William Whalen

BIO20 · BIOL5 · BIOLOGY20 · BIO2081924 · BIOL58104081 · BIO81166 · BIO5 · BIOL20 · BIO21 · 42 lifetime ratings

AI rating: 51/100
RMP rating: 3.2/5
Take again: 54.76%
Difficulty: 4.1

The decision

if you are ready for a demanding biology course with , and a professor students either love or avoid.

Best fit · Hardcore LearnerVery hard examsHeavy workloadPassionate lecturesExtra credit helpsPolarizing personality

Whalen is highly polarizing, with many students praising passionate teaching and many others warning that the workload and exams are brutal.
, and students say you must study consistently and use whenever possible.
Online BIO20 reviews are much more positive than recent in-person BIO5 reviews, which are sharply negative.

Key questions

Four answers before you build your schedule.

Is this an easy A?

HardWork

42/100

and , but students repeatedly say A-level performance requires heavy studying and strong exam results.

Online BIO20 reviews mention easier A paths with , while in-person BIO5 reviews make the A sound much harder.

Is the course easy?

Challenging

28/100

Biology and anatomy , and often described as requiring major outside study.

Both formats call the material difficult, but recent in-person BIO5 reviews describe the harshest experience.

Is attendance flexible?

Depends

54/100

Recommendation depends heavily on course and student style because reviews range from .

Online reviews are more favorable overall, while and recently more negative.

Course guide

See how this professor fits your week.

Grading

Fair

48/100

and occasional curves help, but and strict point loss.

Format shift

Online BIO20 reviews mention more positively, while in-person BIO5 reviews emphasize tough grading and high-stakes exams.

Workload

Overwhelming

18/100

Students , and stacked deadlines.

Format shift

Both formats mention heavy work, with in-person BIO5 reviews giving the strongest evidence of overwhelming workload.

Teaching experience

Average

56/100

He is often called passionate and engaging, but many students also say he rambles, confuses them, or leaves them self-teaching.

Format shift

Online BIO20 reviews are mostly positive about teaching, while recent in-person BIO5 reviews are much more negative.

Assessment method

FocusOnExams

88/100

Grades are , and .

Format shift

Both formats support exam-heavy assessment, with .

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

33 reviews

High confidence · Best fit for Hardcore Learner

In-person reviews are sharply split between amazing lectures with and , and self-teaching.

Main concern

The main risk is a and unclear exam alignment.

What students said

“There are 4 200 point exams and 1 100 point final.”
BIO2081924

“Labs were 20+ pages long.”
BIOL5

“Awesome professor. Hard class but makes it super easy.”
BIO20

Remote format

Online

9 reviews

Medium confidence · Best fit for Hardcore Learner

Online reviews are mixed but lean more positive for BIO20, with praise for organized lectures and but and heavy work.

Main concern

Exams and , and some students find online labs or .

What students said

“He will work with you the prepared for his exams.”
BIO20

“ .”
BIOL5

“By far the courses.”
BIO20

Exam style

Know what to expect from exams and major assignments.

Exams are repeatedly described as long, difficult, and central to the grade, though reviews .

Heavy ExamsLong TestsLab ExamsPop QuizzesExtra Credit

Assessment risk

Strict

28/100

Low score means less forgiving assessment conditions.

In person

and lab exams, long tests, and pop quizzes, with sometimes offsetting the difficulty.

High-Stakes ExamsLab ExamsPop QuizzesExtra Credit

“There are 4 200 point exams and 1 100 point final.”
BIO2081924

“ and difficult.”
BIOL5

“There were things on the .”
BIO20

Online

and lab exams, and review sessions, but do not clearly prove webcam, Lockdown Browser, proctoring, or open-book rules.

Heavy TestsLecture And Lab ExamsQuizzesReview Sessions

“ .”
BIOL5

“There are 4 lecture and 4 lab exams.”
BIOL20

“the .”
BIOL5

Student evidence

See what students actually said.

Top student voice
“His class is tough, but your performance will reflect how much you care about your grade.”
Voice snapshots generated from 42 reviews, highlighting key themes in , and course-format differences. Credibility rating: High.

🧪

28/100

“There are 4 200 point exams and 1 100 point final.”

🎯 Teaching Quality

56/100

“He teaches with so much passion, and you can tell that he truly cares about every one of his students.”

📚 Workload Intensity

18/100

“Labs were 20+ pages long.”

Theme 1

👨‍🏫 About Teaching Style

He teaches with so much passion
You had to teach yourself everything.
He makes learning fun and lectures are very factual.

Theme 2

📈 About Exams And Grades

and difficult.
All of
.

Theme 3

📚 About Workload

The work load is insane!!!
There is a lot of work each week
This is a challenging course. It will require lots of effort, studying, and consistency.

Data context

See exactly what the AI read.

Analysis sample

Recent reviews read by the AI

Lifetime ratings

88/100

Evidence confidence

The rating is credible because 42 reviews across formats show consistent themes, though course differences create real polarization.

Inside 42 stored ratings

Quality ratings

5 out of 515

4 out of 55

3 out of 56

2 out of 54

1 out of 512

Course coverage

BIO2017 reviews

BIOL58 reviews

BIO57 reviews

BIOL204 reviews

BIO20819242 reviews

Show 4 more courses

BIO211 review

BIO811661 review

BIOL581040811 review

BIOLOGY201 review

Reported outcomes

A range results lead the reported letter grades.

36 reported outcomes

A range

A+ 6 · A 7 · A- 2

B range

B+ 2 · B 7 · B- 1

C range

C 2

D range

D 1

F

F 3

No letter grade reported

Audit/No Grade 1 · Incomplete 1 · Rather not say 3

William Whalen

x x x if you are ready for a demanding biology course with x x x x x, and a professor students either love or avoid.

Four answers before you build your schedule.

HardWork

Challenging

Recommended

Depends

See how this professor fits your week.

Compare the in-person and online experience.

Know what to expect from exams and major assignments.

In person

Online

See what students actually said.

🧪 x x

🎯 Teaching Quality

📚 Workload Intensity

👨‍🏫 About Teaching Style

📈 About Exams And Grades

📚 About Workload

See exactly what the AI read.

Quality ratings

Course coverage

A range results lead the reported letter grades.

A range

B range

C range

D range

F

No letter grade reported

if you are ready for a demanding biology course with , and a professor students either love or avoid.

🧪