Worst professor ever! Hes disorganized and confusing. Makes the class harder than it should be. Awful TA. The assistant TA, Juan, was excellent! I got an A in 300L but ended getting a C in 303L because I quickly lost interest in the class because of Rivera. He refused to give me extended time for the final exam, for which I qualified. Awful person

His exams are not relevant to the material. His exams are a combination of multiple choice questions, free response, T/F. I didn't enjoy his class at all. I lost interest in the material. Sometimes he would come to class exhausted not really willing to teach. He has attitude and doesn't really teach the material. His homework is irrelevant to class

Do not take this class with this "professor" if you can. He is one of the worst lecturers I have had at UMBC. He loves to hear himself talk and show the class how "smart" he is. He talks really fast and doesn't clarify himself when you ask a question. He says you just should have paid attention. Sorry. I can't pay attention when you are rambling.

Good luck taking this class with this guy. While the subject matter is interesting to me, the way the professor teaches is for lack of a better word... "schizophrenic." His lectures are all over the place, he talks too fast, and his course structure is disorganized. He loves to hear himself talk. This course is tough and exams are tedious.

Lectures were pointless because he lectured too fast and read off slides. Only went to lectures because he started asking questions in discussion quizzes about specific things in lecture when he noticed attendance dropping. Didn't reply to emails. Mistakes every exams. Pointless poster project with little direction. Lack of respect for students.

BIOL 430 in Fall with Rivera is strongly not recommended. I have 3.74 GPA but got C in his class. No clear grading. No clear syllabus. Always off track on teaching.

No clear slides. Gives exam 1 grades a day before exam 2 and exam 2 grades a day before exam 3, so that people don't know what to study. Average grade was around 60s. No clear grading rubric on free response. Deducts points even if you gave clear answer, because HE IS THE FINAL AUTHORITY. Late to his office hours on a regular basis. PLEASE AVOID.

worst professor at UMBC. avoid him at all costs. Pretty sure the only good reviews on here are most likely written by himself. There is no way anybody gave this guy 5 stars.

Worst professor at UMBC. No idea why UMBC would hire him. If you have an EXCUSED absence with documented proof, you aren't allowed to make up the weekly quiz (20pt) -you will receive a zero on it. He doesn't reply to emails, is incredibly rude to students, and is the most conceded man i've ever met - "my word is final even if i'm wrong" kinda guy.

Professor Rivera-Guzman does not teach well. He tries to show off his "genius" by talking really fast and chastising you if you ask "dumb" questions. No question is dumb. We are trying to learn here. He is incredibly arrogant and a difficult grader. His students at his previous school (Wagner College) have left similar comments about him as well.

Avoid taking with Dr. Guzman and only take it if you can afford to spend 80% of your studying time on this class. Do quizzes in groups. Make sure your discussion group absolutely rocks the poster proj (10% of your grade). Exams are HARD and basically need you to memorize every word in the textbook. Cell bio is hard, but Guzman makes it worse.

Read the book and memorize every number and example given because exams will have random things mentioned once u wont remember. Exam averages were 58-60 range. Studying for final atm and no clue what to study, no guide given, told there will be excerpts from scientific articles that we dont get before the exam and asked to read and apply knowledge

Javier is the worst biology professor at UMBC. He explained each topic in the simplest way possible and most it was basic knowledge attained from general bio courses. His exams were impossible. None of his questions are clear and when you ask him to explain, he is dismissive. There were often errors in his grammar and he put irrelevant passages.

This course at UMBC was not taught well by this professor. He was dismissive of students concerns on the vague tests that required very specific answers to tricky questions. He loves to ramble and talk and doesnt like it when students ask questions. He said our questions were dumb or that we were not paying attention. We are here to learn.

The worst professor at UMBC. He gives no clear guidelines on what exams will entail, he just says "read the textbook." His exam questions are not conceptual based like in genetics, but entail memorizing every detail in the textbook and every word he says in lecture. He takes days to post lecture slides after class and is very disorganized.

This class makes me want to change my major entirely, I would rather take organic chemistry over and over again than to take this class even one more time

Do not take this class under any circumstances if you want to keep a good GPA. He can not clarify the topics, and he is super rude when you reach out to him for help he will only make you feel stupid.

My advice is to take this class with any other professor. Absolutely horrendous. The professor is not very organized, therefore the lecture slides, lecture, project, and even discussion classes are not organized. It took 3+ weeks for the tests to be graded and updated. The class average for test grades was 59% (out of 200+ people). Avoid him!

Do not recommend. Not helpful in lecture, or outside of class. Exams are based on powerpoints (fyi) but the exam questions are like a riddle- it does not test my bio knowledge but more so my English vocabulary. Each exams have averaged out to 60% in a class of 200+ students. If you're taking his class, study the powerpoints not the book! Good luck!

