Stay away at all costs

Most awful human being I've ever met in my life. She has scolded me on every opportunity she has had. I dont ask questions in the class in fear of "wasting her time". Very unpleasant and unapproachable and will demean you in front of other classmates during office hours. Her slides are confusing and she doesnt use a book. Its her way or the highway

Extremely rude and condescending. Her lectures don't make sense, but she expects you to know things word for word on exams. Don't bother going to office hours because she will laugh in your face and make you feel stupid. Avoid Bianconi at all costs. She is the worst professor I have ever come in contact with.

If you have any option at all do not take this class with her. She is a terrible teacher and does not explain anything well. If you don't teach yourself the material you won't learn it.

By far, the worst teacher I have ever experienced. Going to lecture didn't even help. EXTREMELY RUDE and demeaning towards students. Don't bother asking questions because she will just roll her eyes and imply that you are an arrogant airhead in her answer. avoid at all costs.

Very mean teacher, does not really care about students. Very demeaning, expects students to follow her every word. When posed with a question, often responds with, "I don't know" or "Look back at the lecture slides". Awkwardly laughs a lot during lecture. Expects you to know exactly what is in her mind, every other variation is wrong.

Honestly the worst teacher i have ever had, kicked a girl out of class because she checked the time on her phone. MY best advice is to skip lecture and spend the time teaching yourself, because lecture is simply watching slides dart across the screen at absurb speeds.

She is a very hard person to understand. If you have no prior chemistry experience form H.S don't take this class because you will be completely lost. And on a side note: I sat right behind the person she kicked out for "checking the time" on her phone. She talked the entire class and there's a clock right in front of the room. She warned her 1st

You have 50 minutes to take her tests and she is so stressful!She is a an organic chem professor as well so while she should be teaching general chemistry she ends up teaching you parts of organic chemistry as well which is so confusing! She only grades test so you have no safety net.

She was the worst teacher ever. I am a good chemistry student and i was extremely confused being in her class. Don't take her as a teacher.

One of the worst teachers I've had. I had to attend the TAs study sessions to learn anything.

Took me the first two weeks of class to stop falling asleep during lectures, but I was happy when i realized i wasnt missing out on anything this past semester. You might as well pop some pills and snooze because her lecture notes are impossible to follow (also she's craycray). She always has this weird laugh, BEWARE!

She is horrible! She is rude, and her lecture notes make no sense. Avoid taking her class if you can, but you do have her, the only thing that will save you is going to the S.I. sessions. There is no homework, so your entire grade in the class falls upon how you do on exams, which you only have 50 minutes to take. The class is a total stress.

This teacher is the most disrespectful professor I have ever met. She is so rude and makes her students feel dumb. You can't even ask her a question without her giving you attitude. She will put a student down right in front of a lecture class. She slammed the door on my face because I was 5 minutes early to her office hours. So sad

Bianconi is one of the worst "teachers" I've ever had in my life. I put "teacher" in quotes because it's a stretch to say she qualifies as a teacher/professor. She clearly does not enjoy her job and hates her kids. Very rude, unhelpful, and condescending. I started teaching myself and scored higher on exams. Avoid Bianconi at all costs!

This teach is the worst teacher I have ever had. I'm a straight A student and will now be receiving a C in this class because of her failed attempt to teach. I highly recommend not taking her class. She is disrespectful, unreasonable, and could care less about what anyone gets for a grade.

Patricia Bianconi is the WORST professor I have ever had in my life Her lectures are boring and unclear, she wastes time, and I have no idea why they still allow her to teach. Here's her great words of advice from the first lecture I had with her, Don't bother remembering your professor's names and get a tutor or you won't pass my class.

Totally ignores teaching the actual important things, instead focuses on specific cases which really doesn't help you out at all in the long run. Absolutely rude to students, very boring lectures. My biggest mistake in college was taking this woman's lecture.

This was by far the worst chem class I've ever taken. Her lectures were boring and she wasn't good at teaching. Stopped going because they were so pointless. Puts all of her lectures and notes online. Exams were okay, sorta tough. Definitely need to study for exams, she gives a pyramid and extra credit bcuz class average was so low. Barely any hw

her lectures were lame and she was really rude if she even heard a noise in the class. she was boring i fell asleep everyday but she doesn't give much homework. definitely need to study to pass her exams which are sorta tough. also doesn't let you use laptops in class even though all her lecture slides are online. i did not like this class at all

She's an awful professor, but her tests are very easy, all 25 multiple choice questions. There's a little bit of homework and a decent amount of extra credit. If you're just taking chemistry to fill a single requirement you'll be fine, but if you need to take higher level chem classes, you'll be screwed because she doesn't teach at all.

