3.0
Quality3.6
Difficulty55%
Would Retake160
Reviews55%
Would Retake
160
Reviews
Rating DistributionOfficial
5
21
4
51
3
27
2
27
1
34
What Students Say
“Lol every good review is from herself”
BIOSC150 - 1.0 rating“I get that she's new and all, but that's no excuse”
BIOSC1000 - 1.0 ratingClass Info
Online Classes
100%
Attendance Mandatory
78%
Textbook Required
0%
Grade Predictor
Your expected effort level
Predicted Grade
A-
Grade Distribution
Common Tags
Rating Trend
Improving
+0.69 avg changeRatings by Course
BIOSC0067
5.0
(1)BIOSC1820
3.7
(3)BIO1010
3.5
(2)BIO0150
3.5
(24)BIOSC0150
3.4
(47)Difficulty by Course
BIO150
4.5
BIOSC150
4.5
BIOSCI0150
4.3
BIO1
4.0
BIOSC0067
4.0
Reviews (160)
Probably the worst teacher ever. Doesn't teach, but reads off of power points. Seems like she sets up her students for failure.
DON'T TAKE HER CLASS! Slides are vague and unclear, and she does not offer any explanations or clarifications. Exams are very tough, confusing, and poorly worded.
DO NOT TAKE THIS CLASS!!!! Worst professor I have ever had. Reads straight from the slides in lecture, does not review material in recitation, tests do not correlate to anything we learn in lecture. The exams are impossible and the questions she asks are hard to understand. You also aren't allowed to ask any questions during the exam. DON'T DO IT
She just reads off of the powerpoint slides so classes aren't super interesting. Exams require you to understand the material in more depth than what's on the slides. Outside of the lectures and exams, everything is a surprise. She expects students to wait around on Friday night until 9PM to see if she decided to post homework. Do not recommend.
Like every college class you actually have to STUDY and apply yourself to the class. I believe her class is extremely fair and the tests reflect what we learned in class and in recitation. If you dont study at all and dont put in any work you will probably fail the class, but if you do what your supposed to do you will literally breeze through it.
Her slides are vague so you really have to attend the lecture to understand. Get ready to study, as always with bio, you must study. You have to work to get your grade.
She doesn't seem to know what she's talking about half the time and the class is constantly correcting her on large errors she makes every single lecture. I'm getting an A in the course form hours of straight memorization but I honestly haven't learned anything at all.
I go into her office hours on a weekly basis and she usually tells me to check the book and can't give me an answer. She starts off a majority of her classes saying "stop emailing me" and "don't ask me these questions." She's offended by everything and it's impossible to talk to her. I get that she's new and all, but that's no excuse.
Dr. O'Reilly is a solid professor. She is new here at Pitt, so I understand her struggles with TopHat. Her tests are very fair, especially if you focus somewhat on the weekly study guides. When she sees the entire class struggling with a concept, she really takes the time to clarify topics. You must be willing to work hard.
I really like Dr. O'Reilly. She seems to enjoy what she's teaching and understands the material, having had research experience at children's hospital. The tests are fair, and she posts study guides and tries to make recitations fun and interesting. Overall, she's been a pretty good teacher for having this been her first class she's ever taught.
Dr. O'Reilly is a very decent professors as professors go here at Pitt. She always has answers to questions and recitations pertain exactly to what we did in class and are pretty helpful. Her exams aren't very hard, with 30 multiple choice and 2 short answer questions. She's a solid professor for a freshmen Bio course and I plan to take her again.
Lol every good review is from herself. Like who talks about their professors research experience and their struggles with the online hw system? Out of the dozens of people I know in her bio/biochem class, I've never met a single person who thinks she's a decent teacher or even decent person. She doesn't even know the material. Worst prof at pitt.
Not accessible, helpful understanding. She'll confuse you by telling you blatantly wrong facts. She has a superiority complex and views her students as a hassle.
Expects too much from undergrads. Tests on unreasonable things and she doesn't know the material. Worst teacher I've ever had.
test questions are super vague and don't make much sense, she says that they don't cover more than what's on slides but they do; clearly thinks she's better than what she is and just reads off slides to the point where she can't answer questions if the answer isn't on the slide; hard to sit through lectures, recitations pointless but mandatory
Confused why Dr. O'Reilly is getting so much hate. She knows what she's talking about and the tests are literally word for word from the notes. Obviously it's a college level course so it's going to be difficult but if you do what you're supposed to do you'll pass just fine. Read the book. Definitely not even close to my hardest class this year.
She is very accessible. And the test is based on the textbook
I have mixed feeling about Dr. O'Reilly. The class itself is not too tough and I do think her grading is fair. However, she is not very accessible outside of class and treats students like they are burdens. She also reads off the slides and gets easily confused when a question is asked.
Dr. O'Reilly is a good professor. You must put in work to receive an A and take class and homework very seriously. 40% of your grade ends up being based on participation, which is great as long as you go to class! I missed class occasionally and still managed to get a B, but my test average was low. You must take the class seriously.
