Very energetic professor who wants you to get excited about bio even if you have no interest in it. Tries to learn all the students' names ina 250-people class.

HOT! She's the reason I attend every class...

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very, very, VERY energetic professor, tries to make lecture notes clear, and succeeds!

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very intellegent and energetic. she talks very clearly, answers all questions and cares that you learn...she is willing to help all the time..i totally recommend her.

She's nice and REALLY energetic...however sometimes she makes me feel like I'm in high school again....and the way she words her questions on tests is hard to comprehend at times.

Everything stated above is true. She was a GREAT professor.

Excellent professor. Made the subject very interesting.

Great enthusiastic teacher. Work load wasn't horrible.

This class was amazing and is what got me going in genetics and research and developmental biology. Incredible professor who makes learning fun and easy!

She is one of the best professors I've had at UW. She totally cares about your learning, and is very humorous/enthusiastic in class. Excellent teacher.

her nerdy humor got old but she always had very complete information and explained it well

Easily one of the best professors I've ever had. Her teaching style is a bit different, but is extremely effective. Even if your grade is not good, you will come out of this class feeling like you really learned your molecular biology.

She is a very good lecturer and speaker, and she makes the topics very interesting. The lectures never seem like they are 2+ hrs long. Although, knowing the material perfectly doesn't mean that you will do good on her tests.

Very good professor. I love her teaching techniques. The packet and overheads were useful.

She presented the material well... however her tests need more extrapolation than her lectures suggest. In short, it is DEFINITELY not enough to simply know the material. And reading the book is pointless

Excellent professor. Topics were presented in a very clear and organized manner. Also, she is very willing to spend time outside of class to answer questions.

class was retarded for anyone who actually likes science. but shes a good teacher and cares about students learning. interesting but not the easy a i thought a 4 credit class would be

great prof. same as all other comments

She is incredible! One of the best professors I have ever had. She is really great at taking a complex topic, breaking it down, and making it make sense. Her passion kept the class very interesting.

She was a great professor, explains things very well. Always ready and willing to help you out. Exams however, are very tough. You can never study enough for them. There will always be something you missed.

Love her. Her lecture packet is amazingly convenient. She makes going to class fun. She is extremely outgoing and welcomes any student's questions. You will learn a great amount with this professor, and have fun while doing it. Take this course if Mandy's teaching - you will love it!

I love mandy!!! she is such a great professor, and a great person. She is always willing to help you out no matter what. I love her course packet! they are wonderful :) i loved her class so much that i'm taking another one of her classes! exams are tough, but drives the curve down...

Good teacher, but work load is high. I send more time on this class than the other three that are more credits! A good TA counts too because without one the quiz sections just confuse you more. This class should give a writing credit because of the long papers that are due every week. Attendance is mandatory!

She is such a good professor! Highly recommend! Midterm and final came from her lecture and the homework skill.

Very fair; approachable; cares whether or not students learn

Great, friendly teacher who enjoys teaching. I highly recommend taking any class with her.

As said before, she is very energetic and makes the class interesting. She is also adept at clearly explaining what she is lecturing on. The only problem here is the tests. Often times questions are asked that almost seem out of the scope of the lectures, and can be written in a unnecessarily confusing manner. Be forewarned.

Great teacher, very energetic. Loves what she does and is extremely knowledgeable. Her notes were very clear, easy to understand, and useful.

Energetic and really cares about her students. Her lectures are definitely worth going to. Ended up studying from her course pack and ignored the textbook. Her tests can be tricky, so make sure you do the practice problems and glance over the labs.

She is AWESOME. Super enthusiastic, always willing to help students, entertaining lecturer. Really wonderful teacher.

wonderful energetic teacher who is also very approachable. i learned so much from her.

Definitely take Bio 200 from her if you can - she is a terrific teacher, energetic, enthusiastic and knowledgeable. Her lectures are very clear, but you MUST attend every lecture and take great notes to do well in class. Exams are challenging and tricky, but really test your understanding of the material. I'm lucky I got to take 200 from her.

Very engaging lectures! Her lecture notes only contain pictures so there will be labeling, but it helps a lot visually. Her tests are challenging, but she puts up a practice exam about a week before each test, and the practices emulate the test format. Homework contains hard conceptual questions that will help you with the rest of the course.

Decent lecturer, but not quite my style. Tests are very tricky (which completely screwed me over) but really do test your knowledge. Pay attention to what she says in lecture. She doesn't write down everything you need to know. With effort, you can get a decent grade.

Good prof, hard exams, really loves her students. and make sure you go to Ben's Office hours as well, he is really helpful. GO TO LECTURE, make sure you understand everything said there and you will be solid.

