Gail Hafer
3 courses · 65 reviews
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All Reviews
Personally, I liked Professor Hafer. Dr. Hafer seems to tire as the day progresses. In the morning, she really cares about you. In the afternoon... That's when the horror (see other comments) happens. Grades rely mainly on memorization-heavy tests. N
5/9/2026
2-4 hrs/week
I've never taken AP Bio and it was hard to stay focused in this class because its not as hard as chem but also requires self-review because they basically just read off the slides
4/18/2025
had not taken ap bio and this class was incredibly difficult. test grading criteria is super specific to the point where they are actively trying to find points to take off your grade.
10/21/2024
4-6 hrs/week
Hafer very clearly hates lecturing and does not put effort into this class. Kunkel is better but the class itself is very cut and dry regardless. Pure memorization and little elaboration.
7/9/2024
4-6 hrs/week
Fairly similar to AP Bio if you took it, but Hafer is such a bad prof that it felt much harder
5/26/2024
4-6 hrs/week
This is a somewhat difficult course taught by professors that do not care or respect students. It is super disappointed and discouraging. The lectures are also not super helpful.
5/21/2024
2 or less hrs/week
Its intro bio. Its a bad class but you have to take it and its easy
5/19/2024
Even during help sessions, she acts irritated at students for asking questions & not understanding content, when all she does in lecture is read off the slides. The material wasn't that bad, but tests & quizzes can be difficult.
5/13/2024
Hafer reads off of the slides and does not add much regarding expertise. Though she will stop and ask questions, she can rarely answer them, which is disappointing. If you have taken AP Bio before, it may be okay that she does not teach the material, but for first-time Bio learners, the lack of actual explanation and guidance makes it tough.
5/12/2024
She's nice and funny but just reads off the slides. The material can be learned without attending her lectures. We rush through content and don't spend as much time applying it. She says the tests emphasize conceptual understanding, but they were fairly basic and mostly memorization, which was a loss educationally. Exams aren't weighted that much.
5/10/2024
In my experience, she was nowhere near as bad as she was made out to be. You have to give her and Kunkel grace for reading off slides when there is so much information to cover that there is no way to lecture without them. Overall she is ok - not amazing but not terrible. The midterms only make up 25% of your grade which is extremely fair.
5/7/2024
Not going to lie, I didn't go to lecture because it was such a waste of time. She read off the slides the whole time. Loved biology until I had to take it with her here.
5/1/2024
It's clear that Hafer has a passion for her students, but her lectures are sometimes boring and I find it easier if I just studied in my dorm instead of going to lectures.
5/1/2024
Hafer is way better than all of these haters say she is. She explains what is on the slides very clearly, which has been extremely helpful because I haven't taken bio in a while. She just teaches you what you need to know. (I cannot say any of these things about Kunkel).
4/13/2024
She gets a bad rep but is just not great in a big lecture setting, if you talk to her or take another class with her you will really like her. Class was fairly easy and we got note sheets for exams. It was just boring.
2/23/2024
reads of the slides in slow motion and proceeds to explain absolutely nothing. Baffles me how she is still employed. dont take this class unless you are sleep deprived and want an hour nap per day
2/16/2024
Could be a more organized lecturer and Bio 2970 is hard, but honestly easier than 2960 - I liked the flipped classroom style.
12/31/2023
Does not seem to love what she teaches... and that is a MAJOR problem. Can't spread inspiration without seemingly caring about the subject...
12/18/2023
It's hard to enjoy learning biology when the prof seems to had learning, teaching, and students in general. Hafer constantly brought a bad attitude to class and was very dismissive and rude when asked questions.
11/2/2023
This class was horrible. Lectures were very boring and she just read off the lecture slides. Very unhelpful and therefore the exams were much more difficult than I expected. Extremely specific and little partial credit.
10/23/2023
Hafer doesn't really seem to like students, but she isn't all that bad 1 on 1. She does teach off of slides, but there are so many things in biology that need to be visualized that I found it a fine way of teaching. If you can focus on the material, it can be an enjoyable class.
5/9/2023
It sucks to say that BIO 2960, a core Pre-Med class at WashU has been probably the worst class I have taken in my life. She sounds like she doesn't know what she's talking about in lectures and refuses/dodges people's questions. She is also extremely rude and has no passion for teaching. Exams are poorly worded and contain niche questions.
5/8/2023
Kathy was not a good lecturer, she is pretty monotone and it got kind of boring. She didn't seem happy when anyone asked questions and always brushed them off. Not very invested in students.