Worst bio prof at Pitt. She wasn't too hard (As long as you memorize arbitrary details she tells you, you'll pass) But in exchange for that you're sacrificing understanding crucial material. She makes giant errors in lecture which will confuse you. She'll tell you wrong info during office hours and is extremely rude (seems to hate all students).
For how difficult I was told biochemistry would be, it could have been worse. She's new and has an impressive research background. She sometimes made mistakes during lecture but I don't fault her considering how new she is. Her tests were more than fair with no surprises. She was also helpful outside of class considering she taught bio1 and biochem
I had Linda for a Bio 2 research lab and she was easily one of the best professors that I have ever had. The workload was daunting and the material was otherworldly at times, but she worked with us every step of the way.. She's insanely intelligent and caring, but will make you work for the A. Probably the most difficult, but rewarding 1 credit.
Dr. O'Reilly was a great professor for Biology 1. She had a few hiccups, but that is to be expected, being a new professor. You must want to learn the material and put in the effort to succeed. The other reviews are complaints of those who did not strive to dive into the topics and work hard to understand them.
She takes so much time on the beginning slides of lecture and tophat that she runs out of time for the remaining 10 slides and rushes through them, but gets mad at people for packing up 2 minutes early to get to their next class which is super far away. She is not able to answer questions from the class at all and nothing she says makes sense.
Linda O'Reilly is not only one of the most boring lecturers at Pitt, but she is also the most irrelevant. Don't go to class expecting to learn something because you won't. She makes random charts of things that don't even pertain to class and wastes time on redundant subjects, which she then rushes us through the ones that matter . THE WORST .
Dr. O'Reilly was a fair a professor. Her class was extremely manageable if you put the time and effort into it. She is very heavy on the textbook so get ready to read the chapters. She pulls a lot of exam questions from the textbook material. Lectures boring but overall a fairly easy class. Highly recommend if you want an A!
Tests were fair, but shes not a great lecturer. Its a lot of work outside of class.
Gives many resources to study such as online homework, in class questions, take home exams, review/practice questions, and office hours. Pay attention and show up to class and you should be fine. You get the grade you deserve in this class. She wants all to succeed and does the best she can to help everyone. She does give curves and extra credit.
Dr. O'Reilly belongs in the lab, not the classroom. She is a dry lecturer and simply cannot relate to students. She also is stubborn and will not admit to mistakes on her part. That being said, her exams are fair (answers are often straight from lecture slides/Top Hat) and she gives extra credit. There are definitely worse Bio professors out there.
Honestly a mess. The entire 50 minute class is her repeating things I could read from my book but she does tophat so attendance is mandatory. Her test questions are sometimes unclear and even when the entire class makes a mistake due to her vagueness, she refuses to admit her fault. Get ready to teach yourself the material
Linda is an awful lecturer, but attendance is basically mandatory bc there are Tophat points. I took her because she basically gives out free points on TopHat that are actually a big part of the final grade but they're easy. Her exams are often unclear so make sure you read the textbook ahead of exams to prepare bc her slides are also super vague.
Linda O'Reilly was a terrible professor, she was unclear on a lot of subject matter and very rude when we brought an issue to her attention even going so far as to tell me to "revaluate my priorities" for working multiple jobs in college. Her tests are absolutely awful, and basically test you on your ability to comprehend her awful grammar .
Tests are fair, I'm not kidding when I say that half the test is previous tophat questions. Yeah you have to read the book outside of class but that's kind of expected in a college level biology course. Even if your test average is low, you can still bring your grade up with lots of participation points and extra credit. I've had worse professors
She was an extremely tough grader. She had a specific answer she was looking for and wouldn't except any answer other than what she exactly what she wanted. Directions on tests were unclear and confusing. Very frustrating how you could know the material very well but not do well on tests because of her pickiness.
She is not my favorite professor, but if you put in the work you'll get an A. Lectures are very dry though...
Many kids didn't like O'Reilly because they thought some of the test questions were unfair when in reality they separated A students from B students, a necessary measure in university. I thought she was a fine professor and gave all students a fair shot at an A. Contrary to others opinions, she was not rude to students but spoke in a direct manner.
She takes attendance by TopHat. There are 4 exams (she drops your lowest) and a final. Shes is sometimes passive-aggressive and quite intimidating to approach. But there are plenty of TAs that have weekly office hours, so you can get plenty of extra help outside of class. She tries to trick you on the short answer section of the exams.
Takes independence seriously. You must be prepared to do a lot of work on your own to secure a good grade in this class. Exams are pretty easy if you are prepared (reuses textbook, in-class, and other exam questions). Definitely go see her outside of class; she is very nice. Has personal research experience that is incorporated into lectures often.
Dr.O'Reilly is a very nice professor but beware of her exams! They consist of short answer and multiple choice and both sections are equally hard. If a lot of the class does poorly on a question though, she will let you redo the question for points back. Also if you go to office hours, she considers bumping your grade at the end of the semester.
She is a powerpoint professor. She clicks quickly through powerpoint slides so you have to end up teaching yourself the majority of the material. The only reason I go to class is because of mandatory attendance and TopHat questions. Most of the questions she asks (TopHat, exam, recitation) require a breadth of knowledge beyond what she teaches.
