Very nice, makes out study guides before exams that are VERY HELPFUL. Went to class 2 times the WHOLE SEMESTER, and got a B. If you take this class halfway seriously there is no way you come out with something less than a 90.

Dr. Balish was a great teacher, her lectures are up-front, understandable, and the lecture notes are easy to follow. Her study guides are short and take little time if you know what you're talking about. She's an extremely effective teacher, and very passionate about what she's teaching.

This class was the easiest I've taken for MP. She puts the notes from class on Blackboard, and thats all she covers. I never went to class and I got a B. The tests were easy, but you actually learned a lot. She brings enthusiasm into the classroom.

The lab was completely done through her TA Dominika who was awesome. She seems a little scarcastic but was always willing to help those who asked. The labs were easy and never took the whole lab time. Great for any non-science major wanting to fill in Miami Plan.

She'll help you if you email her questions you can't find before an exam but she likes to be tricky and give pop quizzes especially when people lack in attendence.

Very easy Miami Plan class. Don't bother buying the book because the questions are all from powerpoint/lecture. Plus she gives you a review sheet before each exam and if you don't have info about it you could just look it up.

dont buy the book, share it w/ a friend. going to class really helps b/c if the class is empty, she'll give bonus quizes. review sheets are exactly what the exam will be. simple miami plan class. great teacher that knows here stuff. she lets you know exactly what you need to know.

LOVE her! she's awesome

She is a really good teacher. she's good at explaining things and cares about her students. her power points are really really good. going to class and taking good notes is the best way to an a... if you do that well reading isn't 100% neccesary

She is not a good teacher. Her questions are very picky and she is very boring to listen to. She may be better than some of the other BMZ teachers but I had her both semesters and did not care for her

Great teacher. Classes were interesting and the material was not too complicated. Great for fulfilling the Miami Plan. Balish is a great teacher and very nice. I opened the book only a few times to study for exams and I ended up with and A. Everything is on powerpoint. High Recommended!!

Some things I forgot to mention: 1)save your money and don't buy the book. Any research can be done using the internet 2) attendance isn't mandatory but from time to time there will be easy 1 or 2 question pop questions that are from the day's powerpoint 3)I'm generally a B student and I got an A so the class is not that hard

very nice and helpful, wants her students to do well

Good micro teacher and she explains things well if you ask questions.

She is a nice professor. Her lectures can be dry, but it is helpful to bring a computer to class. She posts the power points before class, and takes notes off of them. It makes reviewing for exams more understandable. Her exams aren't too bad if you are prepared, and does a review guide before.

best of the three i had for BMZ. she was the most clear and straightforward. shes very willing to help and emailing her with questions was often just as useful as office hours. good at explaining and stays on topic. the final was easier than the tests!

I've had Balish for two semesters of BMZ, and she is a good teacher, but the class is managable unlike with Janssen

Dr. Balish is the real deal. She's an awesome teacher and the best of the three bmz teachers I had. Take her section of bmz just to get her cause she is great. Her test questions are challenging but by no means unreasonable or unclear. She is how every professor should be, straight to the point, clear and fair.

Average teacher. Lectures are dry but occasionally interesting. Tests cover both notes and the side stories she goes off on about random topics, so be alert in class. Easy group project. tests seem disproportionate to the main main topics and based heavily on side note stuff, which made exam 2 challenging.

Balish is a really nice person and offers help if you need it. Go to class because she has random clicker quizzes. Don't buy the book

Easy class. I went to class maybe 50% of the time. Didn't buy the textbook, and still got an A-. If you need an easy Miami Plan class, take this one.

The class is impossible. I feel like it's supposed to be easy, but it's not if you're not a science major. However, Balish is amazing. She is a total sweetheart and she is helping me raise my grade. She's the best, but the class blows.

Very interesting class. I also had Balish for 116. Most of the tests are based off of her powerpoints and lectures. There is nothing on the tests that she did not cover in lecture. Class is not mandatory but there are pop quizzes that can not be made up. I would take her again.

There were some sections of the required content that were difficult because of terminology, otherwise the material was not that bad. MBI 121 seems like it is more detailed than non-science majors want though.

