BIOL 2200

I got a 99 in this class and here's how:

I downloaded all of the lecture powerpoints to my iPad and took notes on top of them during lecture. This saved me a lot of time and enabled me to focus on writing down the points and examples she said. This is important because these verbal examples are often on the exams. After class, I would add the notes to my quizlet for that unit. To prepare for exams, I would study my quizlet (starting a week before the exam) and do practice exams. Reading the textbook isn't necessary to succeed in this course (I barely read it) as the exams are supposed to reflect lecture, but there are helpful practice exams on each chapter. The practice exams Dr. Manson makes are generally easier than the exams, and the poll questions during lecture are a better representation of exam difficulty. Memorizing every single slide will honestly give you a lot more confidence in your exam answers, but it isn't necessary. Practice everything she provides including poll questions, lab questions, homework, Dynamic Study Modules, and practice exams as exam questions can very closely resemble previous work. Make sure to get 100s on homework and labs to give yourself as much cushion as you can for the exams. Her exams are short (~35 questions) and easily doable in 2 hours, but missing a couple questions can really tank your test grade. However, Dr. Manson always gives us points back after looking over the graded exams. Exam difficulty is not harder than the AP Bio exam. The exams get easier and more straightforward as the semester proceeds, so don't be worried if you do poorly on the first few (I think the plants one was the hardest).

I dedicated a lot of time and effort into this class and it was worth it. Dr. Manson is extremely sweet and approachable. Don't be scared to ask her questions during class, on Piazza, and in office hours. Good luck! :)

I found this course very interesting, and rewarding. I got an A, and I compiled some advice/information that I would've liked to have before I took the course. Since Manson is the only professor teaching this course, my review is focused on the content and getting a good grade. I did not take Bio 2100 or AP Biology.

Grading Breakdown:
5 Exams including the final = 70% (get to drop lowest score)
Mastering Biology Questions = 10%
Lab = 20%
Extra Credit = If you attended lecture and answered 90% of the poll questions you get 1% added to your final grade, we had an exam wrapper that added 1% to your lowest exam score (lowest score that isn't being dropped), and an extra credit homework to boost your mastering bio score (but you can't get over a 100%)

Exams (synchronous, online, and closed notes):
The exams have the most impact on your grade. My advice is to memorize EVERY word on EVERY slide. Also, remember every little story she tells. The fact that whales are mammals and breath from their blowhole (that she tells you one time) is an important detail! All of the exams were 35 questions and 2 hours, except the final which was ~45 questions and 3 hours. Read every word of every answer choice. She does have a Zoom meeting during the exam. If the wording confuses you, always ask her. She will help you. If you see even one word that is out of place, that answer will likely be wrong.

Mastering Biology:
Do not lose easy points on this! It should be a grade booster. Use quizlet and ask your friends!

Lab:
The grade is made up of pre-lab quizzes (completed before lab) and post-lab assignments (completed during lab). Pre-lab quizzes are 4 questions and not timed, so ask your friends and use the lab write-up to get the right answers. This will help your lab grade the most if you have a bad TA. Post-lab assignments are hit or miss. If you can ask your TA for help, then you definitely should! But if you have Yang Yu as your TA, switch to someone else. He will take off points whenever he feels like it and won't explain it. I've heard a lot of TAs are a pain, so just do your best.

If you have AP credit for this course do not take it. You can watch a crash course on the organ systems and get just as much from it. I learned this the hard way. Manson is extremely passionate about this material but when it comes to lecture she seems to be lacking in knowledge (frequently saying you guys probably know more about this than me or that she doesn't know). Although I respect a professor knowing when they are out of their league this seemed excessive. Her lectures were often bland and difficult to decide what information was important (frequently giving examples that I wasted time studying but were never tested). I absolutely loved 2100 with Kittlesen but did not enjoy this class with Manson. The labs were terrible and often a waste of my time. Many simulation labs and not nearly as hands-on as 2100. Overall, this was a disappointing class and the readings were often completely unhelpful. Masting bio (10% of final grade) was helpful as well as only 4 out of 5 exams counting (meaning you could skip the cumulative final exam if you were happy with your grade) but I still think the exams were irrelevant and didn't fairly test the material. The 1% boost for participating in PollEverywhere was nice as well but the class is still difficult to do well in. She does not curve like Kittlesen did.

