BCHM463 | PlanetTerp

Information	Review
Christopher Capp BCHM463 Expecting an A- Anonymous 11/21/2024	one of the best lecturers I've had. Nice person too. Tests are fair but extremely challenging and are the most fast-paced tests I've ever taken. Doesn't record lectures, so be ready to have space on your phone to record or video lecture. Tests essentially make up your whole grade for this class, so make sure you are a strong test taker. Don't bother with using the textbook, just go over the lectures.
Christopher Capp BCHM463 Anonymous 09/04/2024	Top three best professors I've had at UMD. Very helpful in office hours and will stay after every class to answer any questions. He is personable and loves what he does. If you are willing to put in the time to do well you will learn a lot. Highly recommend.
Christopher Capp BCHM463 Expecting an A Anonymous 06/24/2024	Dr. Capp is one of the best professors at UMD. The class is extremely fast paced because it pulls from both bchem 1 and 2, but is easy to keep up with Dr. Capp because he writes out the important notes on the chalkboard. There's no homework besides weekly discussion boards, so ultimately it comes down to your willingness to review your own notes and practice problems (ungraded). Go into the class with the expectation that it will be require hard work and an A is extremely attainable.
Bonnie Dixon BCHM463 Anonymous 06/08/2024	Honestly her lectures weren’t bad, but her unprofessionalism & exams made the class unbearable. She can be incredibly condescending and dismissive. She spends multiple lectures on one topic to not be on the exam (but there will be 2 questions on something she mentioned once in passing). Avoid her for your sanity!!!
Christiana Guest BCHM463 Expecting an A- Anonymous 05/28/2024	Dr. Guest was a nice and caring professor who did a good job of covering the major topics of biochem on the MCAT. At times she moved a bit slow, which led to the latter topics of metabolism not being touched on in great detail, but it was not the end of the world as you could take in much of the info with plenty of time. Her tests were fair and usually pretty to the point, optional midterm that was a good opportunity but harder than other midterms, and overall had fair letter grade cutoffs.
Christopher Capp BCHM463 Expecting an A Anonymous 05/17/2024	One of the best professors I've ever had. Biochemistry is hard, especially in this accelerated format, there's nothing that can be done about that. But Capp makes it engaging, fun, and manageable. He is a very funny and engaging lecturer, provides extremely useful tips for managing the class and makes you think about the material. The class format is tough with very little opportunity for points outside of exams, but if you study regularly, do the problem sets, and practice, it is very possible to not only get an A but develop a passion for biochemistry as I did.
Bonnie Dixon BCHM463 Anonymous 05/09/2024	Only take Dr. Dixon is you genuinely want to learn the material. The course is difficult, easily the hardest for all majors in bio related sciences. Her lectures, exams, and weekly homeworks are an absolute SPRINT, so I would definitely try to take this course on a lighter semester (honestly, treat it as a 6 credit course). However, if you make an effort, you can absolutely do well in the course. And she gives plenty of opportunities for you to work on the material. She holds office hours all day every day, which are a must attend if you want to do well on the homeworks. She also hosts weekly zoom sessions to review the material. But again, if you are looking for an easy grade, look elsewhere.
Christiana Guest BCHM463 Expecting an A Anonymous 03/20/2024	Dr.Guest is an exceptional biochemistry instructor. The class is extremely difficult but she has so many resources as well as office hours that helped me succeed. She also has a generous curve as well as extra credit that makes it easier than other teachers to get an A in the course. Guest is easily one of the best professors for this course.
Christiana Guest BCHM463 Expecting an A Anonymous 03/16/2024	Don’t be discouraged by Dr.Guest’s bad reviews. A lot of them come from chem132 which she has no control over. Dr.Guest is excellent for bchm463. She goes through topics at a reasonable pace and makes sure to cover content that is needed for the mcat. Unlike Capp and Dixon, she won’t make it harder than it has to be and will prepare you well. This class is extremely hard no matter who you take it with but Guest has a good curve which is another reason to take her.
Christiana Guest BCHM463 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 03/08/2024	Dr.Guest is an excellent teacher for Bchm463. Unlike other professors, Guest teaches you exactly what you need to know for the Mcat, as most people who take the class are premed. I would say if you want an easy A and to be prepared for the Mcat, Take guest
Christiana Guest BCHM463 Expecting a B Anonymous 02/23/2024	REALLY BAD PROFESSOR. She seems like she doesn't know what she is teaching herself. It's a shame that such a hard class is given to a Professor who is not qualified to teach it. She jumps from topic to topic, throws examples that don't make sense, introduces really complex concepts in minutes using the most confusing drawings you could imagine. The class within itself is not hard, what's hard is understanding what she is talking about most of the time. If I pass this class, it's only because of YouTube Videos.
Bonnie Dixon BCHM463 Expecting an A- Anonymous 01/25/2024	I loved her so much!!! Yes it is a very hard class. But to be honest, there's no avoiding that, no matter who teaches it. But she teaches in a way that is very understandable and she is honestly one of the best chemistry teachers. I would say that it is a must to go to her office hours, especially for the homeworks. Most of the people who consistently went to her office hours generally did much better.
Christiana Guest BCHM463 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/20/2023	Guest is an amazing biochemistry professor and such a lovely person. I really went into biochemistry expecting to hate the class but she made me actually become interested in the topics and teaches in a manner that makes the information really digestible (this is from someone who really struggles with chemistry). She is also super understanding and gives you many point opportunities as well as very fair homework and exams. Such a sweet person and amazing teacher with a clear passion for her subject matter and for teaching. She wants to help you succeed and despite how busy she is makes so much effort to be available to meet with students, respond to emails immediately, run review sessions, and more. Highly recommend it - especially if you are premed and need to take MCAT. She follows that curriculum closely as well so what you are learning is reflected in what you will study.
Christiana Guest BCHM463 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/17/2023	Dr. Guest is a great bchm professor and really cares about students. She drops a couple of homeworks and quizzes and posts a lot of resources for extra practice. Her exams are extremely fair and lecturers are always recorded. She even gave us an optional midterm to replace the lowest midterm grades. I would 100% take her again.
Christiana Guest BCHM463 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/12/2023	Dr. Guest is the best teacher for bchm. She provides practice exams, non-graded homework, and exam reviews outside of class before each exam. The exam reviews can be as long as the questions are not answered. She also answers any questions that you ask her about course material. Overall, she is a very good lecturer and probably made BCHM the easiest chem class I have taken at UMD. She is the best lecturer I have had at UMD. Note; you still have to study a very good amount as it is bchm but made very easy with the stuff she provides.
Bonnie Dixon BCHM463 Expecting a B Anonymous 12/12/2023	Its a hard class and Dixon can be a bit disorganized which can be rough given the pace this class goes at in order to fit in all the content. Despite that, Dixon does do a really good job at teaching content and providing plenty of opportunities to get help and to learn the content, with exams often being similar to HW or practice problems.
Christiana Guest BCHM463 Expecting a B Anonymous 11/28/2023	Honestly, I think Guest should get a couple more stars than a 2. She's not that bad of a teacher and is nice as a person. She routinely gave extensions on HW (10 HWs, lowest 2 dropped) when we got behind and is giving us an optional cumulative exam to replace our lowest grade before the final. Tests have 5-10 bonus points each. Do I wish my grade was better, yea. Could the partial credit be more forgiving, yea. But if you can't take Capp or Julin, Guest ain't that bad.
Heather Tienson-Tseng BCHM463 Expecting an A Anonymous 11/02/2023	Honestly I don't understand why everyone gave her a bad review. Yeah her class was hard, but it's a hard class win general. Everyone just hates on a teacher with a hard class. Getting an A is definitely manageable if u put the time in and she is always available if you need help.
Christiana Guest BCHM463 Expecting a B Anonymous 07/22/2023	Took this over the summer and oh my god it was crazy! This is definitely a class you have to set aside time to study for. Not memorization, but actually having an understanding of what's going on. I don't know the difference between her and Dixon, but I don't think I'd ever want to take Dixon. Dr. Guest's exams are really hard but if you Ace all the homeworks it will definitely boost your final grade. I ended up with a B. If you bomb at least one of the exams just make sure to study harder the next go round. I thought it was impossible to pass but it turns out I just needed to put in the work. Dr. Guest also does have a thick accent, but she is nice and willing to help.
Bonnie Dixon BCHM463 Expecting a B Anonymous 05/29/2023	By far one of the most caring professors at the UMD. This is a class where you get out what you put in. If you show up to office hours and BAN and even just ask questions, she will respect you and try her best to help you.
Heather Tienson-Tseng BCHM463 Expecting an A- Anonymous 05/22/2023	I rlly think Dr. T has an over-exaggerated bad reputation. She records all of her lectures and posts them for students to rewatch (which is rlly helpful for a class like this) and basically drops a quiz/homework by providing buffer points in those grading categories. Compared to other professors, I feel like her class is a lot easier to earn an A in. Her lecturing style can get quite boring as she fills her time speaking with filler words and takes a while to get to the main point. I actually learned a lot from this class and really enjoyed it compared to organic chemistry. I would honestly take her again if I had to do it all over again.
