Fall 2026

Advancing to Biological Sciences Phd Study

A course for exploring the biological sciences PhD experience, helping students confirm their fit for graduate study and prepare application materials.

offering recorded1 credits
Recorded instructors · Fall 2026 John Pool3.4/5

Summary

1 / 6

Reviewers report difficulty in receiving constructive guidance, with one student feeling discouraged about graduate school prospects after seeking advice.

Grade history

average GPA
letter grades
A
AB
B
BC
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D
F

All recorded terms · compare terms & instructors

Prerequisites

Course map

Senior standing

  • Senior standing
GENETICS 695

This is a best-effort interpretation; check the catalog requirements above.

Prerequisite text tree
  • Senior standing

Professors

Fall 2026
/5Adjusted rating
/5RMP difficulty
captured reviews
About this rating

Raw average: 1.67/5 from 3 quality ratings. The adjusted rating blends this with the UW review average (3.66/5), weighted as 20 additional ratings. Smaller samples stay closer to that average. Each captured review is counted once in the prior; this does not correct who chooses to leave a review.

For this course: 1.5/5 raw quality · 2.0/5 difficulty · 2 reviews

RMP profile ↗ · All captured review dates; profile matched by name.

John Pool receives severe criticism for creating a discouraging environment where students feel incompetent and belittled. Reviewers report that he offers no support, only judgment, and actively shuts down questions, leading to decreased confidence and negative outlooks on graduate school prospects.

Recent recorded grades — Fall 2024: 3.86 GPA, 93.1% A/AB (n=29 letter grades); Fall 2025: 3.90 GPA, 90.3% A/AB (n=31 letter grades).

Historical instructors & teaching patterns

JOHN POOL is recorded teaching in Fall 2024, Fall 2025. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.

Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.

Calendar & sections

Fall 2026

Schedule loads here as you scroll.

SectionModeEnrolled / capacityWaitlist
LEC 001Classroom Instruction12 / 400

Times are Central. Select a meeting for details; export includes recorded dates for the selected sections. Enrollment reflects scan time.

Meeting source records

Student experience

the class

John Pool receives severe criticism for creating a discouraging environment that undermines student confidence and offers no support.

Recent recorded grades — Fall 2024: 3.86 GPA, 93.1% A/AB (n=29 letter grades); Fall 2025: 3.90 GPA, 90.3% A/AB (n=31 letter grades).

difficulty & workload

Reviewers report difficulty in receiving constructive guidance, with one student feeling discouraged about graduate school prospects after seeking advice.

Students report being belittled and shut down when asking questions, resulting in feelings of incompetence and insecurity.

Topics

  • PhD student experience and application process
  • Personal goal reflection and graduate study nature
  • Admissions timing and personal readiness assessment

Skills

  • Application material improvement and interview skill strengthening
  • Identification of research areas and prospective advisors

Grades

Latest available · Fall 2025— not enough history to project Fall 2026.

average GPA
A / AB grades
letter grades
Instructor

Grade distribution · % of letter grades

A
AB
B
BC
C
D
F

Grades over time

Through Fall 2025

More grade details Grade mix, volume & source data

Where this course fits relative to

Latest available grades · Fall 2025 · all course levels

GPA

Higher than % of other courses in this group.

Course GPAs · red marks this course’s range

letter grades

More recorded grades than % of other courses in this group.

Typical course in this group: letter grades.

About this comparison

1320 courses over the same term, each with at least 30 recorded letter grades. Cross-listed courses count once. GPA is not a measure of difficulty or teaching quality. The typical course is the median by recorded grade count; tied values are not counted as lower. Grade counts describe course scale, not unique students or typical section size.

Descriptions compare GPA with this group’s average: at least 0.20 higher or lower; otherwise close to average. Section size uses median recorded enrollment: small up to 30, mid-sized 31–99, large 100+. Lectures and discussion/lab sections are described separately.

Sources & history

UW–Madison

Catalog & offerings

Descriptions, prerequisites, and recorded course offerings.

Catalog observation history

Observations at scan time; dates do not imply when a catalog change took effect.

Selected offering source records
GENETICS 695 · Fall 2026

Advancing to Biological Sciences PhD Study

Recorded 2026-09-07
Raw records
[
  {
    "run_id": "20260907T155543-ce3781c4",
    "semester": "1272",
    "observed_at": "2026-09-07 15:55:43.033547+00:00",
    "offering_id": "1272:412:026771",
    "course_id": "GENETICS 695",
    "course_uid": "course_8ec02741a0f749d153ff3490",
    "term_id": "1272",
    "source_course_id": "026771",
    "source_subject_id": "412",
    "title": "Advancing to Biological Sciences PhD Study",
    "credits_min": 1,
    "credits_max": 1,
    "typically_offered": "Not Applicable"
  }
]
Rate My Professors

Student reviews

Original comments behind the course and instructor summaries.

Read original reviews
Madgrades

Grade history

Recorded grade distributions by term, section, and instructor.

Explore recorded grades
Model outputs & technical records
nvidia/Qwen3.6-35B-A3B-NVFP4
LLM outputs across runs
Full model traces

Recorded model configuration, reasoning, and tool conversations.

Model & dataset provenance
{
  "model": "nvidia/Qwen3.6-35B-A3B-NVFP4",
  "model_revision": "1355db6a052410cfd62085d94b58866fd0f2c3c5",
  "task_version": "14",
  "output_id": "6dfff3a4f40d411577435f1f97ed0f9dce08549948afa8b6fc88147d9d2ade46",
  "requirements_status": "valid",
  "dataset_revision": "e243353dcb7d79b7247ced91d69443ef4c2a6349",
  "observed_at": "2026-09-07 15:55:43.033547+00:00"
}