1.8
Quality4.6
Difficulty14%
Would Retake124
Reviews14%
Would Retake
124
Reviews
Rating DistributionOfficial
5
6
4
10
3
20
2
15
1
73
What Students Say
“She takes all of her powerpoints from the textbook's website and all lecture material is unoriginal”
BIO104 - 1.0 rating“Worst teacher I've ever had in all my years of school”
BIO101 - 1.0 ratingClass Info
Online Classes
100%
Attendance Mandatory
97%
Textbook Required
74%
Grade Predictor
Your expected effort level
Predicted Grade
C+
Grade Distribution
Common Tags
Rating Trend
Declining
-0.46 avg changeRatings by Course
BIOBA
5.0
(1)BIONUT
4.0
(1)11769
3.0
(1)BIOC2
3.0
(1)COS126
3.0
(1)Difficulty by Course
101
5.0
BIO
5.0
BIOLOGY
5.0
NUTRITIONALBIO
5.0
BIONUTRITION
5.0
Reviews (124)
READ THE BOOK!! SHE KNOWS HER STUFF AND BY THE END YOU WILL TOO. TAKE THE CLASS WHEN YOU ARE AWAKE AND ATTENTIVE. VERY GOOD.
No Comments
run run run...evil woman.. worst in the world.. took her for summer n was goin to take her in fall but then realized wut a mean lady she was.. got a c in the class.. she gave the grl next to me a D+ for a 69.5
Psycho professor, no joke...Honestly by far the worst professor i've ever had. I hate her, she made my semester miserable. Don't take her, get out while you still can!
run for the hills.
the worst teacher ever get out of her class as soon as posible im not joking run and dont stop
HORRIBLE TEACHER!!! IF YOU WANNA HAVE NO LIFE AND FAIL ANYWAY THEN TAKE HER CLASS!!! SHE HAS NO SYMPATHY AT ALL!!
OMG no one can understand how horrible this woman is!!!! She is the definition of the C-Word!!! Dont take her class EVER!! Honestly i hope she does read this and never teaches again oh wait she doesnt teach in the first place!!!
Hardest summer session ever! If you have no life, or know some biology, then you may pass. No help from her to pass. No extra credit. She knows her stuff, but that is the end of it.
She is the worst professor i have ever taken. She is very unclear all she does is make you take lots of notes and doesn't explain any of it to the class. quizes every week on the chapters but the questions aren't in the chapters, exams are even harder,
Very unclear
No Comments
HARDEST CLASS EVER....YOU GET A QUIZ EVERY WEEK BEFORE YOU EVEN LEARN ANY OF THE INFORMATION.
I had her one year ago.She actually put me to sleep.
WORST PROFESSOR EVER...GET OUT OF HER CLASS ASAP!!!!!!!!!
Yes, she is hard. Yes, she expects a lot out of you. Isn't that what school is all about? She gives quizzes approx. every week and provides you with review sheets. She was very understanding when I missed class and allowed me to make it up. If you aren't doing well, its probably your fault, I'm not.
hard class....expects alot from you....4 hour lab sucks...nice lady
I really don't suggest you take this class. She isn't very nice all the time. Quizzes are every week from the reading. Lecture notes don't go along with what you're reading so they aren't really necessary to copy. If you copy them you will probably get confused. Is a real smart ass and annoying.
Horrible teacher, gives a lot of notes that don't even help you on tests, bores you to death and is very unhelpful so many students dropped in all of her classes and the few that remained almost all failed with the exception of 1 or 2 DON'T TAKE HER CLASS!!!!
horrible
Dont ever take this class....she is the worst teacher in the department....she isnt a doctor and shouldnt even be a professor...She cannot teach without her labtop and isnt knowledgable....she destroyed my GPA and ruined my semester....SHE SUX....late very day...not understanding stay the f*** away
WOW the first time that i took this course, i failed it, then i took Perrata i cant spell his name...she is a very diff teacher.
She SUCKED as a professor. Doesnt know how to explain things.
She's way hard...If your a Bio major then she's perfect, if your not, she's your worst nightmare.
Worst teacher I ever encountered. She is very bitter. Seems like she wants you to fail because she isn't very easy.