Heather Tienson-Tseng BCHM463 Expecting an A Anonymous 05/21/2023	as others have mentioned, tseng is simply a horrible lecturer. she's knowledgeable (to an extent), but i'll leave the detail to the other reviewers from spring 2023. she is actually not going to be here next year so this review may not be too up to date if she does ever return. simply put, i was intending to take dixon for 463 but needed to keep my 4-year plan on schedule. loved orgo 1 and 2 with dixon, loved chemistry from there on. tseng ruined it completely. good luck to anyone who has to take this with her. the course itself is not easy already; you're jumping from topic to topic with less connection than in orgo, where the central theme is "reactions, synthesis, stability," etc. thus you really NEED a professor who stays on pace, is efficient, and is willing to say "come see me after class or at OH" rather than stand in lecture for 10 minutes trying to answer a question.
Heather Tienson-Tseng BCHM463 Expecting an A- Anonymous 05/15/2023	Dr. Tseng is certainly not the best professor I've ever had, but I don't think she's as bad as her reviews make it sound. BCHM463 moves at a breakneck pace, but that's not exactly surprising given that the class is packing two semesters worth of information into one course. I probably would not recommend this professor for an entry level chemistry course; that's probably where her abysmal score comes from. Her exams are challenging but ultimately fair, and she's very open to regrades. The rubrics can be a bit picky. Your scores on her exams will probably be lower than you want them to be, but half of the points in the class come from clicker points, homeworks, and quizzes, all of which have built in extra points making it easy to get 100% in those categories and overall buoying your grade. She can come across a bit intense in class, but going to her office hours is extremely helpful and she's nice and patient in those. Make sure you make use of the practice problems she uploads! They're all former exam questions which makes for great study material.
Heather Tienson-Tseng BCHM463 Expecting an A Anonymous 04/28/2023	As the other reviews have mentioned, Dr. Tseng is not the best professor. Her slides often contain very little information and her lectures cover very superficial material. Furthermore, we spend about 1/3 of class every lecture on clicker questions. What this means is that we move extremely slowly through the content of this class. Keep in mind this is BCHM463 which is essentially a condensation of BCHM461+BCHM462. While the slower pace may seem like a good thing, the issue is that many individuals who take this class often do so in preparation for future classes or the MCAT. I can say for sure that Dr. Tseng's class does not prepare you well for these things. This is made worse by Dr. Tseng's grading. Most of Dr. Tseng's homeworks and exams have almost arbitrary sentence limits which prevent you from fully explaining your thinking. Exams often ask for 4-5 different points, but she asks students to condense this information within 2 sentences. This is far from necessary and is not an accurate reflection of a student's "ability to communicate" as Dr. Tseng puts it. Rather, it only makes it more difficult for students to showcase their knowledge of a topic. The rubrics are also extremely specific making exams and homework more of a guessing game of what Dr. Tseng wants you to say within the 1-3 sentences you are allowed rather than a showcase of knowledge. Ultimately, she does provide a lot of study material which can guide your thinking and she does emphasize a solid foundation of theory rather than rote memorization which is why she isn't 1-2 stars, but I would recommend choosing another professor before her!
Bonnie Dixon BCHM463 Expecting an A Anonymous 01/26/2023	Dr. Dixon is the best. BCHM463 is an insanely hard class, like it's a combo of BCHM 1 and 2 in the same class, so there is a ton of material and you move very fast. But I think that Dr. Dixon really explains everything really well. She is in her office all the time, and is always helpful so long as you are not asking her to potty train you (it's been done). I think people end up not liking Dr. Dixon or the class because they're used to previous bio and chem classes where you can just wait till the night before and study and do great on a test. With this material, you can't just do that. You actually have to sit with the material, and internalize it outside of class. It becomes incredibly neat when the information clicks and suddenly all that information from Orgo and Gen Chem and Cell Bio now actually makes sense and work together. I also know this will sound super nerdy, but if you're taking this class then it's probably because you will need it at some point in the future, so knowing the material beyond just the one semester is super important. I had Dixon for Orgo 1 as well, and I can say with certainty that her class and teaching style have helped me retain the knowledge past the end of the semester. Dixon's Orgo 1 allowed me to take Orgo 2 like it was nothing, and BCHM463 has me remembering all of that stuff inside and out. If you're in doubt, take Dixon for this class.
Heather Tienson-Tseng BCHM463 Expecting an A Anonymous 01/19/2023	I did very well in this class, however, she is a horrible professor and enjoys watching her students fail. If you have any chance to get another professor, do it. I spent 8 hours a day studying for this class, every day, for 2 weeks prior to the exams just to get 75% on them, while most of my friends got 50%. She refused to release the averages and the curve was very small. I would go to office hours and she was very rude and condescending. You need to write every single thing she says in your notes, because it will all be on the exam. This is very difficult because she goes through one whole unit a day. Additionally, she refuses to give any partial credit on exams/HW even if you clearly display that you understand the information. She takes off points if you don't write it word for word how it is on the answer key. The exams are very long, like 6 pages in one hour, requiring very detailed and lengthy responses in a very small amount of time. She has in person clicker questions, so attendance is essentially mandatory, she doesnt post HW until Tuesday night, due Thursday night, but the majority of the info for the HW isn't taught until Thursday, and the HW is very difficult and time consuming. She has in-person quizzes in which you have 5 minutes for the entire quiz, in which you have to memorize and draw every amino acid, or the TCA cycle, or carbon tracing etc. However, she does provide you with a lot of study material which is very useful and is the only way you have a chance of passing the class. She also puts a sentence limit on exam questions ("2 SENTENCES MAX") yet the answer key requires 6 different pieces of info for full credit. It is so stupid. If you'll put in the work (6 hours a day), you will be fine and enjoy it because its actually interesting, if not, you're fucked so don't take her.
Bonnie Dixon BCHM463 Expecting an A Anonymous 01/16/2023	For everyone who is saying she is impossible; she is not, but its all relative to the work you are willing to put in! I failed our first exam legit a 50% and was below the average. I went to office hours to talk to her about it and she was very kind but did not offer much help because there is not much more she can do for you. Basically what I am saying is if you want a certain grade in her class it is all about the work YOU put in and how diligent YOU are. After the first exam I started studying for the exams 2 weeks out. DO EVERY PRACTICE PROBLEM. If you want to succeed on her exams redo every hw (version A and version B), the extra hws she posts and review ALL the slides. I would recopy my notes after every class and write questions for her for office hours. Plenty of people on here say she isn't friendly during office hours, but that is not the case. What she is looking for is someone who has tried on their own and then found questions. If you go to her and say I dont get this, she probably won't help much because she really does not have the time to reteach you the whole thing. But if you go to her and say I went through the notes and this is where I am getting stuck, she is much more receptive! I ended up getting As on the 2nd and 3rd midterms and an A in the class even with my below average exam 1 score. With her you need to show her that you care and are taking the time to learn because in her class there are no short cuts! If you do these things I guarantee you will enjoy her much more and although the class is tedious and hard, it will be possible to succeed.
Bonnie Dixon BCHM463 Expecting a B Anonymous 12/10/2022	An awful teacher and an insanely condescending person. I don’t get how she thinks it’s okay to teach the way she does and I don’t get all the desperate pre-meds who eat her horrendous teaching up.
Bonnie Dixon BCHM463 Expecting a B Anonymous 11/15/2022	Quite literally the worst experience in my academic career was having her as a professor. Her lectures are indeed fast paced but if you have follow up questions she refuses to answer as she calls it “re-lecturing”. Seen students leave her office in tears many times just from trying to learn and ask insightful questions. I’ve never met a more arrogant, patronizing professor. Truly lucky she’s tenured because she makes learning a difficult subject unbearable. The one star comes from the fact that cant vote any lower. Must attend Bchem at night and office hours ALWAYS if you want to pass.
Heather Tienson-Tseng BCHM463 Expecting an A Anonymous 11/15/2022	Clearly not fit to be a lecturer. Does not explain concepts well, messy handwriting, unclear expectations, frequently makes mistakes on answer keys and is inconsistent with grading. She has sentence limits on exams and fails to realize that 2 sentence explanations are not suitable for some topics in biochemistry. However, she gives a lot of practice problems, which I will give her credit for. If you feel like you would excel in a class in which no one knows what they are talking about, not even the lecturer herself, then this would be the right class for you!
Christopher Capp BCHM463 Expecting an A Anonymous 11/11/2022	Premeds: take Capp for bchm463 Dixon is a hard af. Capp does it right. Provides learning objectives with each lecture. Problem sets (non graded) each week that prepare you for the exam. Lectures are extremely clear. Has reference slides but does most of the class written on the chalk board. Office hours are a stimulating environment to deepen your understanding of the material. 10-12 people are in his office in ESJ, asking questions one by one circled around the wall of his office. 4 people sit at the table in the center. Please note he does not do 1 on 1 appointments. Must go to his office hours to speak. I really enjoyed this class. It connected the 4 semesters of chemistry we took to the biology. Prepares you well for the mcat. Engaging lectures! Tough exams. Averages 65-70 on each exam. But my semester 80+ was an A