Her lectures are pretty dry and attendance is mandatory since she asks Tophat questions during lecture. Overall, she's a good teacher that wants her students to learn and isn't obsessed with weeding out students. Her exams are straightforward and as long as you study her lecture slides you will pass.
She's a pretty decent teacher... her tests are a good mix between stuff you have to know and some more application based/more difficult questions. If you read the textbook, do the TopHat assignments and go to class to get the participation points, you'll do fine. It's a very difficult class content wise so you definitely have to put in the work.
I took Dr. O'Reilly for Foundations 1, and she is very knowledgeable and passionate about Biology, but she doesn't always relate the material well in lecture. The exams are very difficult. However, it is true that she cares about her students, and offers exam reattempt points to boost the average, and frequently gives extra credit opportunities.
Makes exams way more difficult than the practice exams she provides before the test. Attendance is not graded but you'll miss in-class TopHat points if you skip lecture. Best to read the textbook on your own because she moves quickly and does not explain material very well. Tough grader on the short answer on tests- not a lot of partial credit
Overall not a bad class, but if you aren't majoring in a science course, I suggest staying away from it. Exams are extremely in depth and you have to read the chapters several times to fully grasp a concept (if not a science minded person).
Her lectures are completely based on the textbook, so if you read the book, you'll do fine. She gives a lot of work but her tests are reasonable. She does TopHat questions in class, so you should go to every class. Offers a lot of extra credit if you miss a class though.
She's a good teacher, but her tests are honestly pretty difficult. Her tests are super specific and you may spend forever studying for the exam, but then get questions wrong do the questions being super specific. Her lectures are kinda dull but is based on the textbook, so if you don't understand anything, just go into the textbook.
Dr. O'Reilly is not a bad professor. She gives 3 exams then a final. You can drop the lowest exam grade. Her tests are not bad at all just make sure to thoroughly read the textbook and take notes on it. Her test questions can get specific but if you know the concept you can get the right answer without much difficulty. Also she gives extra credit.
Dr. O'Reilly is not a good professor at all. She reads right off of slides that are copied from the textbook, and for exams she will focus on super specific topics that are briefly mentioned in the reading. Her exam questions are very ambiguous and unclear. If you are good at teaching yourself, then take this class.
i really disliked her as an educator. lectures are awful and pointless, but you have to go for the tophat points. i taught myself everything from the textbook, lots of self-work. hours of textbook notes and reading each week. exams are manageable but some questions are ridiculous. it was painful to study for her class.
In my experience, it was necessary to read each chapter of the book with lecture slides as a guide, take detailed notes, and focus on figures. Id never taken biology before, and so Dr. OReillys class was a real challenge - but a doable one. Go to her office hours (TAs werent super helpful) & use Facebook group for questions - shell answer!
Linda does not teach, she reads. If you want to do well in this class you MUST read the book. Tests are from the book and can have weed out questions. I would not recommend her at all for Bio 2, cannot say about Bio 1
Dr. O'Reilly is a reasonable and highly knowledgeable person. With that said, avoid her as a lecturer. She essentially reads her slides as an addendum to expected textbook reading. Lots of wasted time in-class, lectures are dry and typically poor. Only good things were that all her materials were online and one of three midterms are dropped.
Reads off of a powerpoint mostly, unwilling to put in work. Doesn't curve at all, and doesn't hand back tests. Mandatory Tophat attendance. Material isn't too hard in itself, but tests as confusing as can be and badly written. 1 open ended test question was so terrible and had over 100 regrades requests, which she just decided to ignore altogether.
She gives extra credit but it's put in a section of your grade that holds barely any weight (5%). Open ended questions are extremely vague and are multiple choice without answers in front of you, but are worth double an MC. Reads the textbook in class, lectures are terrible but you have to go for tophat. Not the worst bio 2 prof, but a pain.
The open ended section of her exams are extremely vague and up to her opinion on answers so its difficult to get points. She teaches directly from the textbook. She was very moody.
She reads straight off of her slides and uses TopHat for everything. Lectures don't help with prep for exams. Exams are far too difficult for an Intro level course. Her exams require you to apply newly learned info to weirdly specific real life situations. She's the worst professor I have ever had. Her class made me question being a bio major.
Reeeeeally dificult class. Do not recomend.
Amazing teacher for Bio 1, no work required to kill it. I took bio 2 with her assuming her style would be similar but her class became exponentially more difficult. She kept saying "the onus is on you to know your material" to the class, but would ask the most finite and ridiculous details found in the diagram in the TB from 2 months before.
AVOID AVOID AVOID!!!!! Took her last spring for Bio 2 and it was a nightmare. She just read off slides the entire class and tested us on the most insignificant details from the lecture/text. She's an extremely tough grader and writes horrible exams. She offers minute amounts of extra credit that don't really help your grade and doesn't curve. Run
Prof. O'Reilly is a genuinely good bio professor. She gets a lot of hate for having hard exams but I believe that they're really fair. You do have to put in a lot of work but what else do you expect from a college bio class? She cares about her students and she will provide help if you need it. Her lectures cover a lot so you should take notes.
