Just as some background, this is coming from a student that took this class during a fully online COVID semester and got an A

Don't get me wrong, this class is hard. I wouldn't necessarily recommend taking it if you don't have to. BUT it is not nearly as bad as everyone makes it out to be if you study smart and put a good bit of effort into it. Go to lecture live, sometimes he takes a bit to upload the lectures. Go to office hours if you can, even just to listen to him answer other people's questions. This class is difficult, but also super interesting. I personally loved Kozminski, I thought he was funny (most importantly haha) and straightforward both in his teaching/what he expects you to know and his exams. I would say exams are a combination of understanding/applying knowledge and some straight regurgitation. I started the class taking copious textbook notes and while I definitely recommend reading the textbook, I realized on the last two exams that reading it thoroughly (BEFORE class!) was enough and spending hours taking meticulous notes wasn't worth my time. Rather, I focused my efforts more on lecture content and the take home questions. For reference, I got an 87 and an 82 respectively for the first two exams and a 93 and a 98 on the last two. Here was the strategy that worked for me - do the reading before class and go to lecture live then the night before the next lecture, read through your notes and go through the previous lecture and answer the take home questions. Make sure you've done all the take home questions before discussion, it doesn't help if you just write down the answers and tell yourself "that makes sense." Trust me. About a week before the exam, handwrite (for me, I remember better handwriting) a comprehensive study guide for yourself, basically retaking notes from your notes and the Powerpoints. Get that done a day or so before the exam and read that over once or twice again and quiz yourself on the take home questions one more time. I hope this helps!

Kozminski is one of the least understanding and most uncaring professors I've ever had. During the COVID-19 pandemic, many students were struggling with his class because learning completely alone is a big challenge. Despite the difficult circumstances, he made the class harder to succeed in by raising the grading brackets from previous semesters. His exams were horribly written, unclear what was being asked, had multiple answers, had typos, and strange philosophical questions that he would harshly grade.

I and many other students worked tirelessly in his class. After contacting other students to understand the collective effort, students would write hundreds of pages of notes, read the huge textbook readings, make diagram study guides, make vocabulary sheets/quizlets, help other students in study groups, late-night studying for weeks, and it was honestly all for nothing.

When I explained to him my hard-living circumstances given the pandemic , he didn't even acknowledge it or compromise for a fair solution. He has treated countless other students with this lack of understanding and care. A girl had her computer crash during an exam and provided evidence of the situation, but he didn't even care or give her more time. I know for certain that if I took this course in the fall with the other professor, I would have done much MUCH better. At least he gives homework.

He lies in the beginning of the year claiming that his class is not as hard as people make it out to be, that he wants to give everyone As, and that he cares about all his students and to contact him if troubles arise especially given the pandemic. None of those points were held true or demonstrated at all.

Don't get me wrong, he is extremely knowledgeable. He is merely not fair, a horrible grader, egotistical, scattered and unstructured in his teaching, uncaring for students, and more. This class was a genuine disappointment and I and countless other students would not recommend taking this course unless it was for your major. Just take a look at the grade distributions for yourself and see how ridiculous this class is. I've never seen so many students dissatisfied with a single professor. It's not the content that is hard, it's the professor that is unfair.

I don't understand why Koz has so many negative reviews. At least he doesn't make jokes in class about how much he loves to watch students struggle on his exams like Wormington does. Yes, the class is hard. That has to do more with the material than the professor. Yes, his exams are hard. You do have to keep up with the material and go to office hours frequently. Unlike Wormington, there is no homework to help pad your grade so that can be an issue. If you are super intent on getting an A, Koz might not be for you based upon historical grade distributions; however, if you don't want to your fingers to fall off from having to type so fast to keep up with Wormington, take Cell with Koz.

Dr. Kozminski is amazing! He really knows his stuff, and is a genuinely nice guy that wants the best for his students. Exams are difficult, but the material is very interesting and the exams are very doable if you put the work in. Note, from what I have heard, the class is much harder than the fall class.

Do yourself a favor and take cell with Kozminski! I withdrew from cell with Wormington because i just found that class to be unbearable. Kozminski's class was significantly easier than Wormington's. There are 4 exams and they are difficult so you do need to study a fair amount in order to do well. This class is a point system which makes it so much easier to receive a good grade in the course. 4 exams totaling 400 points and you need 240 to get a C, 292 to get a B, and 340 to get an A. As he said, he tends and likes to give out + and not - which is great so as long as you score within the bracket range, you are guaranteed that grade. Each exam are not worth the same amount of points which i found to be a good thing, Exam 1 = 85 points, Exam 2 = 110 points, Exam 3 = 105 points, Exam 4 = 100 points. Really doable and make sure to go to discussion, the TA goes through the sample questions given after each lecture and these sample questions do sometimes pop up on the exam. I personally didn't do the textbook reading he assigned and still did very well, but it is a useful source if you are confused and would like more information about a topic.

Take the cell with Wormington. It was painful to sit through lectures with Kozminski, and you had to go to lecture because his tests were entirely lecture based. Many test questions were frustrating and extremely knit picky. Go to discussion to get the correct answers to the practice questions and make sure to understand the reasoning behind them, this will really help on the exams. But fr if you have any other options, don't take this class with Koz. He thinks hes funny and he is not, its just painful to sit through lectures. If this had been my first bio class I probably would have dropped the major because of how much I disliked him and how absurd some of his questions were.

I actually really enjoyed this class! This came as a surprise. I’d heard absolutely terrible things about Wormington’s cell bio and I was terrified going into Kosminski’s, especially considering his sections’ lower gpa.

However, cell ended up being one of my favorite upper levels. The material was really interesting to me and super applicable to research. Lectures were generally interesting, pretty straight-forward, and generally tied in to the textbook quite well. I got to know Kozminski during office hours and found that he’s passionate on the subject and was more than happy to answer the same stupid questions over and over. I’d definitely recommend taking the class with him over Wormington.

As a word of caution, you’re going to be completely screwed if you don’t stay on top of material and go to office hours very regularly. I went to Kosminski’s office hours every single week with pre-prepared questions from the lectures and readings. I got an A pretty easily just by doing that. :)

I personally found this class served as a good foundation for upper-level biology courses. Yes, it is difficult, but not impossibly hard if you attend class every day and take detailed notes. Review sessions are also helpful to go over practice problems that may come up in the test. It is a good class for those who like strictly lecture-based exams. Overall it was a worthwhile class and rewarding of your efforts.

This is one of the most difficult courses I have ever taken. Your grade is based entirely on four multiple choice exams, on a point system (i.e. no class curve). I attended every lecture, took notes, read all the reading, listened to recordings, and studied in groups, and I still felt like some of the test questions came out of nowhere. There are a lot of pathways that you need to outright memorize. Overall, I would recommend taking this class with another professor if possible. If not, attend the review sessions because those questions often show up on tests.

Honestly the class was a class. It is cell biology, and it is supposed to be hard, so it is. Also, even though he does not "curve," he sets the point brackets for an "A" lower than a ninety (actually its around an 86 for an A- for him). Therefore, yes, it is hard; just study and you should be fine.