Bonnie Dixon BCHM463 Anonymous 10/13/2022	This is one of the worst classes I have taken. She doesn't explain everything in class, so you're forced to go to every single office hour and her Biochem At Night sessions to learn material that should've been taught in class - which isn't feasible for many students who have jobs, extracurriculars, etc, and need sleep. She expects everything to be application based, but never explains any examples in class, she'll mention a concept and not explain it, then expect you to understand it in depth for the test. Her exams would take three hours to do effectively, but we only get 50 minutes in class which is not nearly enough time considering we haven't been taught half the material on the exams. She clearly has favorites in her office hours, and will often tell students to just refer back to lecture, GSS, or her BAN videos instead of actually answering their questions. She likes to think she is accessible because of how often her office hours are, but when you ask questions, she will often tell you to figure it out on your own or she will give completely contradictory answers to the same question to different students. It's just not clear at all what we are supposed to be learning.
Bonnie Dixon BCHM463 Anonymous 05/19/2022	As a professor, I think she was good and provided enough materials to study but her attitude was awful. I wish I could give 0 zero stars. She's just so condescending and disrespectful, if you don't have an A in her class she just won't like you. She HAS her favorites! Half the time I talked to her she didn't even look me in the eye. Her office hours were never helpful because she always just said to look back at the slides, but her slides are so hard to follow and most of them are just diagrams. She doesn't record the classes so it's hard to understand her slides when reviewing. Don't take this class with her, the first day she explicitly said "most of you will get a C". terrible experience, 0/5
Heather Tienson-Tseng BCHM463 Expecting an A Anonymous 03/28/2022	ima keep it brief, tseng is an okay professor -- she isnt the best lecturer so i stopped going to lecture, instead i speedrun her lecture recordings just to get a general idea of the concepts. she posts slides that are relatively easy to follow. she gives quizzes every now and then which you could just study for quickly with a quizlet (free points) and homeworks take some time but just refer to notes and see if there is overlap with her posted practice problems. her exams are very demanding in detail for your answers, she wants every essential piece of reasoning and justification, but the key to doing well in her class is grinding tf out of practice problems -- she posts a f*ck ton of practice which are all old exam problems, chances are when you're taking your actual exam some of those same problems will come up with a slight change in detail. main takeaway: you can not invest a lot of time in this class and still manage to do well, just be strategic and find what works.
Heather Tienson-Tseng BCHM463 Anonymous 03/11/2022	Extremely heavy on memorization. Does not allow any sort of note sheet/reference guide during exams and quizzes. Asks us to memorize numerous structures with nearly indistinguishable nomenclature and also takes points for not copying desired answers rote. Would have been infinitely better with some sort of reference sheet on timed examinations. Subject matter is not hard at all, although the copious amount of information that must be memorized is quiet a feat.
Bonnie Dixon BCHM463 Expecting a B+ Anonymous 03/07/2022	Hands down one of the most condescending professors I have ever experienced in my college career. I see a lot of reoccurring themes which is that she lectures at a rapid fire pace and it’s up to you to decipher what is important and what is not. I’ve been to her office hours up follow up on a question and she flat out said “we can entertain this all day long and talk in circles, but go ahead”. If you don’t have the patients to help students when they have questions, why are you here? She’s just miserable. Biggest mistake was taking this class with her. She picks favorites as well. But for those taking her, just make sure to read the textbook so you know the true underlying concepts, maybe review orgo notes, and still show your face in office hours. She will be a bitch, but don’t let that stop you.
Christopher Capp BCHM463 Expecting an A Anonymous 01/11/2022	Capp was a great professor. As a student who was a solid B in organic chemistry and A-/C student in general chemistry, biochemistry was a scary topic to approach. However, Capp took his time in explaining topics to us thoroughly and did not rush us at all. He has useful tips and tricks and was incredibly helpful in office hours, which you really should attend if you want an A and also get a hint of how to solve some exam questions (he is very open about what he expects and I was saved multiple times during the exam by simply being there when he solved something during office hours). He is very friendly and patient, and took the time to discuss grade distributions with the class since he knew that was a major concern for many. His exams are generally fair and there was a pretty large curve (I had a total of an 81.33% in the class and got an A).
Christopher Capp BCHM463 Anonymous 12/30/2021	Dr. Capp is a gem in the chem department. BCHM463 is a hard class, but he makes it so that if you want an A you can get it (unlike some other chem professors). He gives problem sets for practice and holds lots of office hours. There's also a discussion board which helps boost your grade (full participation over the semester is worth as much as a full exam). He's also super nice and helpful and uses lots of analogies and jokes to help you understand concepts. He's so good at teaching chemistry, I learned everything about general and organic chem 1 and 2 from his class! 11/10 would recommend.
Bonnie Dixon BCHM463 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/20/2021	Dr. Dixon is one of my favorite professors at the University of Maryland and I am so lucky to have taken CHEM231 and BCHM463 with her! A lot of people say she is really difficult but that statement is very misleading. The CONTENT is difficult, which is expected as college level chemistry courses cover complex topics. However, she provides you will ALL the resources necessary to succeed. If you stay on top of understanding content after each lecture, do all the practice problems and old exams she posts, and attend office hours a few times a week, you will thrive in the course!!! Also, her office hours are amazing! I have made so many close friends through spending time there working on problem sets and have also had lots of wonderful conversations with her :) She’s always got your back and taking any of courses will be the highlight of your academic career at UMD!
Christopher Capp BCHM463 Expecting an A Anonymous 11/01/2021	Dr. Capp is amazing. I was so scared going into this class because it's known far and wide as the premed weed-out class, but it ended up being one of my favorite classes I've ever taken! GO TO HIS OFFICE HOURS -- he's so helpful and receptive to questions, and has a ton of analogies to help you figure out difficult concepts. His exams are fair; they can be tough, but he doesn't try to trick you.
Nicole LaRonde BCHM463 Expecting a B+ Anonymous 08/09/2021	Please no, pick another professor. Having her online in Spring 2021 was HORRENDOUS. She was rude, avoided our questions and concerns, and just gave up it felt. The readings/lectures and the homeworks DID NOT line up with the exams. GSS was extremely helpful and actually prepped me well for the exams. That doesn't mean to skip the readings and homeworks because that is where you learn the ideas (if you can figure out what's important because she won't really tell you) and GSS applies them as problems and helps you understand them(which is what the exams are; applying concepts to problems). The group project was great and gave a lot of weight towards the final grade (which she refused to share about consistently through the course since she doesn't know how to use ELMS despite saying she can). I don't know how to fully describe the vibe of the class other than "secrecy"; like everything had to be kept a secret from us until the last minute. I'm not sure if because she was lazy or more so worried about cheating, but it was rough on the mind and soul. The class online was flipped were we had to do lecture videos every week with quizzes, homework every week, and then meet once a week for breakout room discussion assignments that were just a flop (if the class wasn't taken up by complaints and questions about the course & its structure- but you had to go for participation points). The group project was to design a website blog on a metabolic problem. I did learn many thing towards the end, but I wouldn't say it was because of LaRonde, more so Khan Academy (search the MCAT section because that's where most of the topics came from). She did do a massive curve at the end so props to her on that. But the semester before she rounded down and her exams were take homes while ours were timed so who knows what curveball she'll throw next.
Bonnie Dixon BCHM463 Expecting a B Anonymous 02/11/2021	This course was hard but not because the material is super hard to grasp. It’s because the lectures go by incredibly fast and the way things are explain is very roundabout. It doesn’t help that her TA tried to match her style of teaching and gave very non descript explanations that often didn’t answer the question. SIE averages tend to be high because students work super hard. This class requires you to work extra extra hard because she has a lot of gaps in her explanations and you end up spending hours just figuring out what she’s talking about when the whole time, it could have just been explained better. This class was hard not because of good teaching. It was hard because we were all trying to fill in the gaps.
