Cordelia Weiss | PlanetTerp

Information	Review
Cordelia Weiss BSCI170 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/05/2025	I absolutely hated biology before taking this class, the way she teaches the material is so interesting and her exams are EXTREMELY fair if you study what she asks. She provides objectives for every lecture (also records) which compile and make a perfect study guide. Throughout her lectures she will also emphasize material verbally or it will be boxed/bolded on a slide which indicates she is likely going to test the material on the exam. She cares a lot about her students and her job, she puts genuine effort into prioritizing the needs of the class ie. slowing down on content if needed, answering questions. There are weekly quizzes to check your knowledge and she drops the two lowest of the scores, she also does free participation points every class which is nice. The only reason I can think of why someone may not like her is because she had to leave the class for 2-3 weeks due to health related concerns and people were angry that she had another lecturer (keller) step in as well as lectured virtually. HOWEVER, because the class was so thrown off by Keller's lecture style (which in my opinion, hes very nice and sweet and his lectures tell a story, but his slides are not details whatsoever and I felt like falling asleep) she ended up completely removing any material he taught in the midterm AND the exam, all this to say shes EXTREMELY accomodating. Additonally, her slides/lectures are detailed enough that you don't need to do any of the additional readings on SimBio if you so please. DEFINITELY take her if you can, shes funny, blunt, teaches everyone well, and is super willing to accomodate any needs/questions/concerns. The class is structured so well for such a new professor.
Cordelia Weiss BSCI170 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/04/2025	Legit FREAKING AMAZING!!!! She is the best professor I have ever had at UMD. Her class is very easy to follow, and her slides have EVERYTHING you need to know for the tests. She is pretty young, so shes pretty funny and relatable. If you try, and study in this class, you will do well. Also she really does try to learn a ton of peoples names in a huge lecture hall, which is rare. Please take her. I am so glad I did. (she had no reviews when I signed up haha)
Cordelia Weiss BSCI170 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 12/02/2025	Dr. Weiss is amazing! It was her first time teaching BSCI170 but her teaching style and diagrams are incredibly informative for the exams. Speaking of, her exams are extremely straight forward with multiple choice, fill in the blank, and some short answer questions (usually like 1 or 2). Her class structure goes as follows: - Participation questions, QR codes on the slides (5% of grade, still have to show up in person) - 8 weekly online quizzes (2 lowest scores dropped, 18.5% of grade) - 4 Graded SimUText Modules ($50 online textbook, 6% of grade) - 3 Midterm exams (46% of grade) - 1 Final (23% of grade) Show up to class, study the material, and you should be fine. She puts no trick questions and the exams are very straight forward. If you miss class, you can't do the participation question of the day but she posts the slides and records the lectures.
Cordelia Weiss BSCI170 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 12/02/2025	Dr. Weiss is amazing! It was her first time teaching BSCI170 but her teaching style and diagrams are incredibly informative for the exams. Speaking of, her exams are extremely straight forward with multiple choice, fill in the blank, and some short answer questions (usually like 1 or 2). Her class structure goes as follows: - Participation questions, QR codes on the slides (5% of grade, still have to show up in person) - 8 weekly online quizzes (2 lowest scores dropped, 18.5% of grade) - 4 Graded SimUText Modules ($50 online textbook, 6% of grade) - 3 Midterm exams (46% of grade) - 1 Final (23% of grade) Show up to class, study the material, and you should be fine. She puts no trick questions and the exams are very straight forward. If you miss class, you can't do the participation question of the day but she posts the slides and records the lectures.
Cordelia Weiss BSCI170 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/02/2025	She is an incredible teacher for BSCI170. I had her my very first semester of college and everything about her course structure was extremely helpful when adjusting to the workload. Her exams are extremely fair and she provides objectives for every lecture that serves as the perfect study guide. On top of exams, she provides an inordinate amount of ways to earn other points in the class such as quizzes, easy graded SimBios, and participation questions-- she also posts lectures in case you miss one. I used to hate bio from high school, but after taking it with her I have a new appreciation and interest in the content she taught. Side note-- she also drops two quizzes and there are readings included for every lecture topic but you don't need to do them at all because her lecture covers all the material and she doesn't pull any trick questions on exams etc. Besides the course itself, she's funny, sharp, and witty and the way she teaches the lectures are interesting and engaging. She cares a lot about her students and providing support when and where its needed, definitely take her over other BSCI170 profs! We had Keller step in to teach two lectures and even though he seems like a great teacher, his lecture style was very boring and his slideshows were not detailed with notes whatsoever.
Cordelia Weiss BSCI170 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 12/02/2025	Dr. Weiss is amazing! This was her first time teaching BSCI170, but her teaching style and class structure are incredibly succinct and helpful toward the exams. At the start of every lecture there are objectives which you should write down, cause they will most likely be on the exam. The current structure of the class is like this: - Participation QR code questions every class (4.5% of grade) - Weekly online quizzes (8 total, 2 worst scores dropped; 18.5% of grade) - 4 Graded SimUText Modules (SimUText, the online textbook, costs about $50, it's the only textbook you need to buy, 6% of grade) - 3 Midterms worth ~46% of your grade - 1 Final worth ~23% of your grade Show up to class, pay attention, and study the material. I ended up teaching other people with other professors because Dr. Weiss' method and diagrams were so useful. She also never puts trick questions on exams and they are pretty straight forward with multiple choice, fill in the blanks, and true or false questions.
Cordelia Weiss BSCI170 Expecting an A- Anonymous 12/01/2025	Literally amazing professor. She is so good at getting you to understand the material, I've never enjoyed biology before until this class. She is also so funny so the class is actually interesting and I want to go to class.
Cordelia Weiss BSCI170 Expecting an A- Anonymous 12/01/2025	Genuinely an amazing professor, I highly recommend her. Her grades are extremely fair, her exams directly correlate to what we learn in class, and she drops the two lowest quiz grades (which are open note). She is so good at teaching and I've never understood biology better than I have when taking this course. Attendance is a grade but I'd recommend going in person anyways to get a better grasp of the material. She genuinely wants you to succeed and cares about each and every student.
Cordelia Weiss BSCI170 Expecting an A- Anonymous 12/01/2025	She is new-- but absolutely AMAZING. I have recommended her to all my friends and am looking to take her BSCI213 course this next semester. She is super passionate, straight forward, easy to understand, really puts together everything into the slide shows. She is always open to questions and you have all the resources to do well in her class. All lectures are hosted online and in person and the slide decks are posted too. Two of your quizzes are dropped at the end of the semester. She also makes funny jokes. Take her class if you can!!
Cordelia Weiss BSCI170 Anonymous 11/17/2025	DO NOT TAKE HER FOR BSCI170. She is very nice but does not know how to teach this class. Her lectures are very disorganized and her slides have so much information to where its impossible to take notes on. This would be fine if it was the same stuff that is on the exam but its not even close. She does not prepare you well for your exams at all and ive heard every other professor for this class is much more straightforward. There is also no DSS which all other sections have.
Cordelia Weiss BSCI213 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 07/20/2025	Wow, just wow. One of the best professors I have had at UMD. She really inspired a new passion for me and did a wonderful job connecting history to microbes. Would 10000% recommend this class.

