Phyllis Strauss is a Biology professor at Northeastern University rated 1.6/5 by 31 students, with 4.7/5 difficulty (TRACE + RateMyProfessors + Reddit, updated July 2026).
Phyllis Strauss professor reviews and ratings: 1.6/5 from 31 student reviews at Northeastern. TRACE + RateMyProfessor + Reddit.
Extremely unapproachable. Quizzes are super unpredictable and her grading is as well. Rarely if ever gives points back after poor grading. Youll learn, but your grade wont reflect how much you know. Studying is rarely effective. Boring lectures off of powerpoints that have such little info on them theyre useless outside of class. Freshmen AVOID.BIO2299 2017-11-17 12:36:25 +0000 UTC
I took Professor Strauss's class back in fall 2012 and in retrospect she was the worst professor I have ever had in my 5 years at Northeastern. Made my first semester of college a stressful nightmare. I graduated with a 3.9 so don't believe those people who tell you to "apply yourself" the quizzes were on random things she thought you should know.BIOL2299 2017-09-26 15:20:22 +0000 UTC
Yes, Phyllis is demanding, and has high expectations. For this reason, however, she is one of the only professors you will actually LEARN ANYTHING from. Fantastic professor, extremely encouraging, motivating, passionate, and dedicated. There is no getting around slacking off, but if you put the work in, you will be fine.BIOL409 2011-01-06 23:14:42 +0000 UTC
BIOU409? Run as fast away from this class as possible if she is your teacherBIOU409 2009-02-23 18:58:40 +0000 UTC
Has no business teaching.BIO409 2008-11-01 15:58:31 +0000 UTC
If I do not get into Medical School this women will be responsible. Spent more time studying for her impossible 10 minute long quizzes than I did for Organic Chemistry. Did much better in orgo. She grades on a curve. If every student got a perfect 100 in the class she would make every one's grade a B- on principle. I seriously don't recommendBIOU401 2008-04-07 12:35:10 +0000 UTC
Professor Strauss grades quizzes based on her expectations for the class average. She doesnt care if you get an answer right or wrong, she just takes off points if other people in the class already got good grades. It doesnt make any sense at all. You can get lucky on a quiz though if you put some kind of phrase that is burned into her mind.BIO0409 2006-09-27 16:24:02 +0000 UTC
No CommentsBIOU6666 2006-07-09 01:02:27 +0000 UTC
This is a hard class. That said, if you truly apply yourself and put in your best effort, you can get an A. Strauss is there to help you, but she will not like it if you do not care about the subject material. If you try hard, you can succeed. Also, do not underestimate the level of detail she requires for her quizzes.BIO2299 2016-04-20 13:28:55 +0000 UTC
Professor Strauss means well, I'm sure she does. But in a class where all of her students were freshmen, she consistently failed to outline what she was asking for in our papers and let our grades suffer as a result. To be fair, a pretty hefty curve is applied at the end, but don't rely on that curve. Good luck if you have her! (you'll need it)BIOL2299 2016-12-23 00:13:48 +0000 UTC
I got an A in her class...and I still think she is the worst teacher I have ever and will ever have. Not one person complained about their grades...they complained about her.BIOU409 2009-02-12 08:53:47 +0000 UTC
So if a question asks two specific things you better answer them and then add 5 more ambiguous things. Class avg is all over the chart, will quiz on anything she feels like, pretty much two slides out of a week of notes. Grading is eratic and grading on papers is tweaked to create the perfect bell curve. Take another advanced elective if possible.BIO409 2006-11-14 17:08:13 +0000 UTC
I have actually never had a more ridiculous teacher. She does not help you in the slightest bit if you don't understand something. If you're thinking about taking her class, just don't. It's so much work just to get a mediocre grade, esp. compared to the rest of the Inquiries classes. She teaches complex graduate level info to entering freshman.BIO2299 2011-11-06 20:28:13 +0000 UTC
Strauss is unbelievably hard and does not care about her students. She is very rude and thinks so highly of herself that she does not see that her students have no idea what she is talking about. She expects graduate level work from freshmen and sophomores. No matter how hard you study, you will not do well unless you can literally read her mind.BIOL2299 2016-12-16 11:29:46 +0000 UTC
The worst part about her classes are the fact that they are filled with the annoying kids who are used to getting straight A's in high school and complain non-stop once they realize that, in order to get a good grade in her class, they actually have to work. As long as you pay attention and take notes in her class, you're fine.BIOU409 2009-01-06 09:32:41 +0000 UTC
Phyllis Strauss has an average rating of 1.6/5 from 31 student reviews.
Phyllis Strauss's classes have a difficulty rating of 4.7/5 based on student reviews.
Phyllis Strauss has taught BIOL2299, BIOL7399, BIOL2323 at Northeastern.
Data updated July 2026.