I was expecting the worst when I saw these reviews from people about O'reilly. To be honest, I thought it was a very fair class and you got the grade you deserved. I haven't taken bio in four years so it was very foreign material. She gives you all the tools needed to succeed and if you put in the effort, you can pull out with at least a B.
Lectures were straight from text, attendance is taken through Tophat. Tests were pretty fair since the info was mainly from the textbook (repeated in lecture) so had to read very thoroughly as some questions were very specific. Three exams, dropped lowest, remaining 2 exams made up 50% of grade. Little extra credit offered but overall decent
Dr. O'Reilly is a very helpful first biology teacher. You definitely have to work hard for your grade, but she goes over everything you need to pass the tests in class. She drops the lowest test score, which is really helpful. There is homework, but it usually isn't very difficult. Lots of in class questions, and recitation is mandatory.
She's tough but very reasonable and explains why she does certain things. She is willing to help you become a better student overall.
She never finishes a lecture, so she is always rushing through material, but still stops for questions that could be answered in office hours and has us "talk to our neighbors." Her tests, homework, and recitations are worded so strangely and when you ask the TAs for help, they rarely know what she is saying either.
Going to class is mandatory but a waste of time. You will do fine if you just read the textbook and make sure you understand concepts and diagrams. She is a nice person, but her lectures are just dry and unnecessary.
If you care about your education, O'Reilly is not the one for you. She is the worst professor I've ever taken--she heavily relies on the belief that her students have 8-10 hours a week to whip out of their ass and focus on bio only. she makes you learn more out of class than you do in class. would not recommend her to my worst enemy. she sucks.
If you know whats good for you, DO NOT take OReilly for Bio 2. This material is significantly harder than Bio 1, and she considers a lecture monotonously reading verbatim from the slides. Her recitations provide little to no help, and everyone I know considers them a waste of time. Be prepared to memorize the textbook from cover to cover.
I don't know how she is still qualified to teach. Lecutres will put you to sleep and she just reads right off of the slides. We use the same book at BIO150 and you might as well teach the course to yourself by reading the book. Exams were a nightmare as she words questions in the most obscure way, and when you ask a TA, they have no idea. AVOID!!!!
Dr. OReilly was the worst professor I had so far. She was not understanding at all. When classes migrated online during coronavirus and students had to adjust to taking class/exams in an untraditional location, she actually made exams significantly harder! I studied 20+ hours the week of the exam and still would get 70s. STAY AWAY FOR YOUR GPA!!!
She is not the easiest teacher, however I feel as though she is fair. Bio 2 is not supposed to be an easy class and she makes sure we get the grade we deserve based on the effort that we put in. Overall she cares about her students and is a very smart professor.
She may be skilled in her area of research, but she is an awful teacher. Doesnt answer questions, often misconstrues information. Very rude and you will not learn from her. I taught myself the material on my own to get an A. Dont expect to learn anything shes taught you. Shes also mean to students (Personal experience and stories Ive heard)
O'Reilly is pretty much what you can expect for a Bio 2 course. She's straightforward with the material, and teaches directly from the textbook. The exams are difficult, but if you study very well and hard starting a week ahead of time and use the textbook wisely, you can do well. Lectures are very boring, but I recommend going for TopHat credit.
Really really tough exams. Awful at lecturing - I presume only teaching to get research funding. Her UTAs are 10x better at teaching. Reads word-for-word from slides, but has tophat questions so skipping isn't an option sadly. Homeworks sometimes unrelated to lecture. I seriously regret taking her class. At least she has a cool accent though.
This woman is horrible, currently taking biosc0150 and they've decided that there will be 4 teachers teaching 1/4 of the units. So far, compared to others she just makes the tests unnecessarily confusing for no reason. The questions are asked in such a dumb way. They are never what her lectures primarily focuses on because there's no emphasis.
I had Dr. O'Reilly for 1 of the 4 modules, and I liked her the best out of the 3 we have had so far. She is extremely helpful and accessible outside of class, and allowed me to schedule meetings with her for some help when I was struggling. Her lectures were hard to focus on at times, but her tests were exactly like the study guide and the TopHat.
I had O'Reilly for Module 2 of BIOSC0150. She is a very nice person and genuinely cares about her students. I did fairly well on her quizzes with minimal studying. However, her lectures did not line up with the textbook, so we were very limited on examples.
Dr. O'Reilly is a great Biology lecturer. She knows her content very well and honestly she is the best in the general bio 1 department. A lot of people thought she would be the hardest, but this was not true, Dr. McGreevy and Dr. Gardener were clearly much harder. Either way, you will learn a lot from her and you will love her accent!
She was one of my favorite professors this year, she has short lectures that got to the point, All her quizzes were fair and manageable to do well on. Not a bad choice for this course especially if you have already taken AP Bio.