Cordelia Weiss
BSCI170

Expecting an A
Anonymous
12/05/2025

I absolutely hated biology before taking this class, the way she teaches the material is so interesting and her exams are EXTREMELY fair if you study what she asks. She provides objectives for every lecture (also records) which compile and make a perfect study guide. Throughout her lectures she will also emphasize material verbally or it will be boxed/bolded on a slide which indicates she is likely going to test the material on the exam. She cares a lot about her students and her job, she puts genuine effort into prioritizing the needs of the class ie. slowing down on content if needed, answering questions. There are weekly quizzes to check your knowledge and she drops the two lowest of the scores, she also does free participation points every class which is nice. The only reason I can think of why someone may not like her is because she had to leave the class for 2-3 weeks due to health related concerns and people were angry that she had another lecturer (keller) step in as well as lectured virtually. HOWEVER, because the class was so thrown off by Keller's lecture style (which in my opinion, hes very nice and sweet and his lectures tell a story, but his slides are not details whatsoever and I felt like falling asleep) she ended up completely removing any material he taught in the midterm AND the exam, all this to say shes EXTREMELY accomodating. Additonally, her slides/lectures are detailed enough that you don't need to do any of the additional readings on SimBio if you so please. DEFINITELY take her if you can, shes funny, blunt, teaches everyone well, and is super willing to accomodate any needs/questions/concerns. The class is structured so well for such a new professor.

Cordelia Weiss
BSCI170

Expecting an A
Anonymous
12/04/2025

Legit FREAKING AMAZING!!!! She is the best professor I have ever had at UMD. Her class is very easy to follow, and her slides have EVERYTHING you need to know for the tests. She is pretty young, so shes pretty funny and relatable. If you try, and study in this class, you will do well. Also she really does try to learn a ton of peoples names in a huge lecture hall, which is rare. Please take her. I am so glad I did. (she had no reviews when I signed up haha)

Cordelia Weiss
BSCI170

Expecting an A+
Anonymous
12/02/2025

Dr. Weiss is amazing! It was her first time teaching BSCI170 but her teaching style and diagrams are incredibly informative for the exams. Speaking of, her exams are extremely straight forward with multiple choice, fill in the blank, and some short answer questions (usually like 1 or 2). Her class structure goes as follows: - Participation questions, QR codes on the slides (5% of grade, still have to show up in person) - 8 weekly online quizzes (2 lowest scores dropped, 18.5% of grade) - 4 Graded SimUText Modules ($50 online textbook, 6% of grade) - 3 Midterm exams (46% of grade) - 1 Final (23% of grade) Show up to class, study the material, and you should be fine. She puts no trick questions and the exams are very straight forward. If you miss class, you can't do the participation question of the day but she posts the slides and records the lectures.