Bonnie Dixon BCHM463 Expecting a B Anonymous 10/13/2020	Honestly she was a terrible teacher. She spoke way too fast and skipped around in lecture. On top of that the bchm book was useless and her powerpoints were terrible. Premed Junkies will say she's so amazing and awesome and say how much they learned in this class. In reality, there is a similar amount of material in this class as there is in orgo. The way she teaches just makes you do extra work to understand genuinely simple concepts. Im serious, Biochem is not that difficult. She made it difficult. If the only way to understand the material in this class is to take incredible notes from her ridiculously fast lectures then you're setting up yourself up for failure. The only other resources you have is her office hours which are always packed. She pits her students against each other, there is a quota for A's and B's which just creates a toxic environment for no reason. Guys biochem did not have to be hard. Looking back the material wasn't bad at all. It was deciphering her terrible lectures, going to office hours and countless group study sessions just to understand SIMPLE THINGS that allowed me to do okay in this class. This is a different ballgame than orgo. Just read the book in orgo and you're set.
Bonnie Dixon BCHM463 Expecting a B Anonymous 08/27/2020	She is the worst possible person to take for this class. At least with orgo the textbook went along with the material so you dont really need a teacher to even learn orgo but with bchm her curriculum does not go with the book at all. she just rapid fires super important information at you and skips around acting like you've already learned it. The only way to do this class is to either have laser focus on her lectures and scribble notes real fast (which most people are not capable of at her speed of teaching) or record lectures (what i did). even when i did record lectures, i spent 2-3x the time of the lecture just to decipher her shitty lecture. The homeworks are difficult but if you work with friends you should be able to get 90+% on all of them. Exams are really hard - by far the the hardest lecture exams ive ever taken. Her exams literally require you to have a high iq or graduate level understanding of the material. In my honest opinion the material wasn't actually that terrible or even that much. Orgo1 was a similar amount of material. it was just spending so much time trying to decipher what she said. Her powerpoints are utter shit. they explain jack shit and if you don't have lecture recordings you definitely wont be able to remember what many of them mean. Without perfect notes, lecture recordings, reliable textbook, reliable powerpoints how can you be sure you're learning the info? OFFICE HOURS She is generally nicer and more helpful in office hours but you gotta go there early in the morning. it gets crowded fast and then she gives half ass answers to your questions. If you're gonna take this class with her record lectures and find a study group because its impossible to get all of the information alone
Christiana Guest BCHM463 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 12/16/2019	Amazing professor. Really knows her stuff !!
Christiana Guest BCHM463 Expecting an A Anonymous 11/14/2019	She is one of the sweetest professors. Yeah, she can be hard to hear in a large lecture hall, but she is very nice and very helpful if you go to her office hours. She follows the textbook pretty well, and tells you exactly what she's expecting for the exams. She's kind of a geek too, she subtly roasts her students so her lecture is enjoyable. If you are preparing for the MCAT, She follows the book closely.
Douglas Julin BCHM463 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/25/2013	Dr. Julin is the best. I Had him for Chem271 and Bchm463. He's a very good teacher. 4 exams total (75 points each) + Final exam (200 points) for a total of 500 points for the semester. The first two exams cover Biochem 1. The last two exams cover Biochem 2. The class can seem a bit fast paced. Definitely Study your notes. His tests are solely based on what he lectures. He held online review sessions on ELMS which were kinda helpful. If you have to take this class, take it with Dr. Julin.
Douglas Julin BCHM463 Expecting a C Anonymous 09/06/2013	Real talk: Biochemistry is no walk in the park. Biochemistry II definitely isn't- probably among the hardest classes I took in my undergraduate years. If you have to take BCHMII, take it with Julin. I didn't do so hot because I approached studying for the class the same way I did other chemistry courses, but it's just not the same. To his credit Julin presents the complex material in a very straightforward fashion. His exams are a fair reflection of the material covered in class too- the real challenge is that you don't know what specific reaction, process, mechanism, etc. he's going to pick from those covered- so you have to know them all. And fyi the exams are it- no homeworks or anything else to supplement your grade- so make them count. I believe he drops one bad exam among the 3 midterms, followed by the final. Even if you memorize everything correctly, make sure you can imagine them in other contexts. Julin's favorite thing to do is posit a situation, ie given a start compound and an end compound, and have you explain the mechanism or explain why you got one product instead of another using something we learned in class. The lectures are fairly boring tbh. The first few in BCHMII are just review- but once the review ends, DO NOT drop the ball. Do NOT miss a word from this man's lips, and do NOT miss a single diagram on the board, or in the blink of an eye you will have fallen behind, especially because everything builds on the material before it. Get a recorder. Fill in gaps in your notes with your friends'. Julin is a nice guy and very willing to answer questions and provide help, but if you don't take him up on that it's your loss (I know that was the case for me). In BCHMII, you literally learn and memorize step by step the metabolic processes of the body. That's insane. It's cool and very interesting, but still completely nuts. Your memory will be worked to the core memorizing chemical structures and reactions and mechanisms. It's not about formulas (physics/chem classes), and it's not mainly about memorizing big concepts (bio classes). It's actually a lot like Orgo. Yeah. Actually, BCHMII is essentially applied Orgo. You can't avoid putting a lot of time and effort into this class. I recorded lectures, but didn't always go back over them and paid for it. No cutting corners- you just have to memorize and know your stuff. It's definitely doable, but woe to those who fall behind. Also, I had the book but hardly touched it. He pretty much covers everything you need to know in class.
Bonnie Dixon BCHM463 Expecting a B Anonymous 05/14/2013	If you have all the time in the world or are already a biochem expert, then this is the prof for you. If you're a regular full time student with a social life, AVOID THIS PROFESSOR AT ALL COSTS! Biochem is already hard to begin with... Dixon takes it to a new level. Letures: she's not good at introducting new material, she talks as if you already know the material and just further elaborates. I had to learn EVERYTHING from the textbook. Exams: all free response questions and way too long. 50 mins is just not enough time to finish a Dixon exam and the averages are never higher than around 60% Homework: obligatory, difficult, and not even worth enough points. 5pts per assignment, which takes about 2 - 3 hours to complete each... and they are usually only 5 questions. Personality: rigid and a bit unfair. she miscounted my total points on one of the exams. I asked if I can just get back the points I earned and should have gotten, and she flat out said no, simply because I didn't let her know about it earlier. I did email her (but she hardly responds to emails) earlier to let her know about the error, asking if I could hold onto my exam to study from it for the final and just show her my exam later (rather than leaving it in her office to correct). The ONLY redeeming quality is that she is nice in her office hours. Literally answers any question you have and explains stuff for you. But going to office hours shouldn't be obligatory for earning a good grade... BOTTOM LINE: Dont.... just don't.
Douglas Julin BCHM463 Expecting a B ohaider 12/22/2012	Excellent professor. Makes the material very logical and simple to go through. Follow his tips for success and you should get that A. Go to office hours after you review the material and he will help you out. Read the book before and after class (but not too detailed), pay attention during class, and take very good notes. I tried to write down everything he said verbatim, especially when I didn't know what was going on that day. For me, recording the lectures and rewriting my notes was super helpful in understanding what he was talking about. It took time, so try and get through the material quickly. It won't be so overwhelming if you keep up with lectures and study at least a week before each exam. The rewritten notes were very helpful when the final exam came. I was able to get the mechanisms in metabolism and such after I wrote them out neatly and practiced each like 5 or ten times so it was natural. He does test you on these (and everything in lecture), but the exams, like the class, are fair. The final was basically like the 4 exams. Our class this semester was a bit worse than normal so I think it was about a 10 percent curve and he always makes the B/C line the average. I would have had an A if I didn't mess up on two exams and the final.study hard and Score more than maybe 60/75 (i guess?) on each exam and you should be ok for an A with a good final exam grade. Our curve was approximately: A-=80;B-=70, C-=51, D=48.8% Long story short: Excellent professor. take him. Make flash cards for the amino acids.
Douglas Julin BCHM463 Expecting a C Anonymous 12/10/2012	I am not sure why everyone on here thinks this professor is brilliant. He isn't. I'm a good student and I study a lot for his exams, but his questions come out of nowhere. There is no homework due, so your whole grade is based on whether or not you can memorize every mechanism in the book. He doesn't test his students based on any overall concepts and any questions he asks that are actually similar to the homework problems he assigns for practice are worth approximately 4 points, but his random questions are worth 15. Also, his exams are insanely timed. He gives an 8 page exam and expects us to finish it in 50 minutes. You have to have everything memorized front and back to be able to finish on time. His lectures are clear, but boring and they don't really reflect what he tests on. I don't recommend him at all. Plus, he never smiles. I mean this guy wears a permanent scowl, leading me to believe he hates his job, which doesn't exactly make me very interested in it either. If you are a CHBE major or anything else that is not solely biology or general chemistry, you will not have the time to dedicate to this class and all the memorizing it entails.
Douglas Julin BCHM463 Expecting an A Anonymous 11/14/2012	Same as the other comments. Very nice during office hours, great lecturer, very knowledgeable. hard exams (comparable to Dr. Friedman's) but huge curve.

