2.2
Quality4.3
Difficulty22%
Would Retake140
Reviews22%
Would Retake
140
Reviews
Rating DistributionOfficial
5
17
4
19
3
13
2
21
1
70
What Students Say
“terrible do not take with her most of the class is failing avg for midterm was a 60 and no one even got an A and does not curve this class will most likely destroy your gpa and most likely will not even pass”
20A - 1.0 rating“Otherwise, good luck fighting for a passing grade”
BIOL20A - 2.0 ratingClass Info
Online Classes
100%
Attendance Mandatory
67%
Textbook Required
40%
Grade Predictor
Your expected effort level
Predicted Grade
B
Grade Distribution
Common Tags
Rating Trend
Declining
-1.63 avg changeRatings by Course
EUK115
4.0
(1)BIO115
3.5
(10)BIOL115
3.4
(9)BIO101
2.8
(6)BIOL101
2.8
(4)Difficulty by Course
BIO20B
5.0
BIOL115
4.4
BIOL20A
4.4
BIO20A
4.3
BIO115
4.3
Reviews (140)
You better pay attention to her comments, shes a tricky one
Jurica's lectures are incredibly boring and difficult to understand. She focuses a lot on experimental technique. Exams are very tricky, she will include things she barely talked about. She is, however, very approachable and helpful.
Her lectures are boring and long, tests are very difficult and tricky. The material is super hard, and this class would be a good reason to switch from MCD to regular bio major in my opinion.
Lecture slides online and recorded lectures were available, but only did little help to the volume of materials that were covered. Very difficult tests--questions on experiments were tricky and materials tested were hardly discussed. She expects you to think beyond of what is required of you to know. Office hours helpful.
I regret ever taking the class and sitting through her lame lectures and droning voice. It isn't worth it, and if you can avoid it i would suggest taking it with someone else. Total waste of time. I didn't like her at all.
This professor is extreamly boring! Finaly a women teaching a science course (the first in all my years here) but she is DULL! Not just that she really doesn't teach anything she just reads off her already prepared slides. She even made mistakes during lecture. She should take some ideas and make her lectures more endearing.
Good lecturer. Tests were difficult but about 20% from sample tests/HW. You must know everything she teaches though, you will be tested on anything and everything. People fail her class not because she is a poor teacher but they can not meet her expectations, although there is a LARGE volume of information that is expected to be learned.
Never attended class (podcasts of lecture were made available and were VERY helpful) but got a decent grade. Attend sections to get the HW done because it will help you get a feel for how she will ask Q's on the test. Test have some real challenging experimental/application problems but I struggled with these and still did well in the class.
Melissa was a straight forward prof. She's pretty smart too (I think). Yes- lectures were boring and full of information. It's not her though; the way the class is designed makes it tough-->eukaryotes are just complicated! Toughest class in bio probably...don't go into the class defeated! Put in work (a lot of it) and get friendly with the notes.
Very tech savvy (online discussion board, podcasts, lots of resources on website) PATRICK YUH is the best TA ever, office hours helpful - this class is hard no matter what, take it with Jurica if you can. She is going to win a Nobel for the spliceosome. Look it up.
she is hot and smart- im in euk. heaven :)
Hard tests but good teacher. Very patient and willing to explain everything, even the same concept multiple times if you don't understand it.
Professor Jurica is the best professors I have had on campus. She is very dedicated to the class and does everything to make the information accessible to students. She is very approachable and willing to answer all questions. She tries to make the class a great learning experience and expects you to be able to apply the knowledge learned.
Her test are hard and tricky. Understand all of the concepts that she gives, practice as much as you can, and know her expectations. Don't underestimate how much power that she has over your grade because she is a professor that will never give anyone an A on the exams. She is a really awesome professor and she really knows her stuff.
extremely boring and difficult teacher but very smart.... should stick to not teaching.
Extremely disorganized, exams are harder than she makes them out to be, and should probably stick to not teaching and focusing on her research instead. Wouldn'nt recommend her.
