Current instructor

John Pool

/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.

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

What students say

Original student reviews · all captured dates

GENETICS 695
Quality 1/5Difficulty 1/5
Easily the worst professor to ever exist. He consistently belittles and berates students, making them feel incompetent, unworthy and unconfident. Countless classmates and I have been shut down or made insecure for asking questions. He offers no support, only judgment. I genuinely hope no other student ever has to endure him.I pray he loses his job.
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GENETICS 695
Quality 2/5Difficulty 3/5
Before I took this class, I had a positive outlook on my experiences and the possibility of going to grad school. Afterwards, I felt more discouraged and less competent. When I asked for advice about my GPA and current research, he told me it was not likely to get into grad school.
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GENETICS 466
Quality 2/5Difficulty 5/5
Seems like he is just teaching so he can do research. lectured all about the qualitative parts of genetics, but the majority of his exam was quantitative. He also has a very weird exam structure.
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Personal experiences, not a representative survey. Profile matching and captured coverage are shown in the source details.

Classes with John Pool

GENETICS 299 is an independent study course involving research work in Genetics under faculty guidance.

Offering recorded · Fall 2026

historical GPA · grades

Spring 2022–Spring 2024 · limited sample

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

Offering recorded · Fall 2026

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.

historical GPA · grades

Fall 2024–Fall 2025 · limited sample

GENETICS 699 is a special problems course allowing students to conduct individual advanced work in a specific area of Genetics under faculty guidance.

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 2026

Advanced Genetics provides professional-level training in genetic mechanisms, analysis, transmission, and variation.

Offering recorded · Fall 2026

Recent recorded grades — Fall 2023: 3.54 GPA, 83.3% A/AB (n=12 letter grades); Fall 2024: 3.53 GPA, 73.3% A/AB (n=15 letter grades); Fall 2025: 3.71 GPA, 100.0% A/AB (n=7 letter grades). Includes jointly taught sections.

historical GPA · grades

Fall 2022–Fall 2025 · limited sample
GENETICS 990

Research

1–12 credits

GENETICS 990 is a research course where students conduct independent laboratory research under faculty supervision to prepare a graduate thesis.

Offering recorded · Fall 2026

No recorded grade history

ZOOLOGY 990 is a graduate research course where students conduct advanced biological research under faculty mentorship to fulfill program requirements.

Offering recorded · Fall 2026

No recorded grade history

Recorded teaching history

Explore courses taught by this instructor →
Browse recorded courses
TermCourseTitle
Fall 2026GENETICS 299Independent Study
Fall 2026GENETICS 681Senior Honors Thesis
Fall 2026GENETICS 695Advancing to Biological Sciences Phd Study
Fall 2026GENETICS 699Special Problems
Fall 2026GENETICS 701Advanced Genetics
Fall 2026GENETICS 990Research
Fall 2026ZOOLOGY 990Research

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

Instructor identity & provenance
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