Teressa Bergland
Statistics & Ops Research - The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
1.9
Quality4.2
Difficulty22%
Would Retake97
Reviews22%
Would Retake
97
Reviews
Rating DistributionOfficial
5
8
4
10
3
7
2
15
1
57
What Students Say
“As others have said, her exams are quite long”
STOR155 - 4.0 rating“One of the worst professors in STOR”
STOR455 - 1.0 ratingClass Info
Attendance Mandatory
98%
Grade Predictor
Your expected effort level
Predicted Grade
A-
Grade Distribution
Common Tags
Rating Trend
Stable
-0.06 avg changeRatings by Course
STOR155
2.3
(46)STOR455
1.6
(51)Difficulty by Course
STOR455
4.5
STOR155
3.8
Reviews (97)
Exams were miles too long and grades never came back in under a month. I also felt that they were too difficult as did many other students. Her lectures were long and tedious and she is not especially approachable. She tried to implement student feedback but was not super successful. I think her heart is in the right place but her teaching is not.
Her exams are excessively long and often feel unnecessarily difficult. While she considers feedback, many policies stay unchanged despite ongoing concerns. Her lectures can be vague and difficult to follow, particularly for students who are new to the subject. It's clear that she is knowledgeable, but struggles to communicate concepts clearly.
Lectures are odd and don't teach material well. Exams have been terrible, she makes them different from practice exams and makes them too long. She is a new professor so tried to give her a break but its gone too far. Took the midterm a month ago and do not have full grades.
Exams are unnecessarily hard in comparison to other sections of the class. Not one person finished the second midterm, and grades are not returned until over a month after the exams. She is very knowledgable on the topic, but her lectures are hard to follow and she is not a very approachable professor. Overall would not recommend.
Nicest professor I've ever had at UNC. She literally let us do test corrections and the practice exams were exactly like the exams, which never happens. Bitter freshman on here don't know how good she made it for us. Lectures are giving you exactly what you need to succeed, but she uses chalk board with slides.
One of the worst professors in STOR. Contents are pretty easy but she made the test extremely long and hard, compared to other professor's (She provided as practice). There are four midterms and she gets grades back extremely slow. There're 4 midterms and a final, she only allows a toilet paper size cheat sheet (3x5) for the cumulative final. AVOID
Terrible class. Lectures unclear, practice exams nothing like the real ones. Four midterms and a final where you only get a 3×5 card. Exams are confusing and way too hard for the prereqs. She's condescending and not supportive. Worst professor I've had in the STOR department. If you can avoid taking a course with her, please do yourself a favor.
She takes forever to grade everything. Throughout the semester I have had no idea how I am doing in the class. The homework has nothing to do with the midterms. She changed the format of the final exam a week before we have to take it.
She gives you 4 midterms that are all way more difficult and longer than the practice material or homework. Her expectations are unclear, and she is generally unpleasant. She gives group homework assignments that are really annoying to complete. Overall, the course was not managed well and was too difficult for what it should have been.
She gives FOUR hand-written midterms without cheatsheet. The exams were confusingly worded. Forced group assignments were pointless and just made students pick up the slack for others. When people asked for help or changes, she responded in a condescending way that made it clear she didn't care. One of the most discouraging classes I've taken.
She was very condescending when confronted about her policies and truly feels like she does not care for her students. Very knowledgable woman, but struggles conveying information to students and her class policies are very cut and dry even when majority of the class failed the second midterm. Would not recommend at all.
Do not take it with her. I understand that she is a new professor, but it is ridiculous that she can get away with what she has. Her exams are so long that no one finished, and she took months to get our grades back. We got our second midterm grades back the week before LDOC. Her lectures are also very hard to follow. Also kind of standoffish.
It's Prof Bergland's first year teaching, and it shows. She is clearly very knowledgeable in her field but is not good at conveying content. Both exams were ridiculously difficult and far longer than the practice exams. Test corrections for partial points back are allowed but it hardly matters when over half the class failed the exam anyway.
Worst Professor I've ever had. She is so incredibly unorganized and her lectures are practically irrelevant to her Exams. Good luck going to her for office hours....she'll just respond to your question with another question. I have no idea how UNC took her on as a professor.
She definitely has her quirks but very passionate and not bad. I took AP stats in high school which made it a little easier to succeed but I think the exams are fair. So far, they have been quite long but I think she will improve with that as she keeps teaching. Don't let the other reviews scare you. Pay attention in class and follow the examples
She definitely is new to teaching but she will improve with feedback. She offers test corrections on both exams along with a full credit retest on a difficult exam question. The class content can get a bit difficult but overall she seems knowledgable and does give many chances for questions. Not much homework. Exams are long but fair.
