Jeffrey Ihara

BIO100 · BI202 · BIO110 · BIO202 · 131 lifetime ratings

AI rating: 34/100
RMP rating: 3.0/5
Take again: 47.37%
Difficulty: 4.1

The decision

if biology is your priority, you already have strong bio background, and you can treat this class like a full-time job.

Best fit · Hardcore LearnerTough GraderOverwhelming WorkloadFlipped ClassroomLecture HeavyTest Heavy

Extremely heavy workload for a 4-unit class; .
Tough short-answer exams and ; open notes help but .
Passionate and knowledgeable; students who prepare with lecture questions and STEM center support can succeed.

Key questions

Four answers before you build your schedule.

Is this an easy A?

HardWork

28/100

Even and short-answer exams; an A usually requires treating the class as a near full-time load.

Both online and ; online notes open-note exams slightly more often.

Is the course easy?

Challenging

22/100

Material is dense, fast-paced, and often described as graduate-level biology rather than standard CC content.

In-person reviews stress advanced pace most strongly; .

Is attendance flexible?

Varies

42/100

and you will not pass.

In-person comments more often stress showing up for review and field trips; online is mixed.

Is this professor recommended?

Depends

47/100

About half would take him again; fans praise passion and and workload.

Recommendation is similarly split online and in person.

Course guide

See how this professor fits your week.

Grading

Strict

28/100

; papers and free-response work draw harsh feedback even when content is solid.

Format shift

Online reviews emphasize brutal written feedback; .

Workload

Overwhelming

18/100

Students repeatedly say the 4-unit load exceeds 5-unit STEM courses and .

Format shift

, and labs; in-person adds field trips and pre-class graded lectures.

Teaching experience

Average

48/100

Expert and passionate with some amazing lectures, but many find explanations peer-level, awkward, or hard to learn from.

Format shift

In-person students more often praise field trips and live discussion; online students more often call delivery dull or unclear.

Assessment method

FocusOnExams

68/100

, and weekly homework; tests drive the .

Format shift

Both formats are test heavy; online .

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 Hardcore Learner

In-person BIO202 is flipped, field-trip friendly, and ; many call it graduate-level pace for a CC course.

Main concern

Workload that drowns students taking other STEM classes and .

What students said

“ . Before day 1 of class, we already needed to do 3 graded lectures.”
BI202

“ WILL drown in work.”
BIO202

“If . Ihara is awesome and actually uses what we learn.”
BIO202

Remote format

Online

12 reviews

Medium confidence · Best fit for Self Taught Pro

Online sections keep the heavy flipped workload and ; lectures are video-based and as harsh or passive-aggressive.

Main concern

Brutal feedback, spring-break work, and to be.

What students said

“He makes the content harder than it is by the . His feedbacks are brutal.”
BIO202

“Flipped curriculum so you watch lecture videos and . but open notes.”
BIO202

“assignments and content covered are needlessly time consuming and confusing.”
BIO110

Exam style

Know what to expect from exams and major assignments.

Exams are challenging free-response style; open notes or a notecard sometimes help, but material volume still makes them hard.

Short Answer HeavyOpen Note SometimesNotecard AllowedLecture Question BasedTough Free Response

Assessment risk

Standard

52/100

Low score means less forgiving assessment conditions.

In person

; lecture questions are the main study path.

Short AnswersNotecard AllowedOpen Note TestsLecture Based

“ and it's very difficult to study for his exams.”
BI202

“Ihara provides lecture Q's as a study .”
BIO202

“He does allow a .”
BIO202

Online

if notes track lecture questions; still described as tough and time-intensive to prepare.

Open NotesTough ExamsLecture Question Prep

“ but open notes so solid notes are crucial for success in this class.”
BIO202

“Prepare well for exams though. They are tough.”
BIO202

Student evidence

See what students actually said.

Top student voice
“ . I am passionate about science and have been a straight-A student my whole life, and this class was ridiculous.”
Voice snapshots generated from 50 reviews spanning online and , and teaching quality. Credibility rating: High.

📚 Workload Reality

18/100

“ WILL drown in work.”

🧪 Teaching Split

48/100

“Ihara is awesome and actually uses what we learn”

📝

28/100

“This is professor is a . Evolutionary biology should not be this hard.”

👍 Recommendation Split

47/100

“If and it takes you a while to absorb things, you will need to treat this like your only class.”

Theme 1

👨‍🏫 About Teaching Style

class is flipped teaching style
of a student
The lecture videos are so well done

Theme 2

📈 About Difficulty and Grades

you WILL drown in work
Although the class is definitely not an easy A, by coming to class and paying attention, an A is totally achievable

Theme 3

❤️ About Character

he genuinely cares and is a total gem if you put in effort
Super passive aggressive and
He's just not the biggest people person

Data context

See exactly what the AI read.

Analysis sample

Recent reviews read by the AI

131

Lifetime ratings

88/100

Evidence confidence

50 detailed reviews spanning 2017-2024 with consistent , and flipped teaching.

Inside 50 stored ratings

Quality ratings

5 out of 534

4 out of 525

3 out of 525

2 out of 520

1 out of 527

Course coverage

BIO20233 reviews

BI20210 reviews

BIO1104 reviews

BIO1003 reviews

Reported outcomes

B range results lead the reported letter grades.

44 reported outcomes

A range

A+ 4 · A 6 · A- 3

B range

B+ 1 · B 14

C range

C+ 1 · C 2

D range

No reported values

F

No reported values

No letter grade reported

Drop/Withdrawal 8 · Not sure yet 3 · Rather not say 2

Jeffrey Ihara

x x x if biology is your priority, you already have strong bio background, and you can treat this class like a full-time job.

Four answers before you build your schedule.

HardWork

Challenging

Varies

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.

📚 Workload Reality

🧪 Teaching Split

📝 x x

👍 Recommendation Split

👨‍🏫 About Teaching Style

📈 About Difficulty and Grades

❤️ About Character

See exactly what the AI read.

Quality ratings

Course coverage

B range results lead the reported letter grades.

A range

B range

C range

D range

F

No letter grade reported

if biology is your priority, you already have strong bio background, and you can treat this class like a full-time job.

📝