Knows her stuff, very helpful, although effort is needed to be successful in the class.

Seems easier than it is so pay attention, get the notes and you'll do fine. Don't underestimate the exams though.

She is down to earth and relaxed for the most part. As for what she expects, she hands out a quiz each week and made us write one lab report.

Class was pretty easy and somewhat interesting, but I feel like I didn't really come away from class with much more than what I went in with.

I had her for Bio Lab, and she is pretty good & relaxed. She is young - definitely don't underestimate the little Bio Lab quizzes that you have each week, they tend to be pretty specific and a lot of the time it's easy to end up with a 4/10!!

Ditto the comment on 10/22/08. Class seems really easy, especially if you're an upperclassman taking this to fulfill a gen ed. Just make sure you go to class and take detailed notes, or the exams will kill you. Don't need the book though :)

Prof Cymbola is super nice. Her class is dull at times, but I learned a lot and was interested in the class. Going to class is helpful because you take a lot of notes. She doesn't post powerpoints on blackboard. We had 3 papers and 1 presentation but it's not bad. She doesn't ever take attendance.

As long as you pay attention you will do fine, she is a very nice person and will help if u ask.

Easy, just go to the lectures. Shes also a babe, especially when she wears her purple sweater

Great professor! Really knows her stuff, always very helpful. The majority of the class is based on exam and quiz grades. She only gives 1 assignment out forthe semester, and her tests aren't too bad if you study.

The best professor to have for bio 120 at GV

Just read over the power points and do the reviews and you will be fine on the exams

great prof!

Great professor. Very approachable for both class concept questions and long term major planning. The book is a bite detail oriented but will be a great reference tool for other biology classes. Go to class. Read the book. Study for exams.

Great Professor, I loved her class and learned a lot. Easily my favorite professor thus far at GVSU. Really helpful if you need it, also very knowledgeable

Great proffesor, explains things very well

Cymbola was a great professor! Very easy to understand. Notes were accesible on blackboard and exams were straight from the online notes. If you go to class and sit through lecture you'll do good. She's really good at breaking bio down and answering questions in simple terms.

Professor Cymbola is a great professor. She is such a caring person, and a very nice person genuinely. The class is manageable, everything in power point based. The tests are manageable. Class can be extremely boring, but much of it is due to the material. I recommend Professor Cymbola. Take her!

She is one of the best professors I have ever had. If you just listen to her lectures you will get A's on the tests and she is so nice. She is always willing to help her students, and she really knows what she is talking about.

She was very helpful, I have never understood bio very well but now everythings much clearer to me, She is always prepared for class, she seems to care about her students, the materials a bit boring but she uses good real life examples to make it understandable.

If you're not going to put in the outside work to read the book and notes, then don't take her. Her lectures are really boring and it's easy to zone out and not retain anything. Exams are harder than you anticipate but if you study and come to class you can easily end up in the A/B range.

She's a great teacher. Gives lots of interesting anecdotes related to the lecture, and occasionally even some interesting videos in lecture. Always uses powerpoint, which can be boring. I'm getting over 100% even though I often check facebook during class. Highly recommend this prof.

She's awesome! If you do the review at the end of her powerpoints, you should be fine. She relates to her students and actually cares about them succeeding in her class. I definitely recommend her!

I really liked her as a lecture teacher. It was boring but are any lectures ever fun? No. She knows her stuff. A little challenging at times, but it's college. Take

I had Professor Cymbola for Lab. She wasnt always the clearest but she was always helpful if you needed it. Her quizzes were challenging some weeks but most of the time it was pretty straight forward what was expected of you. We got out of almost every lab early. All but one of them.

All exam info is from lectures! Never used the book! Powerpoints always saved on Bb! Clear and concise! Wonderful prof - take her if you can!!!

The class itself is hard, especially if you're taking it as a gen ed, but she explained things really well. She always related the content to something real life to further explain it. She definitely wants her students to do well. Take her if you can!

Love love love her! Best professor I had my freshman year. Always willing to help you. Our schedules conflicted & I couldn't make her office hours, so she discussed everything with me through email & even stayed after her office hours to help me succeed. Best professor by far! I highly recommend her.

She was a great professor! She knows what she's talking, and is good at teaching it. She was always more than willing to go over information you didn't understand. Her exams aren't the easiest, but her class is definitely worth taking.

Shes very confusing in lectures and her exams are VERY difficult. But if you see her during her office hours she is more then willing to break it down for you!

You will have to study really hard for this class. Her notes seem very straight forward but her exam questions are way different. If you need an A you might want to think about taking another prof. She is very nice and helpful though! LOTS of extra credit.

