Funniest teacher, scratch that, funniest guy I ever met, hands down. You won't have time to care about your grade when your laughing that hard.

GREAT teacher, knows alot, VERY funny. But sometimes a hard grader (well, his tests are not that tricky so you can anyhow pass them)

the best was when he brought his dog to the final. he's a hard grader in bio 29 but extremely fair in 15. and hysterical!!!

Guys is FUNNY as hell, makes the coolest jokes, very open and not subtle at all. Good for 29 but must study, great for 15 the coolest course i have taken, you walk around campus2 hrs a week learning trees. Must learn them though. Test is to rec samples.

dude he is really funny......FUNNY LIKE HELL...but u got to study little harder...tests are easy...BUT NEVE EVER TRY TO CHEAT IN HIS TESTS.....WHEN U GOT CAUGHT U KNOW U HAVE GOT A ZERO IN HIS TEST AND THEIR IS NO DOUBT U FAILED THE CALASS!!!!!!!!!!1

Just an adorable professor !!! Some think he's a little rude, but he's really humorous and funny!!! Don't miss his lectures, study the stuff and you'll do great on the exams !!!...)))))

He is a very funny and helpful person.

He is funny, but sometimes he makes fun of people and their culture. Otherwise if you study you shoild do good.

Very knowledgeable and very funny professor. Some have said that he is offensive and crude, but I think his brand of humor is an acquired taste and once you realize that is his schtick you'll get over it. You will learn alot in his class though.

cool guy

He is THE BEST. Not only does he know what he is teaching, but he explains everything very good and well, he is HILLAARIOUS. COnstant jokes, etc... Actually 29.1 was (IMHO) even better than 29.

This has to be my second most favorite professor at the college. I had him only for the lab and I know the lecture class was hard, but I loved the lab. It was so easy and he was SO understanding of different learning styles &problems.

Nice to his favorites, but his joking takes over the class. Runs through all material in few minutes, tests are hard, and as a general note,botany sucks! (but Aphids don't, remember that for his final)

AWESOME Professor! What college SHOULD BE! Hes the only guy who makes learning fun (especially at BC). His jokes and anecdote are what make us learn and remember, there also funny as ****. Dont take it personal, your all just to uptight like most BCStaff

cool guy

I wish I had this professor for all my classes. He makes learning fun. I would recommend him to any student.

He Rocks! Funny, Smart, Caring...He does make fun of people but dont take it personally...it's just a joke to make people laugh! He's easy and lets you do the work on your own. He is also very knowledgable about the plants and you really learn in his clas

Good maybe the best in bio dept.

McGowan is awesome - for all of you who can't take his tell it like it is comments - grow up -that's the best part of the class. Besides the free comedy act - you really get to know the material!

the people that are saying that he sucks are saying that only because they didnt study and did poorly on th exams. Grow Up! He is the best. He rocks!!!!

well he is very easy but he needs to watch his mouth when he makes jokes on other people.

HE MAKES YOU DO WORK, AND YOU DO HAVE TO MEMORIZE A TON OF STUFF. IT BE BETTER IF HE WOULD GIVE LESS STUFF TOO MEMORIZE, BUT OTHER THEN THAT ALL I CAN SAY IS THAT THIS PROFESSOR ROCKS. HE IS THE COOLEST PROFESSOR IN BC.

Very good, smart and funny guy. I have to agree that he is the best in bio dept.

Awesome is all i have to say..A lot to memorize? not at all if anything too little. He is amazing person as well as teacher..Take him even if you dont need the class.You'll have so much fun and learn some stuff about plants

his is a good professor, even though he makes you memorize a lot. But it pay of a lot, trust me.

Amazing prof. make sure you study the plants little by little rather then cram them in like i did, although that works as well, very easy A

Even he makes some stupid **** remarks in the class but I don't think that he uses them while grading.The only thing he considers while grading is your hardwork and your attendence and attention,he knows his each and every student.

He teaches well and knows!!his stuff. He sometimes throws sarcastic comments and cultural jokes which.... Grades very fairly, i thought in his class that he was ****, but after personally meeting him, i changed my perception about him. take bio 15 with him easy 4 credit course in summers.LOVE HIM!

He's real good. He gives a lot of information, but he's real nice and funny. His exams are hard, but he can be easy on grades. I recommend him!