Lectures suck!! Make sure you really read the book otherwise it will be impossible to pass

He is one of the most vague professor I have ever had at UMBC but expects a lot out of your writing assignments. Extremely unfair when assigns group project so pray that you get good ones or your grade suffers. He has zero empathy tho always asks for it from his student but never reciprocates it. Be ready to write well according to his exact style!

Dr. Rivera-Guzman explains assignments and presents rubrics, but then seems to grade using a different set of criteria. Sending emails for clarification is useless as he rarely responds. I sent a total of 5 emails asking questions about assignments and only received a response to one. I definitely do not recommend taking a class taught by him.

You would think he's a nice person in class but outside of class he doesn't care about you. He ignores all of your emails and has absolutely no sympathy. He tells you to reach out if you have any concerns or need any help but intentionally ignores you if you do and is rude. He's a mediocre professor at best and he doesn't care about his students.

Lectures were very poor, didn't provide additional or basic information. He really cares about the part of word ("what does intra mean" dude it's a level 400 class) vs real content. Course was more how to write an essay according to his specifications, with some immunology sprinkled in, but you still need to know so much from the dense textbook.

I'm telling you to take it at a community college if he's the only option you have. Quite vague and doesn't specify anything, especially what you need to study for on his quizzes. So get ready to study the Labs, Manuel & all his videos ***WORD TO WORD*** to only get a B. The Lab/Lab Reports (7+ pages) was the "easiest" because he didn't make them.

Terrible professor. Unclear and bipolar at times. Take this class with someone else. it'll save you some sleepless night.

Take this course somewhere else. The quizzes are so random, and the wording on the questions are so confusing. The lab simulations take a few hours to do, and the reports are treacherous. Be prepared to write 10+ pages for lab reports. His lectures and quizzes don't match up, and doesn't apply to emails.

If you care about your health, DON'T take his class. The TAs grade your lab report, but don't give helpful feedback that will help you improve your next one. Since he doesn't grade the lab report you can't ask him specific questions about it. He also asks the most specific questions on quizzes. Many are things he BRIEFLY mentions in the lecture.

Final exam and quizzes dont make sense. Nothing correlates to things learned in lecture and lab lead-ins. Doesnt explain things properly yet expects so much from students. Take the class with someone else!

Don't take a class with this professor. Although he seems nice, his tests are crazy hard and too specific. He'll throw so much info at you and only add the small details from a lecture to an exam or quiz. Annoying. Go keep it microbiological at another university, Professor Guzman.

This is the worst professor I have ever had. Professor Guzman is absolutely horrible. If you take this class be prepared to write at least 10 pages, single spaced every week. The quizzes are impossible to take and it seems like this class is designed to make you fail, not succeed. Do not take this class if you can help it.

I am sorry but Dr. Guzmans class was the hardest class I have ever taken. I have never struggled with classes at umbc and this class was hard. He had no sympathy and was the most unorganized professor. His lectures are all over the place and his exams were hard. He expected so much out of his students and also his exams are CAMERA proctored

This was a 2 credit class yet the hardest class I've ever taken. He is unorganized, not clear, and seems as if he does not care for his students. Lab reports take hours to do and would not be graded until 3 weeks later. Quizzes and exams were incredibly difficult and did not fully reflect what we learned. DO NOT TAKE THIS CLASS WITH HIM!

Dr. Guzman is without a doubt the worst professor Ive ever had at UMBC. If youre reading these reviews and thinking, it possibly cant be THIS bad it is. It is THIS bad. It doesnt matter how smart you think you are or how strong your work ethic is, he WILL put you through hell. Take 303L in the spring and save yourself from mental anguish.

Very horrible. Please if you are reading this, save yourself. He will throw so much information at you and only test you on select items. So unorganized and unclear. Don't be like me. If you are reading these reviews, its because you want to know what you will be getting into-- save yourself.

DO NOT TAKE THIS LAB WITH GUZMAN. He throws tantrums if you make one mistake. Post lab quizzes are lockdown with camera and have questions with the most minute details from one of the several papers and videos you read/watch before lab. The final was all FRQ and full of ridiculous questions. Run away if you can.

If I get the chance to rate him worse than awful, I could. He is the definition of MEAN+WORST professor I ever had in my 4year of college. He thinks he is funny and nice, but he is the OPPOSITE. If you wanna suffer your college time with the most annoying person you can go ahead and sign up. I wish he resigns before abusing more students.

Rude and condescending attitude for feedback on assignments under the guise of trying to be helpful. Disorganized lectures and structure of grading for presentations and FRQs.

Bro if u have him as ur prof... SHOW UP TO LECTURES OR U WILL BE LOST ASF! Also, the quizzes and test content is very specific.

Avoid this professor if you can. He goes way too fast during lectures and doesn't make any time for questions mid-lecture. The grades in this class are only composed of exams and end-of-chapter quizzes. He doesn't respond to emails, makes the exam questions way too specific, and everything feels impossible.