Not a good experience at all. Basically had to teach myself the information because she is very unclear. She goes through slide shows so quickly you can't take notes. If anyone raises their hand in lecture she ignores it. She was also very rude and condescending. Ended up retaking chem111 with another professor and did better.

If you know chemistry or took AP in highschool this is a good class for you. Homework is optional, lectures are not required, and there are pyramids on the tests (ability to get 30% of your points back). However if you dont have a strong grasp on chemistry you will have to teach it to yourself. Lectures are unclear and she has no idea how to teach.

I do not know what I am learning from this class She is going to fast Compare to other chem class, this class teaches to fast

I usually take notes during the lecture and download slides to study at home, and that's how I study. Her slides are so unorganized, mostly handwritten, and there are too many slides.

Her teaching is not good, and also she thinks she is perfect, but actually she is not. She need to learn how to make student understand her lecture.

While Chem 111 is a relatively easy class, Bianconi makes it much harder. The difficulty isn't in the work you must do its in the incredibly confusing and boring lecture she gives on awful slide off of her iPads that make little to no sense, she is not good at teaching and to be honest makes lots of mistakes when doing work in class.

Worst professor ever, don't take it. You will definitely regret it.

Bianconi is a HORRIFIC teacher. I feel so clueless about several different areas of general chemistry. Fortunately, she gives opportunities to get extra credit so my grade won't be too bad. Get used to teaching yourself. DO YOUR OWLS!

Don't take her class. She teaches useless stuff, which is not on the exam.

I've never gone to class, but exams are easy af. She drops your lowest midterm if you do better on the final.

Her lectures are more confusing then helpful. Never around to answer questions because she literally runs out when the class is over. You have to keep up with practice problems on your own or else you will not do well because personally, I never learned one thing from lecture.

One of the rudest professors I've ever had. If you end up taking one of her classes, go to the Supplemental Instruction sessions, because the lectures are really confusing. Also a bit of a control freak. Has every detail pre-planned on Moodle, and if you ask her about them she will get MAD.

Do not ask something on the moodle or syllabus, because se doesn't like it. Don't ask her what should we study on the exam because she doesn't know what to study.

Worst Professor EVER!! Don't take it. She is so rude. Don't ask her any question, she seem to be angry all the time.

Do not take this class - I highly suggest taking it with another professor. Questions are hardly answered, no homework or work to practice is given, and the tests are unbelievable.

She's not a good professor. Her lectures are very confusing, and ultimately pointless. You will be teaching yourself the material. She doesn't tech the information needed to do well on her exams. Random questions, with no know-how. I tried very hard, went to nearly every class, and still didn't learn a darn thing.

Terrible professor. Went to class the first month and realized I wasn't learning anything so I stopped going. Everything I learned was either self-taught or through her fantastic SI. I failed two of the three midterms and I still am going to pass the class because she gives pyramids for her tests and extra credit. Avoid her if you want to learn.

terrible. Spent time on material that was not important.

I had taken Chem 1 and 2 in high school and passed with flying colors. Somehow I failed her college chem class which consisted of most of the same material.

Awful Professor

Easy A, just teach yourself the material and get the tests from last semester because she doesn't change them. SI sessions are a huge help too. I went to class the first day and never went after, I have a 97 in the class. She gives 30 extra credit points if you do some easy problems, and they get added to your test average.

Did not attend lectures ever and passed with a B+.

She does not explain anything, if you go to lecture you will have no idea what she is talking about. To pass the class you must be able to teach yourself chemistry. SI sessions are extremely helpful and needed for an A.

Patricia Bianconi is the worst Professor I've ever had. Even if I were to be passing the class, I'd go on to the next chemistry level with nothing and probably fail that, too. Her teaching is sporadic, I feel like I'm in class with someone who doesn't care about the topic they're teaching, let alone the students' learning. Avoid at all costs.

Worst professor I've had at college to date. That being said, I never went to class and taught myself everything two days before the exam and had no problem getting an A. Her tests are extremely easy if you study and the are nearly identical to the ones from the previous years. Do the owls before the tests and you will be fine. No homework either.