I HATE THIS CLASS IT'S THE WORST CLASS I HAVE! She is really horrible and I find it hard to learn with the projector and laptop with her lectures. She is probably one of the worst professors in all of NCC. I advise do not take this class. What she teaches in class makes no sense and she clicks to the next page on the comp before anyone finishes.
shes evil and honest to God my whole class haates her..run dont walk if u have her to get a schedule change
No Comments
Great Professor. Expects you to take alot of notes and read the chapter. Memorization of the key terms helps ALOT. Expects alot from her students, but its college, so study. That's what college is for. Show the professor your want to get a good grade, and she will help you get it.
No Comments
No Comments
WORST CLASS EVER. Very hard to learn with notes dictated to you. I also dislike her smug attitude. IF any student is looking to take nutrition, take it with any other professor just not her.
No Comments
Extremely hard class, if you are looking for an easy class to take satisfy your science requirements, avoid this professor. She gives a ton of online quizzes, does not provide the answers for you, and then put those questions on the test...therefore if u get them wrong on the quiz, you get them wrong on the test!!! Her lectures are straight from th
if you have her drop her now you will thank everyone who leaves the comments if you do bc if you dont you will go thru hell
THIS CLASS IS ABOUT AS MUCH FUN AS WATCHING A THE CIELING. SHES BORING. SHES A B&*ch AND CAND TEACH FOR ANYTHING. NOT HELPFUL AT ALL. SHES AN ANGRY DEPRESSED LITTLE DYKEE AND SHES GONNA TAKE IT OUT ON YOU!!!!!!!!
Drop out of her class now! She gave me a 76.6 on a test, she doesn't even round the grades! very difficult, unhelpful and a waste of my time taking this class. If you are interested in the class go for another professor, she was the worst professor I ever had! She expects you to memorize so many details and when you ask for help, she ignores you!
The worst professor ever! Everyday she shoved pages and pages of notes down our throats! I wish her laptop would just die! she is difficult and offers no help at all. She lives off her stupid webct website..I really wasted my time taking her class...just about everyone in the class did poorly and we all hated her! I wish death upon her she is evil!
Prof. Smolin is a very nice person who will help you if needed.But as far as teaching goes, she will drown you in notes, hand-ins, and projects and watch mercilissly as you crash and burn. The good news is that she is not a tough grader, study and prepare hard for the tests (there is a significant curve) and you can come out of this course alive.
she actually got mad when i asked her a question .she wont tell you what to study its like she enjoys your confusion,she will put something on the website without telling you and the pre test quizzes only cover 5% of what will actually be on the test, which might be one of her worse qualities.its like someone in her past didnt help her sosheblamesu
No Comments
I enjoyed my semester with professor Smolin. I failed her first test, and many other students did as well. This was only because myself, and all the other students who did poorly, felt "Its a 101 class, I dont really need to Study" So I made it a point, to study every word, question, concept in that textbook and her notes. Study, and Get an A.
would not recomend her at all.... the's always teaching with her damn computer, she does not review and the test are very hard.... you cannot ask her how you are doing in class because she will say you should know... nasty when you ask her a question attidute problem.. and even if you try she does not care at all she will give you an F.. not flexib
hm..well she is a nice person but a bad teacher. Get on her good side by looking interested and asking questions, the tests are hard so study, and make sure you hand in the work bc every little thing counts. If you do not like to be taught by computer then i dont recomend taking the course.
Ok shes a really nice teacher but gives the most boring lessons everrrr!!! Everythings powerpoint and she doenst like to explain things- its true she gets angry when she has to stop and explain. Not worth the hassel! Gook Luck with her
Worst teacher ever. I never thought a teacher could actually be this bad. she makes me want to blow my brains out when she teaches her boring lessons. Teaches things totally opposite from the textbook. If you can drop her class DO IT IMMEDIATELY!!!
Just read the textbook and study everyday. You have no chance passing otherwise.
Smart person, bad teacher.
Out of about 30 students, about 8 did not drop. Out of those 8, about 4 actually passed.
No Comments
HATE THIS PROFESSOR!!! WORST PROFESSOR ON CAMPUS!! DONT EVER TAKE THIS PROFESSOR!! DOES NOT KNOW HOW TO TEACH...HATE HER!!!!!!!
Horrible teacher, doesn't know how to teach. She does not care about the students and doesn't explain the material well. Her tests are hard. I wouldn't recommend her
She did not help very much with exams. What kind of teacher says study everything? Everyone studies what they think is going to be on the exam and FAILS!!!!
Horrible Teacher!!! Do not take her class!