This class is my favorite, althought he never let us out early. He is extrememly helpful. He does he lecture on a slideshow and notes from the slideshow are posted on a website. If your a persont that can study you will do well in this class.

he's ok, his jokes in class are a little off color and **** but he is very funny, material can be difficult nad online text not so clear, his tests are not dificult but he likes to throw in some tricky ones, he gives a very nice curve.

he is very funny but when it comes to the test the joke is on you. He explains it well in class. DO NOT TAKE NOTES IN CLASS just LISTEN and try to understand him. he gives his notes off the web read them and listen in class. You will do well with his 10-15 point curve.

AWSOME!!! BEST PROF @ Brooklyn College. See for yourself and you'll beleive in it too! Loves Vodka & Nice Food so stop by his office and bring him a treat...He'll love it.

Absolutely the best professor on the planet. Hilarious, fair, interesting, understanding, completely down-to-earth. His exams are not tricky or difficult by any stretch of the imagination--you just have to be prepared. It's too bad he doesn't teach more bio classes.

Funny guy if you can understand his jokes... its good to have some bio backround coming into this class. Tests are only hard if you dont prepare enough... nice curve...definatly gonna take him for Bio 29.1

very funny man. his tests are hard. but he's very fair and the class is entertaining that's for sure. he made plants fun. haha

very good prof. makes class intersting..Exams are fair.Overall highly recomended!

Among the best faculty at BC! He REALLY cares about his students. He desribes his life as "everything that has to do with sex or food" (he's hilarious-especially the racial stuff) Take him!

Not very easy. Good notes on the web (but it is good to take notes in class, especially in bio 29.1). For students who like to cheat--don't!Would not tell you anything, but at the end will make your life complicated.

hope he feels better and be able to teach semesters to come.

LOVE HIM! Terrific teacher and person

Great professor who cares for his students and actually has a sense of humor unlike the other boring bio professors in BC. He is also very knowledgable about the subject matter and loves his plants!!=)

grate person,I hope he will get well soon.

Great professor. He cares for the students and really know his stuff. Don't skip class and take good notes while you're there. If you study enough, it won't be difficult to get an A in his class. I hope he gets better because he's a great person and students are lucky to have him.

If you want a laugh, he'll give you several; a real comedian and also a good professor who knows his stuff. He's unscripted and nothing is sacred in his class. He cracks jokes on all ethnic and religious backgrounds with no remorse (especially Jews.) But in case you think he's a ****, he's not; his wife is Jewish. A real funny, easy going, guy.

Easily one of the best professors at Brooklyn College, if not in the entire CUNY system. He not only KNOWS his botany but also knows how to make it interesting for the students to learn. His tests are not easy, but they are do-able with a little studying. DEFINITELY take this professor. I hope he gets well soon too.

nice guy, made botany interesting and fun, tests are not easy but are extremely doable if u study,gives a nice curve, he's really funny and even though he makes some really off color jokes u can tell its not in a bad way, hope he feels better soon

McGowan is god; end of story. Tests can be a tad tricky. Makes you work for it... but its not hard to earn an A. Come to class. Hes the funniest professor you will ever have in your life and the most socially experienced out of any professor in the College in my opinion. The best Botany professor in the USA i promise you.

He is sarcastic,at the top of sarcasm and don't get offended by his jokes.His exams are tricky but you end up with a suprise grade that overwhelms your happiness.

this class is the greatest in the summer bec of the material and the teacher. his sense of humor is great and he is intereresting and nice. hope he gets better soon.

I took bio 15, 29, 29.1, 73.1, 73.2, 83.1, 83.2 with this professor and he is always the greatest. You should really appreciate teaches like him. He makes classes interesting and easy and is always funny with some jokes up his sleave.

great professor. his class is fun but his tests aren't. his tests are very hard. he is very funny. not an easy class but you should take it.

This is the best professor in the whole College. Very easy going in class. With his jokes, it's very hard to fall asleep. Very generous man, in terms of grading. God Bless McGowan :=)

Great professor, will always tae your questions. Fr exams, come to class and take down every word, because its all fair game. Also the supplemental websites help. Study, and you'll do well.

