Comments:1305H - In all honesty, this class was a lot harder than my friends’ who took non-honors. But Dr. Pitts is one of the best lecturers I’ve had at Baylor. He is very passionate and knowledgeable, so you learn the information very thoroughly. He can be a little intense and intimidating at first. But he’s so nice (and arguably funny) when you get to know him. I’ve felt very prepared for my subsequent BIO courses because of Dr. Pitts.  - Grade In Class:A

Comments:1305 H - Made the class super hard and has a high opinion of himself. Also the participation grade seemed to be a way to reward his favorites. Tests were extremely difficult and surprise clicker quizzes were annoying  - Grade In Class:B

Comments:BIO 4304/Med Ent - Dr. Pitts is an engaging professor and for a class about insects makes it fairly interesting. There were four exams, but the final seemed extremely difficult. Each week all you have to do is take a quick 5 question quiz which are not hard, just to make sure you read/paid attention. Finally, there is a major paper you have to write, but it's in sections and he gives you comments to correct before the final paper. I enjoyed the class and would recommend it but be aware it is a 93 and above A with A- for >90 but <93.  - Grade In Class:A

Comments:Bio 1305 H - Dr. Pitts is a super nice guy, and one of the most engaging professors I have ever taken. He gets to know you as a person and not just a student, and genuinely cares about your success. That being said, his tests are very hard and I really hate the homework system he uses. He also doesn't curve the tests a lot. Overall, I would take Dr. Pitts again, but I would probably study a bit more than I did.  - Grade In Class:B

Comments:1305 - I have been thinking about what I am going to write here all semester. This class certainly has its ups and downs, but ultimately, I decided that I enjoyed the class and that I would recommend Dr. Pitts. However, if you have not taken AP/IB Biology before, do not take this class. I have an extensive biology background, and this class was still a struggle. It is possible to make an A, but you have to fight for it. Dr. Pitts originally said that there would be no curves and no extra credit at all for this course. However, he gave us lots of extra credit, reasonable bonuses on the exams, and even curved the final, so maybe it depends on the semester. My biggest complaint about this class is the pop clicker quizzes. You have 1 minute to answer each question as it pops onto the screen, which can be extremely stressful. Dr. Pitts only keeps your top 5 quizzes and the number varies but we ended up getting to drop 3 of ours. I have never had to work so hard for a grade, and I studied for this class daily for the entire semester. His exams seemed increasingly more difficult to me, but I do not know if this was universal. However, they are not impossible, and he gives lots of additional assignments to boost your grade like writing assignments. For my class, he gave practically everyone a 100 for the writing assignments, so it was not an added stressor. The homework also bothered me because he would set a timer so that once you open the homework you only have 1.5 hours to complete it. Basically, this means that you could not start the homework and finish later; it had to be done all in one sitting. This was a struggle for me because I don’t have a ton of time to section off for biology homework, so this caused me to stay up late sometimes. Dr. Pitts is also an informative lecturer, but most of the necessary information on the exams comes from the textbook and not just his lectures, so you have to diligently read to do well. One of the best things about taking the honors section of biology is that Dr. Pitts would bring in upperclassmen and professors to discuss their research and tell us about different undergraduate research opportunities. If you are taking this class because you are a freshman in honors and need an honors credit, and this does not sound doable to you, you should look into honors contracting a different class. I did not know what that was until school started, but look it up on the website and ask your advisor about it. Just as a warning, the worst part about this class (I think this might be for the biology department as a whole though) was that an A is a 94% and above, which is slightly ridiculous. Overall, Dr. Pitts is a nice, funny, engaging professor, and I don’t regret taking his course because it definitely gave me a great foundation for my future science courses. Essentially, if you have taken AP/IB Biology before, memorize the textbook, and you will be okay.  - Grade In Class:A

Comments:1305 H - This class was very difficult. I would go to his office hours and he would not be very helpful. The tests were very difficult, and he was always very harsh when grading writing assignments.  - Grade In Class:C