Christopher Capp
BCHM463

Expecting an A-
Anonymous
11/21/2024

one of the best lecturers I've had. Nice person too. Tests are fair but extremely challenging and are the most fast-paced tests I've ever taken. Doesn't record lectures, so be ready to have space on your phone to record or video lecture. Tests essentially make up your whole grade for this class, so make sure you are a strong test taker. Don't bother with using the textbook, just go over the lectures.

Christopher Capp
BCHM463

Anonymous
09/04/2024

Top three best professors I've had at UMD. Very helpful in office hours and will stay after every class to answer any questions. He is personable and loves what he does. If you are willing to put in the time to do well you will learn a lot. Highly recommend.

Christopher Capp
BCHM463

Expecting an A
Anonymous
06/24/2024

Dr. Capp is one of the best professors at UMD. The class is extremely fast paced because it pulls from both bchem 1 and 2, but is easy to keep up with Dr. Capp because he writes out the important notes on the chalkboard. There's no homework besides weekly discussion boards, so ultimately it comes down to your willingness to review your own notes and practice problems (ungraded). Go into the class with the expectation that it will be require hard work and an A is extremely attainable.

Bonnie Dixon
BCHM463

Anonymous
06/08/2024

Honestly her lectures weren’t bad, but her unprofessionalism & exams made the class unbearable. She can be incredibly condescending and dismissive. She spends multiple lectures on one topic to not be on the exam (but there will be 2 questions on something she mentioned once in passing). Avoid her for your sanity!!!

Christiana Guest
BCHM463

Expecting an A-
Anonymous
05/28/2024

Dr. Guest was a nice and caring professor who did a good job of covering the major topics of biochem on the MCAT. At times she moved a bit slow, which led to the latter topics of metabolism not being touched on in great detail, but it was not the end of the world as you could take in much of the info with plenty of time. Her tests were fair and usually pretty to the point, optional midterm that was a good opportunity but harder than other midterms, and overall had fair letter grade cutoffs.

Christopher Capp
BCHM463

Expecting an A
Anonymous
05/17/2024

One of the best professors I've ever had. Biochemistry is hard, especially in this accelerated format, there's nothing that can be done about that. But Capp makes it engaging, fun, and manageable. He is a very funny and engaging lecturer, provides extremely useful tips for managing the class and makes you think about the material. The class format is tough with very little opportunity for points outside of exams, but if you study regularly, do the problem sets, and practice, it is very possible to not only get an A but develop a passion for biochemistry as I did.

Bonnie Dixon
BCHM463

Anonymous
05/09/2024

Only take Dr. Dixon is you genuinely want to learn the material. The course is difficult, easily the hardest for all majors in bio related sciences. Her lectures, exams, and weekly homeworks are an absolute SPRINT, so I would definitely try to take this course on a lighter semester (honestly, treat it as a 6 credit course). However, if you make an effort, you can absolutely do well in the course. And she gives plenty of opportunities for you to work on the material. She holds office hours all day every day, which are a must attend if you want to do well on the homeworks. She also hosts weekly zoom sessions to review the material. But again, if you are looking for an easy grade, look elsewhere.

Christiana Guest
BCHM463

Expecting an A
Anonymous
03/20/2024

Dr.Guest is an exceptional biochemistry instructor. The class is extremely difficult but she has so many resources as well as office hours that helped me succeed. She also has a generous curve as well as extra credit that makes it easier than other teachers to get an A in the course. Guest is easily one of the best professors for this course.

Christiana Guest
BCHM463

Expecting an A
Anonymous
03/16/2024

Don’t be discouraged by Dr.Guest’s bad reviews. A lot of them come from chem132 which she has no control over. Dr.Guest is excellent for bchm463. She goes through topics at a reasonable pace and makes sure to cover content that is needed for the mcat. Unlike Capp and Dixon, she won’t make it harder than it has to be and will prepare you well. This class is extremely hard no matter who you take it with but Guest has a good curve which is another reason to take her.

Christiana Guest
BCHM463

Expecting an A+
Anonymous
03/08/2024

Dr.Guest is an excellent teacher for Bchm463. Unlike other professors, Guest teaches you exactly what you need to know for the Mcat, as most people who take the class are premed. I would say if you want an easy A and to be prepared for the Mcat, Take guest

Christiana Guest
BCHM463

Expecting a B
Anonymous
02/23/2024

REALLY BAD PROFESSOR. She seems like she doesn't know what she is teaching herself. It's a shame that such a hard class is given to a Professor who is not qualified to teach it. She jumps from topic to topic, throws examples that don't make sense, introduces really complex concepts in minutes using the most confusing drawings you could imagine. The class within itself is not hard, what's hard is understanding what she is talking about most of the time. If I pass this class, it's only because of YouTube Videos.

Bonnie Dixon
BCHM463

Expecting an A-
Anonymous
01/25/2024

I loved her so much!!! Yes it is a very hard class. But to be honest, there's no avoiding that, no matter who teaches it. But she teaches in a way that is very understandable and she is honestly one of the best chemistry teachers. I would say that it is a must to go to her office hours, especially for the homeworks. Most of the people who consistently went to her office hours generally did much better.

Christiana Guest
BCHM463

Expecting an A
Anonymous
12/20/2023

Guest is an amazing biochemistry professor and such a lovely person. I really went into biochemistry expecting to hate the class but she made me actually become interested in the topics and teaches in a manner that makes the information really digestible (this is from someone who really struggles with chemistry). She is also super understanding and gives you many point opportunities as well as very fair homework and exams. Such a sweet person and amazing teacher with a clear passion for her subject matter and for teaching. She wants to help you succeed and despite how busy she is makes so much effort to be available to meet with students, respond to emails immediately, run review sessions, and more. Highly recommend it - especially if you are premed and need to take MCAT. She follows that curriculum closely as well so what you are learning is reflected in what you will study.

Christiana Guest
BCHM463

Expecting an A
Anonymous
12/17/2023

Dr. Guest is a great bchm professor and really cares about students. She drops a couple of homeworks and quizzes and posts a lot of resources for extra practice. Her exams are extremely fair and lecturers are always recorded. She even gave us an optional midterm to replace the lowest midterm grades. I would 100% take her again.

Christiana Guest
BCHM463

Expecting an A
Anonymous
12/12/2023

Dr. Guest is the best teacher for bchm. She provides practice exams, non-graded homework, and exam reviews outside of class before each exam. The exam reviews can be as long as the questions are not answered. She also answers any questions that you ask her about course material. Overall, she is a very good lecturer and probably made BCHM the easiest chem class I have taken at UMD. She is the best lecturer I have had at UMD. Note; you still have to study a very good amount as it is bchm but made very easy with the stuff she provides.

Bonnie Dixon
BCHM463

Expecting a B
Anonymous
12/12/2023

Its a hard class and Dixon can be a bit disorganized which can be rough given the pace this class goes at in order to fit in all the content. Despite that, Dixon does do a really good job at teaching content and providing plenty of opportunities to get help and to learn the content, with exams often being similar to HW or practice problems.

Christiana Guest
BCHM463

Expecting a B
Anonymous
11/28/2023

Honestly, I think Guest should get a couple more stars than a 2. She's not that bad of a teacher and is nice as a person. She routinely gave extensions on HW (10 HWs, lowest 2 dropped) when we got behind and is giving us an optional cumulative exam to replace our lowest grade before the final. Tests have 5-10 bonus points each. Do I wish my grade was better, yea. Could the partial credit be more forgiving, yea. But if you can't take Capp or Julin, Guest ain't that bad.

Heather Tienson-Tseng
BCHM463

Expecting an A
Anonymous
11/02/2023

Honestly I don't understand why everyone gave her a bad review. Yeah her class was hard, but it's a hard class win general. Everyone just hates on a teacher with a hard class. Getting an A is definitely manageable if u put the time in and she is always available if you need help.

Christiana Guest
BCHM463

Expecting a B
Anonymous
07/22/2023

Took this over the summer and oh my god it was crazy! This is definitely a class you have to set aside time to study for. Not memorization, but actually having an understanding of what's going on. I don't know the difference between her and Dixon, but I don't think I'd ever want to take Dixon. Dr. Guest's exams are really hard but if you Ace all the homeworks it will definitely boost your final grade. I ended up with a B. If you bomb at least one of the exams just make sure to study harder the next go round. I thought it was impossible to pass but it turns out I just needed to put in the work. Dr. Guest also does have a thick accent, but she is nice and willing to help.

Bonnie Dixon
BCHM463

Expecting a B
Anonymous
05/29/2023

By far one of the most caring professors at the UMD. This is a class where you get out what you put in. If you show up to office hours and BAN and even just ask questions, she will respect you and try her best to help you.

Heather Tienson-Tseng
BCHM463

Expecting an A-
Anonymous
05/22/2023

I rlly think Dr. T has an over-exaggerated bad reputation. She records all of her lectures and posts them for students to rewatch (which is rlly helpful for a class like this) and basically drops a quiz/homework by providing buffer points in those grading categories. Compared to other professors, I feel like her class is a lot easier to earn an A in. Her lecturing style can get quite boring as she fills her time speaking with filler words and takes a while to get to the main point. I actually learned a lot from this class and really enjoyed it compared to organic chemistry. I would honestly take her again if I had to do it all over again.