Professor Smolin is a serious educator who directs her lectures to students who care and work hard. She doesn't have much patience to explain or clarify...but seriously people THIS IS COLLEGE!!you are supposed to go the extra mile now ON YOUR OWN! I would definitely recomend her, she is caring of you if she sees you do the work and TRY! She's good!
she doesnt want to explain nothing. She'll demenstrate and then leave you lost for the rest of the class. Yea i kno its college, but she cant even answer my question directly. Confused all the way
She is horrible!!!!!. She doesn't teach, I constantly study for her tests, and I still fail them because there so difficult. She also doesn't care at all about her students, and if you were considering taking this class, my advice is DONT DO IT!!!.
worst lab professor ever. if i had her 4 lecture i prob would have dropped. she is useless & doesnt not try to help but trys to make it things as hard as possible for every one. DO NOT TAKE HER. if she is only ur lab professor then its doable but if u have her 4 lecture RUN
sooooo bad. she doesn't teach, she just reads off whatever she's written. really monotone and extremely boring. i dont think the class would be so bad if she taught it better.
she is absolutely useless. Real man hater. She seems to be a miser as she cringes at the thought of spending money. Shes so frugal she wont even buy a car. Real nasty and arrogant. Thinks she knows everything but knows nothing about anything. If it weren't for tenure, she would have been dumped long ago. has every dime she ever earned.AVOID
I honestly enjoyed her class. She is very fair but the class is definitely hard. You have to study a ton out of class. If you are taking bio and don't want to put the work in, don't take her. The negative reviews scared me, I can say she is not a scary person. She knows what she is talking about and expects everyone to be serious about the subject.
After I read the review I wanted to drop the class. But I actually enjoyed it when I took it. She is a very nice woman and very knowledgeable. And if you need help she will help.People, this is not a high school, and no one is going to babysit you. You must study a lot for the science class!! If you fail-don't blame the teacher!
She is nice, funny, humble, and very informative. She will let you know what is on tests and will explain whatever you do not understand. She made me laugh alot. Really enjoyed her and will miss her.
She was an extremely good professor given the limited time. Quite helpful
not a bad professor at all, but shes not as clear on the instructions of the labs as she could be. one piece of helpful advice though is to save and study all of the labeled diagrams she hands out and makes you do, because her final is one big assessment on everything you've learned in her class. but if you study it you will be fine.
Just study a lot and remember key terms don't be late and start studying as soon as possible. Don't slack off, study and you will be fine.
Just study a lot and remember key terms don't be late and start studying as soon as possible. Don't slack off,and you will be fine.
Great person, If your not ready for this class your not ready for college.
She is very dry but shes very smart she does talk down to you don't ask questions if you don't want to be yelled at in class. we had about 5-6 quizzes online each month lots of tests. basically if you dont like bio get another teacher if you just need the credit if you want to learn shes the professor to get.
I believe numbers speak for themselves. There were about 27 of us in the beginning of the semester. No lie, the last two weeks of class there were only 7 left. I was one of them. Don't know if I should recommend her honestly.
One word..... AWFUL!
Horrible. Classes are so boring, a lot of quizzes online that she doesnt remind you of. Doesnt really help you. Would not recommend her.
Honestly, if u can take another Bio teacher then DO IT! She can be nice but shes anal about everything especially when its time 2 clean up. Shes never clear on what she wants & she never answers questions straight. If u want to pass w/ flying colors, my advice is READ the lab manals BEFORE u go 2 class and the instructions. & ask her what she wants
She is VERY unorganized, she's always at least 5-10 minutes late and on top of that it takes her another 5 minutes to get set up. She has the nerve to count the minutes you're absent and if you go over a her limit she gives you an f. When you ask questions in class she is flat out rude and has no shame in embarrassing you in front of everyone.
Might as well not even have a teacher at all you have to teach yourself all the information you need to know for the course using your textbook...She doesn't remind you of the quizzes that need to be taken and her teaching ethic is awful. If your struggling she doesn't help you at all. DO NOT TAKE HER.
useless teacher. 80% of the work for the class only counts for 10% of the grade, and her teaching is horrible. there is also almost no extra credit/curve, so even if the entire class does poorly she does not try to help anyone out
Prof. Smolin is tough but fair. She expects you to do the work on your own and treats you like an adult. The only issue I had with her is that she can lose her temper at times. If you read, do all your work( quizzes, class handouts) and follow the class guidelines, you should be okay.
She is probably the worst professor in this department. You are better off reading the textbook from cover to cover because that is what you will end up doing anyways if you have her as a professor.She knows a lot about biology but has no clue how to teach it in a way for you to understand. i wouldn't recommend that anyone take her class. BEWARE!
