Worst professor I've had at Cornell. Always behind and does not teach you anything. Grading scale is bizarre; only 97-99 is an A. Does not post grading scale on syllabus (only tells you halway through the semester). Asks for your opinion only to tell you how wrong you are. Exams are impossible and most of the class failed big % assignments.Rate My Professors ↗
Historical instructor
JOHN ZINDA
What students say
Original student reviews · all captured dates
Quality 1/5Difficulty 5/5
Quality 1/5Difficulty 3/5
I think he may have been the worst professor I've ever had in my time at Cornell. He is so unorganized, sneaks his strict grading scale in, hides stuff from his syllabus, and is overall not helpful. I went to his office hours on several occasions seeking help, and received nothing in the form of a pointed direction. He is also very, very awkward.Rate My Professors ↗
Quality 2/5Difficulty 3/5
He's a nice guy, but you can tell he's really inexperienced. He's new to Cornell and has just tried a bunch of weird stuff when it comes to grading and assignments and evaluating. The grading seems totally subjective and he loves quizzing the class on tiny tidbits of information that you probably won't remember from last night's 80-page readingRate My Professors ↗
Quality 2/5Difficulty 1/5
Horrible class. So much reading, so little accountability for the reading. Zinda was super unorganized and complained about how little he got paid and how much time he spent preparing. Don't take this class unless you absolutely have to. I could have learned more by doing a good google search than taking this class.Rate My Professors ↗
Personal experiences, not a representative survey. Profile matching and captured coverage are shown in the source details.
Classes with JOHN ZINDA
No teaching recorded in Fall 2026.
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Recorded teaching history
Explore courses taught by this instructor →Browse recorded courses
| Term | Course | Title |
|---|---|---|
| Spring 2013 | C&ESOC/SOC 140 | Introduction to Community and Environmental Sociology |
Teaching history may be incomplete. Course pages contain course-specific feedback and citations.
Instructor identity & provenance
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