Reviews of professor Laura Danai

Rating: 1.0/5, difficulty: 5.0/5
Inaccessible, uncompromising, and a terrible communicator. This is a professor that does NOT want you to succeed, and the class is treated like a freshman year weed-out class. Test questions are borderline sadistic, and your grade is your grade. Despite her imprecise language on exam questions, she accepts no disputes, and offers no extra credit.

Rating: 4.0/5, difficulty: 5.0/5
Biochem 423 is not an easy course and it requires a solid foundation in chem, ochem, and biology.  The course combines this knowledge into a cohesive image relating to organ systems and metabolic response pathways. Dr. Danai tries to convey the material as best she can but that is not an easy task. Overall, Dr. Danai is supportive and available.

Rating: 5.0/5, difficulty: 4.0/5
I have to be honest. The people who are giving low ratings of Professor Danai most likely did not get a good grade in her class. Professor Danai is one of the best lecturers I have ever had. The class  by no means an easy class, but you can get so much out of this class, as long as you are willing to put in the time and effort. and ASK QUESTIONS!!!

Rating: 1.0/5, difficulty: 5.0/5
Laura Danai is a blemish on an otherwise great biochemistry program. She takes pride in making her exams as unfair as possible, asking questions meant to trick students and covering topics that were never covered in lectures or in homework. She has no respect for her students and is condescending and hostile to students who ask questions.

Rating: 2.0/5, difficulty: 5.0/5
This class crushed my mental health and social life and is the lowest grade I've ever received. The amount of information you have to memorize for exams is insane and I was always crunched for time. I went to every class, reached out for help, and was still beyond confused. Overall she is a nicer than she seems but I recommend avoiding this class!

Rating: 5.0/5, difficulty: 4.0/5
I have nothing but nice things to say about Professor Danai. She is one of the best lecturers I have had at UMass and she is very kind and down to earth. Do not get me wrong, her class is hard but every exam is fair, you have the information to answer every question. I am certain that people who rate her poorly are just upset with the difficulty.

Rating: 1.0/5, difficulty: 1.0/5
Class feels like a mass of confused people, except for the 10 people who somehow know everything because they are all friends with the TA's, who tell them what is on the tests, and share their notes/cheat sheets from prior semesters.

Rating: 4.0/5, difficulty: 4.0/5
Danai was a kind person but a tough professor. She advocated for students and was always accessible through Teams and office hours. Her TAs were great and very helpful as she works closely with them. The class is extremely tough!! SI sessions helped me most. The practice exam was easier than the exam always. I enjoyed her class but it's difficult.