She is a good teacher who is very clear, but isn't very forgiving if you skip class and miss a quiz. She is helpful during office hours but hates technology so no phones OR laptops during class.

Not a science major and I thought the material was very straightforward. She posts ppts online but often says things in class that are on exams but not online, so go to class. Quizzes in class really easy. Didn't use the book once, don't buy it. Exams all mult. choice.

The exams are based on the slide shows on niihka, guest speaker key points, and anything when she says. "this is reeeally important guys" She will loves to help you if you are not a stranger to her office. Dont be a pet just show some interest whether genuine or false, she will be a GREAT resource considering her involvement in Miami science dept.

She is very helpful and her exam questions are very straight forward. If you are a BIO major, and put in the work you will do fine. The 115 and 116 exams are based 100% off of the lecture notes/Powerpoint slides. She rewards people to clearly put in effort and go to office hours often.

Professor Balish is my favorite. She is straightforward and although I didn't like her at first, she is very direct with the information and really wants you to learn. I just started going to her office hours and wish I'd done so sooner. Signed up to take 115 with her next semester. GO TO HER OFFICE HOURS, it will make everything so much clearer.

I liked Balish. She taught the micro part of my 116 course and was pretty clear and easy to follow. Exams are based basically on the powerpoints, but it helps to read the book to contextualize the information. There's usually a quiz every Friday, so I recommend that you always keep up with the material because they can kill your grade otherwise.

Very knowledgeable and makes lectures interesting, willing to hear students opinions and modify grade accordingly. Nice and respectful

I'm a Bio major and Professor Balish has been my favorite Prof in the science department so far. Lectures are clear and move at a good pace, she's very helpful in office hours, very approachable and nice, and seems to care about how you do. I would've gotten an A in this class if it weren't for the pop quizzes, so just keep up with the material.

I probably would take her again if I would have to, but she really wasn't my type of prof. I went to office-hours and she was extremely unfriendly and I'm not a bad student (have a high B). I thought her lectures where boring as well & take notes - we had enough questions on the exam that weren't covered in the PP-Slides!!!

Balish is a great professor. She takes tough material and presents it in a way that is manageable. You'll have to study a bit, but its not unheard of to get an A, especially with the weekly lecture quizzes. I wouldn't recommend this course for non-science majors.

One of the most caring professors I've had. I had some personal issues I struggled with during the semester and Dr. Balish was always extremely understanding and met with me outside of class on many occasions in order to get me caught up on what I had missed. Bio 115/116 are not easy courses by any means but she is extremely willing to help you

You must go to lectures. Quizzes and exams are based off of what is talked about in lecture, NOT material from the book. The book is only for if you need a different explanation of a concept, and sometimes she will tell you to ignore what the book says. Lectures from her are easy to understand, but not that exciting. Easy A if you know bio at all.

Dr. Balish is awesome. She tells you from the beginning that you need to be in lecture and her exams are based on what material she covers in class. Her office hours are great too. Im looking to take her classes again.

I had Dr. Balish for BIO 115/116. Absolutely the best professor I've had at Miami so far. Office hours are extremely helpful and she is a great person to talk to! Highly recommend taking any class with her!

Dr. Balish is well-respected and well-loved. Her lectures are straight forward and her lectures are easy to understand and she is always available to help whenever you may need.

Dr. Balish is a tough professor, but she is also caring and funny. Her lectures are very clear, but her test are very difficult. That being said, I learned a lot from her. Even though I did not do as well as I would have liked in this course, I know that I am leaving it having gained a lot of knowledge I can use in the future.

Dr. Balish is great. She knows what she's talking about and is able to make it understandable for an intro course. Her powerpoints are very well-organized and they're posted online so you can get a sense of the material before class. The SI sessions are also helpful if you're struggling with the material. I'd recommend her!

She is a really good lecturer. I did really well on her first test and thought I would be fine and then she flipped it and her next test she wrote was insanely difficult. Be engaged in class and take good notes and study A LOT for the exams, it's what your grade is based on. There is no homework so that's nice.

