Class record · BIOL · MCAS

BIOL 5420

Cancer As A Metabolic Disease · 1 instructor on record · 10 sections

What the course score is made of

83BC evaluations10 records · weight ×1.0 · Fall 2021 – Spring 2026

—Student reviewsno reviews — does not contribute

—RateMyProfessorsno ratings — does not contribute

That is the class itself, averaged across everyone who taught it. Who taught it, and how each of them scored, is the board below — that is what a student picking a section is actually choosing between.

What the challenge rank is made of

57thMore challenging than 57% of BC classesranked against every one we hold

92BC — “Intellectually Challenging”10 records · raw score out of 100

Boston College's own “intellectually challenging” question for this class only — students answer it positively about courses that stretched them, so it measures intellectual challenge and NOT grading, workload or quality. Almost every BC class scores high on it, which is why it is shown as a rank rather than a score.

What the workload rank is made of

28thMore work than 28% of BC classesranked against every one we hold

44BC — “Workload”10 records · raw score out of 100

Boston College reports workload for this class only as one of five bands, not as a number of hours, and it does not publish what the bands mean — so this site will not translate it into hours. Higher means more work, which is not the same as worse.

Satisfies the advanced experience requirement for the Biology major. This seminar will review evidence showing that impaired cellular energy metabolism is the defining characteristic of nearly all cancers regardless of cellular or tissue origin. In contrast to normal cells, which derive most of their usable energy from oxidative phosphorylation, nearly all cancer cells become dependent on non-oxidative substrate level phosphorylations to meet energy demands. Evidence will be discussed supporting a general hypothesis that all hallmarks of cancer including genomic instability and metastasis can be linked to impaired mitochondrial function. A view of cancer as a metabolic disease will impact approaches to cancer management and prevention.

The only instructor on record

10 sections · nobody else has taught itFull record

Instructor	Overall	Workload	Challenge	RMP overall
Thomas SeyfriedBiology	7910 records	28th	57th	747 ratings · all classes

There is no ranking to read here: Thomas Seyfried is the only instructor with evaluation records for BIOL 5420, so the number is a record, not a position. The RateMyProfessors figure is their overall score across everything they teach, not their score in this class.

Also taught by Thomas Seyfried

1 other class

Class	Instructors	Course score
BIOL 1100General Biology	210 records	71

Other BIOL classes

All of them

Class	Instructors	Course score
BIOL 2040Investigations in Molecular Cell Biology Lab	2176 records	87
BIOL 1310Anatomy and Physiology Lab 1	443 records	78
BIOL 1330Anatomy and Physiology Lab 2	443 records	76
BIOL 2210Microbiology for Health Professionals Laboratory	341 records	84
BIOL 4260Human Anatomy with Lab	135 records	86
BIOL 4330Human Physiology	128 records	85

The line

All 13 items · means across 10 records

The Professor4 items

Clearly Explains MaterialThe instructor was effective at creating an understanding of difficult subject matter.

8616th pctl

Available Outside of ClassThe instructor was available for help outside of class.

826th pctl

Brings Out Your Best WorkThe instructor motivated me to do my best work.

8615th pctl

Sparked My InterestThe course stimulated my interest in the subject matter.

9340th pctl

The Course3 items

Well-Organized CourseThe course was well organized.

798th pctl

Clear Learning GoalsThe learning objectives for the course were clear.

8110th pctl

Useful Beyond the CourseWhat I learned is applicable beyond this course.

9566th pctl

Assignments & Feedback3 items

Assignments Help You LearnAssignments and exams contributed to my learning.

8937th pctl

Gives Feedback PromptlyI received feedback on my work in a timely manner.

683rd pctl

Meaningful FeedbackThe feedback I received on my work was meaningful.

691st pctl

Workload, difficulty & attendanceNot ratings

WorkloadHow much work the course took outside class, on Boston College's five-band scale — the band boundaries are not published, so this is not a number of hours.

4428th pctl

Intellectually ChallengingThe course was intellectually challenging.

9257th pctl

Attendance MattersAttending class was necessary to do well in this course.

9573rd pctl

Bar length is the rank against every comparable record we hold, not the raw score: BC's questions all have a median around 4.5, so a raw-scale bar would be nearly full on every row and would tell you nothing. Every bar is one ink colour — nothing here is graded green or red. The hatched bars are not ratings at all: a higher number on either describes a different course, not a better one.

Game log

10 sections · newest first

Instructor	Term	Sec	Instr	Course	Work
Thomas Seyfried	Spring 2026	01	74	83	40
Thomas Seyfried	Fall 2025	01	87	87	40
Thomas Seyfried	Spring 2025	01	75	77	40
Thomas Seyfried	Fall 2024	01	74	83	60
Thomas Seyfried	Spring 2024	01	83	83	40
Thomas Seyfried	Fall 2023	01	89	93	40
Thomas Seyfried	Spring 2023	01	72	75	—
Thomas Seyfried	Fall 2022	01	72	80	40
Thomas Seyfried	Spring 2022	02	85	85	40
Thomas Seyfried	Fall 2021	01	83	88	60

How to read this boardInstructors are ranked on their record in this class only, never on their average across everything they teach. Scores are out of 100 — Boston College's 1–5 agreement scale, ×20, the way these numbers were printed for years. Workload is BC's own five-band figure, not a number of hours, and is shown as a rank. A dash means the question was not reported, and is never a zero.