Current instructor

Erik Dent

Adjusted rating
RMP difficulty
captured reviews
About this rating

Raw average: 3.57/5 from 7 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

BIOCORE 383
Quality 1/5Difficulty 5/5
The instructor makes too many jokes during class, which can be distracting and disrupt the learning environment. Important concepts are often not explained clearly enough, and the material is covered too quickly. Overall, the class feels very self-directed, requiring students to learn much of the content independently.
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BIOCORE 383
Quality 2/5Difficulty 4/5
Erik is among the worst professors I have dealt with at the UW. He rushes through lectures, jokes around, and does not explain the material thoroughly. While I earned an A in the class, that was achieved entirely through self-studying. Please do not take Biocore 383, get out while you can!
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BIOCORE 383
Quality 5/5Difficulty 3/5
Dr. Dent is my favorite professor and he makes me laugh so hard every lecture with his wonderful sense of humor :) And that's on top of teaching the material well!
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BIOCORE 383
Quality 3/5Difficulty 4/5
While somewhat humorous, he leaves too much explaining to the book. Tends jump from concept to concept a lot without providing clear explanations, which isn't conductive to studying (esp. since his slides have very little text). Compared to the previous two sections of the class, you'll most likely have to do a lot more outside work to do well.
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BIO303 · course not matched
Quality 5/5Difficulty 3/5
Great professor, my favorite of the 3 for Biocore 303. Has a great personality. Very interesting material, exam is very fair.
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BIOCO303 · course not matched
Quality 4/5Difficulty 3/5
There is alot of information to learn in a short amount of time, but Dent does a great job of covering and emphasizing the most important information, great sense of humor, very helpful in terms of answering questions quickly and wanting students to succeed, test was not meant to be a "trick"
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Personal experiences, not a representative survey. Profile matching and captured coverage are shown in the source details.

Classes with Erik Dent

An intermediate-level course on the cellular and molecular basis of life, covering cell structure, energy flow, and the regulation of genetic information.

Offering recorded · Spring 2027 · Sources

Past student reviews · Erik Dent

Erik Dent's lectures often relied on humor and brief slides, leading students to report that concepts were rushed and left for independent study. Many reviewers felt the class required significant outside work to succeed because explanations were not thorough.

historical GPA · grades

Spring 2023–Spring 2026

Directed Study (NEURODPT 699) involves independent work where students apply coursework concepts to real-life situations, search scientific literature, and develop critical thinking.

Offering recorded · Spring 2027 · Sources

Recent recorded grades — Fall 2015: 3.90 GPA, 100.0% A/AB (n=5 letter grades); Spring 2022: 4.00 GPA, 100.0% A/AB (n=3 letter grades); Fall 2022: 4.00 GPA, 100.0% A/AB (n=6 letter grades).

historical GPA · grades

Fall 2022–Spring 2026

Explores animal models of human CNS diseases, including brain architecture birth defects, visual system defects, neurodegeneration, and stroke.

Offering recorded · Spring 2027 · Sources

Recent recorded grades — Spring 2026: 4.00 GPA, 100.0% A/AB (n=19 letter grades). Includes jointly taught sections.

historical GPA · grades

Spring 2023–Spring 2026 · limited sample

Recorded teaching history

Distinct courses recorded per term

Explore courses taught by this instructor →
Browse recorded courses
TermCourseTitle
Spring 2027BIOCORE 383Cellular Biology
Spring 2027NEURODPT 675Selected Topics in Physiology
Spring 2027NEURODPT 699Directed Study
Spring 2027NEURODPT 990Research and Thesis
Spring 2027NTP 990Research and Thesis
Spring 2027ZOOLOGY 655Modeling Neurodevelopmental Disease
Spring 2027ZOOLOGY 682Senior Honors Thesis
Fall 2026NEURODPT 699Directed Study
Fall 2026NEURODPT 990Research and Thesis
Fall 2026NTP 990Research and Thesis
Fall 2026ZOOLOGY 681Senior Honors Thesis

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

Instructor identity & provenance
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