Plan ahead for courses where students have earned lower grades.
Lowest historical GPA first. At least 100 letter grades over the five years through the selected term. Grades reflect past outcomes, not workload or a guaranteed result.
Historical grades cover up to five years through the selected term. Only courses with at least 100 letter grades are ranked.
ANIMAL BIOLOGY covers general biological principles including evolution, ecology, genetics, and human physiology.
Offering recorded · Fall 2026
The course is content-heavy, requiring significant study time for exams. Reviews describe tests as difficult or confusing, with some noting that attendance is crucial for success.
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Spring 2022–Spring 2026ZOOLOGY 570 is a comprehensive course covering modern aspects of cell biology.
Offering recorded · Fall 2026
Historical reviews of Kurt Amann: Exams often test specific anecdotes and spoken content rather than the assigned readings, requiring students to take thorough notes during every lecture. The workload is heavy due to the need to manually transcribe fast-paced, sometimes contradictory lectures without the benefit of digital recordings.
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Fall 2022–Fall 2025ZOOLOGY 153 covers introductory biology topics like cell function, genetics, and physiology for engineering majors without a lab.
Offering recorded · Fall 2026
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Spring 2022–Spring 2026Introductory Biology covers cell structure, metabolism, genetic information flow, genetics principles, and animal physiology.
Offering recorded · Fall 2026
The course requires outside class hours to grasp lecture material and complete lab reports.
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Spring 2022–Spring 2026Study of vertebrate anatomical systems through functional, embryological, and evolutionary lenses, including lab dissection.
Offering recorded · Fall 2026
historical GPA · grades
Fall 2022–Fall 2025ANIMAL BIOLOGY LABORATORY introduces general animal biology concepts, evolutionary relationships, body plans, and diversity through dissection and ecological study.
Offering recorded · Fall 2026
Historical reviews of Sarah Edlund: Reviewers note that the biology content can be overwhelming, but the instructor makes learning the lab material enjoyable and encourages students to ask questions.
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Spring 2022–Spring 2026Covers basic mechanisms in cellular neurophysiology, including nerve signal electrophysiology and chemistry.
Offering recorded · Fall 2026
historical GPA · grades
Fall 2022–Fall 2025General Ecology covers the ecology of organisms through biosphere levels, studying interactions in field and lab settings.
Offering recorded · Fall 2026
Historical reviews of Thomas Givnish: Reviewers report high difficulty, citing exams based on memorizing old research papers and homework that leads to failure without TA help. The teaching style is described as rushing through topics with wordy definitions.
historical GPA · grades
Spring 2022–Spring 2026Introductory Ecology covers organism-environment relationships, population dynamics, community organization, and human-environment action programs.
Offering recorded · Fall 2026
Historical reviews of Tony Ives: Tests carry the most weight, so students emphasize completing all extra credit to boost their final grade. Quizzes are short but tricky, requiring careful attention to lecture material and readings.
historical GPA · grades
Spring 2022–Spring 2026Introduction to entomology covering principles of insect morphology and classification.
Offering recorded · Fall 2026
The course is described as time-consuming and requires significant memorization of Latin beetle family names. While some students found exams easy, others noted that lab exams could be difficult and the overall workload significant.
historical GPA · grades
Spring 2022–Spring 2026Evolutionary biology course covering microevolution, macroevolution, adaptation, speciation, systematics, quantitative genetics, and phylogenetic analyses.
Offering recorded · Fall 2026
Students report that exams are tricky with ambiguous multiple-choice questions, leading to low grades despite perfect quiz scores.
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Spring 2022–Spring 2026Introductory Biology covers plant physiology, organismal kingdoms, evolution, and ecology.
Offering recorded · Fall 2026
The botany portion requires plenty of memorization. Lectures are dense in content but explained clearly and slowly, with pauses for questions.
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Spring 2022–Spring 2026BIOLOGY OF THE DINOSAURS covers the biology, ecology, and evolution of dinosaurs, using anatomy and phylogeny to understand physiological and evolutionary transitions.
Offering recorded · Fall 2026
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Fall 2024–Fall 2025LIMNOLOGY-CONSERVATION OF AQUATIC RESOURCES covers general limnology, lake characteristics, and rehabilitation.
Offering recorded · Fall 2026
Lectures are dense and data-heavy, requiring students to study them closely and create notecards with key terms for exams.
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Fall 2022–Fall 2025ZOOLOGY 400 covers various intermediate biology topics, with each section exploring a different subject.
Offering recorded · Fall 2026
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Spring 2022–Spring 2026This course examines the ecology, causes, and consequences of species extinction, including habitat alteration and conservation strategies.
Offering recorded · Fall 2026
Historical reviews of Karie Cherwin: Reviewers consistently rate the difficulty as low, noting that content is easy and tests are fair, though some find the lack of structure challenging.
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Fall 2022–Fall 2025ZOOLOGY 316 examines the biological, physical, and chemical characteristics and their interrelationships in Wisconsin lakes and streams.
Offering recorded · Fall 2026
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Fall 2022–Fall 2025An undergraduate seminar covering diverse neurobiology research topics from molecular to systems levels.
Offering recorded · Fall 2026
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Spring 2022–Spring 2026TINY EARTH: ANTIBIOTIC DISCOVERY RESEARCH teaches scientific research methodology and laboratory techniques through hands-on microbial research to discover potential antibiotics.
Offering recorded · Fall 2026
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Spring 2022–Spring 2026A seminar in endocrinology and reproductive physiology where graduate students develop and deliver research presentations to a scientific audience.
Offering recorded · Fall 2026
historical GPA · grades
Spring 2022–Spring 2026ZOOLOGY 699 offers selected research projects for junior and senior students.
Offering recorded · Fall 2026
historical GPA · grades
Spring 2022–Spring 2026A seminar for graduate students covering various fields of zoological research, including limnology and marine science.
Offering recorded · Fall 2026
historical GPA · grades
Spring 2022–Spring 2026