Historical instructor

Patti COFFEY

Adjusted rating
RMP difficulty
captured reviews
About this rating

Raw average: 4.29/5 from 17 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

PSYCH 526
Quality 5/5Difficulty 2/5
Best psych professor I've had. Very knowledgeable and dedicated to her field. Lectures are interesting and engaging. Huge opportunity for extra credit (25 pts!). This class fills up quickly and for good reason--it is a must-take class, especially if you're interested in criminal justice.
Rate My Professors ↗
PSYCH 526
Quality 5/5Difficulty 2/5
One of the best professors in psych department. One of my favorite courses in psych department (about criminal psych). Clear grading. Extra credits. Three easy non-cumulative exams (All multiple choice). Would definitely recommend it.
Rate My Professors ↗
PSYCH 526
Quality 5/5Difficulty 5/5
Professor Coffey is one of the best Psychology teachers at UW-Madison. I had her for Psych 601: Issues with Prisoner Reentry and Psych 526: Criminal Minds. If you have a chance to take these classes, do it! The lectures are extremely interesting and the exams are fair if you study a bit and pay attention in lecture.
Rate My Professors ↗
PSYCH 526
Quality 5/5Difficulty 3/5
At the start, the workload can be daunting, but it's incredibly manageable and Patti is a great professor
Rate My Professors ↗
PSYCH 526
Quality 5/5Difficulty 2/5
Professor Coffey is incredibly kind, pure, and generous. For a four-credit class, it's SO doable. The readings are supplemental (except two books) and enhance learning. There are 6 FAIR exams, everything is covered in lecture, and a short paper. HUGE extra credit opportunity. 10/10 recommend--I've never taken a psych class that was so rewarding.
Rate My Professors ↗
PSYCH 526
Quality 5/5Difficulty 3/5
I loved Prof. Coffey's lectures, the exams tested class material but we're not very difficult, and there is an (easy) extra credit assignment which is worth half of the points of an exam! I thought Prof. Coffey's outlook on the subject was incredible, and she covered some very difficult content in an empathetic and treatment focused way :)
Rate My Professors ↗

Personal experiences, not a representative survey. Profile matching and captured coverage are shown in the source details.

Classes with Patti COFFEY

No teaching recorded in Fall 2026.

No courses match this selection. Try the full catalog or another term.

Recorded teaching history

Explore courses taught by this instructor →
Browse recorded courses
TermCourseTitle

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

Instructor identity & provenance
{
  "instructor_uid": "instructor_ed4fb6c3bd17f397b7f79a90",
  "source": "legacy",
  "source_instructor_id": null,
  "identity_basis": "name_only",
  "identity_status": "unresolved",
  "name": "Patti COFFEY",
  "email": "PCOFFEY@WISC.EDU",
  "first_observed_at": "2025-04-16 05:20:33.104844+00:00",
  "last_observed_at": "2025-07-06 01:49:47.203835+00:00",
  "ratings": {
    "review_count": 17,
    "quality": 4.29,
    "difficulty": 2.65,
    "quality_count": 17,
    "difficulty_count": 17,
    "profile_id": "rmp:2509520",
    "source_url": "https://www.ratemyprofessors.com/professor/2509520",
    "match_basis": "exact_name",
    "observed_at": "2026-09-07 16:11:30.426159+00:00",
    "courses": {
      "course_f4bee73bb22fcf1ff1ba3468": {
        "review_count": 10,
        "quality": 5,
        "difficulty": 2.8,
        "quality_count": 10,
        "difficulty_count": 10
      },
      "course_c6cb82c0dae5185c7cec8d65": {
        "review_count": 5,
        "quality": 3.8,
        "difficulty": 2.2,
        "quality_count": 5,
        "difficulty_count": 5
      },
      "course_4659324d93459bdfdda706a3": {
        "review_count": 1,
        "quality": 2,
        "difficulty": 3,
        "quality_count": 1,
        "difficulty_count": 1
      }
    },
    "bayesian_quality": 3.9492896127278896,
    "prior_mean": 3.6596857835465957,
    "prior_weight": 20
  },
  "current": false,
  "courses": [],
  "revision": "e243353dcb7d79b7247ced91d69443ef4c2a6349",
  "instructor_url": "/instructors/PATTI_COFFEY--instructor_ed4fb6c3bd17f397b7f79a90"
}