AI Rate Professor

Biology

Mehrzad Akhavan

BIO1B · BIO1A · BIO1A1B · BIO2 · 73 lifetime ratings

AI rating
52/100
RMP rating
3.3/5
Take again
48.28%
Difficulty
3.6

The decision

if you will read, practice, and put in serious weekly hours; avoid if you want a light easy A.

Best fit · Effort For RewardTest HeavyGet Ready to ReadLots of HomeworkExtra Credit AvailablePolarizing Bio Gatekeeper
  • Content-heavy Bio 1A/1B with dense multiple-choice exams and .
  • and As, but workload is intense.
  • Online pandemic sections were widely panned; .

Key questions

Four answers before you build your schedule.

Is this an easy A?

FairEffort

55/100

Many As appear when students complete readings, labs, practice questions, and , but .

Online students ; in-person students more often said effort plus EC yields a strong grade.

Is the course easy?

Challenging

32/100

Biology and heavy active reading make the course intellectually and time-demanding.

Both formats call the material hard; online added chaos and volume without better teaching support.

Is attendance flexible?

Recommended

62/100

Attendance is often optional or counted as , but .

In-person comments mix mandatory and optional; online work was deadline-driven rather than seat-time based.

Is this professor recommended?

Depends

48/100

; recent in-person fans clash with older online and .

; online reviews overwhelmingly say avoid.

Course guide

See how this professor fits your week.

Grading

Fair

52/100

and clear criteria help, but exams are tough and some call him a .

Format shift

Online completion grading of worksheets felt easy points; .

Workload

Heavy

22/100

, and weekly pages of work dominate student complaints.

Format shift

Online volume was extreme (often 25-40+ pages weekly); in-person remains heavy but more structured.

Teaching experience

Average

58/100

Students split between clear, passionate lectures with useful practice resources and boring or mismatched teaching that .

Format shift

In-person quality ratings are higher and more caring; online teaching was widely called lazy or unhelpful.

Assessment method

FocusOnExams

72/100

Five-plus exams with dense MC and and readings as support.

Format shift

Same exam-heavy pattern online and 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

38 reviews

High confidence · Best fit for Effort For Reward

In-person Bio 1A/1B is demanding but many students who stay ahead, use practice questions, and do , and fair.

Main concern

Test-heavy exams and or skip active work.

What students said

“I had him for two semesters, he's now one of ! and wants people to understand the material instead of memorizing.”
BIO1A1B
“His lectures are incredibly interesting, he has a , and he truly does care for his students.”
BIO1A
“His exams are designed for fail — 100 ridiculous MCQs, 4 full pages of , and he's proud the class average is a D. RUN!”
BIO1A

Remote format

Online

12 reviews

High confidence · Best fit for Self Taught Pro

Online sections were overloaded with long weekly readings and labs, vague lectures, and .

Main concern

Crushing homework volume and .

What students said

“An UNNECESSARY amount of homework. Thinks that we are only in his class with the amount of .”
BIO1A
“His online class is terrible. 25-40 pages of .”
BIO1A
“I took both his biology classes during quarantine and overall, not a good or bad professor. He honestly seems a bit lazy.”
BIO1A1B

Exam style

Know what to expect from exams and major assignments.

and easier essays; preparation via lectures, active reading, and practice is essential.

Dense Multiple ChoiceShort Essay QuestionsPractice Questions HelpContent HeavyNo Clear Proctoring Mentions

Assessment risk

Standard

48/100

Low score means less forgiving assessment conditions.

In person

essays and sometimes practicals; averages can be low without steady study.

100 MC Style4-5 Essay QuestionsPractical ComponentsLecture and Practice Aligned
“Exams are mostly multiple choice with 4 short essay questions.”
BIO1A
“His exams are designed for fail — 100 ridiculous MCQs, 4 full pages of ”
BIO1A

Online

Online exams were time-pressured multi-chapter tests that students said often mismatched lectures; .

Timed MC ExamsMulti-Chapter CoverageOpen-Note Mentioned OnceNo Study Guides
“Exams are 75 questions in 80 minutes and he doesn't give any study guide or .”
BIO1A
“The . 80 minutes to do 75 questions.”
BIO1A

Student evidence

See what students actually said.

Top student voice

“If you put in time for this class and show effort, professor will work with you and .”

Voice snapshots generated from 50 reviews (12 online, 38 in , and format split. Credibility rating: High.

📚 Workload Reality

22/100

“Truck load of active reading and .”

🎯 Teaching Split

58/100

“His lectures are incredibly interesting, he has a , and he truly does care for his students.”

📝

48/100

“if you want an A make sure you put in at least 25 hrs of study time per week for ”

👍 Recommendation Divide

48/100

“Honestly surprised by the negative reviews. He gives a lot of ”

Theme 1

👨‍🏫 About Teaching Style

  • and wants people to understand the material instead of memorizing.
  • His lectures were very interesting and made to help you better understand hard concepts.
  • He didn't teach. and textbooks

Theme 2

📈 About Difficulty & Grades

  • As long as you put in the work, you'll do fine!
  • Do all the unnecessary hard work and you might get an A.
  • class really isn't that hard, to the people saying the FRQs were crazy stop the cap fr.

Theme 3

💻 About Online vs In Person

  • .
  • Holy cow, this class SUCKED. Maybe it was better in person but he made me hate the subject.
  • I was worried by the reviews since he's the only Bio 1A/1B professor, but the class isn't as bad as it sounds

Data context

See exactly what the AI read.

Analysis sample

50

Recent reviews read by the AI

73

Lifetime ratings

86/100

Evidence confidence

50 detailed reviews spanning years with strong format split and consistent themes on workload and .

Inside 50 stored ratings

Quality ratings

5 out of 528
4 out of 57
3 out of 513
2 out of 514
1 out of 512

Course coverage

BIO1A39 reviews
BIO1B5 reviews
BIO1A1B4 reviews
BIO22 reviews

Reported outcomes

A range results lead the reported letter grades.

47 reported outcomes

A range

25

A+ 6 · A 18 · A- 1

B range

15

B+ 8 · B 5 · B- 2

C range

0

No reported values

D range

0

No reported values

F

0

No reported values

No letter grade reported

7

Drop/Withdrawal 1 · Incomplete 1 · Not sure yet 4 · Rather not say 1