Euk is a very demanding class. That being said, Jurica was a decent professor. Her exams were not exactly representative of her practice exams or homework. Lectures were rather slow and boring; her voice can get very tiring and she often only briefly mentions key concepts which is frustrating.
Hard class because she makes it too hard. In her own words "I don't expect anyone to get an A on this test."
Jurica has an exhausting, raspy voice that makes lectures very slow to get through. Material wise, this is an experimental class so if you work in a research lab already you should be ahead of everyone else. Really tough to get an A but you should manage to get a B. Exams are tough and tricky so study hard.
Boring voice, boring lectures, confusing
I am more than certain she had test questions from Bio 115. WHY?? This class was much harder than it should have been. Majority of the test had questions with very little to do with the lectures and mostly covers the activity she does on Fridays and the problem set to which no solutions are provided (also from Bio 115). Some curve, clicker, 5 exams
Textbook was useless, study her lecture notes. Friday activities while not mandatory were helpful. Section is required for participation. 4 midterms, 1 final. Grades by keywords. C to C- avg. Attend her OH and TA OH's (very helpful). Otherwise, review her webcast and notememorize everything thats covered (more detailed than her notes).
Although she posts lots of material early and records her lectures (thank you!), she's not big on communication regarding assignments, so it's easy to miss points. Really not a great lecturer either- I knew a lot of the material covered already, but her explanations were scattered and confusing. :/ Really didn't work well with the way I learn.
Amazing. 80% is an A (not A- but A) & she is really receptive to student needs. After asking us why we felt our midterm scores were low & finding out that timing was an issue, she decided to make the final only 3 pgs & let us see the first 2 pgs early. Love that she implements changes WITHIN the quarter & not waiting until next quarter to start.
Professor Jurica's class is a real mystery. She made the concepts really difficult to understand by not explaining them very clearly. Her tests were open for interpretation which made it difficult to figure out what she was really asking. Would not take a class with her again.
terrible do not take with her most of the class is failing avg for midterm was a 60 and no one even got an A and does not curve this class will most likely destroy your gpa and most likely will not even pass.
This class was completely unorganized, and the professor came off as "does not care about the students AT ALL." Tests have poor clarification and are not well written. I would definitely recommend taking this class with a different professor if you can hold off a quarter. Otherwise, good luck fighting for a passing grade. Also, lectures useless.
I understand why a lot of students did not like Jurica, primarily because she makes you work for your grade and is not a professor that will generously curve. However, she will give you all the tools you need to pass this class. I honestly preferred her style of lectures because she writes/draws physically what she teaches instead of slides.
I'm taking her class right now and if I could drop I would. She is awful at lecturing and is very unorganized. This is a general bio class but her test and quizzes feel like an upper division class. I never learn anything from her classes and all she does is draw on her slides (which is very unclear). 2/10
wasn't able to adjust to the situation at hand but seemed like a nice and caring teacher that was just overwhelmed by the situation
if you want a professor who wastes your time with useless lectures, gives tests that belong in upper div classes, ignores students, and sounds like she has smoked a pack of cigs a day, take this class!
idiotic professor that is tone deaf to the situation around her. her "accommodations" to the online covid 19 situation is, "whatever lets make it harder so people can't cheat." the result are exams that are impossible to get a high A in, and frustratingly bad lectures. class is so bad its making me want to transfer out of UCSC to somewhere better.
She seems like an intelligent researcher, but she definitely should not be a professor. The lectures and readings were not relevant to what was on tests, we had zero feedback on most assignments, we didn't have a physical textbook, and also no curve. Super disappointed that I took this class she made it more difficult that it should have been.
Horrible professor. I dont recommend.
I learned a lot from Melissa's class. Material is hard but she makes it easier to understand. Her test questions really test your understanding and I found those a bit difficult. I took her class during the pandemic and it took her some time to make the tests fair for the students. Overall, she's good but I really had to work for a good grade.