Comments:1305 - This is a very challenging course. I did not have a strong biology background in high school, so if that is you, I would advise against taking honors biology. However, Dr. Pitts is an amazing professor. On the first day of class, he made it a priority to get to know each student's name. Throughout the semester, I struggled in his class, and he met with me during his office hours and helped ease my stress for the course. The homework load is not bad at all helps your final grade.Also, be sure to participate in class and try not to miss class because that is part of your grade. The exams are extremely difficult. Overall though, Dr. Pitts is a caring professor who wants to see you succeed and challenge you to be your best. If you have a strong biology background, you should be fine to take this class.  - Grade In Class:C+

Comments:1305 - For context, I took AP Bio in high school so I came in with some previous knowledge of topics and my high school used the same textbook he teaches from. His tests are pretty tricky. Meaning a lot of the questions are choose the best answer and not the correct answer. If you learn best in discussion based class, then this is your man. I personally do not learn through discussions so I had to take on a lot of time to re-study concepts. When you answer a question in class, be warned he somewhat interrogates you. He will ask you why did you choose your answer and make you think you got the wrong answer when you really haven\\\'t. His tests are multiple choice with a few fill in the blank and there are usually 2 bonus questions. He has writing assignments over On the Origin by Darwin (for our class it was 800 words for one single chapter). He has a quiz for most, but not all chapters, and we will only take the best 5 quizzes. He does not believe in extra credit. Overall, I did not enjoy his class as it did not fit my style of learning. Dr. Pitts is a very nice man, but not a great teacher in my opinion.  - Grade In Class:A

Comments:Bio 1305 - Dr. Pitts is a genuinely kind and caring person. I showed up to class the very first day of my freshman year to find that he had memorized the names of all 50 people in our class. His lectures were engaging and he welcomed class discussion instead of just listening to him talk. His tests focused on "critical thinking," and unfortunately I felt sometimes that the questions were trying to trick me. Even so, I learned a great deal from his class and I would take him again in a heartbeat.  - Grade In Class:A

Comments:1305 - Dr. Pitts is an incredible professor. I am a sophomore at Baylor and he is still the best professor I have ever had. His course is very challenging, so if you are looking for an easy A look elsewhere. However, with that being said, I 100% recommend taking him if you can. He is a wonderful man and an even better professor. You will be challenged in the best way, and you will learn so much. Science courses are not supposed to be easy and if you study and keep up with the readings you will succeed in his course. My biggest advice would be to read before class because there are random quizzes on the readings and go to SI because they really do save lives.  - Grade In Class:A

Comments:BIO 1305 - YIKES. Okay so if you are NOT a bio major (I am a psych major) then I would strongly, I REPEAT STRONGLY, recommend taking bio 1305 and 1306 at our wonderful local community college, MCC (McLennan Community College) and then just go ahead and transfer those credits over because intro bio through Baylor is literally hell. These courses could only have been devised by Satan himself. The people in this class who did well were the people who already had extensive exposure to bio, had taken AP bio in high school, or were retaking this course and already knew what to expect. I am a straight-A student. This was my first non-A grade since my FRESHMAN YEAR OF HIGH SCHOOL. But hey, MCC all the way for 1306 because screw this. Go Highlanders  - Grade In Class:B

Comments:1305 - As a freshman coming into Baylor I wasnt sure what to expect from any of my classes. Dr Pitts was my favorite professor I've had so far. He is such an amazing teacher and is super engaging in lectures. He only has a midterm and a final and they are both very difficult. I got an A in the class but I had to work very hard for it. His quizzes are also difficult but if you read the chapter before class and take notes you will get an A on them. My advice while taking Pitts is read the chapters before you go into class and before he teaches and pay attention in lecture. TAKE HIM if you want to learn the material, don't take him if you're wanting an easy A. However, if you are a premed I would strongly recommend taking him because his class will force you to learn study habits you will need for the rest of college.  - Grade In Class:A