Heather Tienson-Tseng
BCHM463

Expecting an A
Anonymous
05/21/2023

as others have mentioned, tseng is simply a horrible lecturer. she's knowledgeable (to an extent), but i'll leave the detail to the other reviewers from spring 2023. she is actually not going to be here next year so this review may not be too up to date if she does ever return. simply put, i was intending to take dixon for 463 but needed to keep my 4-year plan on schedule. loved orgo 1 and 2 with dixon, loved chemistry from there on. tseng ruined it completely. good luck to anyone who has to take this with her. the course itself is not easy already; you're jumping from topic to topic with less connection than in orgo, where the central theme is "reactions, synthesis, stability," etc. thus you really NEED a professor who stays on pace, is efficient, and is willing to say "come see me after class or at OH" rather than stand in lecture for 10 minutes trying to answer a question.

Heather Tienson-Tseng
BCHM463

Expecting an A-
Anonymous
05/15/2023

Dr. Tseng is certainly not the best professor I've ever had, but I don't think she's as bad as her reviews make it sound. BCHM463 moves at a breakneck pace, but that's not exactly surprising given that the class is packing two semesters worth of information into one course. I probably would not recommend this professor for an entry level chemistry course; that's probably where her abysmal score comes from. Her exams are challenging but ultimately fair, and she's very open to regrades. The rubrics can be a bit picky. Your scores on her exams will probably be lower than you want them to be, but half of the points in the class come from clicker points, homeworks, and quizzes, all of which have built in extra points making it easy to get 100% in those categories and overall buoying your grade. She can come across a bit intense in class, but going to her office hours is extremely helpful and she's nice and patient in those. Make sure you make use of the practice problems she uploads! They're all former exam questions which makes for great study material.

Heather Tienson-Tseng
BCHM463

Expecting an A
Anonymous
04/28/2023

As the other reviews have mentioned, Dr. Tseng is not the best professor. Her slides often contain very little information and her lectures cover very superficial material. Furthermore, we spend about 1/3 of class every lecture on clicker questions. What this means is that we move extremely slowly through the content of this class. Keep in mind this is BCHM463 which is essentially a condensation of BCHM461+BCHM462. While the slower pace may seem like a good thing, the issue is that many individuals who take this class often do so in preparation for future classes or the MCAT. I can say for sure that Dr. Tseng's class does not prepare you well for these things. This is made worse by Dr. Tseng's grading. Most of Dr. Tseng's homeworks and exams have almost arbitrary sentence limits which prevent you from fully explaining your thinking. Exams often ask for 4-5 different points, but she asks students to condense this information within 2 sentences. This is far from necessary and is not an accurate reflection of a student's "ability to communicate" as Dr. Tseng puts it. Rather, it only makes it more difficult for students to showcase their knowledge of a topic. The rubrics are also extremely specific making exams and homework more of a guessing game of what Dr. Tseng wants you to say within the 1-3 sentences you are allowed rather than a showcase of knowledge. Ultimately, she does provide a lot of study material which can guide your thinking and she does emphasize a solid foundation of theory rather than rote memorization which is why she isn't 1-2 stars, but I would recommend choosing another professor before her!

Bonnie Dixon
BCHM463

Expecting an A
Anonymous
01/26/2023

Dr. Dixon is the best. BCHM463 is an insanely hard class, like it's a combo of BCHM 1 and 2 in the same class, so there is a ton of material and you move very fast. But I think that Dr. Dixon really explains everything really well. She is in her office all the time, and is always helpful so long as you are not asking her to potty train you (it's been done). I think people end up not liking Dr. Dixon or the class because they're used to previous bio and chem classes where you can just wait till the night before and study and do great on a test. With this material, you can't just do that. You actually have to sit with the material, and internalize it outside of class. It becomes incredibly neat when the information clicks and suddenly all that information from Orgo and Gen Chem and Cell Bio now actually makes sense and work together. I also know this will sound super nerdy, but if you're taking this class then it's probably because you will need it at some point in the future, so knowing the material beyond just the one semester is super important. I had Dixon for Orgo 1 as well, and I can say with certainty that her class and teaching style have helped me retain the knowledge past the end of the semester. Dixon's Orgo 1 allowed me to take Orgo 2 like it was nothing, and BCHM463 has me remembering all of that stuff inside and out. If you're in doubt, take Dixon for this class.

Heather Tienson-Tseng
BCHM463

Expecting an A
Anonymous
01/19/2023

I did very well in this class, however, she is a horrible professor and enjoys watching her students fail. If you have any chance to get another professor, do it. I spent 8 hours a day studying for this class, every day, for 2 weeks prior to the exams just to get 75% on them, while most of my friends got 50%. She refused to release the averages and the curve was very small. I would go to office hours and she was very rude and condescending. You need to write every single thing she says in your notes, because it will all be on the exam. This is very difficult because she goes through one whole unit a day. Additionally, she refuses to give any partial credit on exams/HW even if you clearly display that you understand the information. She takes off points if you don't write it word for word how it is on the answer key. The exams are very long, like 6 pages in one hour, requiring very detailed and lengthy responses in a very small amount of time. She has in person clicker questions, so attendance is essentially mandatory, she doesnt post HW until Tuesday night, due Thursday night, but the majority of the info for the HW isn't taught until Thursday, and the HW is very difficult and time consuming. She has in-person quizzes in which you have 5 minutes for the entire quiz, in which you have to memorize and draw every amino acid, or the TCA cycle, or carbon tracing etc. However, she does provide you with a lot of study material which is very useful and is the only way you have a chance of passing the class. She also puts a sentence limit on exam questions ("2 SENTENCES MAX") yet the answer key requires 6 different pieces of info for full credit. It is so stupid. If you'll put in the work (6 hours a day), you will be fine and enjoy it because its actually interesting, if not, you're fucked so don't take her.

Bonnie Dixon
BCHM463

Expecting an A
Anonymous
01/16/2023

For everyone who is saying she is impossible; she is not, but its all relative to the work you are willing to put in! I failed our first exam legit a 50% and was below the average. I went to office hours to talk to her about it and she was very kind but did not offer much help because there is not much more she can do for you. Basically what I am saying is if you want a certain grade in her class it is all about the work YOU put in and how diligent YOU are. After the first exam I started studying for the exams 2 weeks out. DO EVERY PRACTICE PROBLEM. If you want to succeed on her exams redo every hw (version A and version B), the extra hws she posts and review ALL the slides. I would recopy my notes after every class and write questions for her for office hours. Plenty of people on here say she isn't friendly during office hours, but that is not the case. What she is looking for is someone who has tried on their own and then found questions. If you go to her and say I dont get this, she probably won't help much because she really does not have the time to reteach you the whole thing. But if you go to her and say I went through the notes and this is where I am getting stuck, she is much more receptive! I ended up getting As on the 2nd and 3rd midterms and an A in the class even with my below average exam 1 score. With her you need to show her that you care and are taking the time to learn because in her class there are no short cuts! If you do these things I guarantee you will enjoy her much more and although the class is tedious and hard, it will be possible to succeed.

Bonnie Dixon
BCHM463

Expecting a B
Anonymous
12/10/2022

An awful teacher and an insanely condescending person. I don’t get how she thinks it’s okay to teach the way she does and I don’t get all the desperate pre-meds who eat her horrendous teaching up.

Bonnie Dixon
BCHM463

Expecting a B
Anonymous
11/15/2022

Quite literally the worst experience in my academic career was having her as a professor. Her lectures are indeed fast paced but if you have follow up questions she refuses to answer as she calls it “re-lecturing”. Seen students leave her office in tears many times just from trying to learn and ask insightful questions. I’ve never met a more arrogant, patronizing professor. Truly lucky she’s tenured because she makes learning a difficult subject unbearable. The one star comes from the fact that cant vote any lower. Must attend Bchem at night and office hours ALWAYS if you want to pass.

Heather Tienson-Tseng
BCHM463

Expecting an A
Anonymous
11/15/2022

Clearly not fit to be a lecturer. Does not explain concepts well, messy handwriting, unclear expectations, frequently makes mistakes on answer keys and is inconsistent with grading. She has sentence limits on exams and fails to realize that 2 sentence explanations are not suitable for some topics in biochemistry. However, she gives a lot of practice problems, which I will give her credit for. If you feel like you would excel in a class in which no one knows what they are talking about, not even the lecturer herself, then this would be the right class for you!