I took this class online during COVID-19. Prof's lecture style doesn't cover all exam material or learning goals. Many questions she asks in class don't look like the ones on exams. She is a hard grader and does not offer weekly/consistent homework assignments to boost your grade. But the final was optional w/ some restrictions.
This is the worst teacher I have had in my life. She gave us 0 practice questions for exams. Some questions on exams had us upload a photo of a drawing you had to make. She also gave us two different textbooks to use rather than one. The lectures did not relate to any material in the books. She is almost as dumb as her purple hair! Laziest teacher.
Melissa provided several practice exams that would sometimes contain the exact questions that she'd put on her exams. She was a fair grader and curved at the end while also making the final optional. Many people didn't put in the effort and if you don't try in this class then you won't do well. Wording on exams somewhat confusing. Watch lectures!
Did not show up to first two office hours I tried to attend. Does not reply to half the emails I send to professor. Received C+ with a 79.6% after claiming she would curve with a couple points. Cant go back on questions in quizzes or exams(on the worst website to take quizzes, canvas). Vague learning goals that dont line up with tests/quizzes
She genuinely care about her students, but is at times useless. You have to work for your grade and she does not curve. I recommend reading the textbook as it helps immensely. Look over the learning goals as she directly tests them on her exams. If you don't understand the learning goals you'll fail. Tests are mc and frq.
AVOID AT ALL COST! If you can hold off a quarter and take BIOL20A with another professor it is in your best interest. Lectures don't correlate to quizzes. Zero practice questions for quizzes or tests. Not enough time to finish quizzes.
Jurica the worst professor I have had. I switched my major after this class. Her lecture style is horrible and unhelpful. She uses slides with blanks on them for vocab but somehow doesn't give definitions of everything and just skips over topics altogether. Her tests were very hard and didn't line up with a lot of the learning goals. Read the text.
Awful! The way she teaches is so unhelpful. Her lectures and very un informative. She says the wrong thing half the time, says umm umm when trying to explain and has to rely on her TA to answers half the things because she doesnt know. Quizzes are horrific very little time, she doesnt help us improve just tells us to ask a peer(very hard to find)
Literally the worst professor ever. Shes sarcastic/rude, lectures are useless, tests are nothing like what weve learned (she mutes the answers), and TAs have to answer questions for her during lectures because she doesnt know the answer. All she does is draw on her notes and misspell words, but marks it off on a test when you do the same! AVOID!
In short, she doesn't want anyone to pass her class. Grades are extremely test heavy, and tests are ten times harder than homework. She doesn't give feed back to whether you did the homework correctly, and test hard made as hard and as confusing as possible, with spelling errors in the question and takes point off if you misspell the answer.
The goal of this class is to stress students out more than necessary. The tests/quizzes are timed and difficult. Her lectures are just her going through some slides while doing poll questions and fill in the blanks. Office hours were more helpful than the lectures. It's still possible to do good in the class if you put in A LOT of effort though.
I had to teach myself bio this quarter, read a lot, watch a lot of amoeba sisters videos, what she said in lectures was confusing. She said a whole lot, but it didn't mean a lot. Her quizzes were super difficult, 7 questions in 15 minutes? Girl pls. It's like she wants us to fail.
If you don't get behind & attended discussion sections, you will be well prepped for exams. She gave all the resources needed to succeed- she was responsive on Piazza, had many office hours, & great discussion sections. Her lectures are easy to grasp & she's a passionate professor. Don't take this class if you plan to put in minimal time/effort.
So hard because it was graded on a few assignments and only a few keys were released for the past quizzes/exams to study. Exams rarely have things even from the lecture in it. All the answers are very specific (mRNA vs messenger RNA vs messenger)
Yeah no Professor Jurica seemed really understanding at the beginning of the quarter but was not the case. She constantly avoided answering questions or releasing the answers on quizzes so the students couldn't see what they did wrong. Most of the questions on those quizzes were nonsensical and made little sense. Avoid if you want to pass 20A.
if possible, dont take 20A with this professor. there were so many mysteries in this class (no feedback, couldnt see what we got wrong on previous quizzes, etc.) that i started feeling like i was on scooby-doo
Professor Jurica is the worst teacher I have ever had. I have literally had a math teacher not teach us anything besides read straight from the book. Yet that teacher was 100x better than her. Good luck because reading the book won't help, looking at past exams won't help, and going to/watching her lectures won't help so have fun.