For a two credit course the amount of work required was double a few of my 4 credit classes. The questions given are so detailed for the course and not necessarily needed for a majority of the labs. If you dont want to do crazy amounts of harshly graded work then chose a different lab.

He shows extreme passive-aggressiveness that makes asking questions or help during labs very difficult. This class required us to do more work than a regular 4-credit biology course and the quizzes are all on Lockdown Browser. You should not have to study irrelevant and specific details for a quiz of a lab that you already successfully completed.

Easily the worst lab I've taken in UMBC. We're expected to read through several pages of instructions, watch multiple videos, watch a lecture, take notes on all of those, take a pre lab quiz that asks specific questions to all of that, AND take a closed note post quiz with questions that are based off the former things and requires a camera. AVOID!

For BIOL470: He's passionate no doubt. But he really expected students in a 6 WEEK COURSE to do the amount of a graduate level PROGRAM. He has a massive power trip, gets irritated when no one knows the answer to incredibly advanced topics. Harsh grader, gives way too much work, will condescendingly answer your questions with more questions. AVOID.

Guzman talks really fast and rambles. This makes lecture useless. He doesn't give you a heads up on what the exam is going to be like at all. HW is helpful for conceptualization - but it's not tested. Exams are like a game of memorizing every vocabulary on the slides - 0 comprehension questions.

I would rather have taken the orgo sequence again than deal with this man. His attitude, tone, and demeanor are awful. Avoid him at all costs. After completing the entire Biology sequence, I can confidently say he is the worst professor. He acts like he's being forced to do this. Dr. Legates should have taught this class alone.

Javier teaching was disorganized and unclear, making the material hard to follow. He struggled to explain concepts effectively, His lack of engagement and dismissive responses to questions frustrated the class. Deadlines and grading felt inconsistent, adding to the stress the experience was poor, and I wouldn't recommend taking a class with him.

Guzman's lectures were packed with an insane amount of information. There were tons of misspellings and grammar errors making it hard to understand. He had a very negative attitude and was not accessible outside of class (ignored all my emails). Exams focused on the most hyper acute details from lecture. Worst professor I've had, Avoid at all costs

Not a good professor. Don't take any lecture-based course with him. Terrible experience.

For BIOL 470- Very unclear about expectations around exams/quizzes. Weekly proctored one-chance quizzes tended to nitpick specifics about anything on either of his two packed 35+ slide presentations he uploads AFTER the related lecture. Condescending attitude around questions. "Study guides" for exams were too broad to reflect the questions asked.

This prof is straight-up terrible. His lectures are a complete mess,no structure, no clarity, just pure confusion. I learned nothing, and honestly, I wouldn't wish this class on my worst enemy. If you care about passing, avoid him at all costs. pick literally anyone else if you wanna succeed, waste of time and money.

Does not communicate through email. Quizzes are okay, but weirdly specific. Verbose lectures during lab. We spent an hour going over how to use a microscope. If I put in the (Required) time outside of class prepping for a lab, it should pay off. This is the case with every other lab I've taken in the bio sequence, including organic 1 & 2.

Very disrespectful, cannot keep his cool during lab. Expectations are not made clear for each assignment. Every quiz, report, and homework question is highly specific with no regard for broad or overarching concepts. Class is essentially an eye-spy book, but in quiz format. Honestly embodies everything that makes a bad professor.

DO NOT take this class. ESPECIALLY if you're an allied health major. He is an absolutely horrible professor and will have you change your whole entire trajectory for your future career path. His weekly quizzes have nothing to do with his lectures, and his exams have nothing to do with the text book or lectures. He comes off as very snobby too.

The class was not attendance mandatory however going does help.Your grade is based only on exams and quiz homework's which was very difficult. As passionate of a professor he was, everything was so fast and started to become unclear. Exam wording is horrible. Making me rethink my future as just a 101 class.

Calling him a “professor” is an insult to the name. He is a lazy man and it shows with the only grades being based off of quizzes and exams. Do yourself a favor and take this course with anyone BUT him. You email him he doesn't respond, you go to his office hours, he acts like you're ruining his day. Like a man that is always on a power trip.

What can I say? I have never received a failing grade a day in my life. Nothing is enough for this class. You study, read, tutor and still fail. Do yourself a favor and cheat on the daily quizzes that's the only way you can truly pass.

This professor is a waste of investment. He doesn't respond when you reach out for clarification and gives tests and quizzes with incorrect answers. Textbooks and even ChatGPT say one thing and he says another. He seems not to know what he's doing and is mean and cantankerous. Skip his class if you can.

For the sake of your mental health please take any professor but him. He goes out of his way to make this class DIFFICULT. He is not an educator AT ALL, you walk out of his class teaching yourself the material. Down to him and the TA, no one is helpful. I was point away from a C and he refused to round it up... #thegrinchthatstolechristmas