She never explains anything unless you ask, she just writes everything and expect you to know
She is clearly is knowledgeable about stats, but is not good at explaining it for an intro stats course. She does not write fair exams, and our second midterm was so bad she let us do a retake. That being said, she does offer revision for exams and is nice in office hours.
She is knowledgeable but the worst professor I've ever had (and I'm a senior). Tests are 73% of total grade, requiring memorization of every tiny detail. Slowest grader ever and unfair when she finally got around to it. Constantly complaining, rude and condescending, no regard for students wellbeing. Would've enjoyed the class if not for her.
I have never pass/failed a class until this one, and so glad I did. She is BRUTAL! So unfriendly and unfair, always trying to make you feel bad for her. Her practice (which she frequently forgot to provide) were nothing like the exams, and on the final we only get a 3x5 index card. It is possible to survive her class and learn in it but it's awful.
Terrible!!! So unorganized. Lectures are not only confusing but completely irrelevant to how she does exams.
I disagree with most other reviews. Dr. Bergland follows consistent structure with her lectures and provides clear notes on canvas if you miss a lecture. Super caring, incredibly kind in office hours. Offers test corrections. Overall great prof, would take again, and the class had very minimal HW.
people are too harsh. Dr. Bergland is incredibly caring (go to office hours!) and accessible. clear lectures, take notes and you will do well. allows corrections for exams, and minimal HW. plenty of online resources provided. one of my favorite professors i've had at UNC.
Do not take with her please spare yourself the pain. Only offered test corrections after the entire class did terrible on the exam. She does not lecture well and just expects us to understand everything...it's an introductory course. Worst teacher I have ever had. I am doing better in a physics class than this class I'm an Econ major btw.
First year prof, very evident. Exams far too long, struggles to convey lecture material in a sensible way. Very knowledgeable, just poor at teaching it to students. Practice exams don't align with midterms, hard to know what to study. Doesn't seem to truly care for her students' success. Highly recommend another professor - fries in the bag Teressa
She is not a good teacher. She does not know how to teach. I think if you let me watch Khan Academy all year I would do 100x better in this class. Her midterms are unbelievably hard and long so much so that no one finished on time for both. DO NOT TAKE DO NOT LISTEN TO THE GOOD REVIEWS. I'd rather do anything else she is the worst.
Prof Bergland is a goat. clear expectations, lectures, and HW. super reachable outside of class and honestly pretty funny
A lot of the difficulties with this class will probably get better as she gets more experience teaching. The main thing was the SUPER slow grading that was overly detailed. The tests themselves are written in a vague, overcomplicated way. If you have experience in R and go to class you will be fine.
I don't like this woman. She's a poor instructor - just reads from slides (with information taken straight from the textbook) and live codes. Nothing makes sense, and she is HARSH. Exams are unfairly graded, not to mention returned to months after the exam date bc she manages her time so poorly. No curve and vehemently against any grade drops.
The other reviews are quite harsh, especially considering this is her first semester at UNC. This is a hard course, and while the extended time needed to return grades is frustrating, it's clear to me that she's trying her best. My one comment is I wish she were more open to 'helpers' such as a curve, a larger cheat sheet, etc.
you need a background in statistics to do well in this class, from high school or a previous course. the notes posted after class are kind of helpful but it was mostly self teaching for me and the midterms are pretty hard with barely enough time. going to class feels useless but attendance is mandatory
She is very off putting and harsh when she lectures. It's her first semester teaching and it shows. Takes forever to grade, makes exams way too long for time given, always has to move deadlines because of disorganization, and over complicates material. Also was 15 mins late for the final because she printed the exams in a different language.
This is her first year teaching and you can tell she is very smart but just awful at teaching. Take any other professor. Midterm 2 and the final was nothing like the practice she gave us. Made the exams too long; so many people ran out of time. Just reads off slides and never gives any examples.
You need the textbook to survive this class bc she will just read off slides in the most boring manner. She is nice, but that is different from good. She is poorly organized and is constantly going "woe is me!" bc of how poorly she plans and manages her time. Haven't gotten multiple assignments graded (from months ago) and the final is in two days.
The content itself shouldn't be this difficult but she makes it feel like it is. The actual exams are absolutely nothing like the practice exams, and she doesn't provide enough time for how insanely long she writes them. She also takes extremely long to get grades back (1 month per exam) which makes it difficult to gauge progress in the course.
Some things aren't for everybody. She should choose a new profession.
Her test structure is difficult. Not enough time to complete exams.