Bio 120 all together is a very difficult class. I absolutely loved professor Cymbola. Although her exams we're difficult if you studied you could do good. notes were very straight forward and very helpful. use website called study bio it helped out a lot. I highly recommend taking her class

Her exams are tricky, be sure to read the textbooks and fully understand the concepts not just memorize the facts. DO the extra credit she offers it bumped my grade a whole letter grade! For our section the exam was not cumulative, but it depends on the semester.

Exams are tricky, gives extra credit though

Study the powerpoint slides and you'll do fine. Exams are all multiple choice and really easy. Didn't really need the book because she put all the important stuff on the powerpoint slides.

She is good. She does powerpoints and gives study guides and extra credit. You need to study though because exam questions are scenarios where you deal with the concept, so knowing definitions doesnt help all too well. She is very willing to help out if you go to office hours. She also does SLA which can be helpful too.

Professor Cymbola was a great lab prof. She was helpful and pretty easy. Definitely take her if you can. She tells exactly what she expects and makes it easy to get a good grade.

Prof. Cymbola is teaching a HARD class. Bio 120 weeds out those that don't want to put in the hard work for a science-based degree! Cymbola always reminded us that we can email her about ANY questions we have, and she provided extra clear answers - she isn't going to hand you a good grade but she will point you in the right direction.

Easiest class I've ever taken to be honest. She barely ever kept us for the entire class time and we didn't have any tests. Just a semester project that was pretty simple, a paper instead of a final exam, and a few in class assignments. She was pretty funny and super relaxed. I liked the class, I'd take it again.

Professor Cymbola is a great professor. She is kind and very helpful because she wants to see her students learn and succeed. Make sure to attend the lectures because there are many in-class assignments. There were no tests, but there was a large project due at the end of the semester. I very much enjoyed this class.

No tests or quizzes but in class assignments matter, so go! It's an easy lecture, notes aren't necessary. She was short and sweet and let us go early frequently. The final project is worth quite a bit of your grade but you have all semester to do it, and it is easy if you pick a topic you like. I loved this class and would take it again.

This class really wasn't hard at all. About once a week she would give out a 10 or 20 point assignment in class but if you give her a good enough excuse for missing it she would let you make it up. I skipped a decent amount of times and still got an A on the final since it wasn't cumulative. You don't even need the book at all it's all powerpoint.

This class was not bad by any means. She puts all the slides online and you only need to go to the class when she gives assignments which is like once every 2 weeks. The exams were not hard and she was not very boring. You do not need the textbook. I would recommend.

Prof Cymbola was a good professor who tried to make things clear for everyone to understand. Sometimes she got a little confusing but she was always open to questions. Had to be in class to understand some slides in the power points but you could also read the book if you didn't quite understand,

I really liked Cymbola. I'm a journalism major so this class was a little boring but she made it bearable. The lectures are kind of boring but make sure you take really good notes because the tests can be difficult if you skipped class. The semester long project was a drag but fairly simple.

She is good at explaining topics and over all a very intelligent person. She does not give hw so grade is mostly from test and quizzes. Her tests are very much like the study guides. You need to try in the class in order to get a good grade but it is not impossible. She is one of the best bio 120 professors.

Science classes do not come easy to me and Cymbola made everything in the class understandable and interesting. She was clear and to the point during lectures. She will answer any questions and never leave you confused about a subject. Lectures were never boring and she would often let us out early.

She's great at clarifying and answering your questions. Make sure to print out the slideshows for lecture so you can take notes next to them, very very helpful. The book is not necessary. She cracks jokes every now and then and its great. She loves what she does and sometimes the quizzes are take home ones. Study and know the material.

Clear powerpoint presentations, reasonable tests, and you'll have no problem keeping your eyes on her through the lecture ;). The honors biology class I took in High School used the same textbook as this class, so that could be the reason this class was so easy for me, many thought it was very tough though.

Professor Cymbola is a really good lecturer, but Bio 120 is a class you really need to come to. Attendance wasn't required, but all of her tests were based on her lectures. She didn't give a lot of homework or quizzes so it was hard to know how well you were doing. She wasn't as hard as the other 120 professors so I recommend her!

Professor Cymbola was a really good bio 120 professor. She teaches straight from the textbook, and her tests are based on her lectures. Even though she does not take attendance, you need to attend the lectures and take notes in order to do well on her tests and if you do, then you won't have any problem getting a good grade.