She's a nice person and quizzes were fair in terms of difficulty level, if not always content. I wasn't a fan of her lectures; she went on tangents to include minor details that weren't on the quizzes. She also threw in scientific terms without explanation which made it hard to follow along sometimes. Reading the textbook really helped me here.
very disorganized in thinking and spends too much time explaining the liver instead of teaching overall themes. explains topics in a confusing way but not the worst quizzes of the 4 profs (Anna NG, Mcgreevy, Linda OR, and Gardner). def read the book! prob not the worst option but not the best at all from the little time I had her
Professor O'Reilly's lectures were really straight-forward in my opinion which I found to be very helpful. With biology you really need to put in the effort to get a good grade in this class. Quizzes definitely took all my brainpower to succeed in them but nonetheless you can still do well in this class with lots of studying.
This class was made very difficult due to the strange format of splitting it between 4 professors with vastly different teaching styles. Dr. O'Reilly's lectures were dry and sometimes unengaging, but she did explain the concepts well and was very knowledgeable in the subject. Her study guides were also very helpful and thorough.
liked her better than gardner and did okay on the quizzes but her lectures were a MESS. she is very disorganized. she does base her quizzes off of the book tho so if you read that youll be okay. If you have a better option (like Mcgreevy) take them.
Class was set up with 4 different teachers for 4 modules. Hard to adapt to each teacher's teaching and examination style. 14 quizzes (can drop 2 quizzes. Highest 12) Need to work for your grade. Prof O'Reilly specifically was lecture material heavy. Talks quickly with a lot of information, so take good notes.
Dr OReilly was extremely unclear about criteria for this class, and she will not happily clarify if you are confused. Lots of peer grading and group work. Class was not hard, but was more frustrating that it needed to be.
I liked Dr. O'Reilly lecture style and quiz format. If you pay attention and take good notes during the lectures you will be well prepared for the quizzes. Her lectures are relatively short and she does speak pretty fast so if you may have to pause a few times throughout the lecture and rewatch to make sure you have a good grasp on the content.
I took BIOSC0150, but there were 4 profs. O'Reilly taught one of the modules and I really likes her. It was easy to understand the content and how different systems worked. If I had the change, I would take her again. Her teaching style was based on visuals and examples to pull together each part of the system. It helps how things work together
She was not very good as an instructor. When you have 4 different instructors for 1 bio class you find that the teachers tend to contradict each other. She spent more time talking about aspects that weren't on the quizzes than the ones that were. Bio 1 was a MESS this semester, I hope that future students will have a better experience.
pretty bad. Had her for 1 of the 4 modules fall 2020. sometimes told us wrong/ contradicting info & has disorganized thoughts in LECs, eg. would go from slide 10 to 1 to 5 all in like 2 mins w/o fully explaining any of the concepts & left me hella confused. bio was just a mess this semester so idk if thats how she always is. Read the book
Even if you do study, quizzes were VERY difficult. Get a good group of friends taking the same class. Optional final. Few extra credit opportunities. TopHat really boosted my grade. Get to drop lowest 2 quiz grades. 3-4 lectures per week (all asynchronous). Overall, really struggled with this course.
I loved Dr. O'Reilly! Her lectures were fascinating and she made difficult topics easier to understand by providing really great examples. Her quizzes were highly based on memorization, so if you like that style of learning she is definitely for you. She does place lots of emphasis on what she feels is important in her lectures which is so helpful.
Professor O'Reilly honestly wasn't that bad. You can get a good grade if you're willing to work for it. She does care about you, reach out, and she'll help you in way she can. Her exams are very fair, attendance isn't mandatory, plenty of extra credit to boost your grade. Honestly one of the better science professors here at Pitt.
Professor O'Reilly is a good professor, but she is very lecture heavy. You will definitely need to read the assigned reading and go to office hours to succeed in this class. She switched to a semi-flipped classroom mid way through the year and I have not had a good experience with it.
She is a very nice lady and wants you to succeed. She gives you resources and her class is very organized, so you can succeed. Tests however are somewhat difficult for an into to bio class but will definitely prepare you for harder science classes in the future.
*DON'T LISTEN TO BAD REVIEWS* If you are willing to put in a tad of work for this class, it is an easy A. All test questions are based off of lecture slides and/or recitation questions (both of which you have access to). Questions for the final test concepts previously tested. Take good lecture slide notes, go to office hours once a week, get an A.
I had a great experience with Dr. O'Reilly! She genuinely cares about students' success and provides many resources and extra-credit/make-up opportunities. As long as you pay attention in lecture, complete the TopHats, and put a reasonable amount of effort into studying, you will succeed. Dr. O'Reilly is a good choice for an intro. bio professor.
Dr. O'Reilly does not deserve all the negative reviews. She is extremely fair - offers extra credit, lets us drop 2/5 quizzes, open note quizzes/final, etc. It was relatively easy to get an A in her class, given that you complete the homework and take notes in lecture. Sometimes she is unclear, so you may have to refer to the textbook/Youtube.
O'Reilly is not the best professor but has open note quizzes and tests as well as lots of extra credit opportunities to boost your grade, she also drops 2 lowest quiz grades out of 5. If you have taken previous bio courses such as AP bio I would recommend, but without a solid bio background you may struggle.
Really solid Prof. Didnt love her lecture style at all but it was exactly what the book said so it didnt matter if u go to class if u read and take good notes. Quiz average was around 75% for all of them but she curves. Cares about students and always around to answer questions. Lots of extra credit was given. Youll do well if you put in work.