Her lectures are really boring and honestly useless. I went to almost all the lectures and regret going to most. In a class of 350 students, less than 50 actually go to lecture. That being said her exams are easy and the homework isn't bad if you do it on time. Take the class if you already know chem or can teach yourself.

This class was literally so awful. Her lectures are so unclear, she flips back and forth between apps on her iPad, her writing is illegible, and her voice is like nails on a chalkboard. Practice exams are way easier than actual exam so don't be fooled. Save yourself while you can.

There is no doubt that bianconi is a smart woman, but teaching is not for her. She over complicates things, and was permanently in a weirdly distressed states as she lectured. She would very rarely explain her slides and would often make mistakes in her examples which just made everyone confused.

Her lectures are not useful. Her thought process sporadic so she ends up jumping between slides and doesn't explain things clearly. Also requires you to spend $95(+) for an access code to do problems that you can do within the 14-day trial. The only reason you'd get it is to teach yourself the material instead or look at grades.

Choose another professor. Bianconi is rude, refuses to directly communicate with you over email and has a maximum of 2 office hours a week, no exceptions.

She is the absolute worst teacher I have ever had. She is bad at communicating, her lectures make no sense and she doesn't actually teach anything relevant to what is on the tests. Choose someone else for Chemistry unless you want to be taking this class twice.

A disorganized lecturer who shows little interest in her students. Her course is manageable if you don't count on learning anything in lecture and take time to study outside of class. Her ineffective teaching would be forgivable if it weren't for her condescension and obvious boredom.

The lectures in this class are not worth sitting through, the SI sessions are more helpful than the class. The only good thing is the pyramid exams for extra credit are exactly the same as the exams.

"But you don't need to know that" is Patty's favorite phrase. She scribbles all over her iPad in lectures, bounces between slides and topics, and goes off on tangents about things that are irrelevant to the class. She gets angry if you ask questions, and explains things very poorly. Must go to the supplement instruction sessions or will fail.

Horrible teacher. She talks more about things we don't need to know than things we need to know. Your grade consists of exams, labs, and some extra credit. Don't show up to lectures. Go to SI Sessions, extremely useful. Literally half of the class doesn't show up. Class average for exams are usually high 60's, low 70's (Not scaled).

Easy class if you're a science person. If not you're better off teaching yourself and skipping class. I went to most lectures and only confused myself more. Extra credit makes up a huge portion of your final grade and it's very easy work. Overall an easy course if you don't let her confuse you.

Tests don't reflect lecture material. Practice problems she posts don't really reflect what's on each exam. Lectures are a little pointless. She's a real genius but fails to specify what and how to study for exams. Offers a lot of extra credit. Re-do all your OWLs, read the OWL book and go to office hours if you want an A or B.

If I didn't take AP Chem, I wouldn't get a passing grade. Your SI will be your best friend in this class.

Disorganized lectures. Not much teaching. Go to SI sessions. Does give extra credit

Get out while you can.

You're making a mistake if you take her class.

Awful. She's rude, and doesn't really seem to care at all about her students. Her lectures are next to impossible to follow unless you are already proficient at chemistry. She likes to teach things that she'll later say you don't need to know. Avoid her at all costs, but if you have to take her, just skip lectures and go to SI's. Good luck...

Honestly I did learn some things from her, but it was not worth how angry and mean she is. Will personally demean you and the entire class on a weekly basis.

I'm not sure if the people below me are on the right page. She is a classically horrible professor. She doesn't even allow questions during lecture, for crying out loud. Ask yourself, is it more likely that 500+ students are all collectively lazy, or that one professor is simply a bad egg? Save yourself the aggravation and don't take her class.

Terrible teacher. Doesn't explain anything well. If you've never taken chem before get ready to struggle because you have to learn it all on your own. She stares at a slide talks until she confuses herself and moves on. After talking about 1 thing for most of the class she'll tell you, you don't have to know it.

DO NOT TAKE THIS CLASS unless you can teach yourself. Lectures are completely irrelevant and make no sense. She does not know how to teach at all. You can not ask questions in class so don't even try. If you do attempt to take this class then go to the SI sessions because they will be more beneficial then the professor.

Her lectures contain a lot of course material that does not appear on any exams. The best way to approach this class is to go to SI sessions and teach yourself. She does give extra credit at the end of the class.

Go to SI because this teacher will not teach you anything .