Christopher Capp
BCHM463

Expecting an A
Anonymous
11/11/2022

Premeds: take Capp for bchm463 Dixon is a hard af. Capp does it right. Provides learning objectives with each lecture. Problem sets (non graded) each week that prepare you for the exam. Lectures are extremely clear. Has reference slides but does most of the class written on the chalk board. Office hours are a stimulating environment to deepen your understanding of the material. 10-12 people are in his office in ESJ, asking questions one by one circled around the wall of his office. 4 people sit at the table in the center. Please note he does not do 1 on 1 appointments. Must go to his office hours to speak. I really enjoyed this class. It connected the 4 semesters of chemistry we took to the biology. Prepares you well for the mcat. Engaging lectures! Tough exams. Averages 65-70 on each exam. But my semester 80+ was an A

Bonnie Dixon
BCHM463

Anonymous
10/13/2022

This is one of the worst classes I have taken. She doesn't explain everything in class, so you're forced to go to every single office hour and her Biochem At Night sessions to learn material that should've been taught in class - which isn't feasible for many students who have jobs, extracurriculars, etc, and need sleep. She expects everything to be application based, but never explains any examples in class, she'll mention a concept and not explain it, then expect you to understand it in depth for the test. Her exams would take three hours to do effectively, but we only get 50 minutes in class which is not nearly enough time considering we haven't been taught half the material on the exams. She clearly has favorites in her office hours, and will often tell students to just refer back to lecture, GSS, or her BAN videos instead of actually answering their questions. She likes to think she is accessible because of how often her office hours are, but when you ask questions, she will often tell you to figure it out on your own or she will give completely contradictory answers to the same question to different students. It's just not clear at all what we are supposed to be learning.

Bonnie Dixon
BCHM463

Anonymous
05/19/2022

As a professor, I think she was good and provided enough materials to study but her attitude was awful. I wish I could give 0 zero stars. She's just so condescending and disrespectful, if you don't have an A in her class she just won't like you. She HAS her favorites! Half the time I talked to her she didn't even look me in the eye. Her office hours were never helpful because she always just said to look back at the slides, but her slides are so hard to follow and most of them are just diagrams. She doesn't record the classes so it's hard to understand her slides when reviewing. Don't take this class with her, the first day she explicitly said "most of you will get a C". terrible experience, 0/5

Heather Tienson-Tseng
BCHM463

Expecting an A
Anonymous
03/28/2022

ima keep it brief, tseng is an okay professor -- she isnt the best lecturer so i stopped going to lecture, instead i speedrun her lecture recordings just to get a general idea of the concepts. she posts slides that are relatively easy to follow. she gives quizzes every now and then which you could just study for quickly with a quizlet (free points) and homeworks take some time but just refer to notes and see if there is overlap with her posted practice problems. her exams are very demanding in detail for your answers, she wants every essential piece of reasoning and justification, but the key to doing well in her class is grinding tf out of practice problems -- she posts a f*ck ton of practice which are all old exam problems, chances are when you're taking your actual exam some of those same problems will come up with a slight change in detail. main takeaway: you can not invest a lot of time in this class and still manage to do well, just be strategic and find what works.

Heather Tienson-Tseng
BCHM463

Anonymous
03/11/2022

Extremely heavy on memorization. Does not allow any sort of note sheet/reference guide during exams and quizzes. Asks us to memorize numerous structures with nearly indistinguishable nomenclature and also takes points for not copying desired answers rote. Would have been infinitely better with some sort of reference sheet on timed examinations. Subject matter is not hard at all, although the copious amount of information that must be memorized is quiet a feat.

Bonnie Dixon
BCHM463

Expecting a B+
Anonymous
03/07/2022

Hands down one of the most condescending professors I have ever experienced in my college career. I see a lot of reoccurring themes which is that she lectures at a rapid fire pace and it’s up to you to decipher what is important and what is not. I’ve been to her office hours up follow up on a question and she flat out said “we can entertain this all day long and talk in circles, but go ahead”. If you don’t have the patients to help students when they have questions, why are you here? She’s just miserable. Biggest mistake was taking this class with her. She picks favorites as well. But for those taking her, just make sure to read the textbook so you know the true underlying concepts, maybe review orgo notes, and still show your face in office hours. She will be a bitch, but don’t let that stop you.

Christopher Capp
BCHM463

Expecting an A
Anonymous
01/11/2022

Capp was a great professor. As a student who was a solid B in organic chemistry and A-/C student in general chemistry, biochemistry was a scary topic to approach. However, Capp took his time in explaining topics to us thoroughly and did not rush us at all. He has useful tips and tricks and was incredibly helpful in office hours, which you really should attend if you want an A and also get a hint of how to solve some exam questions (he is very open about what he expects and I was saved multiple times during the exam by simply being there when he solved something during office hours). He is very friendly and patient, and took the time to discuss grade distributions with the class since he knew that was a major concern for many. His exams are generally fair and there was a pretty large curve (I had a total of an 81.33% in the class and got an A).

Christopher Capp
BCHM463

Anonymous
12/30/2021

Dr. Capp is a gem in the chem department. BCHM463 is a hard class, but he makes it so that if you want an A you can get it (unlike some other chem professors). He gives problem sets for practice and holds lots of office hours. There's also a discussion board which helps boost your grade (full participation over the semester is worth as much as a full exam). He's also super nice and helpful and uses lots of analogies and jokes to help you understand concepts. He's so good at teaching chemistry, I learned everything about general and organic chem 1 and 2 from his class! 11/10 would recommend.

Bonnie Dixon
BCHM463

Expecting an A
Anonymous
12/20/2021

Dr. Dixon is one of my favorite professors at the University of Maryland and I am so lucky to have taken CHEM231 and BCHM463 with her! A lot of people say she is really difficult but that statement is very misleading. The CONTENT is difficult, which is expected as college level chemistry courses cover complex topics. However, she provides you will ALL the resources necessary to succeed. If you stay on top of understanding content after each lecture, do all the practice problems and old exams she posts, and attend office hours a few times a week, you will thrive in the course!!! Also, her office hours are amazing! I have made so many close friends through spending time there working on problem sets and have also had lots of wonderful conversations with her :) She’s always got your back and taking any of courses will be the highlight of your academic career at UMD!

Christopher Capp
BCHM463

Expecting an A
Anonymous
11/01/2021

Dr. Capp is amazing. I was so scared going into this class because it's known far and wide as the premed weed-out class, but it ended up being one of my favorite classes I've ever taken! GO TO HIS OFFICE HOURS -- he's so helpful and receptive to questions, and has a ton of analogies to help you figure out difficult concepts. His exams are fair; they can be tough, but he doesn't try to trick you.

Nicole LaRonde
BCHM463

Expecting a B+
Anonymous
08/09/2021

Please no, pick another professor. Having her online in Spring 2021 was HORRENDOUS. She was rude, avoided our questions and concerns, and just gave up it felt. The readings/lectures and the homeworks DID NOT line up with the exams. GSS was extremely helpful and actually prepped me well for the exams. That doesn't mean to skip the readings and homeworks because that is where you learn the ideas (if you can figure out what's important because she won't really tell you) and GSS applies them as problems and helps you understand them(which is what the exams are; applying concepts to problems). The group project was great and gave a lot of weight towards the final grade (which she refused to share about consistently through the course since she doesn't know how to use ELMS despite saying she can). I don't know how to fully describe the vibe of the class other than "secrecy"; like everything had to be kept a secret from us until the last minute. I'm not sure if because she was lazy or more so worried about cheating, but it was rough on the mind and soul. The class online was flipped were we had to do lecture videos every week with quizzes, homework every week, and then meet once a week for breakout room discussion assignments that were just a flop (if the class wasn't taken up by complaints and questions about the course & its structure- but you had to go for participation points). The group project was to design a website blog on a metabolic problem. I did learn many thing towards the end, but I wouldn't say it was because of LaRonde, more so Khan Academy (search the MCAT section because that's where most of the topics came from). She did do a massive curve at the end so props to her on that. But the semester before she rounded down and her exams were take homes while ours were timed so who knows what curveball she'll throw next.

Bonnie Dixon
BCHM463

Expecting a B
Anonymous
02/11/2021

This course was hard but not because the material is super hard to grasp. It’s because the lectures go by incredibly fast and the way things are explain is very roundabout. It doesn’t help that her TA tried to match her style of teaching and gave very non descript explanations that often didn’t answer the question. SIE averages tend to be high because students work super hard. This class requires you to work extra extra hard because she has a lot of gaps in her explanations and you end up spending hours just figuring out what she’s talking about when the whole time, it could have just been explained better. This class was hard not because of good teaching. It was hard because we were all trying to fill in the gaps.