I agree with a most recent review stating not to take this course if you have credit for it. I did not take BIOL 2100, so this was my first bio course at UVA. I followed many of the tips given in reviews on here and frequently found myself scoring lower on tests despite putting in more and more work. Her exams are extremely difficult. There are often questions where wording is off or where there are two valid answers, and she will even admit to "still thinking" about a question, yet she will never follow up about it or actually follow through with providing points back for them. One point can genuinely be what holds you back from a step up in your overall grade, so do your best in labs and mastering bio. In office hours Dr. Manson would frequently state she recommends finding both the right answer and the three wrong answers. Even doing this, I did not find my scores improving. Unfortunately her exams are just extremely difficult. I skimmed the textbook and read through the powerpoints before lecture. I highly recommend reading through the powerpoints beforehand. The lectures are 50 minutes so since they are a bit faster paced, I found writing notes directly on the powerpoints on my iPad worked best. If you do not have an iPad but have a laptop, I would download the PowerPoints and take notes on what she elaborates on in the speaker notes below.

I thought this class was really interesting (especially the evolution/animals part) but I acknowledge that I might be in the minority here, lol. Professor Manson is really passionate about the subject and her lectures were really engaging and informing. The tests were definitely a lot harder than expected, since they went so in-depth into the broad concepts she covered in class. I definitely recommend studying with Mastering Biology, the Dynamic Study Modules, and the questions at the end of each chapter to get a better feel for the difficulty of her tests. Her practice tests were usually easier than the real test but still good to study from. Like in 2100, she also gives a bonus exam wrapper and PollEv bonus points (though this is based on completion, not correction, which was nice). If you have a good memory, you'll probably do well in this class.

I personally found the lab boring and not very helpful. We asked the TAs a lot of questions and asked them to review our answers, and by the end of the class we were consistently getting 100s on the postlabs. Labs did take a long time, however (usually 1.5 hours or more) especially because we often had to wait for other groups to finish to analyze the class-wide data. Don't expect to actually learn what the statistical tests used mean.

I really like the professor and the lectures. The reading can be very heavy at times, so try to get ahead when it is light. Take brief notes on reading if you're have time, and definitely take notes during lecture. Since the course covers some specific topics (ie. plan reproduction cycle) there's a lot of specific vocabulary that you'll need to know, so read the notes before lectures if you have the time because it does make a big difference in what you'll get out of the lecture (and tests are difficult and specific). My only issue with this course was the lab section. Your grade will vary greatly based on your TA because some grade easy for minimal effort and some give B+ to basically everyone. This can heavily drag down your grade, but there is not really anything you can do to control it.

This class was not bad, and I enjoyed it. Personally, I found Dave's class (BIOL 2100) to be harder. However, I know a lot of people who did fine in 2100 but struggled here. Manson is really nice and approachable. Her class is interesting and unlike Dave, she does put information on her slides instead of just pictures or very minimum info. Her class is also very accessible with Zoom links, so you can attend virtually if you are sick. One thing I will say is that her exam questions can be VERY badly written, but she understands this and offers various sources of help to clarify like having a zoom link accessible during the exam so you can go and ask questions. She also has post-exam review sessions where you can bring up specific questions that you found questionable on the exams, and she does give points back to the entire class before she releases grades on questions she knows she worded weirdly etc.

I ended with an A in the class and here are my tips below:
1) TEXTBOOK: Get into the habit of reading the textbook before every class (it may not be 100% necessary, but I always found it helpful to have that info before going into lecture and it can help on some exam questions to have that extra info). Her lectures seem to be straight out of the textbook, but it will help your memory and you will better understand things in class which minimizes the time you spend outside on it. This skill will also help in your higher-level STEM classes. To prevent spending unnecessary time, I suggest waiting until she posts the ppt for the lecture and seeing which things she focuses on and guide your reading from that.
2) I would go to class and take notes beside her slides. RIGHT AFTER on the same day, I would make my notes into questions and thus, quizlets.
3) Get as many points as you can on mastering and try hard on every lab assignment. Lab can seem useless at times especially because lab is not tested on, but it can be interesting and ofc has the power to tank your grade. BTW this class follows the 70% Exams, 20% Lab, 10% Mastering, and then Poll Everywhere Bonus.