I know most people just KNOW Bianconi is the worst, but I had doubts and her class fit into my schedule perfectly. I should have just listened to all my friends and taken a different class though. She is AWFUL. Her lectures confused me on everything that the SI Sessions taught me. She's honestly one of the worst teachers I've ever had.

Easily one of the worst professors at UMass. Having said that, if you're willing to go to teach yourself/go to the SI sessions, this class is fairly easy. The tests are straightforward, she doesn't give much homework, and there's a large extra credit assignment at the end of the semester. Don't bother going to lectures, just attend the SI sessions.

Without a doubt one of the worst professors I've ever had. Her lectures simply lay the information out as if she were slapping a dead fish on a table. She couldn't explain a shopping list clearly, much less the material of this course. Reading the book is the only way to pass, as her lectures simply don't cut it, and neither do office hours.

One of the worst professors at Umass, rumor has it she's getting fired, and I for one would believe it.

Bianconi sucks! DON'T even bother to take her, yes you may get her past exams from other students and "pass" but you will not learn anything! Don't expect easy A, don't bother coming to her class. Don't even go to her office hours. JUST GO TO SI SESSION!!!!

So, if you haven't taken Chem classes before or it is your Achilles heel, do NOT take Bianconi. Her lectures are very unnecessary. I learned way more teaching myself through OWLs rather than going to lectures. She is quite rude and unprofessional. I'm sure that she is a smart woman, but being a good teacher is not her strong point. Go to SI.

She makes everything so much more confusing than it already is when you first learn it. And it does not help that she thinks she is at some sort of intangible level of proficiency in chemistry. The first day of class she even said that there probably weren't any chemistry majors in her class because it was too hard. What kind of professor says that

By far the worst professor I have dealt with. Going to her class was so pointless, she does not know how to teach whatsoever. I would literally fall asleep in her class and trust me I would try to understand, I went to all the Si sessions, tutoring, watched videos etc... But the problem was Bianconi, whatever you do, don't take her class.

Really bad teacher. She's kind of nice but doesn't do very well with getting the material across.

She rushes through topics and teaches everything as if she expects you to have a prior background in chemistry. Her notes are unorganized, hard to read and even harder to understand and study from. Went to her office hours and two occasions, once to ask about a topic and once to ask about a makeup exam and she was incredibly rude each time.

By far the worst teacher I have ever had. Rushes through lectures and doesn't care if students can keep up. Stopped entire lecgure of 200 students tp yell at a student whom she suspected was texting (and wasn't). Impossible to gst info from lectures. Bad teacher, bad person.

One of the worst professors I have had in my life. Save your gpa and don't take her. -confusing/unuseful lectures -unorganized -impossible to follow along Never rate anyone but wanted to save whoever I could with this review

Bianconi seemed to get off track a lot in class with the material, a.k.a. DO THE OWLS AND GO TO EXCEL!!! class was completely useless and unbearable and dry to begin with. Save yourself the grade and just wait until you can get another professor with the class.

Every class is a lecture, but not good ones. She is condescending when asked questions. Quite honestly I don't even know exactly what we're learning right now. She gives examples, not any that fit what she's trying to teach, but doesn't actually explain the concept. The homework does not make sense, and there's a LOT of it. Do not take this class.

In terms of advanced courses, she is not a bad teacher. However, her grading of exams is borderline irrational and she can be extremely rude and condescending if she is having a "bad day". She needs to learn that plenty of people have bad days, but most of them don't berate others instead of dealing with their problems like an adult.

Absolutely the worst professor I have had and will ever have, ever. Completely unapproachable unless you like being publicly berated and made to feel stupid in front of your peers. Rude, unprofessional, and weighted exams at 60% of the final grade when all classes were online in the midst of a global pandemic. Good luck teaching yourself. Cheers.

Very smart woman, absolutely horrible teacher. Grading is irrational and unhelpful and theres an unnecessary amount of OWL homeworks that teach you more than her lectures ever do, but oftentimes dont even actually relate to what youre learning in class. She can be rude and dismissive when asked questions and should be avoided at all costs.

Professor Bianconi is very integrated in her own ways, which is not necessarily bad but her way of teaching things often contradicts the way we learn throughout the homework system we used called OWL. Her lectures are quite simple and easy to follow, but she would only really read strictly off the slides which limits the information we learn.

just don't waste time with her. She is absolute horrible. She needs to understand that all students have their own lives and not just her class.