Comments:BIO 1305 - Dr. Pitts is an absolutely amazing professor. He mainly cares about you learning the material, which takes off a lot of pressure about grades. He is a great man and a great professor as well. He explains things in a way that makes it easy to understand and he is always willing to stay after class to answer questions about anything you might be confused about. He genuinely cares about you learning the material, so take advantage of that. He gives a lot of quizzes (but only takes the top few quiz grades) so make sure to stay on top of studying. There is only one test and a final exam but I personally liked that because I was able to focus more on learning the material than studying for tests. If you read the textbook and actively pay attention during class you will be fine for this class.  - Grade In Class:A

Comments:bio 1305 - Dr. Pitts is a professor that truly cares about his students, and is easily the nicest teacher I've ever had. He knows the material well and clearly relates to the student what information they will need to know on the test. I spent about six-ten hours a week for this class, especially at the beginning, so be prepared for working; however, if you do the work an "A" is very attainable.  - Grade In Class:A

Comments:Bio 1305 - I LOVE DR. PITTS!!! Dr. Pitts clearly cared about the material and the students. Yes, this class is difficult, but every Intro to Bio class at Baylor is difficult, regardless of the professor. He gave a midterm (100 points), a final (150 points), and 9 pop quizzes (he takes your top 5). The homework is Mastering Biology which is pointless, but you can do fine in the class if you really read the book, pay attention in class, and study for the exams seriously for a week. As a person, I hold him in the highest regard and I would be very excited to take another one of his classes.  - Grade In Class:A

Comments:Bio 1305 - Dr. Pitts is by far one of the nicest people you will ever meet. He memorizes everyones name by the 2nd week in and really wants to help people succeed. I am not saying it is a easy class. It is a biology class at a college. Be prepared to read every chapter and understand what is going on in each concept. He has 2 exams, the midterm and final so be prepared to study for these exams since they have a huge impact on your grade. As long as you go to SI with our amazing SI Taylor Weber, you will get a great review that really helped on the exam. Also there is pop quizzes and we have about 8 a semester and 5 of them count and it is equivalent to one exam so MAKE SURE you understand the last chapter you went over in class before the next class. Also we have mastering Biology and you have to do a assignment before every class, they don't take too long (30min-1hour) and if you read the chapter before doing it, it will help. The homework also counts as an exam grade when you add them all together so that is nice. Also there is participation points so make sure you put in an effort in class and always go to class!!!  - Grade In Class:A

Comments:1305 - Professor Pitts is a GREAT teacher. He clearly tries to make sure that everyone in the class has a clear understanding of the material. You have to go over the material prior to class, but it helps the learning process. There are random quizzes during class, but he only takes your top 5 quiz grades. He is very helpful during his office hours. He does only have a midterm and a final; this makes the tests more stressful, but you only have to go through it twice. He is very nice and helpful. The class is not any harder than any other bio class. Yes, there is a lot of material, but that is just the course. Fewer tests also give us more class time to go over material. I would say take Professor Pitts if you can; he is a nice man and an effective teacher.  - Grade In Class:B+

Comments:1305 - This class is ridiculously hard and it's because of his teaching ability. He words quizzes and tests super different than how he states in lectures and quizzes. I like that he only keeps your best 5 quizzes, but it's so hard to score well on them since they're so difficult. Kind of an oxymoron. I had never taken bio before in high school so there's definitely a learning curve, if you have taken it before it will be easier. The problem is all he has for grades IS A MIDTERM AND FINAL and quizzes NO TESTS -- WHICH IS BAD!! This is crazy for an undergrad class let alone an INTRO class.  - Grade In Class:C+

Comments:1305 - Dr. Pitts is an amazing professor who cares about each of his students. He gives pop quizzes that can be relatively hard, but he only takes the top 5 grades (out of about 10). Make sure to do the mastering biology because they aren't too bad and basically add up to be a test grade so they can really help your grade. He also gives 50 points for attendance and participation. The only bad thing is he only has a midterm and final, therefore you need to do good, but as long as you pay attention in class and go to SI you will be fine. Overall, Dr. Pitts is very helpful and loves getting to know his students.   - Grade In Class:A