Test are much longer and harder than other professors, and she graded harshly and slowly. Do not take any course with her
Even 1 is too much
I did not imagine the other reviews will be so harsh on her. She is a quite new professor and might not be very experienced at explaining in the most concise and clear way, but she is definitely not awful. She is very kind and fun. She has extra credit opportunity and one exam dropped. The course structure is very clear. Exams to me seem fair
She seems like a nice person and is passionate but is completely disorganized and inexperienced. Her office hours aren't helpful, don't bother. If you take her you will have to do extra work and self study to get a good grade. Having to pay for her hw software sucks too. Midterm 2 and the final were a disaster, not enough time and too hard.
Unclear expectations on exams (which were extremely difficult). Disorganized content and untimely grading. Very harsh and inflexible professor.
Don't take she can't teach. I'd rather climb Mt. Everest with no oxygen tank. It is 3 days after the exam and the most recent grade we have in is from October. She is delusional and believes that we are all the problem and refuses to accept she could have messed up. No one I know is doing well in this class and she should probably find a new job.
So bad, even worse than awful. Mandatory participation, really comfusing group project, heavy homework but useless for exams, heavy tests with all tiny details and really HARSH grader.
The worst, least flexible professor I've ever had. Her responses to reasonable questions are incredibly rude and unprofessional - for example, "Give it a minute to breathe!" in response to a question about the extra credit project. She makes everything all about herself. The content really isn't too bad - it's the professor!
I'm a senior and she's the worst professor. In most stor courses, professors who give hard tests will offer many extra credits or curve. Those who do not offer curves usually give fair exams. But she did neither. Only one point ec for doing a whole project. She will take points off for missing a really tiny thing, while your whole answer is correct
455 is the easiest of the STOR required classes. She makes it so it's not. She makes you know every minor detail for a test, and her homework does not prep you for the exams at all. She is very harsh on a curve, and I know absolutely nobody who is doing well. She wants you to pity her with her "silly me" act, but she is the worst. Stay away.
Terrible slides, and that is all she teaches from. She expects you to understand material on a 10x deeper level than what is ever taught. Don't take 455 with her, every other 455 professor is easier.
Her exams were okay (but def not easy) but there wasn't enough time. She's disorganized but her notes were helpful even though you still need to study on your own. I have no idea what my final grade is because she stopped updating our grade back in October. She offered revisions and re tests but never graded them.
The final is in 3 hours and we have not received homework grades from October. Grading is overly detailed and harsh with too many petty points taken off
There's only so much incompetence you can attribute to being new. 455 is not known to be difficult, but I can see many new STOR majors being discouraged after taking it with her. Slow and harsh grader with an incredible victim mentality. Just take it with any other professor.
These reviews are crazy. People were mad because she didn't have the extra credit project graded before it was literally possible (predicting point differential and steals from NBA games) because the games hadn't even finished yet!! She takes a while to grade the tests but the exams were fair, it's a 400 level class it isn't supposed to be easy.
Professor Bergland means well, but she is so focused on explaining everything in the most detailed, "statistically correct" way possible, that she can end up making an easy topic sound hard. I wouldn't take another class with her, and there are many things she needs to improve on as a teacher, but some of these reviews are way too harsh.
This class made me feel like the professor actually enjoys watching students drown. Everything is intentionally confusing, exams don't match lectures, and she is dismissive when you ask for help. It honestly feels like she's proud when the class is stressed or miserable. I've never had a class that felt so actively hostile to student success.
This professor gives off the vibe that she doesn't want anyone to succeed. Exams are impossible, expectations are unrealistic, and she seems proud when students are overwhelmed. If you need support, clarity, or basic respect, you won't get it here. Avoid at all costs.
She talks to students like we're wasting her time. Every question is met with a condescending or dismissive tone. Instead of helping, she seems annoyed that you don't magically already know everything. Easily the most unprofessional attitude I've seen from a professor.
i never looked both ways when i crossed the street going to this class, lost any will to live and my 4.0. STAY AWAY
A “teaching” assistant professor who does not have any idea how to teach. If she really wants to show off her knowledge, why didn't she get a research position? Maybe torturing students makes her pathetic little ego feel better.
Wow, 400 level class shouldn't be easy. The I guess you must feel 445 is MUCH EASIER than 455 because the course number is lower! Why didn't you go to MIT but end up here? Who remembers the prereq is 155/120?
Did she vote for Trump?
Hanged, drawn, and quartered would be too light a punishment.