I feel like the lectures never correlated with the lab class but that's okay. Your grade is mostly based off of the project, which if fairly easy, and tophat questions. We got out early almost everyday. Tests are pretty easy if you study.

Couldnt have asked for a better prof. She knows what shes talking about & makes the information simple. You need to come to class everday, even though her lectures can get boring. She is open to any help, gives you many practice problems & before every exam she gives you a study guide of exactly whats on the exam. If you try youll get an A.

Cymbola is a great biology professor. She knows how to connect with her students so that they understand what is happening. She provides great feedback for homework so you can get an A. She makes you work for it though. The only grades she puts in are the 4 exams, 4 quizzes and 4 homework assignments. Overall she is a great professor!

Bio120 is a tough class in general but Cymbola was a great professor. The powerpoints are super helpful but make sure you print them before class and write down the things she teaches in class, if you know the notes and do the few howerwork assignments, the exams aren't bad. Plus she curves them a few points each. Take her, I learned so much!

Prof Cymbola is a fantastic biology professor. She is very helpful and available outside of class. She is great at lecturing and is very nice. A lot of online homework but it is helpful for knowing what will be on the tests. Her tests are very easy too! Would recommend!

Awesome professor! She is clear and easily relates the topics to other examples which makes them easier to understand. Tests are not hard if you study for them and paying attention and taking clear notes will get you far. Makes biology a class you want to attended

She's really nice and funny. Can be condescending but just don't be stupid. Class was easy, just listen and take notes in lecture and read the book if you want.

Lectures are interesting and easy to follow, mastering biology is harder than lectures. Hard tests, but lots of resources given.

Cymbola was a great teacher for Bio 120 with really good powerpoints. She gives a lot of information throughout her lectures with real life examples to help students understand concepts better. She provides exam study guides as well and there are no surprises on any exams. She also has a really good personality and tries to add some humor to class.

Professor Cymbola is a great choice for BIO 120. All of the information on the exams come from her powerpoints which are always available. There is a lot of lecturing, but she does it in an engaging way and made this class very enjoyable!

Very understanding and reasonable with homework, quizzes, and tests.

She gives you everything you need to pass however if you are a bad test taker I would think again. You don't get much homework at all which is nice, but also means most of your grade comes from the tests that you take. Her tests are 44 questions but only graded out of 40 so it gives you room to get EC. Study before all the tests and you'll be fine!

Cymbola genuinely cares about her students being successful. She dumbs the material down and as long as you understand her powerpoint you'll do fine on the exams.

literally easiest class of all time. I spent hours of studying for tests and quizzes and they were the easiest things ever. if you have a smart bone in your body you will get an A. no need to ever study. she is great though.

Biology's a hard subject, but Cymbola is my favorite professor I've had for any sort of biology class. The tests are very fair; she gives you review sheets for them that let you know everything you need to know. Yes you will need to study to do well but that should be expected for this course. She's straightforward about content and I'd take again.

Cymbola is a pretty good bio professor! Tests are pretty easy as long as you study and homework is reasonable.

Class is mostly lecturing but she tells you what exactly you need to know for tests and quizzes. She gives out study guides for each test. You will be able to receive over 100% on each test because there are always more questions than what she grades out of. She is an awesome professor, highly recommend her for BIO120!!!

Cymbola was a great bio120 professor. Her lectures are informative and interesting. She makes it very clear on what is expected for each exam and provides a study guide for each one. Overall, really enjoyed the class. Would take again

Bio 120 was one of the easiest classes I took and Cymbola was a good professor. If you come to class, takes notes and and pay attention you will do just fine in her class. She offers some extra credit toward the end of the semester. Tests can be difficult and its beneficial to read the book

Prof Cymbola is a great teacher and gives really good examples. Although it wasn't that easy and the class was very lecture heavy, I could tell she cared about her students and only wanted them to succeed. She also knew we were in Bio 104 because we aren't bio majors and she completely understood and didn't act as if we should know everything.

I absolutely loved Prof Cymbola!! I can definitely understand why some may view her class as difficult because there is a lot of material that's covered. However, she truly wants every student to succeed. Pay attention, take good notes, and don't be afraid to reach out to her if you don't understand something. 10/10 would take her again!

Go to class and study for exams and you will be fine.

I really loved Professor Cymbola! She has a bit of "valley girl voice" if you will but she is really good at explaining concepts and you can tell she cares about what she is doing. Attendance technically isn't mandatory because she doesn't count in lecture but I encourage going to class because if you study and try hard you will be fine!

