AI Rate Professor

Biology

Brian O'Brien

BIOIII · MICROBIOLOGY · MICRO3 · MICRO5 · BIO13 · BIO3 · BIOL3 · MICRO101 · BIOLOGY3 · 26 lifetime ratings

AI rating
51/100
RMP rating
3.4/5
Take again
—
Difficulty
4.2

The decision

if you want rigorous bio prep and ; skip if you need a gentle intro.

Best fit · Hardcore LearnerPolarizing MentorEssay Exam HeavyUC Prep IntensitySpecific Answer StyleTough Curve
  • Students split hard between life-changing UC prep and .
  • , often with a .
  • write practice essays and use office hours.

Key questions

Four answers before you build your schedule.

Is this an easy A?

HardWork

30/100

A and an A require heavy deliberate effort.

All .

Is the course easy?

Challenging

22/100

Material is dense, university-level, and often described as without lots of independent study.

.

Is attendance flexible?

Varies

48/100

, though lectures are central to succeeding on exams.

No online data; in-person comments imply lecture importance without a .

Is this professor recommended?

Depends

52/100

Half the class worships his prep value while others call him the worst and urge avoidance.

Polarized recommendations are all from in-person students.

Course guide

See how this professor fits your week.

Grading

Strict

26/100

He grades specifically, uses a , and can be harsh if answers are not in his preferred style.

Format shift

and MICRO.

Workload

Heavy

32/100

Students need extensive note-taking, practice essays, and .

Format shift

Workload intensity is described only for in-person classes.

Teaching experience

Average

58/100

and fun; others say unorganized, ego-driven, and .

Format shift

Teaching quality .

Assessment method

FocusOnExams

78/100

Midterms are essay-heavy and the , and multiple choice.

Format shift

.

Luni fit check

Weigh these signals against your actual schedule.

Get help balancing workload, grading, and timing when no option is an obvious fit.

Course format

Compare the in-person and online experience.

Classroom format

In person

26 reviews

High confidence · Best fit for Hardcore Learner

In-person BIO and MICRO sections are intense, lecture-driven, and either transformative or demoralizing.

Main concern

Unclear lectures for some students .

What students said

“If you work hard in this class you are guaranteed a good grade but you WILL HAVE TO WORK FOR IT!”
BIO3
“ . From the beginning of the semester, he tells the class that because they probably won't pass.”
BIO3

Remote format

Online

0 reviews

Low confidence

No stored summary is available for this format.

Main concern

No main concern is stored for this format.

Exam style

Know what to expect from exams and major assignments.

and essay specificity more than open-ended thinking.

Essay MidtermsSpecific Phrasing RequiredTrue CurvePractice Essays Help

Assessment risk

Strict

34/100

Low score means less forgiving assessment conditions.

In person

Essay midterms and style-specific grading dominate; .

Essay MidtermsSpecific Phrasing RequiredTrue Curve
“He provides questions on his exams in advance, he allows you to write out your answers and will even go over the answers with you before the !”
BIO3
“Tests are all essay answers. .”
BIO3

Online

Student evidence

See what students actually said.

Top student voice

“If you work hard in this class you are guaranteed a good grade but you WILL HAVE TO WORK FOR IT!”

Voice snapshots generated from 26 in-person reviews, highlighting the UC-prep versus toxic-class split. Credibility rating: High.

🎯 Teaching Split

58/100

“Dr. O'Brien is perhaps the .”

📝

34/100

“If you don't write with the style he wants, you will not succeed.”

🔥 Difficulty Level

22/100

“This was one of the hardest classes I have taken.”

Theme 1

👨‍🏫 About Teaching Style

  • .
  • He will read for 20 minutes from a book in lecture!

Theme 2

📈 About Difficulty & Grades

  • He grades on a , so you have to work hard to get an A!
  • because you need to be able to answer anything he wants in his own words
  • you WILL HAVE TO WORK FOR IT!

Theme 3

❤️ About Character

  • One word -- paideia.
  • This man is caustic, rude, and mean spirited.
  • and easy to talk to if you give him a chance.

Data context

See exactly what the AI read.

Analysis sample

26

Recent reviews read by the AI

26

Lifetime ratings

80/100

Evidence confidence

Twenty-six reviews over many years show a stable polarized pattern with and lecture detail.

Inside 26 stored ratings

Quality ratings

5 out of 512
4 out of 53
3 out of 55
2 out of 50
1 out of 56

Course coverage

BIO313 reviews
MICRO54 reviews
MICROBIOLOGY3 reviews
BIO131 review
BIOIII1 review
Show 4 more courses
BIOL31 review
BIOLOGY31 review
MICRO1011 review
MICRO31 review

Reported outcomes

A range results lead the reported letter grades.

1 reported outcomes

A range

1

A+ 1

B range

0

No reported values

C range

0

No reported values

D range

0

No reported values

F

0

No reported values

No letter grade reported

0

No reported values