This prof. is not it!! just take my word for it if you can take this class another quarter with a different prof DO IT!
Unhelpful to say the least frequently couldnt answer questions asked of her in class. Gave quizzes with an unreasonably short amount of time. If you dont HAVE to take her dont save yourself a lot of stress.
Heres my take: Lectures are mediocre at best and cover topics on a very basic level (not worth attending imo). Learning goals are key in this class (dont let anyone else tell you otherwise) and you should be able to understand/explain all of them if you want to do well on exams. STUDY the material, take notes, etc. Really not that hard. Good luck
Honestly enjoyed taking this class. All you have to do is go to lecture, take notes and master her learning goals which she gives you every module. Would recommend having some sort of bio experience as she tends to flash through concepts assuming the class understands. If you know how to adapt and put the work in, youll be fine.
The average score of her quizzes and exams were low, but she didnt curve. Her lecture did not contain enough information and you must go to her office hours to study more. You can learn a lot if you enroll this class because her class is difficult. But it is not easy to get a high grade. I do not suggest you to enroll her class.
Go to her lectures, take notes, and make sure you truly understand the concept by answering her learning goals. She wants to test your understanding not your memorization. Her tests include FRQs, pictures, multiple choice, fill in the blank, true or false, etc. You have a quiz every other weak and one midterm and final. Homework is graded on effort
Quite literally sobbed after every test. So confusing. She misspelled so many words in her lectures and would subtract so many points from our tests if we spelled it like she did in her lectures. Would ask for help and would basically just be told to figure it out or read more. Like babes, I did.
She says "this class is fast" like it's an excuse for poorly organized & incomplete slides, often incoherent explanations, and what is explained is said so fast that it basically forces you to watch the recorded lecture since her slides don't help at all. Long readings & bad lectures make this class a huge time-consumer (bad for high course loads)
Her lecture slides are super unhelpful and are basically bullet points of the main topics with no explanation, but it's even worse than that. The bullet points are not even complete, they are literally fill in the blanks. So not only do we no get a clear typed explanation on tRNA, we don't even get the word "tRNA". The slides might as well be blank
Tests cover topics we never covered or barely covered in class. Her test questions are also too long (1-3 paragraphs) and/or have too many steps for the time given. Ex. for the midterm she had us spell a 5+ letter word out of a drawn polypeptide chain that we needed to come up with, draw, take a photo of and upload to canvas in less than 5min.
Talks way to fast and barely gives us anything to even write down on the slides, so notes are hard to take. We don't even get time to process what she is saying before we are on another topic. I took an upper division quantum physics course more organized and coherent than this class, and this is a lower division beginner bio course. Nuff said
Her lectures are fast, but I don't think they're meant to be the brunt of information. That is saved for the readings, which help you understand the lectures better. Not sure why she gets bad ratings because she does a good job at explaining, and will stop to clarify if you ask. As long as you listen in class, do the readings, and study you're fine
Professor Melissa Jurica how can someone so smart and talented such as yourself be such a low rated professor? Perhaps here is why: Your style of note taking and lectures is inefficient, disorganized, and inconsistent. The readings you assign are of no help and your blank lectures slides are of absolute no use whatsoever. Remove the madlibs now.
What she teaches in the class does not come up in the tests, it’s completely different. Horrible professor.
Lecture was pretty much pointless, and the midterm and final were way harder than it should've been. Would not recommend!
Slides may as well just be blank because they're mad libs but with very brief, general info. Your understanding of material may be better than hers as the material is not hard to grasp, but she has to go back and correct what she teaches. For some reason disease gene problems state the person is of Asian decent.
