I would not recommend taking this class unless you need to. Professor Manson is a pretty nice woman and she is respected for her own research on insects, but she is a horrible teacher. Unlike 2100 she actually has a lot of words in her powerpoints to take notes from but she basically just reads off them so you would almost be better off just reading the powerpoints on your own at your own speed. Her tests are unreasonably difficult (she probably made the last two harder out of suspicion for people cheating but that screws over anybody who doesn't cheat). Definitely read the textbook and make sure you memorize terms. She acts like the tests are application based but if you don't know the specific terms you are screwed. Honestly wouldn't be a bad idea to read the textbook chapters before her lectures too, because she her slides ( and therefore her lectures) assume that you are able to memorize terms and their meanings immediately after they're defined which can make portions of lecture harder to follow.

This class was hard af for me and I studied my butt off. Professor Mason is very charismatic but not so much on her exams. I know a lot of people who struggled in this class so I know I'm not the only one. My recommendation is if you have to take this class is to watch videos to solidify your understand because if you kinda know the material, you will not pass the exam. take it from me who had to learn the hard way.

This class is a bit harder than you may imagine. I did not take BIOL 2100, so I cannot compare it to that, but I was definitely surprised. This is not a course you can skimp on and expect good grades. It is essential to not only go to lecture, but read the textbook, get those lab points, and do the Mastering Biology (and TopHat if that is still happening). The tests are quite tricky, and it is important to go over the Dynamic Study Modules in the Mastering Biology when you are studying, and doing the practice test. Manson is a good and dynamic lecturer, and you can tell she really knows what she is talking about. There is just a lot of content to keep up with. If you keep up with all of the moving elements in this class, you will be fine. If you fall behind, it will feel like a nightmare when the test comes around. If you took AP or IB biology in high school, several concepts will feel very familiar.

Exams in this class are difficult and confusing.

I took this class after thinking I would be a politics major and having a bad experience. I hadn't taken AP Bio or AP Chem or BIOL 2100 or any of the classes that it seemed all the other people who take this class did. My relevant science experience includes 9th grade biology and 10th grade chemistry. You could say I was terrified to take this class. After taking it, however, I'm so glad I did. I learned so much from Manson and she is a really engaging lecturer. I did the readings for the first three exams but not the last. I got a really high first exam grade, a lowish second exam grade, a pretty good third exam grade, and a good fourth exam grade. Readings, it seems, don't really matter that much so read if you want near the end of the unit to review for the exam. Do the pre-labs well by reading all the information about the lab. If you do that, you shouldn't have a problem getting a 100 on all of them. Labs are graded kind of confusingly, but if you are good with your time management and kinda say a bunch of stuff for each question, you're bound to get the points somewhere in your answer. My lab grade ended up being around a 96. Try your best on mastering bio and do it with a friend as she recommends. If you like 10 questions throughout the semester that's ok because the last mastering bio is extra credit and you can bump that grade up to a 100. Going into this class, I expected nothing better than a B and I'm leaving with an A and I renewed love for science. I'm strongly considering majoring in biology or something related now because of Manson's class.

1. Don't do the reading. It's waste of time. Record the lectures & take thorough notes and memorize all the details b4 the exams.
2. Don't give up b/c you're getting bad grade ... whatever grade you don't really want to get until the last.
3. Lab TA is essentially a russian roulette... My roommate and I submitted almost identical answer for these two questions (we did not cheat, we have a lab at the same time so it's impossible to cheat), but her TA gave her full point and I got 75% off, and it sucked cuz it was 3 points question. But this is also doable if you get all the pre-lab answers correct AND you don't make any stupid mistakes on your lab.
4. For exams, they are often VERY detail oriented. No it may not be enough to know the general trend. It's not an exaggeration to know all the details, I can't stress how much you need to know the lecture material by heart. Also I wouldn't skip class b/c it's annoying and anxious to listen to lecture recordings 5 hours before the exam starts.

I've always been really interested in biology, but it didn't fully click for me until I took this class. Jessamyn teaches straight from the book (for those of you who are avid skippers), but she only really tests on stuff she talks about in lecture (if you hate reading the book; plus, she gives up to 1.5% extra credit, tacked onto your final grade, if you answer all the clicker questions). I read the entire textbook, but this is definitely not a requirement for the class. Her green pants are super fun, and I found the material much more relevant/easy to understand than BIOL2100 stuff (especially the last topic, form and function (basically anatomy), even though it can get a little tedious). The lab was also a lot more chill than last semester, it obviously depends on your TA (shoutout Erin lol). I found that I actually got a lot out of the dissections (have been doing them since 7th grade and there was never really a point to them, but they were super valuable) at the end of the semester, as they were closely related to lecture material and even helped deepen my understanding of how organ systems are arranged & function. Another review said to Quizlet all of your MasteringBio and I would have to agree. If I did that, I probably would've gotten an A in the class (ended with an A-). Definitely log onto Mastering frequently because she's bad at reminding the class when one's due/posting them ahead of time, but she's good at reminding you of basically everything else. She's super cute, approachable, accommodating, and an ABSOLUTE nerd for plants so don't be scared to go to her office hours as needed!:) Also: ALWAYS do the exam wrappers when she offers them, they're SO helpful and boost your grade.

