Vredevoe, Larissa  

Dr. Vredevoe is a great professor, her lab course is structured to provide a good learning experience, plus she seems enthustastic to help students out with their lab and answer their questions. Her grading is based on 4 quizes(which are challenging but not hard... if you take notes during her lab-lecture, you'll do fine), the correct identification of an unknown organism, the proper lab techniques and a lab final. She seems to be really down to earth with her work and lecture... yeah i'd do her.

She is very boring. It is easy to get lost during her lecture. From what I understand she was by far the most difficult lab instructor for MCRO 221. But she is as helpful as she can be when you ask, it's just that everyone needs help because they got lost in the lecture.

Her nasal voice is highly annoying and only seems to exasterbate the monotony of her lectures. She is a perfectionist and makes lab extremely boring. Not only that, but her tests are way more difficult than they should have been and a lot was fill in the blank, so such luck for all you guessers out there. I missed lab one day and went to Kubinski's lab to make it up; I was blown away by how easy and fun he made it. I wish I could have taken him instead, but what's done is done. Just don't make the same mistake I did.

Brace yourself for a dry, monotone android... I mean professor. There isn't anything bad about her but crap, the woman has NO personality. There is no small talk or chit chatting at all in her class... it's just straight listening to her drone on and on. As long as you print out the power points from blackboard you don't need to go to class but her tests are HARD so listening to her talk might help. She won't post a study guide until the lecture before the test which means you have A LOT of material to cover in only a couple days time. Since lecture is only 50% of your grade, do your absolute best in lab so you can balance the two grades.

I thought her class was very organized. Don't worry about reading the book so much. She usually gives tests right out of her notes with almost no deviations. If you study her notes hard, you will do great. She is very friendly and approachable. She puts a lot of effort into her class. I found the lab write ups a little tedious. Overall, if you like structured teaching, she is the one.

Dr. Vredevoe can be the coldest person when it comes to lecture. She sounds like a robot without feelings during lecture. Despite this, she could be very helpful, cool and caring outside class or while working in lab. She's friendly, and easy to talk to. She can also have the sweetest dorky laughter, which makes her pretty cool too. I think she only acts like a robot most of the time, and grades like a robot, because she's trying to build a reputation as a doctor (she's very young). She's the most organized professors at Cal Poly that I've ever had. All her notes are typed in powerpoint, and posted on the internet. Her tests are lots of fun to take, because she tests you in stuff found 100% in the notes. I still screwed up, earned a C, because I wasn't interested in the material. I would recomend Dr. Vredevoe to those students that love microbiology, which are usually the ones that get A's and write evaluations like the ones found in this page. Ohh...also, she can be merciless while grading lab reports, so make sure your grammar is good always include everything she asks you for such as: pictures, tables, procedures, conclusions, etc...

Dr. Vredevoe was an okay professor. She just presented the material (which is very boring in this class, just a long list of bacterial diversity) in an organized, if monotonous manner. Also, she takes forever and a year to return the midterms. The first one she spent three weeks to get back, on the day before the second midterm. Make sure to study the diseases carefully, a lot of questions were about those. The powerpoint lectures were nice though, because you could print off the day's notes before coming to class. I went to class most of the time, but you don't really need to, so long as you have the notes.

Robot,Robot,Robot,Robot,Robot,Robot,Robot,Robot

Run Away!!!

Dr. Vredevoe knows everything you could want her to know about microbioloy. She presents the lectures and labs in a clear and straight-forward manner and is always willing (and able) to answer any questions. Her tests are hard (short answer, essay, matching, fill-in-the-blank AND multiple choice questions are what makes up each exam. She takes a long time to grade them, but she's very thorough. You don't need the text, her tests are all based on the notes, which you can print out before class. They are fill-in-the blank notes, so you'll either need to go to lecture or get the answers from a friend (I recommend going to class, but she doesn't take roll if you really don't want to go). Be sure to know EVERYTHING about the diseases. Vredevoe's lab is harder than Colome (which I heard was an easy A).

a great professor. very knowledgable and clear in her expectations. takes the time to create powerpoint presentations for lecture, which are made available to the students through blackboard before the class. material is presented very quickly, so don't fall behind. she made microbiology so interesting to me that i added it as a minor. if you have a chance to take a class with her, do it!

I'm here to give advise to all of those who DON'T like spending every second of their day studying Micro. Dr. Vredevoe is a very nice lady, but her tests are overly-detailed, asking you questions that are way too in depth. If you have to take her, get old tests, and don't take her for lab. You also have to write a 6-8 page research paper on a scientific journal article which you never get back. She's the slowest grader EVER, which makes it difficult to know how your doing in the class. It's not easy to aviod taking Vredevoe if you have to take 225, but just be prepared for a lot of cramming and frustration caused from this course.