Lectures are dense and you NEED to be studying often to keep up w/ her. I honestly don't even think it's Jurica's fault, it's just a difficult class with difficult material and a fast pace bc of the quarter system. If you just study (focus on the learning goals), keep up with the readings, and go to section you'll be fine.
Jurica was by far the hardest professor I've encountered. She grades hard, the tests are hard, and they're worth the majority of your grade. The slides are so hard to follow, but you need to be in class or else you'll never understand. She glazes over important info and goes on rants about irrelevant things. It's like you're playing catchup.
She doesn't get through any of the planned lectures on time, she doesn't care if you pass or fail the class, and she makes the tests hard to pass because she wants us "to be pushed to our limits." I do not normally struggle this much in classes but my gosh she was difficult. Both midterms and the final averaged below a 65%.
Took AP Bio in HS, almost failing this class despite scoring 4 on AP test. Jurica's tests are tricky, not reflective of knowledge. Wait for a better professor; don't waste hours on her lectures, studying every concept, to get a 70 on a midterm.
Don't get the hate, I love jurica!! Lectures aren't hugely helpful, but going, taking notes, and solo-studying is still so useful. She is also incredibly passionate about biology and cares a lot about her students. If you need help, just ask. There are so many EC options so if you put in the effort and DO THE LEARNING GOALS, you will do well!! :)
Lectures are disorganized and difficult to study from given their fill-in-the-blank format. Midterm/Final make up most of your grade and even though they're multiple choice, questions are ridiculously detail-oriented to the point of being irrelevant to the actual curriculum. Concepts never really connected and Amoeba Sisters saved my grade.
Master the learning goals or you'll fail. Utilize every resource she gives you-- readings, practice quizzes, lecture recordings, etc. Her tests are tricky and takes a lot of thinking but as long as you are studying her class can be pretty interesting. Some extra credit is offered.
Although the homework is easy and just graded by participation everything else in this class is difficult. The weekly online quizzes are pretty hard and you are not given enough time. She doesn't prepare you for the midterms or final at all. Also attendance is required for lectures and discussion sections.
Lectures are really unhelpful, I still would recommend attending them because they count for participation, however the lecture slides are fill in the blank style making it hard to study off of. The learning goals are extremely important, just study those if anything. Difficult quizzes each week, so need to stay on top of work. Extra credit offered
Never ever got a B in highschool however failed her class. It was a sad end to my last quarter because I had tried really hard. Grades were not inputted til the last week so I never really knew my grade was. The check in quizzes and homework were graded last second then the final came. Really great lectures though.
I really enjoyed her lectures, but the class is extremely dense and I relied a lot on LSS tutors and discussion section to help learn the content. Tests are tricky, especially the select all that apply. Grade is heavily dependent on performance of 2 midterm, 1 final. The class soaked up so much of my time, but I have a good understanding of bio now
An extremely difficult professor with some of the most confusing test writing; very confusing wording, majority of the test being select multiple options, etc. You have to read a lot bc she teaches nothing that is useful in the tests. One thing good though her class will set you up for success in future Bio. classes bc of the cramming and studying.
Was able to do good in the class due to prior knowledge. Messy lectures, all over the place, bad handwriting on the slides. If you study you will succeed but she isn't very understanding or used to teaching lower division classes where people are struggling.
Genuinely been one of my favorite teachers at UCSC thus far. Her lectures are super straight forward and she will answer any question with detail and no judgement at all. She is accessible outside of class and will always do what she can to make sure students succeed. Only issues would be handwriting and weird grading rubric.
Dr. Jurica is an amazing professor who will teach you Biology. All the bad reviews on here are by students who should change their major. Make sure to understand the learning goals posted and there is no reason why you will have a hard time.
Jurica's class requires attendance, but you can miss 8 sessions with late passes by submitting lecture notes. These can also be used for homework. The course is fast-paced but manageable, and Jurica prepares you well for future biology classes. Use learning objectives during lectures and skim readings beforehand to stay on track. textbook is free
horrible prof. wait until a different quarter to take it with a different prof.
