Reviews of professor James Shanks

Rating: 3.0/5, difficulty: 4.0/5
He was fine. Not great, not horrible. This lab was less organized and less clear about its grading criteria than the general chemistry labs I took in the past. Assignments are stricter with requirements. Way more work than I expected for a 2 unit course. 1 quiz, 3 lab reports, 2 presentations. Work was manageable though.

Rating: 5.0/5, difficulty: 1.0/5
Prof Shanks cares about his students abilities to learn and understand concepts and makes it a priority in his class. He puts effort into making his class interesting through his material and his humor. He probably knows just as much ab the Kardashains as he does biology and he will mention that without shame. Little homework and no textbook.

Rating: 4.0/5, difficulty: 4.0/5
there were definitely some tough projects and lab reports. i recommend going to your ta or shanks' office hours - don't be put off by his intense demeanor. at the beginning of the quarter he seemed a little pretentious and made a lot of us very nervous about our future, but it turns out he's actually pretty cool. also there was a pop quiz 1st day

Rating: 5.0/5, difficulty: 2.0/5
He is a great professor, he genuinely cares about you beyond the scope of how well you do in his class. I recommend going to office hours for some help on some of the lab report assignments to make sure you do well on those. First impression was intimidating, but he comes from a good place and wants you to succeed in learning lab practical skills.

Rating: 4.0/5, difficulty: 5.0/5
Dr. Shanks is a great person who wants you to do well. He is good at teaching and cares about the success of the class. But the amount of stress, time, and sleep I sacrificed for a 2 unit class was absolutely ridiculous! Never a chill day in Bio 20L! Go to office hours (super helpful!) and befriend your lab partner. It'll goes a long way.

Rating: 4.0/5, difficulty: 3.0/5
Definitely took some time to warm up to him because he does come off as pretentious. If you go to his office hours and follow his writing guidelines you'll defiantly finish with a A. Honestly one of the most helpful professors I've ever had and he'll help you out with any research opportunities you might be interested in.

Rating: 5.0/5, difficulty: 2.0/5
Jimmy has been an amazing professor, he is very passionate about what he teaches and that shows in his lectures. The work load in manageable if you stay on top of it and the the midterm and final are very fair. If you go to lecture and spend a little bit of time studying you will do great. He is also really approachable go to his office hours!

Rating: 5.0/5, difficulty: 3.0/5
Prof Shanks was a really great professor, I highly recommend him! He is clearly super passionate about his class and is eager to help you in any way. His class was engaging, and I learned a ton just from listening to him. He is accessible outside of class easily and answers emails really quickly. He adds jokes to lectures and makes it fun to learn.