Bonnie Dixon
BCHM463

Expecting a B
Anonymous
10/13/2020

Honestly she was a terrible teacher. She spoke way too fast and skipped around in lecture. On top of that the bchm book was useless and her powerpoints were terrible. Premed Junkies will say she's so amazing and awesome and say how much they learned in this class. In reality, there is a similar amount of material in this class as there is in orgo. The way she teaches just makes you do extra work to understand genuinely simple concepts. Im serious, Biochem is not that difficult. She made it difficult. If the only way to understand the material in this class is to take incredible notes from her ridiculously fast lectures then you're setting up yourself up for failure. The only other resources you have is her office hours which are always packed. She pits her students against each other, there is a quota for A's and B's which just creates a toxic environment for no reason. Guys biochem did not have to be hard. Looking back the material wasn't bad at all. It was deciphering her terrible lectures, going to office hours and countless group study sessions just to understand SIMPLE THINGS that allowed me to do okay in this class. This is a different ballgame than orgo. Just read the book in orgo and you're set.

Bonnie Dixon
BCHM463

Expecting a B
Anonymous
08/27/2020

She is the worst possible person to take for this class. At least with orgo the textbook went along with the material so you dont really need a teacher to even learn orgo but with bchm her curriculum does not go with the book at all. she just rapid fires super important information at you and skips around acting like you've already learned it. The only way to do this class is to either have laser focus on her lectures and scribble notes real fast (which most people are not capable of at her speed of teaching) or record lectures (what i did). even when i did record lectures, i spent 2-3x the time of the lecture just to decipher her shitty lecture. The homeworks are difficult but if you work with friends you should be able to get 90+% on all of them. Exams are really hard - by far the the hardest lecture exams ive ever taken. Her exams literally require you to have a high iq or graduate level understanding of the material. In my honest opinion the material wasn't actually that terrible or even that much. Orgo1 was a similar amount of material. it was just spending so much time trying to decipher what she said. Her powerpoints are utter shit. they explain jack shit and if you don't have lecture recordings you definitely wont be able to remember what many of them mean. Without perfect notes, lecture recordings, reliable textbook, reliable powerpoints how can you be sure you're learning the info? OFFICE HOURS She is generally nicer and more helpful in office hours but you gotta go there early in the morning. it gets crowded fast and then she gives half ass answers to your questions. If you're gonna take this class with her record lectures and find a study group because its impossible to get all of the information alone

Christiana Guest
BCHM463

Expecting an A+
Anonymous
12/16/2019

Amazing professor. Really knows her stuff !!

Christiana Guest
BCHM463

Expecting an A
Anonymous
11/14/2019

She is one of the sweetest professors. Yeah, she can be hard to hear in a large lecture hall, but she is very nice and very helpful if you go to her office hours. She follows the textbook pretty well, and tells you exactly what she's expecting for the exams. She's kind of a geek too, she subtly roasts her students so her lecture is enjoyable. If you are preparing for the MCAT, She follows the book closely.

Douglas Julin
BCHM463

Expecting an A
Anonymous
12/25/2013

Dr. Julin is the best. I Had him for Chem271 and Bchm463. He's a very good teacher. 4 exams total (75 points each) + Final exam (200 points) for a total of 500 points for the semester. The first two exams cover Biochem 1. The last two exams cover Biochem 2. The class can seem a bit fast paced. Definitely Study your notes. His tests are solely based on what he lectures. He held online review sessions on ELMS which were kinda helpful. If you have to take this class, take it with Dr. Julin.

Douglas Julin
BCHM463

Expecting a C
Anonymous
09/06/2013

Real talk: Biochemistry is no walk in the park. Biochemistry II definitely isn't- probably among the hardest classes I took in my undergraduate years. If you have to take BCHMII, take it with Julin. I didn't do so hot because I approached studying for the class the same way I did other chemistry courses, but it's just not the same. To his credit Julin presents the complex material in a very straightforward fashion. His exams are a fair reflection of the material covered in class too- the real challenge is that you don't know what specific reaction, process, mechanism, etc. he's going to pick from those covered- so you have to know them all. And fyi the exams are it- no homeworks or anything else to supplement your grade- so make them count. I believe he drops one bad exam among the 3 midterms, followed by the final. Even if you memorize everything correctly, make sure you can imagine them in other contexts. Julin's favorite thing to do is posit a situation, ie given a start compound and an end compound, and have you explain the mechanism or explain why you got one product instead of another using something we learned in class. The lectures are fairly boring tbh. The first few in BCHMII are just review- but once the review ends, DO NOT drop the ball. Do NOT miss a word from this man's lips, and do NOT miss a single diagram on the board, or in the blink of an eye you will have fallen behind, especially because everything builds on the material before it. Get a recorder. Fill in gaps in your notes with your friends'. Julin is a nice guy and very willing to answer questions and provide help, but if you don't take him up on that it's your loss (I know that was the case for me). In BCHMII, you literally learn and memorize step by step the metabolic processes of the body. That's insane. It's cool and very interesting, but still completely nuts. Your memory will be worked to the core memorizing chemical structures and reactions and mechanisms. It's not about formulas (physics/chem classes), and it's not mainly about memorizing big concepts (bio classes). It's actually a lot like Orgo. Yeah. Actually, BCHMII is essentially applied Orgo. You can't avoid putting a lot of time and effort into this class. I recorded lectures, but didn't always go back over them and paid for it. No cutting corners- you just have to memorize and know your stuff. It's definitely doable, but woe to those who fall behind. Also, I had the book but hardly touched it. He pretty much covers everything you need to know in class.

Bonnie Dixon
BCHM463

Expecting a B
Anonymous
05/14/2013

If you have all the time in the world or are already a biochem expert, then this is the prof for you. If you're a regular full time student with a social life, AVOID THIS PROFESSOR AT ALL COSTS! Biochem is already hard to begin with... Dixon takes it to a new level. Letures: she's not good at introducting new material, she talks as if you already know the material and just further elaborates. I had to learn EVERYTHING from the textbook. Exams: all free response questions and way too long. 50 mins is just not enough time to finish a Dixon exam and the averages are never higher than around 60% Homework: obligatory, difficult, and not even worth enough points. 5pts per assignment, which takes about 2 - 3 hours to complete each... and they are usually only 5 questions. Personality: rigid and a bit unfair. she miscounted my total points on one of the exams. I asked if I can just get back the points I earned and should have gotten, and she flat out said no, simply because I didn't let her know about it earlier. I did email her (but she hardly responds to emails) earlier to let her know about the error, asking if I could hold onto my exam to study from it for the final and just show her my exam later (rather than leaving it in her office to correct). The ONLY redeeming quality is that she is nice in her office hours. Literally answers any question you have and explains stuff for you. But going to office hours shouldn't be obligatory for earning a good grade... BOTTOM LINE: Dont.... just don't.

Douglas Julin
BCHM463

Expecting a B
ohaider
12/22/2012

Excellent professor. Makes the material very logical and simple to go through. Follow his tips for success and you should get that A. Go to office hours after you review the material and he will help you out. Read the book before and after class (but not too detailed), pay attention during class, and take very good notes. I tried to write down everything he said verbatim, especially when I didn't know what was going on that day. For me, recording the lectures and rewriting my notes was super helpful in understanding what he was talking about. It took time, so try and get through the material quickly. It won't be so overwhelming if you keep up with lectures and study at least a week before each exam. The rewritten notes were very helpful when the final exam came. I was able to get the mechanisms in metabolism and such after I wrote them out neatly and practiced each like 5 or ten times so it was natural. He does test you on these (and everything in lecture), but the exams, like the class, are fair. The final was basically like the 4 exams. Our class this semester was a bit worse than normal so I think it was about a 10 percent curve and he always makes the B/C line the average. I would have had an A if I didn't mess up on two exams and the final.study hard and Score more than maybe 60/75 (i guess?) on each exam and you should be ok for an A with a good final exam grade. Our curve was approximately: A-=80;B-=70, C-=51, D=48.8% Long story short: Excellent professor. take him. Make flash cards for the amino acids.

Douglas Julin
BCHM463

Expecting a C
Anonymous
12/10/2012

I am not sure why everyone on here thinks this professor is brilliant. He isn't. I'm a good student and I study a lot for his exams, but his questions come out of nowhere. There is no homework due, so your whole grade is based on whether or not you can memorize every mechanism in the book. He doesn't test his students based on any overall concepts and any questions he asks that are actually similar to the homework problems he assigns for practice are worth approximately 4 points, but his random questions are worth 15. Also, his exams are insanely timed. He gives an 8 page exam and expects us to finish it in 50 minutes. You have to have everything memorized front and back to be able to finish on time. His lectures are clear, but boring and they don't really reflect what he tests on. I don't recommend him at all. Plus, he never smiles. I mean this guy wears a permanent scowl, leading me to believe he hates his job, which doesn't exactly make me very interested in it either. If you are a CHBE major or anything else that is not solely biology or general chemistry, you will not have the time to dedicate to this class and all the memorizing it entails.

Douglas Julin
BCHM463

Expecting an A
Anonymous
11/14/2012

Same as the other comments. Very nice during office hours, great lecturer, very knowledgeable. hard exams (comparable to Dr. Friedman's) but huge curve.

Reviews for BCHM463