AI Rate Professor

Foothill College · Biology

Gary Ciambrone

BIOL040B · BIO40C · BIO40B · 40C · BIOL40A · BIO40A · 40A · 34 lifetime ratings

AI rating
86/100
RMP rating
3.9/5
Take again
100%
Difficulty
3.0

The decision

if you want a passionate biology professor and are ready to attend lecture, study slides carefully, and .

Best fit · Effort For RewardPassionate lecturerTest heavyClear expectationsAttendance mattersFair grading
  • Students generally praise Ciambrone as knowledgeable, passionate, approachable, and .
  • The course is exam-heavy and physiology-focused, with lecture attendance and .
  • Several older reviews criticize fast lectures, inconsistent policies, or , but later reviews are much more positive.

Key questions

Four answers before you build your schedule.

Is this an easy A?

FairEffort

72/100

An A is attainable because he curves, offers some , and tests from slides, but and careful studying.

All because there are no online reviews.

Is the course easy?

Standard

45/100

The biology content is substantial and physiology-heavy, but and expectations make it manageable for prepared students.

All course and physiology reviews.

Is attendance flexible?

Recommended

40/100

as formally mandatory, but many students say skipping lecture will hurt because .

Only in-person reviews exist, and .

Is this professor recommended?

MustTake

86/100

Students recommend him for passion, fairness, clarity, and helpfulness despite the .

Recommendation .

Course guide

See how this professor fits your week.

Grading

Lenient

76/100

Grading is usually described as fair to generous because of , and .

Format shift

.

Workload

Heavy

35/100

Workload is heavy because students mention dense slides, frequent exams and quizzes, and the need to study a lot for anatomy and physiology.

Format shift

All .

Teaching experience

Good

84/100

Most students praise his passion, knowledge, and clarity, though a minority describe him as fast, boring, or disorganized.

Format shift

Teaching .

Assessment method

FocusOnExams

88/100

Assessment is strongly exam-focused, with , and short-answer quizzes repeatedly mentioned.

Format shift

.

Luni fit check

Weigh these signals against your actual schedule.

Get help balancing workload, grading, and timing when no option is an obvious fit.

Course format

Compare the in-person and online experience.

Classroom format

In person

34 reviews

High confidence · Best fit for Effort For Reward

In-person reviews describe a strong but test-heavy anatomy and , and reward steady effort.

Main concern

Students who skip lecture or dislike dense PowerPoint material may struggle with the .

What students said

“His class is all tests, but come to lecture and you'll do fine.”
BIO40A
“Gary grades on a .”
BIO40B
“This class is going to be difficult so if you don't spend a lot of time studying and attending lecture, you will not do well.”
BIOL040B

Remote format

Online

0 reviews

Low confidence

No stored summary is available for this format.

Main concern

No main concern is stored for this format.

Exam style

Know what to expect from exams and major assignments.

Exams are mostly standard and test-heavy, with multiple-choice exams and some short-answer quizzes that are manageable when students study lecture slides.

Multiple Choice ExamsLab ExamsLecture QuizzesShort Answer QuizzesExtra Credit

Assessment risk

Standard

66/100

Low score means less forgiving assessment conditions.

In person

and lab exams plus short-answer quizzes, but do not clearly prove open-book, webcam, proctoring, Lockdown Browser, or closed-book policies.

Multiple Choice ExamsLab ExamsLecture QuizzesShort Answer Quizzes
“His class is all tests, but come to lecture and you'll do fine.”
BIO40A
“ and fairly straightforward.”
BIO40C
“His lab and lecture exams are all multiple choice. But he has a answer.”
BIO40B

Online

Student evidence

See what students actually said.

Top student voice

“His class is all tests, but come to lecture and you'll do fine.”

Voice snapshots generated from 34 reviews, highlighting key themes in , and grading. Credibility rating: High.

🎯 Teaching Quality

84/100

“He is incredibly passionate about Biology and really makes you love it too.”

📚 Workload Reality

35/100

“You really need to retain the material in .”

⚖️

76/100

“Gary grades on a .”

Theme 1

👨‍🏫 About Teaching Style

  • Dr. Ciambrone is very knowledgeable and does a fantastic job of presenting the material.
  • He is incredibly passionate about Biology.
  • Amazing lecturer. Very approachable and clarifies all questions.

Theme 2

🧪 About Exams and Study Habits

  • His class is all tests, but come to lecture and you'll do fine.
  • .
  • Study hard for quizzes; they are short answer.

Theme 3

📈 About Grades and Effort

  • Gary grades on a .
  • If you want to get an A read the chapters at least once from the text and study his powerpoints carefully.
  • Seriously, go to class, take notes, spend the whole time in lab learning and the class is an easy A.

Data context

See exactly what the AI read.

Analysis sample

34

Recent reviews read by the AI

34

Lifetime ratings

90/100

Evidence confidence

Credibility is high because 34 in-person reviews provide detailed and mostly consistent evidence across several years, with later praise.

Inside 34 stored ratings

Quality ratings

5 out of 520
4 out of 54
3 out of 55
2 out of 51
1 out of 54

Course coverage

BIO40A10 reviews
BIO40C7 reviews
40A5 reviews
40C5 reviews
BIO40B5 reviews
Show 2 more courses
BIOL040B1 review
BIOL40A1 review

Reported outcomes

A range results lead the reported letter grades.

22 reported outcomes

A range

15

A+ 3 · A 8 · A- 4

B range

6

B+ 3 · B 3

C range

0

No reported values

D range

0

No reported values

F

0

No reported values

No letter grade reported

1

Not_Sure_Yet 1