attend these reviews, it'll you help a lot.

This class is tough, but he's the most knowledgeable professor you'll have and really wants you to succeed. Quizlet is your best friend and make sure you draw trees over and over again to learn them. Attend his reviews because his exams follow the same format, and are very reasonable. Open note quizzes are easy.

His teaching style is not bad. He hold a review session after each chapter which helped a lot in studying. Quizzes (10%) were okay. 3 exams(30% each) were hard and you have to memorize mostly everything from the slides in order to do well. He will curve if the average of lecture+lab is lower than 75% but dont rely on that and study hard.

This is a pretty tough class, but Professor Lawrey does a good job of preparing you for tests. I would definitely recommend going to his review sessions. He lets you know which information to focus on. His lectures are a bit dry, but he is eager to help anyone who has questions and he is super knowledgeable. I would take him again!

Yeah he might not be that nice but the exams reflect his ppts and weekly quiz questions. Make a question bank with every practice question and weekly quiz question and you should get an A in this class

The content in this class can be a bit overwhelming but as long as you take good notes, watch lectures, and NOT procrastinate, you should do well. Dr. Lawrey holds review sessions every lecture and the practice questions at the end are helpful for quizzes and exams as they are of similar format.

Dr. Lawrey was an amazing professor that was extremely straightforward in his exams. He provided us with old test questions in his review sessions that were on our exams. There were also some questions from the quiz that was also on our exam. If you take good notes, watch the lectures, and go to the review sessions you will do fine

Exams are very fair, but they are super heavy in content so be sure to keep up with lectures and review sessions.

So Dr.Lawrey is very knowledgeable, his lectures can get boring, because he has a monotoned voice, however he is very nice. Overview his Powerpoint and pdfs, and attended the review session and you should be good. If you get a 90% he will give you an A so just try your best. It is a lot of memorization, but same about as other 300 biology courses.