BAD PROF, doesnt care for her student even after the majority failed her tests, super stubborn on giving extra credit or even partial credit
The 2nd midterm mean was 49/90 aka 54% and she wont curve, harsh grader barely partial credit. you can easily fall behind, attendance is mandatory, you have to buy an iclicker for that ?? Hw graded on how hard you try instead of correct answers but won't give 100%, gives a lot of extra credit tho
She's a good lecturer, her lectures are very dense. She explains the material in a manner that's easily digestible. However, she's not flexible or understanding to a student's circumstances. So, if you're working or have a busy life, try to avoid her. If you want to pass, do lots of supplemental reading & studying but overall she prepares you well.
She is the worst teacher
You can tell that she is passionate about what she teaches. But there are a ton of requires readings which are also not all covered in lecture (lecture can be a bit messy). She is not very forgiving when it comes to grading and exams. Most people scored around 50% on midterm 2, and she wouldn't curve. I wouldn't recommend this class if you're busy.
She has a low rating because the way she writes test questions is very tricky, even if you know the content well. However, her lectures are super helpful and the content is really really interesting. Make sure to pay attention to the learning goals and take good notes during lecture. You probably don't have to do the readings.
Professor does not care about you. Lectures are rushed/messy. Required an clicker, but the attendance wasn't even accurate. Barely any extra credit opportunities. Exams were very tough and worth a large chunk of your grade. Quizzes and homework nothing like exam. Will not provide keys to practice exam or quizzes/homework. AVOID AT ALL COST
Test questions are specifically worded in a way that confuses students whether that is wording them really tricky or really vaguely. This would be a non-issue if exams weren't such a large portion of your grade. Doesn't provide practice exam keys or annotated lecture slides so studying for exams is near impossible. Avoid if possible.
Tests are very messy, and she tries to trick you. Does not respond to emails or Ed Discussions, and uses iClickers for attendance, which are very inaccurate. She does not provide keys to any practice worksheets or midterms. Average for midterms and final was a failing grade.
The average for our Midterm 2 was an F and the average for the final was a D-. She does not curve or answer any Ed discussion posts. I got an A in my organic chemistry class and a B in hers. Her weekly quizzes are confusing and hard. The tests are very hard and she is unwillingly to curve even though half of the class has a failing grade.
Lectures are not helpful and mandatory. She made us buy iclickers and use them for attendance. Her tests are multiple choice and the content is difficult. Going to lectures alone is not enough, she briefly and vaguely explains her learning goals during lecture, so you have to do the readings. Again, awful unhelpful lectures.
“I am prepared to fail the whole class if I have to”- Prof. Jurica
When I took this class majority of the class failed both the second midterm and final. She refused to take feedback from the students. Though she said that ed discussion allows you to ask questions anonymously she then proceeded to reply to one post saying how she will not reply to those anonymous posts due to them being a "one-sided discussion".
Prof Jurica was very disorganized and all over the place with her material. Often times sections that were merely skimmed over in lectures were big parts of an exam. The class average of the second midterm was horrible. Be prepared to watch many outside source videos and study for countless hours if you would like a decent grade in this class.
Tough grader but as long as you do the reading before class and go to office hours you can succeed
Though there was lots of material to cover, and reading the textbook likely saved most people's grades, Melissa made it hard to succeed. Large sections of exams were barely touched in class due to lack of time management. Melissa's expectation to use basic explanations for complex topics leaves students unprepared for upper division biology.
Jurica doesn't care about her students' success. Her tests and lectures were confusing. Most of my understanding came from YouTube videos and Khan Academy. As a professor, she is unempathetic and no amount of effort you put in will matter to her. Avoid her at all costs, a lot of people have to switch majors because of her.