Still haven't gotten our grades for a midterm we took the week after halloween. Nothing is graded, nothing is organized, cannot recommend this class less.
did she not think when she got the job as a professor that it would entail grading assignments and helping student learn? like girl what did you expect
This professor is awful. The exam questions are very vague and uses weird wording to explain concepts (i.e. she said to "fudge" the proportions). She is super disorganized and wants you to feel bad for her by saying "I'm trying my best. I just haven't gotten sleep!" I felt bad the first time she said that but then she kept using it as an excuse.
I do not understand other reviews. Is she the best professor? No, but she's a fine one. It's clear that she's adjusting to teaching here, but, her exams were quite fair. You'll struggle if you don't show up to class/study, but you'll do fine if you pay attention. Not an easy A, but you'll get a good grade if you show up and put in a little effort.
Dr. B is not a good professor, but she is not a monster by any means. She's nice and you can talk to her, but I just don't think this job is the best for her. She has poor time management and panders for pity, which gets old quick. Her inefficiency when it comes to grading is extremely frustrating and the course content is DIFFICULT. Don't take.
I wish people were kinder. While this semester was difficult, it was a 400-level statistics course, and it was meant to be challenging. I agree that Professor Bergland has room for improvement, as do all professors. It was clear she was trying her best and I felt that the tests were reasonable, especially since we were given studying materials.
I honestly don't know why people care so much about receiving grades fast—you can't change anything that happened in the past. She definitely has room for improvement, but always keep in mind all the reviews here are pretty subjective.
Any tiny question gets interpreted as a personal attack, and her responses are often defensive and unnecessarily rude. Meanwhile, the class has been suffering through unclear lectures, mismatched exams, and painfully slow grading for weeks. She acts like she's the one being “mistreated,” when students are the ones genuinely stressed and struggling.
By the “400-level = harder” logic, STOR 455 is apparently more advanced than STOR 445 and STOR 435! If someone truly thinks 455 is supposed to be harder than 445 simply because the number is bigger, I honestly don't know what to tell them except: please stop pretending the STOR numbering system is a difficulty ranking. It's embarrassing.
“400-level should be hard” collapses instantly once you realize 455 has intro-level prereqs (155/120), while lower-numbered classes like 435 and 445 require heavy probability theory and are famous for their difficulty. If course number were meaningful, 445 would be easier than 455- and anyone who believes that has clearly never touched either.
She is understanding in office hours, but is hard to understand during lectures. She is very academic, so it makes it hard for her to teach an introductory course. She gave revisions for the midterms, but they are very difficult and not similar to her practice tests. This is her first year at UNC, so she may be better next semester.
Teaching wise she's not as bad as these reviews make it seem. However, her structure's terrible, 4 midterms which took ages to be marked, weekly assignments taking minimum 4/5 hours to do not indicative of exams and just repetitive and superfluous in a nonpedagogical manner. Mostly self learnt with ChatGPT, and attending lecture's didn't help much.
This class was way too fast paced for the amount of depth it entailed. Midterms almost biweekly when assignments hadn't been returned (no feedback). Lots and Lots of content, covered to a shallow level through inadequate slides (consisted mainly R output with no descriptions). The final exam was way too comprehensive, I think she expected too much.
I hope she gives students less work in the future, and finds assignments better tailored towards understanding the content. Exams were confusingly worded, difficult MCQ's & required very in depth understanding. I feel she didn't want to give marks we deserved, petty at times. Would be nice if she narrowed the content, there's too much to remember.
Teressa Bergland has high expectations for everyone in the class and you can tell by how she holds herself and the exams. I have learned so much in this class because of the harsh grading and difficult exams but feedback was very delayed for midterms and homework, the exams covered too much content with no curve and harsh grading.
Her class is about what I expected. idk why she has so many horrible ratings but she's lovely! Her lectures were good and her grading policy was reasonable. HW was 28% of the grade. 2 midterms and a final (all very similar to the practice tests). She improved a lot from her previous ratings so don't be scared to take her class.
People are being unnecessarily harsh i feel like intro level classes are always super fast paced. She's really accessible and helpful. Considering it's her first semester teaching at unc, she did a good job. If you listen and go to her with questions, you will be fine. Some of these reviews r ac insanely unwarranted
she has taken months to grade things, did not return our midterm scores until days before the final and never returned our grades for a retest of a midterm problem. has now taken over a week to return final grades while trying to guilt trip us for having expectations of timeliness. always trying to make you pity her
I have no clue why the reviews are so poor. If you go to class and do the homework, 30% of your grade is a 100. The rest is made up of tests, but they aren't hard AND Dr. Bergland is extremely nice with partial credit (that's why she takes a while to grade things). I would much rather get partial credit than my grade back quickly.