If you go to lecture, pay attention and take good notes it is very easy to do well in the class. Shes clear about what you do and dont need to know so if you pay attention and study you will be totally fine. Theres never surprises on exams

This class is very hard class in general, but if you study you will be fine. Professor Cymbola is good at explaining things and answering questions and is very straightforward with what you need to know. I recommend taking her if you take this class!

Cares about what she is teaching!! Lectures are a bit boring (arent they all) but usually class would end a bit early. Would be nice to have more assignments so the tests didnt determine the overall grade of the semester.

I only got an A- because I ditched one day and missed an in-class assignment. I don't get why her reviews are so negative... I thought Prof Cymbola was fantastic! Sure, the class is fast-paced and BIO120 is info-heavy, but many of her exams had questions from mastering biology. I loved her class. With tutoring and studying, you can do very well.

Cymbola is a good professor. Pay attention every lecture (don't skip them either) and work moderately and you should do fine. Helps to have prior biology knowledge, also helps to have the study session branch of the class where you review information and often get helpful diagrams and charts.

One of my favorite professors. She takes our feedback on lectures & tests into consideration & applies them right then. SO sweet & can be really funny. Her tests were hard but if you study & have good notes you should be fine. I did really well on her tests but worked really hard for those As.

If you really pay attention during her lectures and do the mastering biology, you will be fine! STUDY THE MASTERING BIOLOGY bc she pulls most of her test questions from there. You're allowed to write down your test if you go to her office hours after you've taken it. HIGHLY recommend bc her final is made up of previous exam questions!

I didnt really get to know Prof. Cymbola because our class was asynchronous, but I enjoyed her class a lot. She did a great job translating the class to an online format; all of our expectations and assignments were clear and easy to find. She also always encouraged us to visit her office hours.

Prof Cymbola is honestly one of the nicest people I have ever met. I took her class during the pandemic, so everything was virtual, but she was always so accommodating and genuinely cared about students. The work load was reasonable, and she made it very clear to students that you could take extra time on assignments if needed. Such a sweet lady.

Not sure why her rating is so low on here. Cymbola will give you an extension whenever you want one, just have to fill out a google form. Super caring and nice teacher. If you watch the lecture videos you will do well on the quizzes. Masteringbio and flipgrids are the only other grades besides the final test.

She is really nice. I took this class all online which made it hard. It was harder for me to learn the material. I found the quizzes to be hard and they included a lot of scenario and situation questions which made it harder. The quizzes were not like the weekly homework assignments.

I had professor Cymbola for an online class & she was very understanding about how hard it is to take a class online. She was very clear on what was expected & the workload was not too overwhelming. She was very helpful & her class was also very interesting! It was nice to have a prof that understood the problems with the pandemic & online classes.

Bio 120 is pretty hard. Especially if you did not take AP bio in high school. The topics are not hard but it is the detail of the topics that make it hard. Cymbola is a very good teacher, she accepts all late work with no penalty. She understands that bio is hard and gives a lot of good concept maps ect through out units. Take her if you can!

Cymbola is a solid choice for this class! She is very accommodating to the class even when we probably didn't need it. She is very nice, gives good feedback, and makes sure that this class is not too stressful. There is no book but she uses perusall for readings which is nice, with a few papers and final group project. All of which are not too hard

I enjoyed her lectures but they do go over a lot of content in a short period and then move on to the next thing. She does give some extra credit choices and if you miss an in-class assignment she gives the option to make it up.

I do not appreciate the Professor Cymbola slander on this website. She is wonderful and is a very caring understanding professor. Her exams are everything she lectures on and she does not try and trick her students. She tells you what you need to know in lecture, so the exams are very predictable.

Such a sweet professor. She really cares about her students and made coming to class enjoyable. Biggest project was a presentation, but was laid back and enjoyable.

You can tell Prof Cymbola really cares for her students' success and mental health. She is also really great at explaining information and is very approachable for any questions.

Cymbola was an amazing teacher but the material is really hard to learn and some of the exams are really hard. If you wanna pass this class be ready to start making your own study materials and read the book/pay attention in class.

Amazing professor! Cares about all of her students and prepares you for all of her tests and quizzes. If you pay attention in class and take good notes, you will do very well. She offers extensions on homework and quizzes, and will work with you if something is going on and you need help.

Super sweet teacher, goes with the flow on just about everything. Although she doesn't give paper review guides she will explain what is most important on the test and how she suggests you should study for that specific unit.

As long as you take good notes and study you will be okay. She tells you what will be on tests and quizzes and even gives some study tips. She goes with the flow and gives good descriptions while lecturing. You need to put a decent chunk of time a week to study for class in order to do well but other than that she was a super good professor.