The worst science experience of my Life. She is so confusing.Useless she talks about her life and opinion and does not cover the material that is on the exams. She will confuse you even if you memorize the text book.
Only D I have ever received, and I went on to Princeston. Poor teaching skills, she should be evaluated and lose her job, she's absolutely terrible. You're guaranteed failure taking her.
awesome
Horrible. Difficult. Boring.
This lady is not very friendly to say the least. Questions asked in and out of the classroom are answered with attitude or not answered at all. She teaches an abundance of random junk you don't need to know and doesn't speak loud enough to hear. If you're great at teaching yourself everything from the textbook then you have it made
It was frustrating because she is the only teacher for the BIO 101 lab, at least for the 2014 spring semester I had. I don't like how she humiliates students in the class. She uses visuals (draws on the chalkboard)but they look like coco puffs, you don't really know what you're looking at. If you draw the same thing she gives you guff about it.
She's horrible, do not take her. She narrates everything she is doing and if you do it wrong be prepared to get called out in an e-mail that goes to the whole class. She expects you to fail and once you do she will immediately pounce on you.
In my entire 20 years of learning bio with smokin was the worst most boring class I have ever taken in my entire life. Not friendly and BORING
SAVE YOUR SELF WHILE YOU STILL CAN!! she gives ALOTTT of homework and takes off points for the smallest things. The class started off with 28 students and by the end there were only 10. Shes very rude and her lectures are so boring.
a little confusing, the class is not that difficult if you read the textbook, you need it to pass because you won't learn anything from her lectures. She does give out a lot of easy work though to help boost your grade if the WHOLE class is struggling.
This class is hard. If you're not generally fascinated in biology or nutrition, then I will not recommend. To pass you need to put effort into listening well to what she says and participate online. She is friendly if you respect the work and try your hardest.
She isn't the worst professor. In the beginning I was failing her course but did pull my grades up. She gives quizzes at least once a week and her lectures are long and drab. However, she sends you the slides to review which I find easiest. I did some worksheets from google myself. And through it all, I actually learned somehting.
Worst teacher I've ever had in all my years of school. Extremely nasty and very very unhelpful. She expects the class to know information that she's never given. If I knew how horrible she was I would have dropped the course and re-took it with a different prof. Horrible experience
Terrible professor. Just terrible...
Terrible teacher. Doesn't give u the chance to copy the notes. Basically stands there all period and talks. Excepts u to teach yourself the notes by using black board. Everything is online. Overall terrible
Out of all my years of school, she is the worst professor I ever had. Expects you to learn by yourself and hands out confusing paperwork. Extremely horrible.....
Worst class I've taken. She acts as if everyone is bio majors. If you take it you will eventually get an email from her that is sent to the whole class calling each person out on who put their microscope back crooked. I don't recommend. I believe she is also the head of the department which makes it worse.
She needs to be evaluated on her teaching skills by the school. she is horrible to work with. Worst professor I ever had.
This is a difficult class, and should not be taken lightly. A lot of studying and alot of cramming. Definitely knows her stuff and sometimes knows to much, and when I saw that I mean gets too specific. Summer Session is no joke and should only be taken if ample time is given to study. Hear my warning do not take if you want to coast. You will not!
She is a very nice women. She can be a little unclear with what she teaches but as long as you pay attention and study, you should be fine.
Her class was so bad it could discourage students from continuing their education. She has severe time management issues. Several times I was late for my next class due to threats of not staying late in her's. Once she gave a pop quiz after class was already over - since I had already left, I was given a 0 on the quiz. Just W and find anyone else.
Professor smolin is by far the worst professor i have ever had before. Making class is a must and if you dont you definitely will not pass. Her grading is extremely difficult. Her class is extremely hard to pass when you cant hear a word she says because she talks like a mouse. 90% of the material thats on the test your not ready for. DONT TAKE HER
I love this professor, this is the second time I am taking her. She is a very good lab teacher. She is tough but she will make you learn the material. She will correct you if you are wrong in a nice way. She is one of the best professors at Nassau.
Horrible she cannot teach. She is rude and should be evaluated by the school! Beware
SO HARD!
She takes all of her powerpoints from the textbook's website and all lecture material is unoriginal. Goes off on multiple unrelated tangents in one period and she is the chair of her department, so you can't even file a complaint. Awful experience. Gives no guidance during labs, leaves students alone with the lab book while she talks to colleagues.