I thought this class was easier than Kittlesen's Biol 2100 class but everyone is different. I actually enjoyed both classes. The review underneath mine is really good and should provide you tips on how to do as well as possible in this class. I did the textbook reading for the first two exams and didn't do them for the last two exams and actually did slightly better on the last two. There's a lot of superfluous information in the textbook that won't show up on the exam. Just actively pay attention in lecture and make sure to take diligent notes and review them as much as possible. At the end of the day, pre-health students at UVA are lucky to have two excellent intro bio professors in both Kittlesen and Manson.

This was a tough, but very doable course. Odds are if you are not taking this course as an elective, but rather a requirement and doing well is important. You also don't really have a choice for professors, so I will make this review in terms of the course rather than the professor.

I will end the course with either an A or A+ and I have compiled a list of things that I felt were important for my success in this course.
First, homework is 10% of your grade and online on mastering biology. These are guaranteed points so it is important to check your answers with quizlet or a friend in order to make sure you get a 100%.
Second, labs are worth 20%. Before each lab there is a prelab quiz online that is worth 5 points. You should also check with others and gurantee a 100%. For the post labs, the grading was pretty harsh no partial credit in my case, but this will depend on your TA. To do well, make sure to look for the answers for each of the questions in the lab manual or in your lecture notes as you can copy many of them word for word. Also, ask your TA questions if you are unsure about the answer and make sure you are answering the question correctly. I started the year with 80's and 90's on the first 3 post labs but then was able to get a 100% on the last 9 with these tips.
Third, the bulk of your biology grade will be the 4 exams at 70%. These consist of 40 tricky multiple choice questions, but I found that by adjusting how I prepared, I was able to perform extremely well on them the second half of the semester. The content itself often is not heavy, but the questions are often application based and require a deeper level of thinking. To prepare, I found the textbook reading is NOT needed, and I would recommend not doing it. The textbook often covers more concepts or concepts into more detail than necessary for the exams. Every concept on the exam is covered in Manson's lectures (often word for word from her slides), therefore you should use the lectures to prepare for the exams. For note taking, Manson uploads blank copies of her powerpoints before class. Download them and take notes on the slides, there are often visuals/phylogenetics trees, that are not only helpful for understanding the material but can make their way onto exams as well. Copy down every word on Manson's lecture slides, and copy down any iClicker questions she puts up on the board as well. I found it extremely helpful to review the material of the previous lecture between lectures. You should go over this material once or twice so that you understand it and begin to memorize it. This will not only help you get the review iClicker questions correct at the start of each lecture, but it will also make studying for each exam a bit easier. Ideally, before each exam, you will want to have memorized and understood every word/concept on her slides. I followed this study routine every week up until the week of the exam. Then on the Monday and Tuesday of the week of the exam, I would set aside an hour or two go through all the previous slides once just to get them back in my mind. On Wednesday and Thursday, I would then spend two to three hours again going through slides and going through all the mastering biology homework questions for the exam. These questions are good practice, and I found that usually 2-3 of them make there way on to the exam. On Thursday night I would also take the practice test, and I would go through the slides once more with a group of friends, discussing anything that was not clear, integrating clicker and mastering bio questions as practice. On the day of the exam, the questions are worded very precisely, and therefore you must be focused, reading every word of question and answer choices. These questions also may also take a decent amount of thinking, but you have plenty of time (2 hours) so you should take your time.
Using these tips I was able to get a 93, 85, 100, and 98 on the exams. (I had 4 exams the week of exam 2, and the exam itself was not written the best in my opinion).

Overall this course was tough but doable. My biggest tips would be to review material from each previous lecture every week, to secure any "guaranteed" points, and to remain focused during exams.

Manson is tough, and Biology 2200 is not the most exciting subject, but this class still has some benefits. I found the last unit (about function and form rather than evolution) incredibly fascinating while most of the TAs that I dealt with were very friendly and positive. I've also decided to compile how to make an A in this class. First, do the reading. Many Premed and General Biology students attempt to avoid reading within a class, but this is not a good idea in regards to Biology 2200. The reading helps flesh out details that Manson can sometimes scale over her powerpoints, which are very short on information. You SHOULD, however, utilize these powerpoints to understand the primary material of the course and recognize the main ideas this course presents. Second, make sure you get this best grade you can on homework and labs. These are blessings unlike other curriculum within Premed courses where you exclusively have tests. With two to four minds on one assignment in the lab, your crew should consistently be able to get 90s or above on lab. The homework is easy, and in the book, it often took me barely thirty minutes to get the homework done. Third, prepare for the test. They are challenging; you need to have an outline of materials at least one week before the test is ready if you are shooting for an A. She does not try to trick you, but her questions are pretty tricky to get to the bottom to usually. At times I would make high As and other times I barely made a B, but I learned how to study for her test (comparing and contrasting terms). The final had the highest average, it was much more straight-forward than the other tests and helped me end up with an A overall in the class. Difficult and time-consuming, but doable as well... a small challenge compared to the beast of Organic Chemistry which waits around the corner.