Preparing for Exams:
-I made so many charts and trees/concept maps. It helped A LOT. Make charts (once you get into material for exam 2/exam 3) comparing the different types of organisms (ex. Plants, Animals, Fungi, Prokaryotes etc) and then you can make another for the type of plants or types of animals etc. Make trees as you need and you can easily base it on her phylogenetic trees.
-Making sure that I made my study material (quizlets) as I went, I would start studying them about a week and a half before because memorization and application is key in this class. I also found making mnemonics helpful for remembering specific characteristics of organisms.
-Day before or two days before: I did the dynamic study modules on mastering and her practice exam to see where I had any gaps. If I had any gaps, I would go through my quizlets again or go to office hours.

*The final for us was cumulative but optional, so make sure to do well on the first four exams, so you can get out of the final! But if you do need to take the final, no big deal, the charts that I suggest making will GREATLY help you!

TLDR: read the textbook, make notes into questions and use active recall, do DSM + her practice exam, make charts/trees, and get as many points as possible on other assignments!

I hope this helps, good luck :)

Manson is an enthusiastic professor. She is a good lecturer, but often the lectures feel like a more surface-level approach to the information and then it comes at you from nowhere on the exam. That being said, it's doable to get an A in this class. I would download her powerpoint that she would post on collab before class and write directly on them. A lot of people in the lecture just re-type her powerpoints, but I found that if I had the basic info and wrote out the additional stuff she was saying, I would learn more and be more prepared for exams.

Exams are definitely challenging in this class, but that's something you can't avoid. We would spend hours in the library during the week leading up to them. However, you get to drop your lowest, and I was determined not to take the final (you can drop the final if you are satisfied with your other 4 exam grades), so I worked my butt off to do well.

Manson offers poll everywhere questions, and I suggest you do them all/most of them because you get 1% back on your final grade (which bumped me from 93-94!). She also offers an exam wrapper, where you answer a survey about an exam for ANOTHER 1% on your grade. PLEASE take these opportunities because you will be happy in the end.

I never read the textbook once in this class. You don't really need to. Her lectures cover most of it but you have to pay attention because much of the info comes from her mouth and isn't written on the slides. The lab period meets once a week for this class, and it usually took 45 mins -1.5 hours, so it wasn't too bad. However, it is graded normally (not the M/NYM chem lab system), so try to do really well as a group on your post labs so that you can have a grade cushion (lab is 20% of your final BIOL 2200 grade). There are quizzes before each lab and they are open assignments. Make sure to do well on these to also boost your grade.

Finally, mastering bio is 10% of your grade, so do your best. You are allowed to collab with classmates for it, so definitely do that. You want all the credit you can get before exams. With that being said, I know a lot of people who did amazing on exams, and a lot of people who did terribly. Work hard and you can get an A.

If you have taken the first semester of Bio with Kittlesen, expect about the same level of work and class expectations. If you haven't, then here's the run-down. I barely read the textbook, only here and there for clarification for homework review and exam review. Although, you do need to purchase the textbook because of the online homework. Manson's homework is usually straightforward. They typically follow the lecture, so as long as you take sufficient notes in class, you'll be able to answer the homework without having to read the textbook. Her homework tends to be short. There's very few extra credit opportunities: a self-reflection form on test performance and PollEverywhere questions. Her PollEverywhere questions are only participation, not accuracy, so participate in them. There's usually a short pre-lab quiz and most labs did not last the full time. Be careful when taking the tests, as she tends to have tricky wording. Draw phylogenetic trees and flow charts to help with studying. She's an enjoyable professor.

Jessamyn was pretty great in my opinion. People call her the 2200 equivalent of Dave in 2100, but I feel like her class was much more manageable. Evolutionary biology is more comprehensible for me than microbiology, so I was able to achieve an A in this class. By doing the readings and paying attention in lectures, it's pretty easy to do well in this class.