Such a bad professor care very little about her students, over half of her class failed and gave no care, test heavy, attendance is mandatory but slides are confusing and doesn't share them to the class. AVOID HER
$90 to participate in class is crazy
She recently added codone learning which is lowkey a game changer as I don't think this class would be as straight forward if I were solely relying on lectures for learning. It's not that bad don't be scared (coming from someone who was scared)!
Do NOT take this class with this professor, trust me. Wait to take it with a different professor; the tests are not meant to test your knowledge. The professor does questions to trick you on exams. Unhelpful practice tests (do not match the midterm material). VERY LOW average for ALL exams! Avoid at all costs. Feel so discouraged.
Very difficult tests with very little correlation to in class lectures. Dont even know my grade because they are not displayed on canvas. As a person, seems very genuine and passionate however she makes an already difficult class way harder.
Her tests are meant to trick you and have very little corrolation to lectures (which are mandatory, btw.) Avoid her at all costs.
So bad. Weeder class especially w her
this prof made me want to change my major, feeling like the biology department here hires anyone nowadays. the reviews are horrible and yet prof jurica still hasn't shifted how her exams are made. even the ta's questioned her midterm questions. course does NOT exist to test your knowledge, it tests your ability to read through her tricky questions.
No comment
Literally What
don't take this class with her
I don't know what's with her and trick questions, yeah I get it you want to test our knowledge, but all the time? There are also way too many "select all that apply" questions that just are straight up gambles half the time in both midterm and homework. She makes you pay for an "iclicker", you should see the prices on those things. It gets worse.
genuinely evil. avoid if you can. tests are all trick questions and the average is D
Melissa is just a bad. She assigns lots of homework on codon, with no in class or Canvas reminders to complete them, which have non-bio-related busy work sections. Tests are vague expecting extremely specific answers, practice tests have no key and content that is not covered in class. She makes you buy a $50 clicker to participate. DON'T TAKE HER!
Professor Jurica is not a bad professor at all. It just takes effort to receive a good grade in her class. She gives out loaner Iclickers to anyone who cant afford one/ is waiting. Her lectures are content heavy but if you sit in the front, do the codon readings, ACTUALLY listen to the lectures and attend It's guaranteed that you'll pass.
Jurica is a great professor and misunderstood. If you just lock in and actually go to office hours and discussion and take good notes on the codon readings/lectures, I promise you will pass. Biology is NOT an easy subject. it's not juricas fault that bio is hard in general. Lectures are context heavy, but sitting in the front helps a lot.
Jurica is an awful lecturer. The lectures are full of nonsense that is often unrelated to the material being taught through the online textbook. The reading that is done before class has no relation to the material taught during lecture due to being behind on lectures. She expects a deep understanding of bio when she gives 2 slides worth of lecture
This course is definitely challenging, but professor jurica has the class structured very well. If you take the time to meet with her, you can tell that she genuinely loves teaching and gets very excited when students want to learn. If you're willing to put the time in and do the work you will succeed, but this course can feel overwhelming.
In my opinion, she should not be a professor. Her tests are poorly worded, lectures are all over the place, and she forces us to pay for $50 iclickers when we could just use our phones or Kahoot to do poll questions. Even tutoring doesn't help and she put EVERYTHING she talks about into one test and the homework is tedious and stupid. Avoid her!!!!
if you put it the work, she will meet you halfway
Expect to learn pretty much nothing in lecture. She is so focused on her lab that it compromises the quality of the lectures. She goes on completely useless tangents and it is pretty much useless to go to lecture, except for the fact she makes you buy a 50$ IClicker and marks you down every time you don't come to class. Only way to study is to read
The class itself is not that challenging, but she makes the grading structure extremely test-dependent. I was lucky enough to gain pretty good scores on both midterms, but not many did. The final resources, as well as all the other test materials, are practically non-existent. Not that bad of a class. Overall, would not recommend.