Anyone who complains about Dr Vredevoe in this forum is stupid, lazy, or both. She is probably the best microbiology professor on the campus and one of my favorite professors in Cal Poly. THIS IS A DIFFICULT CLASS, there is no question about that; it is fast paced, requires a lot of study and memorization, and has 6 hours of lab work per week. But Dr Vredevoe will help you get through it as painlessly as possible. Her lectures are thorough and organized, and she makes powerpoint presentations for you that you can download beforehand so you don't have to rush to keep up. Moreover, her exams are entirely based on material covered in lecture, so you don't need to read the book. She can answer any question on the subject and is always willing and available to help students with questions or concerns, both in office hours and via email. NO QUESTION IS STUPID, and she never makes you feel like a moron if you don't understand something, unlike some other professors in the microbiology department. If you take the class with her, you have an opportunity to truly understand the subject matter and prepare yourself for your rigorous major/minor in microbiology.

It took some time for me to accept how great a teacher Dr Vredevoe is, and how lucky students should be to have her teach at Calpoly. She is very knowledgeable and she genuinely likes Microbiology. I had her for both Mcro 225 and Mcro 320. She covers a lot of information on her lectures, and she expects you to know them for the exam. The best way to get an A in her class is to study a week before the exams, and be able to memorize all the information from her powerpoint notes. I advise students not to read the book to study for the exam, because every question on the exam is from her lecture.

Vredevoe was a pretty good instructor. Overall a little dull, but I found the class pretty interesting. She had four tests (including the final) none of which were cumulative which made things a lot easier. The course is just a LOT of information and memorization. The lab was pretty easy to do well in but the lab exams were significantly harder than the lecture ones (rather than multiple choice they had a lot of fill-in-the-blank and short answer questions). As a tip, keep up on your lab notebook- it's worth a good portion of your grade and the work really piles up at the end.

Dr. Vredevoe is actually a really good professor. I say "actually" because at first, she seemed like she was going to be miserable. She started off the quarter with how the class was going to be very information heavy, and that there was a lot to know. She then followed it up telling us that none of the exams were cumulative, including the final - which, holy shit that saved my life. She's pretty clear as far as information goes. She has a powerpoint that she reads off of, but it has blanks for you to fill in as she lectures. All the info was fairly straightforward, though there were occasional tricky questions on her exams. I suggest flashcards for most bulletpoints on the slides. Overall, she's a pretty good professor to take for MCRO 225.

lecture tests are straight from the lecture - no surprises. it might seem like a lot of material but its totally doable. take the lab exams seriously and actually study for them - they end up being harder than you anticipate. labs are very cool though. she gives kind of dry lectures but she is actually the nicest and sweetest lady! definitely enjoyed the class

The class is 100% memorization (even the lab exams (there is no practical)). Her powerpoints are online but missing lots of key info; you have to go to lecture every day or you'll miss a TON. Her lectures are dull and monotone, and seem oddly specific on little examples sometimes, but I honestly feel like I've retained more about micro from this course than say, 224. She also definitely knows her shit though, and seems genuinely invested in microbiology. Other than that, this was perhaps the easiest major-related class I've taken at poly; it was difficult and takes a LOT of studying, but nothing is ever a surprise, and once you figure out how to best study for the exams, you'll do great on them. Her exams are DIFFICULT though (lots of matching answers, multiple possible answers, etc, plus lab exams are mostly written response), but again, figure out a study habit for this specific class and stick with it, and you'll be fine. TINY DETAILS MATTER, but everything is straight from the slides. My only real advice is to stay on top of your lab notebook; cliche, but I really didn't, and it bit me in the ass by week 9/10. There's a lot of exams (3 lecture + 2 lab "midterms", and a final in both lec + lab), but NOTHING is cumulative, so really it's fine. Oh yeah, and I already had the textbook from 224, but never once touched it.