Not sure why her reviews are so bad, Dr.O'reilly was extremely caring and explained things well. Would suggest reading textbook if confused, GO TO OFFICE HOURS! Quizzes were open note/internet, and reasonable. Redoing TopHats def helps. LOTS of extra credit, shocked that others struggled so much in the class. Solid choice, easiest A+ ever! Love her
I've had Dr. O'Reilly for two courses, and most folks who don't succeed are probably of the crowd that think they're med-school bound but can't be bothered to crack a textbook for introductory bio. Tests are 1:1 with lecture/chapter material, and recitations often go over questions word-for-word. She's a gem in the bio department comparatively.
Easily the most boring class of my life. The entire class is copying slides down word for word. No need to go to class as Linda doesn't add anything important to the slides. You get to drop 2 of 5 tests but that was only because so many kids failed the first test because she doesnt know how to teach. Overall real snoozer of a class.
I'm not saying that biochem with Dr. O'Reilly is an "easy A," but if you stay in sync with the lecture material and make good cheat sheets for the test (open notes), her class is a breeze. She focuses on understanding the pathways more than raw memorization, which is massive. She's the first teacher I've ever had with a good flipped classroom.
O'Reilly made biochem much easier than you would expect, but you still have to put in some effort. She was very approachable and had many office hours throughout the week. She has "lecture check-ins" that make attendance required if you want the full credit for participation. Her quizzes were pretty straight forward and you have cheat sheets.
Dr O Reilly is a good teacher. She makes you work for the grade but she is very helpful and caring. Be sure to do all the work that she assigns, especially the TopHat, and you should be well prepared for the quizzes. You can have cheat sheets for the quizzes and you get to drop two of your lowest scores. She is a good professor for a bio class.
Definitely cares about her students. It is a tough course but she tries to provide all the materials possible to help you succeed in her class
She is a great choice, especially if you have taken AP Bio before. There are five quizzes, and you can drop two. While it is not required, it is very helpful to read the book. Her lectures are okay, but the TopHat questions and book make up for it. She really wants her students to pass.
Dr. O'Reilly puts so much effort into this class, I hope pitt gives her a huge paycheck. She is passionate about biochem and makes difficult topics understandable. I LOVED the flipped classroom, and it did not take up a ton of time. If you stay engaged in the material you can definitely do well. 5 quizzes but you can drop 2, 1 final, and homework.
Five quizzes, you can drop 2 and a final. Each quiz was allowed a cheat sheet, but none on the final. All of the quizzes and exams are on TopHat. Overall, if you stay on top of your work you will be fine in the class. It does take effort but you get what you put in.
Dr. O'Reilly is overall a good professor, but you need to put in the effort. She utilizes TopHat for pre-lectures and in-class questions, which are time consuming but helpful. She is helpful in office hours and she lets you drop two of the five quizzes. If you are willing to teach yourself a decent amount of the material you should be fine.
Way too many quizzes. Midterm quizzes every 2.5 weeks and it was just TOO much. Overall very difficult class, very few points in gradebook, so if you miss just 4 questions per quiz, your going to get a 80% in the class... Board game assignment in recitation wasted my time and life, and was so useless. Recitations are not taken advantage of.
Dr. O' Reilly is incredibly caring. She is test heavy but you really need to put in the time and effort in order to succeed in the class. TopHat is a nice grade boost as well since it is an easy 100 as long as you do it. I would recommend her for bio 1.
Dr. O'Reilly is the best type of professor for a course as difficult as Biochem. Tons of reading and offline learning, but that means the lectures are less intense. Hard to get lost since every week is neatly organized. Lots of office hours and opportunities to ask questions, which is good because it's basically mandatory for above a B.
Linda was not a bad professor for bio 1. I took AP bio in high school and still got a B+. I did not attend office hours or put in the work like I should have and still ended with a B+. If you read the book and take good notes in lectures you will be fine. Compared to the other bio professors, she is definitely a gem.
I got by in this class with basically just the pre-lecture material since I couldn't stay awake during class time. There's tons of practice problems on Top Hat so that's really nice, and supposedly she's available a lot, but I never really took advantage of that. Very nice and supportive, but tests are pretty diffcult.
I have taken several flipped classes at Pitt, and Dr. O'Reilly has the worst implementation I have seen. Most of the class is five year old lecture videos and she does very little during the actual lecture times, although they are still mandatory. Also, the information was not well organized and it was hard to study as a result.
I really liked Professor O'Reilly! She is a great lecturer and is very organized. She gives you a TON of drops (you can drop 2 of the 5 quizzes) so even if you don't do well in the beginning, you still have plenty of time to bring up your grade. She gives you a ton of resources and if you put the effort in, you can definitely do well.
TA's are very inaccessible, she doesn't even give us their emails. She is very difficult, and does stupid flipped classroom which adds a minimum of 5 hours per week more of videos and work that needs to be done for this class, on top of going to 3 more hours on in-person learning (which is so useless). Overall, very poor class.
I really did not enjoy my time with Dr. O'Reilly. She often said how much she cared about students but had no actoins to back it up. She was one of the least accomodating professors I have ever had. Her lectures were useless and the quiz material is completely from her TopHat lectures, which were often confusing and unclear.