Super tough grader if you don't study YOU WILL FAIL but if you go to office hours she will help a lot. Super sweet and caring person.
exams ask for intuitive thinking which leads to people who dont fully engage with the content to do bad , exams are 66 percent of your grade , as long as you study 1 every other day and pay attention in class you should be fine, she is kinda unhelpful outside of class but the class content isnt to difficult to grasp
she is the biology mirror of dhar from physics, the first freshman class that actually requires you to study so unprepared people get hurt by first midterm then blame it on her, shes the goat, do the HW, go to class, and ask questions if you are unsure of something, she also gave our class like +4% OVERALL GRADE extra credit, JURICA 2028
AVOID HER AT ALL COSTS. She is so bad. Exams are weighted 66% of your grade. She is a really bad lecturer, and none of what you actually learn and understand is on the exam. It is whatever she wants to put on the exam that she thinks is cool. Her exams are very chaotic, and the TAs couldn't even understand what she was asking in our exams.
1. questions on exams are purposely written to trip you up 2. most questions on the exam aren't even written with correct grammar 3. codon is helpful but half of the things you learn on codon isn't even on the exam 4. does not curve these professors in stem classes need to stop being so egotistical and learn that a curve is meant to help students
Possible to pass with a good score, given generous outside help. Lots of trick questions on exams, she cannot take ANY criticism of her teaching style, so be prepared for zero change despite asking for it. Egotistical, biased, be prepared to despise her.
Lectures can be confusing. Very understanding lady, especially about attendance, if you speak to her personally. Probably won't answer emails. Final grade is heavily test based! Studying is definitely helpful for the tests, but you are given extremely minimal study material. No answer keys for practice. Class is passable! Just put in the effort.
Professor Jurica is extremely knowledgeable and passionate about biology, but her teaching style can confuse students on foundational concepts. TAs are hit-or-miss, sometimes giving feedback that would be wrong on exams. Multiple-choice questions are tricky. Be ready to study and ask plenty of clearing questions to Jurica!
Professor Jurica is one of the smartest people I have ever met, She is incrediabily kind and understanding, and if you put in the effort I promise it will pay off. I will say some advice you need to study for this class do not let intro to biology fool you its a vey difficult course but if you really love the subject Jurica is a great professor.
PMO PMO PMO PMO PMO! THIS CLASS PMO! RUINED MY 4.0 GPA!
Don't listen to the Dr. Jurica glazers. The rubric for exams are so harsh. I got no credit on a question for not using the other name for a term. Boy it's the same thing! This class is actual buns: tricky questions on exams. Select all possible answer questions even if it's only one correct answer. If u did not take AP Bio, prepare to fail!
You can absolutely excel if you just pay attention. She gives plenty of practice exam material, and she also offered like 4% total course extra credit over the quarter and inflates 91% to an A, so if someone didn't take her up on that... oh well. Warning: she always falls behind in lecture so stay on top of the pre-readings and you'll be fine.
$50 iClicker. Technical issues with said iClicker. More verbal lecturing than actually having notes to write down, and when they are written down, it's not organized at all. Had zero clue as to what my grade was throughout the course (it was hidden), and final grade in Canvas wasn't accurate. Trick questions galore. #cooked #feverdream #andilikebio
The people that gives her a good rating are people who have a great knowledge of Biology or has a passion for it. In my opinion, she is a great human being but as a professor not really. I pay attention to lectures but I don't understand because she can't explain well. I even went to LSS tutoring for help to study. Her exams are just tricky.
Mellisa is full of jokes, unfortunately none of them are funny. Want a relevant lecture? HAHA you get lectures full of stories about her boring personal life, and trick questions you answer on a 50$ iClicker. Help studying? HAHA you get bad worksheets with no answer keys! Do you want a good professor for Bio? HAHA You get Mellisa!
Not a good professor at all. I got an A+ in the course but I was miserable and stressed all year. Worst teacher I've ever had. Tests are FULL of trick questions. I have no clue how people give her a good review. left to fend for ourselves.Ruined my passion for biology. Avoid if you can. if not watch youtube videos, learning objectives, office hours
Class Info
Online Classes
100%
Attendance Mandatory
67%
Textbook Required
40%
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B
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