Current instructor

Dakotah Thompson

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

Raw average: 4.17/5 from 6 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.

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

What students say

Original student reviews · all captured dates

ME 364
Quality 5/5Difficulty 5/5
This is a hard one to write because he is the nicest guy ever... except when it comes to exam writing, which would be fine, except he never curves... ever. He is totally okay with only one person getting an A. The highest grades on our exams were an 89 and a 93. I was in the high upper quartile on both and still got an AB so be warned.
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ME 364
Quality 5/5Difficulty 3/5
Was a great professor who cared. At this level with the difficulty of courses it's important that the prof is looking out for you. I went to his office hours a few times, they were easy and informative. Heat transfer is hard at times and it's important to attend lectures to get the material, but he does a good job. +he brought donuts for the final!
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ME 364
Quality 4/5Difficulty 4/5
Amazing prof, horrible exam writer. Definitely struggles to understand the level of his students, but this will improve over time (hasn't taught much yet). Super friendly and will make time for you if you are struggling or want to get more in-depth with material. Overall amazing experience, but if you're looking for an easy A, pick someone else.
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ME 364
Quality 2/5Difficulty 3/5
The class average is a BC right now and he doesn't want to curve the class. I would recommend taking it with someone else if you care about your GPA. The exams are nearly impossible for students to finish in time and with his original homework submissions you spent more time formatting your homework for him than on the actual heat transfer part.
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ME 364
Quality 4/5Difficulty 3/5
This was Professor Thompson's first time (or one of his first times) teaching the course and I thought he did a good job. He was very approachable and helpful during office hours. There were times in lectures when things were hard to follow or dry, but for the first time teaching he did very well. A safe choice for an engineering class.
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ME 364
Quality 5/5Difficulty 3/5
Dakotah is a great professor and I would highly recommend taking his class. I have him for heat transfer and in my experience, when you come to him with questions or go to his office hours, he is very helpful in answering any questions you have and will work with you until you really feel like you have a good grasp on the concept.
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Personal experiences, not a representative survey. Profile matching and captured coverage are shown in the source details.

Classes with Dakotah Thompson

ME 699 is an advanced independent study course involving directed study projects arranged with an instructor.

Offering recorded · Fall 2026

Recent recorded grades — Spring 2022: 4.00 GPA, 100.0% A/AB (n=1 letter grades).

historical GPA · grades

Spring 2022–Spring 2022 · limited sample

ME 768 teaches concepts for predicting, characterizing, and reducing noise in measurements to improve signal-to-noise ratios and detection limits.

Offering recorded · Fall 2026

Recent recorded grades — Fall 2023: 3.88 GPA, 100.0% A/AB (n=12 letter grades); Fall 2024: 3.96 GPA, 100.0% A/AB (n=28 letter grades); Fall 2025: 4.00 GPA, 100.0% A/AB (n=24 letter grades). Includes jointly taught sections.

historical GPA · grades

Fall 2023–Fall 2025 · limited sample

Recorded teaching history

Explore courses taught by this instructor →
Browse recorded courses
TermCourseTitle
Fall 2026ME 699Advanced Independent Study
Fall 2026ME 768Precision Measurements
Fall 2026ME 790Master's Research and Thesis
Fall 2026ME 890Phd Research and Thesis
Fall 2026ME 990Dissertator Research and Thesis

Teaching history may be incomplete. Course pages contain course-specific feedback and citations.

Instructor identity & provenance
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