O'Reilly did a really good job making a writing-intensive class interesting. We were able to pick our own topic to research, and she gave us really clear rubrics to follow along for all of our paper drafts. There was also a group presentation that was not that difficult, all you had to do was somewhat know what you were talking about. She was great
gives lots of practice, exams r straightforward if yk the content. learning the content is tough since she lectures in a convoluted order and theres a LOT she expects u to memorize. weekly workload is crazy with min 5 hours content covered a week which is so unreasonable. 2 dropped quizzes, mandatory final and participation pts based off completion
It's not that hard to do well- she really does try to help you succeed, however it is biochem, and there is a lot you have to memorize. She gave out EC for low averages, and drops 2 out of 5 quizzes. I hated the flipped classroom, the videos were long and tedious, and lectures were basically useless. The recitation group project was also useless.
Prof O'Reilly is a kind person and her recorded lectures are pretty straightforward, although time-consuming (write down everything so you can study it.) Synchronous lectures weren't too helpful, but you still needed to know all of the material on Top Hat. There was a huge amount of info to learn and "quiz" questions are pretty detailed.
Easily the worst professor I have ever had. The flipped classroom is horrible, and recitations were a huge waste of time. She doesn't teach concepts well at all, and relies on her old videos to teach us. Unfair professor who is also so passive aggressive and rude. I wish I had taken this class with any other professor. Worst experience ever.
The class is half online and half in person so be prepared for a 30-50 minute lecture and tophat questions to complete before class. It doesn't seem bad when you hear she drops 2 out of 5 quizzes, but the quizzes are the hardest exams I have taken so far in college despite studying 3 days up to a week in advance.
She is brilliant, kind, and cares a lot about teaching, but this class is awful. The obsession with group work EVERY DAY (for more than 50% of class time) is making me lose brain cells. A traditional lecture, asynchronous course, Khan Academy videos, or even just reading the book is a better use of time. UTAs frequently give incorrect explanations.
Linda O'Reilly is very clearly a nice and intelligent person, but unfortunately is just not a good teacher. I would consider myself to be doing better than many of my classmates, but even then I'm strugglinh. Test average is usually 70%, and the questions are awful. She words things so bad, even the TAs get mad. You can do well, but it takes a lot.
I am a good student, but no matter how hard I tried I couldn't do well in this class. She is a very intelligent woman but she made it very hard to learn. Half of the material we had to teach herself which I think can work in some classes but not biology. She has the right intentions but I think she executes them poorly. Don't take it if you can
Dr. O'Reilly really cares about her students' success. Her pre-lecture work was heavy, could take an hour to complete sometimes. I found the exams to be easy, and I learned well in this class despite having no biology foundation from high school. 1 exam grade is dropped, so you don't have to take the final if you do well on the other 4 exams.
Dr. O'Reilly was a great professor for Bio 1. The class is made up of pre-lecture assignments, in class questions, homework, and exams. I felt prepared for exams by the classwork and did not feel like it relied on previous knowledge. It is clear she wants her students to succeed and is very willing to help them.
O'Reilly was a good enough professor. The class is structured by out-of-class pre-lecture videos with questions you answer and then re-answer in class, class lectures, weekly homework assignments, and 4/6 tests. Her test format was great and easy and always matched up with her practice exams. If you can teach yourself material, I recommend her.
Very kind woman, but extremely difficult class. I found it very hard to pass without having taken AP Biology before and having prerequisite knowledge. Anywhere between 20-30 minutes of pre-lecture material and textbook reading are required prior to class to understand the material. I think I would have had much more success with someone else.
would def recommend; she made a daunting biochem class become fairly straightforward. flipped classroom so u have to put in effort before class then it's all groupwork through class. 6 exams, 2 drops. exams are not hard except for the 5 fill in the blanks. super accessible outside of class and genuinely cares and wants to see her students do well.
The flipped classroom structure makes it so that you will have HOURS of pre-lecture material to do every week on top of your regular studying, which isn't ideal. The grading scheme is nice though because you get to drop 1 of the 5 exams, the cumulative final is optional, and you get to drop like 7 lectures. Exams are fair but the class is tedious
dr. o'reilly's flipped lecture format sucked. tedious pre-lecture material and, in my opinion, she didn't use lecture time effectively to review content. i managed to do well even if i skimped on the pre-lecture material by studying a lot for the exams. you get 2 drops for 6 exams. mandatory attendance for lectures & recitations.
You can drop 2 of the 6 exams, but the exams are tough. She also has a lot of out-of-class work, where she records about half her lectures online and you must watch as a video before class. She also does a lot of group work, which I did not find extremely beneficial. Gives extra credit and practice exams, which are very similar to the real exam!
Her lectures are confusing because she talks very fast, but it is easy to do well and she offers extra credit and lots of completion grades. I recommend.
This is a flipped classroom teaching style. This class is pretty easy if you have taken AP Bio and done well in that class, but if you are new to bio and don't want to put in effort and watch the lectures, do not take this class. Overall, she's not the best at explaining things but her grading system is pretty fair.