She is a very nice prof and cares that you do well in her courses. I had her for BIO 115H and 116H and did well in her class. Go to office hours, they are usually very busy which sucked but she was willing to reexplain stuff in a more clear way. We were suppose to get the book but it wasn't really necessary. She did pull a ew test questions from it

Balish is a great, understanding person but an okay professor. She reads off her powerpoints exactly in almost every lecture. If she makes a point off the slide, it's probably not important. It's pretty memorization heavy but the lab helps a lot with your final grade.

Dr. Balish was clear and concise during lectures. The presentation slides contained all the necessary information to do well on exams. You do need to spend a decent amount studying, but that goes for every bio class at Miami. Although attendance wasn't taken, I thought it was worth it to go to the lectures.

Balish is v educated, so it was easy to understand content. She gets off topic, but ties it back to something we learned. We were always behind, resulting in screencasts to watch to learn the rest of the material for the exam, so go to SI sessions. Don't read the book, rewrite ur notes w/ what is on her ppt & understand diagrams, not memorize

Dr. Balish is amazing. Zoom lectures can be difficult to pay attention to, but Dr. Balish is very engaging. The exams are based entirely off of the lecture slides, so use the slides as a study guide. You have to study to pass, but the grading is fair. Dr. Balish is also accommodating and will help if you need anything. Definitely take her class!

Dr. Balish is a very knowledgeable professor and always tries her best to answer any questions you may have. Her Powerpoints were always very organized and she does her best to explain the material in a way that everyone can understand.

I really enjoyed Dr. Balish. Her lecture slides were clear and if you simply study from the slides and ask questions the exams arent bad. Would recommend!!!

I absolutely loved Balish as a person but this class was tough to get through sometimes. She tries her best to make the material interesting but how interesting can bacteria really be. Overall, her tests were super fair. Just make sure you show up for lectures because some of her slides won't make sense without her explaining them.

I really liked her lectures! Even made sure i have her for next semester. I warn you now, do noT take going to her lectures for granted because her slide will become a little confusing if you weren't there when she explained it. Ended up with a B but i could have had an A if I tried my best from the start. She's also really sweet. Good Luck!

One of the best professors I had during the semester. The second half of the semester was hard material but she was very helpful. Answered emails quickly. There is no extra credit or grade boosters so you need to work hard from the start. Her PowerPoints are very organized but you do need to be there to understand some of them.

Not much textbook use, it is just supplemental. As with any Bio class, lots of memorization required. She gives you multiple attempts to do homework assignments, so take advantage to build up points for exams. Overall very nice, answers questions in class. Exams mostly fair, some questions can be unnecessarily confusing but overall manageable.

She is a remarkably professional and caring member of the faculty. Her powerpoints are picture-only, and she elaborates heavily, making class difficult to miss. Her lectures can also be in-depth and intense for those who haven't taken a lecture heavy course before. Her tests are mostly straightforward. Find her outside class, she's really nice.

I really enjoyed Dr. Rebecca Balish! Try to pay attention during lectures and take good notes. Get ready to study. If you study you will do well on the exams. Her office hours are EXTREMELY helpful. She's really nice. Try not to just memorize the material but actually understand what you are learning.

Dr. Balish was so kind and considerate. She understands that you are a person first and while school is a priority it does not define you. She holds you to a high standard but will cut you slack once or twice when you need it. Her exams are based on the lectures, so go to class every day if you want to succeed. She is a great person and professor!

Respectable teacher, very knowledgeable about her subject matter and has a clear passion for it. Lectures can be really boring, but no surprise there. Exams were fair as long as you prepared and took notes over what she said in lecture. No need to read the textbook. Overall, would take this professor again.

Difficult class. She talks very fast and goes through a lot of information, but is also willing to help and answer questions. Her exams are mostly reflective of her teachings. She posts the slides but says things that are not on the slides that will be on the exam so going to class is mandatory if you want to do well.

She's super nice and a great lecturer. The textbook is part of a program used for homework and is not necessary to read as she covers everything in class, but it is still useful.

Balish has a wonderful teaching style for those who like taking additional notes during class. She elaborates more than what is on the slides, so showing up and paying attention in class is important. She is super caring and accommodating, so she is available after class and during office hours for questions.

She is a super nice lady and very good at what she does, but her tests are extremely hard. Most of the time, the averages were 50s and 60s. It is easy to pass the class, but if you want an A or,B, that'll be not easy.