BSCI151 | PlanetTerp

Information	Review
Kimberly Paczolt BSCI151 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 12/18/2025	Dr. Paczolt is a good professor. I've had her for 2 classes now, and I don't understand some of these reviews. She can sound snarky, but after speaking with her more I've learned she just sounds like that. She genuinely cares about the topics she teaches, and I appreciate professors who admit they don't know an answer to a question rather than risking saying something wrong. Her exams are fair, not easy but far from impossible. So long as you go to lecture and do all homework assignments you'll be fine. As for BSCI151, it's an easy A. There are participation points so you have to show up to lecture, but assignments are easy and grading isn't harsh. There is a eight page essay due at the end of this class, but you write it in segments over the course of the semester so it isn't overwhelming. My only critique is that I wish it went deeper into the topics it covered instead of just surface level information.
Kimberly Paczolt BSCI151 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 12/12/2025	This class is basically a guaranteed A. After you hit the max clicker points, you don't even need to show up to lecture except for activity days and exams. The week before an exam you can just binge watch all the recorded lectures. I didn't dislike this class- it was an easy A, interesting content, and covers lots of gen eds. However me and some of my other classmates agree that if you ever needed to as prof. Paczolt a question, she'd be passive aggressive about it. I never got a clear answer and felt almost hesitant to even ask. I'd still highly recommend this class if you are a pre-health student trying to cover your gen eds.
Kimberly Paczolt BSCI151 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/09/2024	I've got to agree with these other reviews about her condescending tone. The exams are unnecessarily difficult, but she does allow a sheet of paper of notes for all exams. The workload isnt too bad, but you will have to write a pretty hefty paper throughout the semester (~13 pages).
Kimberly Paczolt BSCI151 Expecting an A Anonymous 11/28/2024	Prof Paczolt as a person is generally very condescending and passive-aggressive. There were multiple times during lecture where she dismissed questions as though the student asking was dumb, but really they were actual questions that were relevant to course content and could be helpful to the entire class. As for the actual course and workload, it's an unnecessary amount considering the class is a gen-ed. There are four essays throughout the course, with the final one being a "final paper" that requires you to use previous essays. In total, the final essay ended up being 13 pages for me: 8 pages of writing and 5 pages of figures and references. There are also 3 unit tests during the semester. So far, the averages have been in the low 80s but honestly, I'm not surprised they're not lower. One thing that truly irked me about the class was the clickers we had to do. It was through PointSolutions, which UMD no longer pays for and the subscription for the semester was $25, which she justified because there "isn't a required book". Just because there isn't a required book does not mean you need to find something else for us to pay for. The clickers were also based on ACCURACY, not completion. How do you expect us to answer questions about the content we are currently learning accurately? Even though the clickers were only 5% of our overall grade, still annoying and unnecessary. Side note only one of the TAs ever knew what was going on.
Nicholas Fletcher BSCI151 Expecting a B Anonymous 01/19/2024	Best Biology Prof at UMD. Humble, down to Earth, and truly cares about his students. Answers questions in the most open way possible, you will never feel like he doesn't have time to answer your question or that your question is unimportant. Makes sure you have full understanding before he moves on. Always smiling and checking on his students between lecture slides. Makes it so fun to learn the content!

Kimberly Paczolt
BSCI151

Expecting an A+
Anonymous
12/18/2025

Dr. Paczolt is a good professor. I've had her for 2 classes now, and I don't understand some of these reviews. She can sound snarky, but after speaking with her more I've learned she just sounds like that. She genuinely cares about the topics she teaches, and I appreciate professors who admit they don't know an answer to a question rather than risking saying something wrong. Her exams are fair, not easy but far from impossible. So long as you go to lecture and do all homework assignments you'll be fine. As for BSCI151, it's an easy A. There are participation points so you have to show up to lecture, but assignments are easy and grading isn't harsh. There is a eight page essay due at the end of this class, but you write it in segments over the course of the semester so it isn't overwhelming. My only critique is that I wish it went deeper into the topics it covered instead of just surface level information.

Kimberly Paczolt
BSCI151

Expecting an A+
Anonymous
12/12/2025

This class is basically a guaranteed A. After you hit the max clicker points, you don't even need to show up to lecture except for activity days and exams. The week before an exam you can just binge watch all the recorded lectures. I didn't dislike this class- it was an easy A, interesting content, and covers lots of gen eds. However me and some of my other classmates agree that if you ever needed to as prof. Paczolt a question, she'd be passive aggressive about it. I never got a clear answer and felt almost hesitant to even ask. I'd still highly recommend this class if you are a pre-health student trying to cover your gen eds.

Kimberly Paczolt
BSCI151

Expecting an A
Anonymous
12/09/2024

I've got to agree with these other reviews about her condescending tone. The exams are unnecessarily difficult, but she does allow a sheet of paper of notes for all exams. The workload isnt too bad, but you will have to write a pretty hefty paper throughout the semester (~13 pages).

Kimberly Paczolt
BSCI151

Expecting an A
Anonymous
11/28/2024

Prof Paczolt as a person is generally very condescending and passive-aggressive. There were multiple times during lecture where she dismissed questions as though the student asking was dumb, but really they were actual questions that were relevant to course content and could be helpful to the entire class. As for the actual course and workload, it's an unnecessary amount considering the class is a gen-ed. There are four essays throughout the course, with the final one being a "final paper" that requires you to use previous essays. In total, the final essay ended up being 13 pages for me: 8 pages of writing and 5 pages of figures and references. There are also 3 unit tests during the semester. So far, the averages have been in the low 80s but honestly, I'm not surprised they're not lower. One thing that truly irked me about the class was the clickers we had to do. It was through PointSolutions, which UMD no longer pays for and the subscription for the semester was $25, which she justified because there "isn't a required book". Just because there isn't a required book does not mean you need to find something else for us to pay for. The clickers were also based on ACCURACY, not completion. How do you expect us to answer questions about the content we are currently learning accurately? Even though the clickers were only 5% of our overall grade, still annoying and unnecessary. Side note only one of the TAs ever knew what was going on.

Nicholas Fletcher
BSCI151

Expecting a B
Anonymous
01/19/2024

Best Biology Prof at UMD. Humble, down to Earth, and truly cares about his students. Answers questions in the most open way possible, you will never feel like he doesn't have time to answer your question or that your question is unimportant. Makes sure you have full understanding before he moves on. Always smiling and checking on his students between lecture slides. Makes it so fun to learn the content!

Reviews for BSCI151