Best teacher I've had at the UW. Mandy is extremely interested in the subject she teaches, and manages to engage her students during lecture (even with 500 students in class at once). Although her tests are difficult, you remember the subjects long after her class is over. I always enjoyed going to her class.

She made what could've been a boring molecular biology class very interesting. She is approachable, knowledgeable, effortlessly funny, and she likes to answer questions. In lecture she writes and draws as she explains so you don't miss anything. Her tests are straightforward. She rules!

I really enjoyed the way she taught and integrated real world examples. Make sure to get the lecture notes, she draws a lot and most tests are based on the notes. The exams are somewhat tricky and require a lot of logic, so make sure you understand the concepts!

I was lucky enough to have Mandy for both 200 and 355. She is one of my best teachers I have had at uw. She is great at making complex confusing topics seem more clear. If you can take a class with her as the teacher I would highly recommended it!

She is an extremely engaging teacher. Lecture is more bearable purely on the fact that she is very lively. She is also clearer than most. A good percentage of her test question involve "Imagine a scenario in which..." type questions, so there is not much regurgitation of facts.

Dr. Mandy was a fabulous professor - very engaging lectures with plenty of humor sprinkled in. Love the way she does her notes although it does make attending class mandatory. Proposed a lot of various scenario questions in her tests so make sure to study those. She loves biology and it's very evident in her lectures. Great prof!

Very enthusiastic professor. You can tell that she really enjoys teaching this class. However, it is a definite weed out class and the tests are written sometimes in a confusing manner. The POGIL (in class worksheets) were not helpful and made it more confusing, hopefully she doesn't continue to use them.

Great professor, really nice to have a lecture booklet option. Her tests were strange and asked me to recall information in a strange manner, but overall a much more doable class than 180. Some super cool labs!

Dr. Schivell, to be honest, was an alright teacher. One of the best bio teachers compared to others. Lectures were good except some of the material presented never really showed up on the midterms/final. Of course, I liked how she would present a scenario on the exam ahead of time to prepare. POGIL's were not helpful so just read the textbook.

This class was a retake for me. Mandy is the best person to take with. She uses a notebook for lectures. She ALWAYS gives you direct info that is on tests. Best advice for a good grade: go to class, FORM A STUDY GROUP, do practice exams/weekly questions (best prep for exams!) and seek help if you need it. Follow these and you'll do great!

The instructor normally teaches invertebrate biology, but created the Biomedical Advances and Society class as a side project. It's not a hard core biology class, but she is great at applying medical concepts to topics such as advertising, lawmaking and marketing. The instructor is very personable and pleasant, and an engaging lecturer.

One of the best teachers and classes I have had. It was fun to have a break from heavily science concentrated classes and look at biological/tech advances from another lens. Mandy was passionate and organized, class was fun (didn't look at the clock!), and expectations were very clear. Just do the work and enjoy!

Pretty easy class. All memorization. Class became a little disorganized after the first midterm. The way she phrases questions is sometimes confusing. Other than that, it's a good class.

I believe Dr. Schivell was an excellent teacher. She does ask questions that sometimes seem far-fetched but usually they are only clicker questions so that you can learn from them. She really seemed to genuinely care that all her students learned and always has a positive uplifting nature to her.

She's still getting used to notes on her iPad, but I enjoyed how interactive she was with the class and how hard she worked to make sure that people understood the material. Tests and quizzes were challenging, but if you are passionate about the subject then you should be fine.

So funny and cheerful! She clearly loves teaching biology and she makes every effort to help students learn, which is a rare thing amongst UW STEM professors. Note that you should come to lecture as often as you can, since she usually does clicker questions.

Really fun Biology class! Lectures keep you engaged the whole way through, so time flies :) I personally preferred the material over Biol 180, and Professor Schivell provides an excellent introduction to key biology concepts in this class. You can really feel that the UW Biology department is invested in good teachers.

I love Mandy, she is an awesome person and professor and I feel lucky that I was able to take so many classes with her. She is always there to help when you need it and genuinely cares about her students. Her classes are pretty engaging, I like I her teaching style and her exams are easy as long as you pay attention in class.

I loved taking this class with Mandy! She is a really clear lecturer and her classes were engaging. She wrote on her slides in class, which is slightly annoying because her handwriting is kind of messy, but it is easy to follow along. Clicker questions were really easy. Labs were really fun also.

Dr. Schivell knows what she is doing. Her class is one of my favorite of the bio series because of how well she covers the topics. She also helps you prepare for the midterms and finals by releasing a "preview" of some of the material that will be on the test like pictures or graphs. Very good professor.