She was so nice and helpful. Tests are not a huge part of your grade so make sure you do all the homework and do well in lab. Very helpful.

She's a great prof especially for those who aren't the best at understanding science right away. I was able to communicate very well through email with her and she explained all of her lectures thoroughly and stopped for questions. The class is compiled of online assignments (in quiz form but only graded on completion) and exams. 10/10 recommend.

She was a mediocre professor, her class was easy and the assignments given were never truly challenging or too difficult. One thing to note is that her voice is horrendous and you will notice it quickly. She stretches her vowels out a lot when talking. Took this class with a lab and the lab was always fun and engaging. Class never went full time.

Pretty standard professor for college, but also a good one. Gives u slideshows so u have all the notes. Allows unlimited late assignments with 0 penalty. Tests r easy if u memorize her slides and learn her explanations of the slideshows she does in class (rewordings/explanations of slides) and u won't need to read book. Ask questions, See tutors=A.

We had three tests in this class, one was in-person and two were online. This material is not easy, but I think that she did a good job helping us understand by lecturing with powerpoints and posting them. There were assignments that were due in the online textbook before each test, but that was it. Definitely recommend

She is an amazing professor she knows what she is talking about and can explain it in so many different ways. The class and subject are hard to understand but she puts in a way where you can understand it better.

BIO 120 is A LOT of content but Professor Cymbola provides clear explanations and study strategies. It is clear that she wants her students to succeed. There are in class activities which are very beneficial and she goes very in depth on topics. The exams are still challenging because there is so much information covered, but they aren't too bad.

I found this class much easier than I thought it would for an SWS credit. You read articles every few weeks and spend a lot of time discussing them. She is a very relaxed grader and will accommodate easily if you can't make deadlines. Super flexible overall, really only had two bigger papers and one final presentation. Overall a very chill class.

I loved Professor Cymbola! She is very kind and understanding. She does in-class assignments but is understanding if you can't make class and gives you time to makeup work. Her lectures are really helpful and the test questions were always very straightforward. All tests and quizzes for my section were online, which was really nice.

Her class was easy other than the tests. I spent hours studying but always did poorly on them. She does not post notes or provide study guides, so it is up to you to write down everything during the dry lectures. She was very kind and willing to help if needed.

I don't really have any complaints about her. Be ready to listen to the lectures and read any other materials or readings she provides because they are on exams. Me personally, not a huge biology person but she didn't make me dread the lectures.

Hard class, you can get an A if you read the book and study for the exams. Professor Cymbola is kind and understanding but doesn't give any study guides which makes studying for exams \difficult. I would recommend using the Mastering Biology study area (practice tests) and the end of her lecture slides that says "Things you should now know".

Very laid back, caring, and willing to accommodate with you if you have stuff going on in your life! Lots of readings that will matter for participation points and discussions. However, since we only had two papers and a presentation it could of been a lot worse. If you don't care about environmental ethics though I don't suggest taking this class.

Cymbola is a super chill professor who is very dedicated to making sure her students understand. Unfortunately her office hours are not very flexible, but she is still very helpful. She does a great job at creating analogies to help understand material. This course is very extensive and requires a lot of work so attending her lectures is needed.

Professor Cymbola is a great professor for Bio 120. Showing up is important because she has in class assignments that help your grade. Reading the book isn't needed as her lectures cover everything on the test. I recommend taking her if you can!

She was good, at making sure to read the textbook and do the practice exams as exams are often pretty close to the quizzes and online practice tests. Not too difficult if you try and go to tutoring

Professor Cymbola's BIO120 class covers a lot of material, but her clear explanations and study strategies make it manageable. The in-class activities are helpful, and while the exams are challenging, using resources like Mastering Biology and Unstuckstudy can really boost your prep.

Overall the class was very easy. The professor does not load you up with work and the class is set up fairly straight forward. Lectures can be pretty dull sometimes but you do more than that in class. Overall really happy I got to take this class! And would definitely recommend the professor

Pretty easy class. Coursework consisted of weekly quizzes, 4 exams, and an "alphabet book" project you work on over the course of the semester (which was pretty easy also). Overall, an easy A.

Dr Cymbola's class was a lot of fun! The readings were one paper a week, and we would participate in small group work during class and then enter a class discussion. We had two group projects during this semester that were graded extremely fairly. She isn't a harsh grader and cares to see you put in the effort. 10/10

She's an amazing professor would take again if I could. Helped me in biology got an A+