Horrible! She is extremely rude and she does not know what she is doing. She is not clear on what you have to do. Beware, I do not reccoment her at all!
P smolin is an amazing professor, shes so sweet and warm and always has such interesting life storys to share, her bug collection is by far the best collection of frozen life forms Ive ever seen. Her tests are tough so you have to put in the effort. And attendance is important.
Plain and simple she sucks
extremely nice person just not that great of a teacher although she knows bio like the back of her hand its a bit hard for her to explain it in detail in a way made understandable for someone who knows next to nothing if not nothing.
She knows her stuff. However, not as great at teaching.
I wish I could leave a better review because due pandemic we had to leave the classroom. It is a very hand on class so it was difficult to learn from online but not impossible. She knew how to keep the lesson going to finish on time and get stuff done would recommend if your ready to put the time into it
Absolute worst professor out there. Instructions given are EXTREMELY unclear. You are told to do an assignment but are given zero guidance on how to get to where she wants you to be. Waste of time and money.
Prof. Smolin knows her stuff. She is an expert in biology and her grading is very clear. Be aware you will need to study a lot and read. Her tests are very tough. The only issue I had with her is that her Voice is very low and is hard to hear her.
She is not clear about what should be studied/worked on; just gives us loads of ( also unclear) information and work with no direction. The test questions are NOT the same as homeowrk questions. The silver lining is that she assigns so much work tht it gives you a chance to SOMEHOW bring your grade up regardless.
I tried to take her class because I need certain credits to graduate, but summer class proved itself too much for me. She kept giving too many homeworks at once and even when I gave her my form from the center for students with Disabilites, this Professor wasnt sympathetic and didnt give any extra time I needed, so I had to withdraw.
She gives the most confusing work. I took this class remotely and she has the most unorganized blackboard Ive ever seen. Really sets you up for failure. She isnt clear with assignments and it seems I am always somehow missing something.
Do NOT take her. She does not teach the materials but only explains everything. Doesn't show you how to do the work and gets very off topic during every lecture! You MUST have your camera on during exam otherwise you're getting a 0, even if you took it just for not having a camera on! I enjoyed Biology until I had this professor! TOO MUCH WORK!!!
Everytime I think I know what I want to say about this professor, I thnk about the fact that there are already so many bad reviews on this site dating back to 2014, so I will spare you some trouble and get right to the point. DO NOT TAKE THIS PROFESSOR. FOR ANY CLASS. It will only result in your GPA decreasing, and your money down the toilet.
Honestly just so annoying, gives too many assignments and makes them due the day of. Talks all class and can have a nasty attitude. I cant sit here and act like i enjoy being in school anyways but she's hands down the worst, most annoying teacher I have ever had. She makes learning not fun.
Not my favorite.
This professor gave one of the worst class experiences ever. Class started with around 20+ students and ended with 5 students. My class got together to report her to the Bio department and nothing was done to fix the situation. Save your money, time, and energy and choose someone else. If you get stuck with her, I can only hope you escape.
Extremely unpleasant and not fit to teach. Refused to answer questions when her method of teaching how to dissect animals was watching a single YouTube video on its lowest volume in a crowded classroom.
I find her style of teaching very difficult to follow because it isn't clear or helpful. Explanations are often rushed and hard to understand. The policy on late or missed work is extremely strict. Even with a valid reason or family issue, it's very hard to get a chance to retake assignments, which makes this even more stressful.
Worst professor I've ever had. -Lectures consisted of her reading off of slides -Would go on about fishing and Queens college -Gives no info during labs, had to look everything up -Would complain about having to grade -would get mad if terminology was different -She is very inconstant with grades. -Sandra gets defensive when you ask questions
Do not waste your time taking this class with Sandra! She is the worst professor I have ever had. She goes on and on about random things that do not have to do with the class and she is very unfit to teach. She yells at students when they have a question and refuses to answer them. She is also a very harsh grader and grades very unfairly.
Class Info
Online Classes
100%
Attendance Mandatory
97%
Textbook Required
74%
Grade Predictor
Your expected effort level
Predicted Grade
C+
Grade Distribution
Common Tags
Rating Trend
Declining
-0.46 avg changeRatings by Course
BIOBA
5.0
(1)BIONUT
4.0
(1)11769
3.0
(1)BIOC2
3.0
(1)COS126
3.0
(1)Difficulty by Course
101
5.0
BIO
5.0
BIOLOGY
5.0
NUTRITIONALBIO
5.0
BIONUTRITION
5.0