As others have said, her exams are quite long. However, she has recognized that the exams weren't completely fair and offered revisions worth half credit back. Her lectures are pretty good and she's very accessible via office hours. Homework is pretty light. She's not perfect but def way better than some of the other stor profs here.
SHE IS A GOOD TEACHER. People need to chill on her because she is genuinely good at her job, but she teaches a hard class so people are bound to get bad grades. She does her best, and while it takes her a long time to grade, she is very generous with extra credit. You are going to struggle in this class if you dont like STATS, but she does her best
Understand she's a first-year prof so she may improve, but nonetheless incompetent. Took ages to get grades back, practice nothing like exams, generally unhelpful - never made clear cut expectations for exam material and what to study. Hopefully she gets better, New York Jets level performance from her this semester.
GREAT PROFESSOR other reviews are too harsh. yes, studying requires effort, but what did people expect? it's a large lecture class, so you're in charge of keeping up with notes, etc. she is super kind in office hours, lectures are clear with blank fill-in notes provided. uses slides and chalk. 100% would take again, fav class this sem
Nice Lady, worst professor I've ever had in my life. Going to class and listening to lectures made me more confused on the different topics. I was better off playing Clash Royale during class and watching YouTube videos outside of class to learn topics. I did better on second mid-term all while sitting there in class getting my trophies up.
She is a new professor, but the issues extended FAR beyond that. Takes FOREVER to grade (1 mo for midterms, over a week for final), practice exams do not reflect class exams, confusing lectures, always rushed content, no practice qs, and she raised her voice at students for asking genuine questions. I hope she gets her act together.
Her first semester teaching at UNC and it shows. She took too long to get exam grades back and made the two midterms too long to finish in the time given. Nevertheless, she provided detailed notes on all the course concepts, so learning the material wasn't bad. If you have any prior stats or college math experience, the class is a manageable A.
Dr. Bergland is really not an evil monster -- she is clearly new & trying but just doesn't hit the mark. Slow grader & made tests/grading more stressful than necessary. She gave test revisions and tried to fix problems she caused (albeit in convoluted ways) but ultimately was a bit condescending and needs to listen to students more.
The course material itself wasn't difficult, but the professor made everything more difficult than it should've been. The homework and the practice exams did not reflect the exams. She was also an extremely slow grader. She did give revisions and re-tests though.
These reviews are wayyy too harsh. Most students who did not understand the material likely did not read the textbook or had not coded before. Logistically, the course was not designed well with 4 midterms, but she gave us bonus questions on exams, was very active on piazza, and had 2 office hours each week for 3 hours, and was very nice.
Final was taken a week ago and we are still missing a homework grade from October and the final exam grade. So frustrating.
She is nice and extremely accessible. However, she often made topics more complicated than they were, failed to explain them in class (better explanations in office hours), and graded extremely slowly. We didn't have an accurate final grade until a few days ago. The 2 midterms did have revisions and homework is 28% of your grade.
Rated her 2 (not 1) bc she does genuinely have a passion and it shows in her good lectures. HOWEVER, she is not meant to be a professor. Harsh/rigid grading and closed-note tests aren't sensible for a coding class, and tests (that she made) not graded for 1-2 months. She tries to do too much then penalizes the students when she finds out she can't.
Worst professor i've ever had at UNC. She literally walked into exams with them messed up everytime. She takes forever to grade. Isn't good at teaching the material to students. Didn't keep her word on credit with exams either. I understand it was her first year teaching but even a TA could have done better with the class. Nice lady but wow.
DO NOT TAKE STOR 155 WITH HER. The midterms were way too hard and the questions cannot be completed in the allotted exam time. Even after students gave her feedback on the midterms, she still made the final insanely long and tough. She also refused to curve the final exam or our final grades when most of the class was in the 50-60% range.
Dr. Bergland is genuinely passionate about Statistics, and she knows her stuff. However, her lectures were not very engaging (had to self-teach outside of class) and practice questions were not effectively integrated into the class. She is available and helpful via office hours. Need to be VERY self-motivated. Definitely sit up front (no mic.)
Pros: passionate, partial credit on exams (68% of course grade), final replaces lowest exam, exam format fair (potential +4% bonuses), active on Piazza, awesome in office hours, encourages participation Cons: very slow to return grades, homework is super lengthy, seeks pity from students, assigns unnecessary group work, not a confident lecturer
Class Info
Attendance Mandatory
98%
Grade Predictor
Your expected effort level
Predicted Grade
A-
Grade Distribution
Common Tags
Rating Trend
Stable
-0.06 avg changeRatings by Course
STOR155
2.3
(46)STOR455
1.6
(51)Difficulty by Course
STOR455
4.5
STOR155
3.8