Class set up was easy; lectures were half group discussion half lecture. Lectures were recorded. 77% of your grade is from 5 exams but the 2 lowest scores are dropped so there's room for error. Each exam had an extra credit question and 5 additional exam extra credit points were given during semester. No cumulative exams. Follow learning targets
This was a flipped classroom and your grade was mostly based on 4 exams (6 total, drop 2). There was a lot of work to do outside of the class but she made it so you could drop quite a few assignments and still get all the points for those assignments. Lecture attendence counted for extra credit. Overall, not too bad
This was Dr. O'Reilly's first time teaching BIOSC1820 so I think we got a lot of BIOSC 1000 content. This made the course way too easy, it is a breeze compared to BIOSC 1810. The flipped classroom format isn't too terrible and she gives extra credit for attendance as well. She is nice and really smart but the content was too easy.
Very clear on what she expects from students. Grading is also very generous as she takes 4/6 exams and all of the classwork/hw/recitation are all completion only. Only thing is exams are extremely specific to her slides, its best to memorize every small thing cause she can ask super specifics. Overall really enjoyed this class. Records lectures!
4 highest scores of 6 exams. If you do well on the first 4 your basically done, everything else in the class is participation, and attendance is extra credit(go to class). She is really organized just be careful as her exam are super specific so make sure to know everything that is taught. I definitely recommend!
O'Reilly is a great choice for biochem! The classroom is flipped but it is executed really well emphasizing groupwork. Her tests are super similar to the practice exams she gives so if you can do those you'll be solid. Generous grading scale since you can drop 2 exams including the final. She did a really good job explaining the difficult concepts
linda is an amazing professor! prelectures were really helpful + she recorded all in person lectures. exams are very clearly aligned with tophat + learning objectives, if u master that content u will do fine. super nice professor and very accessible and fair
I had her for 1820 and overall enjoyed the class. It's a flipped classroom, so make sure to do any assigned work (recorded lectures and questions) before she lectures on it. A lot of group work during class to complete questions. Do the work and study a week or so before each exam and it'll be fine.
Professor O'Reilly's biochem class is a solid choice. The flipped format with group work can be tedious, but her generous grading scheme (4/6 exams, attendance/participation credit) makes it manageable. Unstuck study was super helpful for test prep alongside the practice exams.
Flipped classroom takes a lot of time to watch outside of class, but it's helpful to learn the content at your own pace. 6 exams, drop 2, with 7 points for extra credit. Exams were reasonable and similar to practice exams+helped for MCAT studying. Reasonable choice if you work outside of class and pay attention to details.
Dr. O'Reilly has a clear grading criteria, and her class is set up in a way that it is easy to get an A (4/6 exams counted, lots of participation points). However, her exams are detail-based and sometimes tricky, so it's important to make sure you understand each concept she teaches. Overall a knowledgeable and caring professor.
I loved her for Gen bio. She is one of the few professors who truly want you to succeed. You get two drops for an exam and a makeup because she understands that one or two exams might go badly. She also takes a lot of work into her recourses and has a good system. If you do what she tells you to do, you will do well on the class.
Flipped classroom. Pre-lecture videos were alright. Exams were challenging, they were more applicational and applying the concepts to real-life examples. 5 exams, drop 2, optional-final. Very fair grading system and helpful for incoming students to understand the rigor of college and the ability to do alright/bad on a few exams and still succeed.
There are an incredible amount of typos in her lectures and even on her test. She does not explain things well at all and runs her class half online. Frustrating teacher to have taken a class from. With that being said, we were given a test drop, and a make-up final, so the grading wasn't that strict. She is relatively easy to get a good grade.
So many spelling errors, content errors, mispronouncing everything and makes things 10x more confusing than it should be. Prelecture videos teach everything and in class is used for her to talk for maybe 20 minutes and it does not even help reinforce content. save yourself
Decent experience. I definitely learned a ton. A lot of material, but you'll be set if you start early. The only thing is that she bases exams on vague “learning objectives” and gets upset at you for wanting more detail. We were also held responsible for exam typos. Otherwise, I don't think it's hard to do well and she's a fine choice.
my opp for real, do not take her if you actually want to learn biochem. if you just want to get by with an okay grade and not put in much effort then she is your girl. minimal effort required, but don't expect to walk away understanding the material deeply.
Not my favorite professor but not my least favorite either. Flipped lecture style made it easy to fall behind and lectures not meaningful but mandatory. The grading was not strict at all you basically get two exam drops and lots of other points and extra credit opportunities. Class was manageable but teaching style was not for me.
Do the prelecture before class, go to class and just try to focus. it's hard becus it seems pointless but it makes exam time(Every 2 weeks) a lot easier. EC points, many for just attending and doing recitation assignments. Did bad on 1 exam, then really great on 1 and like 90s on 2 of them and ended with an A w dropping the last 2. VERY DOABLE.
Did not like her flipped classroom format, but she is a good prof with good lectures and really wants you to do well. I easily could have gotten an A in this class and it's my fault that I did not. TopHat focused, gives lots of EC and plenty of opportunities to improve, has 6 exams and drops 2.
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