The Reign of McGowan the great is over, the all mighty grade curve is DEAD! His tests require an actual knowledge of the subject. He used to curve the grades to the point where, the lowest grades in all his classes were B's .. now what you earn .. is what you get ... BEWARE!

Roy McG is not the greatest prof but hes ok. the jokes were dumb, pointless, borderline ****, but entertaining. u dont need to take notes, just print out the textbook from the internet follow along in class and add in anything missing. tests are annoying, but possible.

The best and most understanding prof. at the institution of broken college. his jokes are funny, although he makes fun of everyone. He is the man! GO PLANTS!!!!!!!!!!!!

took in the summmer. a lot of work. got A but wasn't easy. take this class seriously.

Great professor, made the class laugh all the time...had nice powerpoint slides. Sometimes hard to follow the organization of the information, but memorize it and don't get confused on the exams, and you will do fine.

Very smart Prof., knows the subject well and tries to apply it to the point where you begin to appreciate it! I like plants know b/c i know everything about them - Easy class, just read the book, take good notes, - Forsure A

How do you make a course hrader than Bio 17? Assign no textbook (all notes online) and breeze through slides in class. A ridiculous amount of class material is on the website, forcing to sit in front of a computer instead of the more normal book method. If you can do that, good for you.

"I want you to faiL!" he claims.but push comes to shove its not that bad, dOes go pretty fast with slides in class but they are all online, goto class because he does put some questions on the test that he said only in class, prepare to read and memorize bc the tests are lots of definition type questions, no triCks so dont overthink JUST STUDY!

Great guy as usuall. MAkes you memorize 99 plants in increments of 33 and write up a few research profiles which are real easy. Class was a breeze and tests were not that difficult.

Easy class. You have to collect about 40 leaves and be able to identify them. Just memorize how they look 2 weeks before the class and your good to go.

McGowan's a great guy, but by no means is this class "easy." It is a memorization class and that's about it. If you're good at memorizing, this class should be a breeze, and if you're not, good luck. There's not much to understand. But McGowan is great; hilarious, entertaining, approachable, and all around nice. And he's the only prof for bio 29.

He's so chilled out funny and has a twisted sense of humor

All that is required is 3 profiles you have to put together from other peoples past work. its soooo easy. i finished the class one month before the semester was over. easiest A+ i ever got.

While attendance is officialy mandatory you do not have to show up to class. Study his slides and know them well and you will get an A. The tests are not so easy so you must really know the material.

The class is by no means an easy A, but it doesnt require your life. Just a little bit of effort. I know him somewhat personally and all those bad comments about him being uncaring or a bad person are completely false. If you try to approach him just once he will help you out. He acts like a hard-ass but he's there when u need him

MEMORIZE THOSE SLIDES. TAKE NOTES. Not an easy A: NEED TO STUDY for this class

McGowan is a great professor. Definitely enthusiastic and actually deals with plants for a living so he really knows what he's talking about. Very colorful character, his wife comes to class with him sometimes. Go to class- you won't do well otherwise as most of the info is in the lecture. no book.

He makes unnecessary prejudice comments, but other than that he's a good teacher and exams are easy if you just come to class and take notes. I'm not sure about the 2nd part of the class thought with ovalle and others...

Great professor. Makes class as interesting and easy as it could be, though there is still a fair amount of memorization involved. Periodically cracks jokes (some of them a bit harsh), which makes lecture more bearable. Acts like a hard ass, but is very helpful if you have a question or a problem. A definite top choice for a professor.

he sure is a lively guy that's for one. his portion of the class is much better than the second half due to his joking nature and overall light attitude. The exams are pretty simple if you take notes and do a little studying. The most tedious aspect of the course is the papers, you are required to submit 4 6-11 page papers. Not a class for the lazy

The guy does joke a lot, but he is NOT the worst prof in BC. The first part of this class requires you to learn/memorize the common, scientific, and family names and characteristics of the plants. Four profiles are to be written; two are research-based-where another prof takes over the class. Just give the guy what he asks for and that's all.

Easy A and an easy C class. You go around and collect leaves; dry and press them; place them in a binder and have them graded in the end. Final is identifying those same leaves. Should you follow his dummy proof instructions; you will get an A. This is a "do it yourself" course as he only comes in the first and last day of the 5 wk semester.

Easiest and the most fun I ever had in a class.

An awesome teacher!