I'm not sure why so many people dislike Dr. Mandy. I thought her class was awesome! The class definitely requires a decent amount of studying and reading but it's totally doable. I found her lectures to be very helpful (just a bit messy) and re-watching via Panopto is helpful when studying/reviewing. Dr. Many is also super smart and nice!

Honestly one of the best professors I've ever had. She knows her stuff. She doesn't give you any more information than you'll need to know and she'll stop you if you're trying to understand something that's not necessary for the test. She's enthusiastic and was a large part of the success in that class

Despite getting a 3.8 in 180, I left knowing nothing. I dreaded 200, but to my surprise Dr. Schivell's lectures were really engaging and organized. She has very clear expectations for what you do and don't need to know for exams. There's a lot of reading, but that's true for all bio classes. Overall, I loved this class! I wish she taught 220 :/

She is hands down the BEST PROFESSOR i've ever worked with at UW. I've taken many biology classes, and this class wasn't even in my field of interest per se, but WOW. she is SO compassionate, caring, funny, inspirational, just an amazing person and a teacher. She isn't just another professor. She will leave impact in your college career. TAKE HER!

Schivell explained concepts very well, but when tests came around, they were much more difficult than what was mentioned in lectures and in practice problems. I really recommend doing all practice problems and going to class everyday. Go to TA office hours with questions!

BIOL 240 Intensive Introductory Biology: Human Health Emphasis It is 15 credits and all of intro biology in ONE 10 WEEK SUMMER QUARTER! It is not easy but doable. Schivell was one of three profs. Her lectures were clear and test questions were ok, she needs to work on making test questions clear about what she is asking which she self admits.

Love this class! Lectures are great. She gives really awesome test previews and a lot of practice problems that help a lot for the exams. Reading before lecture is really import if you actually want to understanding lecture.

This is absolutely the best class I've taken here! She cares a lot about students, and gives SO many opportunities for help (Friday lectures are office hours and you can ask her questions directly, it's awesome). I highly recommend taking a class with Dr. Schivell, she was so enthusiastic that I never wanted to miss class. Also, POGILS are helpful!

I loved taking cell bio with Mandy, she said the course used to have exams but she doesn't do them anymore so its all about the research on the molecular insulin response pathway. Weekly research papers and BQMOC assignments for them as well as "method cartoons" but overall all not a labor intensive or heavy memorization class and I enjoyed it :).

I really enjoyed this course vs 180. I think her lectures were much more clear and did a good job breaking down the difficult concepts we had to learn. To me, she was very approachable and was happy to answer questions or re-explain during lecture. This class is concept heavy and you need to have a good handle on the processes to do well on exams.

Dr. Mandy is one of the best professors I've ever had. She's definitely a very experienced teacher so she's not only knowledgeable about biology but also about how students learn best. Like Dr. Katie Sieverman, she makes herself very available for outside help and really genuinely cares about student learning and always meets you where you are.

I feel like she makes me love biology. I tool Biol200 with Mandy and Katie, I could always feel their passion to biology and love to students in there class. What is more, they are really nice and all the contents they taught are so clear and learnable , which means you will not feel like not understanding what the said in lecture. Take their class

I took 200 with Sieverman+Schivell, and Dr. Schivell is super sweet. Online lectures with her were a bit more interactive than her counterpart, Sieverman. She uses POGILs but I honestly didn't mind because they reinforce the more test-heavy concepts. Her cat is super adorable too.

great lecturer, truly cares for students' well-being

Dr. Mandy is a super sweet and caring professor. She made her lectures fun and interactive and it was clear how much she loves biology and wants to share that with others. Lectures were thorough and covered everything you needed to know for the tests. She always made sure to be accessible to students and was always willing to answer questions.

I must say Mandy is my favorite professor in uw biology.

Had her for 200 spring quarter and it was my favorite class! Although the material can be tough at times her lectures were very clear and contained most of what you need to know for tests (other than labs, assignments, etc.) POGILs were kind of a pain but actually did end up helping me. Lots of practice problems that are just like the test material

I had her for biol 200 & 466. Biol 200 wasnt the best, but its not her fault and she is probably your best choice for 200. But for biol 466, absolutely amazing. No exams, just weekly quizzes where you can discuss with anyone, including herself and the TA. Super understanding and nice. Class itself is an easy A and very interesting

This class was really fun and interesting! Lots of group work/talking. You have quizzes every week (no exams) and they can be difficult but you can discuss the questions with others in the class including Dr. Mandy and the TA. Highly recommend taking a class with Dr. Mandy, she's great!