Cordelia Weiss
BSCI170

Expecting an A+
Anonymous
12/02/2025

Dr. Weiss is amazing! It was her first time teaching BSCI170 but her teaching style and diagrams are incredibly informative for the exams. Speaking of, her exams are extremely straight forward with multiple choice, fill in the blank, and some short answer questions (usually like 1 or 2). Her class structure goes as follows: - Participation questions, QR codes on the slides (5% of grade, still have to show up in person) - 8 weekly online quizzes (2 lowest scores dropped, 18.5% of grade) - 4 Graded SimUText Modules ($50 online textbook, 6% of grade) - 3 Midterm exams (46% of grade) - 1 Final (23% of grade) Show up to class, study the material, and you should be fine. She puts no trick questions and the exams are very straight forward. If you miss class, you can't do the participation question of the day but she posts the slides and records the lectures.

Cordelia Weiss
BSCI170

Expecting an A
Anonymous
12/02/2025

She is an incredible teacher for BSCI170. I had her my very first semester of college and everything about her course structure was extremely helpful when adjusting to the workload. Her exams are extremely fair and she provides objectives for every lecture that serves as the perfect study guide. On top of exams, she provides an inordinate amount of ways to earn other points in the class such as quizzes, easy graded SimBios, and participation questions-- she also posts lectures in case you miss one. I used to hate bio from high school, but after taking it with her I have a new appreciation and interest in the content she taught. Side note-- she also drops two quizzes and there are readings included for every lecture topic but you don't need to do them at all because her lecture covers all the material and she doesn't pull any trick questions on exams etc. Besides the course itself, she's funny, sharp, and witty and the way she teaches the lectures are interesting and engaging. She cares a lot about her students and providing support when and where its needed, definitely take her over other BSCI170 profs! We had Keller step in to teach two lectures and even though he seems like a great teacher, his lecture style was very boring and his slideshows were not detailed with notes whatsoever.

Cordelia Weiss
BSCI170

Expecting an A+
Anonymous
12/02/2025

Dr. Weiss is amazing! This was her first time teaching BSCI170, but her teaching style and class structure are incredibly succinct and helpful toward the exams. At the start of every lecture there are objectives which you should write down, cause they will most likely be on the exam. The current structure of the class is like this: - Participation QR code questions every class (4.5% of grade) - Weekly online quizzes (8 total, 2 worst scores dropped; 18.5% of grade) - 4 Graded SimUText Modules (SimUText, the online textbook, costs about $50, it's the only textbook you need to buy, 6% of grade) - 3 Midterms worth ~46% of your grade - 1 Final worth ~23% of your grade Show up to class, pay attention, and study the material. I ended up teaching other people with other professors because Dr. Weiss' method and diagrams were so useful. She also never puts trick questions on exams and they are pretty straight forward with multiple choice, fill in the blanks, and true or false questions.

Cordelia Weiss
BSCI170

Expecting an A-
Anonymous
12/01/2025

Literally amazing professor. She is so good at getting you to understand the material, I've never enjoyed biology before until this class. She is also so funny so the class is actually interesting and I want to go to class.

Cordelia Weiss
BSCI170

Expecting an A-
Anonymous
12/01/2025

Genuinely an amazing professor, I highly recommend her. Her grades are extremely fair, her exams directly correlate to what we learn in class, and she drops the two lowest quiz grades (which are open note). She is so good at teaching and I've never understood biology better than I have when taking this course. Attendance is a grade but I'd recommend going in person anyways to get a better grasp of the material. She genuinely wants you to succeed and cares about each and every student.

Cordelia Weiss
BSCI170

Expecting an A-
Anonymous
12/01/2025

She is new-- but absolutely AMAZING. I have recommended her to all my friends and am looking to take her BSCI213 course this next semester. She is super passionate, straight forward, easy to understand, really puts together everything into the slide shows. She is always open to questions and you have all the resources to do well in her class. All lectures are hosted online and in person and the slide decks are posted too. Two of your quizzes are dropped at the end of the semester. She also makes funny jokes. Take her class if you can!!

Cordelia Weiss
BSCI170

Anonymous
11/17/2025

DO NOT TAKE HER FOR BSCI170. She is very nice but does not know how to teach this class. Her lectures are very disorganized and her slides have so much information to where its impossible to take notes on. This would be fine if it was the same stuff that is on the exam but its not even close. She does not prepare you well for your exams at all and ive heard every other professor for this class is much more straightforward. There is also no DSS which all other sections have.