I am a graduating senior and have above a 3.5GPA in all of my UPPERDIVISION biology courses. I think that gives me qualification to say that this was one of the worst classes I have taken for bio. It is not necessarily because of the professor but because of the class structure she set up. We had around 10 professors come and lecture on their specialty. Many of them are great professors but they do not realize they are teaching some detailed information to a class in 90 minutes. They all flew through their material so fast and underestimated the amount of time required to teach these interesting subjects. My complaints about this course are simply because the lectures do not build on one another, therefore it is all new information which made it a hell of a lot more work than a 3 unit class. Vredevoe not to mention did the worst out of all the lectures and she covered all of the material for the first exam in one tone of voice and zero conversation. She expects you to know dates, where outbreaks occurred and details of bacterial (gram +/-). This sounds like a reasonable task but she throws out tons and tons of details with no connection to them therefore it is purely random memorization. My advice for the class: #1 DO NOT BUY THE TEXTBOOK. I read all of my textbooks and this was the biggest waste of my money. USELESS! Go to a few lectures and then go look at the book in the store and you will see how irrelevant it is #2 Vredevoe asks questions directly from her slides. Memorize them all. She will ask it. Study at least a few days in advance. #3 For the term paper (50/300pts in the class), have the paper done a week in advance and go to her office hours. She talked about the paper for a whole 60 seconds. I spent 20 hours writing on a topic I have given presentations on before (and did well) and she gave me a C+. Apparently, following her syllabus instructions step by step were not enough for her so go talk to her. The second half of the class is more interesting but like I said before, it is difficult because one day you are memorizing mechanisms for the immune system and then you are memorizing statistics/mechanisms to polio which are completely unrelated. In summary, do not expect minimal work for this 3 unit course. Poorly structured. Study as if it was a 4 unit major course. I would rather take ochem all over again than have to sit through her lectures

Dr. Vredevoe has an annoying voice, but she's not that bad. I just has 320 and it was taught in several sections by different people. Vredevoe had the first 3 weeks, Fidopiastis has the next three weeks, and then we had an assortment of people including a Dr. from the health department, Dr. Villablanca, and FBI guy. The final was the most difficult of the non-cumulative tests because it had the widest variety of different things on it, but overall it was an easy class (especially if you've already taken MCRO 224 - don't buy the book).

Dr. V is very dry. Her tests are very detailed. It is a lot of work. She gives quizzes a week before the actual exam, but she expects you to know everything for them, so expect to study twice for one test. She told us she thinks a C is an honorable grade. Tell that to grad or med school!

Parasitology, as Dr Vredevoe teaches it, should be a 10 unit class. I have never been given so much information in a class. I have had entire quarters where all the notes from all my classes did not add up to the quantity of information covered in parasitology. The information is clearly presented and all relevant, but the quantity needs to be reduced to a more resonable load.

Dr. Vredevoe is one of the most caring professors I've ever known. She is really good at giving students opportunities to study and learn outside of class. She is very dedicated and organized. She does all of her lectures on Powerpoint and you can download them to study from. She does go over a lot of information, but it is interesting and important. Dr. Vredevoe is young and likes to share her passion for the subjects she teaches. I always try to take her classes.

This course is challenging. There are 3 midterms and a final which is given during dead week. Each midterm is given during lab and covers material from both lecture and lab. Lecture goes more in depth with the parasite's normal host, life cycle, symptoms, diagnosis and treatment. Lab covers the structure and recognition of a particular parasite. While there is certainly a lot of information covered, it is definitely do-able. I made my own outline with vital information of each parasite and studied the three hours before the exam. Definitely do your best on the dissections, quizzes, and go on the field trip! Small points lost here are what made the difference between and and "A" and a "B" for me. If you are in the position to choose your presentation date, take the first one: she goes easy on you but she won't admit it. The final had about 3 times the information as the three midterms but we were given a 3x5 notecard which helped a lot. Anyway, Dr. Vredevoe is a good professor. She cares about the students and will spend 30 minutes trying to find a parasite on a slide for you. Go to class and get grossed out. Telling my friend about all the gross things I learned about was what helped me remember details. Good luck.

Let me just say that this was a HARD class. I don't think I have ever put so much effort into a class for that low of a grade. That said, I learned A LOT; this was easily the most interesting class I have taken at Poly. This class could be 5 units easily, so be prepared for a lot of course work. In the end it was much better than the other 400 level classes I have taken (Biogeography for example).

Parasitology is a very detail-oriented and difficult class to do well in, so this would NOT be a class that I would recommend to someone that isn't truly interested in the subject material. That being said, there are 4 exams which take place in the laboratory portion of the class and there is no lecture final.... The exams are jam-packed with more information than you may feel is humanly possible, but everything on them you have seen before. There are no surprises, tricks, or questions that were not DIRECTLY presented to you in either lecture or lab...and she will give you a study guide with everything you need to know the week before the exam & the final exam is not cumulative. There are plenty of options for extra credit and 4 two-page dissection reports due throughout the quarter, which are graded fairly easily. Dr. Vredevoe is one of the most amazing professors I have had during my time at Cal Poly, one that has truly shaped and influenced the direction of my future. Some of the comments below tend to talk about her being "dry and boring" but I just don't see it at all. She's passionate about this subject and is more than willing to help you.