Dr. Schivell is your best choice for BIOL200. She truly cares about her students and answers every question terrifically.

Dr. Schivell is an extremely caring professor with easy to follow lectures and fair testing and grading. The teaching team involved with BIOL200 also are superb! Especially Liz Warfield's diligence as a course coordinator! I will always recommend Dr. Schivell for BIOL200

She is definitely one of the best biology professors out there! The whole teaching team is caring and very nice all around. The grading will be similar to BIOL 180 so there is still a weed out culture in the class. I love Dr. Schivell's lectures and they were very engaging. As long as you can get everything nailed down, you should be fine.

Great lecturer, genuinely cares about students and wants them to succeed and will provide the help to do so. Awesome teaching staff, great course format and overall a great experience!

Very good bio prof. The exams would actually test your knowledge of the content. She really knows what she is doing to.

Professor Schivell has to be one of my favorites professors so far at UW! She is very knowledgeable and open to all types of questions. Her lectures were informative and helpful in terms of exam prep. She held awesome office hours every Friday and had tons of practice problems. Definitely a class to take!

Prof. Schivell is amazing. Her lectures are clear and relate extremely well to the exams. The exams themselves are not too overwhelming and are a good mix of free-response and multiple-choice questions. She is extremely helpful and willing to answer your questions. Highly recommended.

Prof Schivell really knows her subject material. I learned so much in her class and she is a kind, approachable person. Her class was also so organized, I never stressed out or felt unprepared for any exams. I learned so much and had a really inspiring quarter. She does a good job of keeping people engaged during class. Love this prof!!

Amazing professor!

Professor Schivell is one of the best professors I've had at uw and I highly recommend her for bill 200 especially since its a weed out class. She makes her lectures super easy to understand and most of the questions on the test usually do come from what we learn in lecture. the pogil worksheets are very beneficial. Amazing class and teaching team!

Dr. Schivell is the best intro BIOL professor at UW. She is very organized and made the transition from online to in person mid-quarter seamless. Her TAs are also wonderful just like her. This is a tough course, but her caring nature and detailed lectures made this class a much nicer experience than BIOL 180 and BIOL 220.

One of the best professors I have ever had at UW! I have taken both BIOL 434 and BIOL 466 with her and had great experiences in both courses. Dr. Mandy cares a great deal about her students. She is flexible with deadlines, receptive to questions, and encourages curiosity among science topics. I would highly recommend her courses!

She is fantastic! I hated bio180 and she single-handedly made me love bio again. Her lectures are engaging, easy to understand and connect to everyday life. She wants every single person to understand the content and ask questions. Be ready for the single roll call in class tho

I loved her. She is such a good professor.

Love Mandy. Her public exams really help you going through all the concepts before exams and easy to get a nice score.

She was a unique way of teaching that I deemed helpful but other classmates would disagree. In class work referred to as POGILs help you understand the expectations that would are to uphold on exams. She is very nice and willing to meet with you if you are struggling. Attend her office hours, she offers great information for exams and success.

She was a pretty good lecturer but if you did the readings the lecture was pretty repetitive. She had public exams which were great and helped you know what to study beforehand, as well as lots of good practice problems. I've had better profs but she was nice, work load was reasonable, and she seemed to care about students.

I really enjoyed BIOL200 with Mandy, she is very caring and wants students to succeed. Lectures are engaging, she explains how what we are learning applies to everyday life. She has "Public Exams" (versions of the exams posted prior to the real exam with redacted information) so you get a good idea of the topics that you will be tested on.

Dr. Schivell is a great professor. She is very kind, and is also an excellent teacher. Her lecture notes are well organized and relevant. I also liked how she posted the exams before the fact with parts of the questions missing, which I feel helped prepare me.

Professor Schivell's class can be challenging, but her public practice exams are a lifesaver. Using Unstuck study and the textbook alongside her lectures helped me stay on top of the material and earn a solid grade.

recommended

MCD is a very difficult concept, but Dr. Schivell does an excellent job in making it digestible for students. Provides a preview of exam questions before and gives lengthy practice packets that make the exams a lot easier. She's also receptive to feedback and extremely kind, highly recommend taking 200 with her!

Her exams were very reasonable and matched the lecture material very well. Participation is very encouraged during class. She would ask a lot of questions for student engagement. However, her lectures were structured and well put-together!

Took this class Summer 2025. Asking questions was encouraged and the labs were helpful in reinforcing the content. Overall, her lectures and slides made it easy to learn and understand the content. Lots of practice problems provided and room to converse about test questions and get points back.