Brian Dorsey

BIO10A · BIO30 · BIOL30 · BIOL10A · BIOL030 · 35 lifetime ratings

AI rating: 36/100
RMP rating: 3.1/5
Take again: 50%
Difficulty: 4.0

The decision

if you love plants and will grind; if you need a gentle A.

Best fit · Hardcore LearnerTough graderFree response examsGet ready to readPassionate botanistTest heavy

Field botany students often call him inspiring, expert, and .
General bio and genetics reviews frequently call lectures ineffective with harsh all-FRQ tests.
, and As costly for most students.

Key questions

Four answers before you build your schedule.

Is this an easy A?

HardWork

24/100

, and no drops mean an A requires mastery and constant reading.

All evidence is in person; no online reviews.

Is the course easy?

Challenging

22/100

Dense reading, memorization, and .

All evidence is in person; no online reviews.

Is attendance flexible?

Mandatory

28/100

and warn skipping hurts, especially labs and field days.

All evidence is in person; no online reviews.

Is this professor recommended?

Depends

48/100

; botany lovers rave while .

All evidence is in person; course topic drives the split more than format.

Course guide

See how this professor fits your week.

Grading

Harsh

22/100

, and strict free-response scoring.

Format shift

All evidence is in person.

Workload

Heavy

26/100

, and field memorization pile up.

Format shift

All evidence is in person.

Teaching experience

Average

48/100

Expert and inspiring in botany for many; .

Format shift

All evidence is in person across courses.

Assessment method

FocusOnExams

78/100

Quizzes and multi-page free-response exams dominate; little multiple choice and limited .

Format shift

All evidence is in person.

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

35 reviews

High confidence · Best fit for Hardcore Learner

botany fans praise passion and field trips while many bio students report and .

Main concern

All free-response testing with and .

What students said

“One of . Took his field botany class. It was so inspiring”
BIO30

“ . and graded harshly because it was all short answers”
BIOL10A

“Most ineffective professor I've had. Doesn't actually teach the material.”
BIO10A

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 largely free-response writing marathons graded strictly with .

All free responseNo multiple choiceNo curveLong essay examsWeekly quizzes

Assessment risk

Strict

28/100

Low score means less forgiving assessment conditions.

In person

no multiple choice and harsh scoring.

Free response onlyNo multiple choiceHarsh FRQ gradingNo cumulative final in some sections

“All his quizzes and exams are free response, no multiple choice. .”
BIO10A

“Tests are about 10 pages long, all essay questions. It takes us 3 hours or more to complete all question. Nightmare.”
BIO10A

“ of choice, for that matter.”
BIO30

Online

Student evidence

See what students actually said.

Top student voice
“One of . Took his field botany class. It was so inspiring it actually really helped my mental health.”
Voice snapshots generated from 35 in-person reviews spanning botany and gen bio, with high credibility from sample size and consistency of . Credibility rating: High.

🌱 Botany Standout

90/100

“if you're lucky enough to have a . hes the real deal.”

🚫

18/100

“ ... ALL COSTS”

📝

25/100

“There are no multiple choices in his tests. They consist of ”

📚 Reading Required

30/100

“Definitely have to read the book to do well.”

Theme 1

👨‍🏫 About Teaching Style

Doesn't actually teach the material. Have to read the book
Funny, kind and really really knowledgeable and passionate
His lectures were very bad, just read off the slides.

Theme 2

📈 About Difficulty & Grades

.
No multiple choice, you either know your stuff or you don't.
Half the class dropped towards the end of the class.

Theme 3

🌿 About Field Botany

The weekly trips are awesome too!
expect to learn a lot, and expect to put the work into it.
NONE of the . You're not owed an A!

Data context

See exactly what the AI read.

Analysis sample

Recent reviews read by the AI

Lifetime ratings

84/100

Evidence confidence

Thirty-five detailed reviews from 2014-2025 show recurring themes with high engagement on recent posts.

Inside 35 stored ratings

Quality ratings

5 out of 515

4 out of 53

3 out of 53

2 out of 53

1 out of 511

Course coverage

BIO10A25 reviews

BIO304 reviews

BIOL303 reviews

BIOL10A2 reviews

BIOL0301 review

Reported outcomes

No letter grade reported results lead the reported letter grades.

21 reported outcomes

A range

A+ 1 · A 4

B range

B+ 2 · B 2

C range

C 1

D range

No reported values

F

F 1

No letter grade reported

Audit/No_Grade 2 · Drop/Withdrawal 1 · Not sure yet 3 · Not_Sure_Yet 4

Brian Dorsey

x x x x x if you love plants and will grind; x x x x x x if you need a gentle A.

Four answers before you build your schedule.

HardWork

Challenging

Mandatory

Depends

See how this professor fits your week.

Compare the in-person and online experience.

Know what to expect from exams and major assignments.

In person

Online

See what students actually said.

🌱 Botany Standout

🚫 x x x x

📝 x x x

📚 Reading Required

👨‍🏫 About Teaching Style

📈 About Difficulty & Grades

🌿 About Field Botany

See exactly what the AI read.

Quality ratings

Course coverage

No letter grade reported results lead the reported letter grades.

A range

B range

C range

D range

F

No letter grade reported

if you love plants and will grind; if you need a gentle A.

🚫

📝