5/6/2023
She seems unapproachable in lecture, but she is nice outside of lecture. She does not do a great job of teaching in lecture.
5/5/2023
I have heard people like her when they have her in bio lab but does not excuse her being bad at teaching. You can't just read the slides and expect that to make sense to students who have not taken AP Bio. Do not take this class unless you have enough drive to self teach or need it as a requirement.
4/10/2023
Sometimes (a lot of the time), reads off of the slides and struggles to explain the material. Cannot explain disputed content well, and the ambiguity of test and quiz questions warrants contesting the 'correct' answers. Attendance should not be necessary and most of the content could be found on public websites. The textbook is virtually worthless.
3/27/2023
HAFER is hilariously bad. She yells at students for her own mistakes. Only teaches the class because no one else wants to take her place for fear that they will also have their reputation tainted. She is not accessible outside of class and her feedback is that you should've known better. Class is so disorganized I learned more in high school.
1/19/2023
Phage Hunters was overall a good experience. Basically everyone gets an A, and I found the content interesting. Hafer, however, is blatantly rude to students and did not treat the AI with respect. Her lectures were easy to follow, but I couldn't stand how she treats others.
12/19/2022
Kathy Hafer cares so little about this class and about the students in it. Expect monotony, reading of slides, and extremely difficult to understand rambles. I barely made it through this class. Kunkel is better, but not by a lot. Hafer is the worst lecturer I have had at WashU.
11/2/2022
Kathy Hafer is not only one of the worst professors, but one of the worst of people. She doesn't care for students or her fellow faculty in the slightest and it shows. She yells at students, denies to answer pertinent questions, and is absurdly arrogant. The class is required for many so push through it, and don't let Hafer define WashU professors.
9/20/2022
Very poor instructor. Simply reads off the (very content heavy) slides and does nothing more. Extremely unenthusiastic, making lectures boring and useless. She also disregards student questions and is very rude towards them, creating an overall hostile and unwelcoming environment. The class itself isn't too hard, but prepare to teach yourself.
5/12/2022
lectures are very fast-paced; impossible to take any decent notes; weekly quizzes do not represent the level of difficulty of the midterm and final exams
5/6/2022
The 2960 profs never write anything on the board, and instead read slides (many of which are just blocks of text) at a conversational pace. I genuinely think it's impossible to take decent notes in real time for their lectures. They also used the exams being online/open-note as an excuse to make the questions extremely subjective and ambiguous.
4/27/2022
She spends more time explaining how she won't explain things instead of explaining things
4/7/2022
She is very unapproachable when asking questions. She clearly shows no passion for biology, teaching, or even students so I am not sure why she is a professor. If you ask a question, you will most certainly receive a demeaning response. In class, students can often be seen doing other work. The other professor, Dr. Kunkel, is noticeably better.
4/4/2022
The way this course is taught is absolutely awful. lecturers may be nice people but they do not know how to teach at all. they read off slides everyday and expect us to soak up a bunch of details and information like we're einstein or something. also it hurts more because my highschool didnt have a strong biology program so im struggling
3/13/2022
terrible. couldn't care less about teaching. shows up and reads the slides. her voice is annoying.
3/9/2022
Frankly, I am horrified that Prof. Hafer is still allowed to teach bio 2960. Success is dependent on previous knowledge and the slides provided for lecture. Hafer read off of the slides, did not allow us to ask her questions before or after class, and was disrespectful towards students. I have never experienced a more terribly taught class.
3/8/2022
Im shocked she is a professor considering she literally hates her students and has zero patience, organization, or clarity. Doesn't explain what we need to know for quizzes or exams. She told us in lecture we "didn't need to know" some information then put questions directly related to that material on a quiz that week.
2/8/2022
Does not have the knowledge to answer student questions, and sometimes refused to answer them. The class is run very poorly and is very disorganized.
2/4/2022
you would be better off watching crash course videos than attending her lectures. Rude and unhelpful 0/10, rounding down.
2/3/2022
Very unprofessional and not very helpful at all. This is an intro class and she acts like every question is a dumb one. I understand it's a large class but I still wish she would be nicer and more willing to help students. I am a transfer student retaking intro to bio AND I took AP bio, but if I hadn't I would definitely really struggle
2/2/2022
Be ready to study a lot on your own. She reads off the slides and you have to figure out where to go from there.
2/1/2022
Nonexistent is the only one day that you guys are going on and what is happening in your room lol and I hope youre having fun and enjoying yourself and your life together too bro love and merry thanksgiving to heaven bless your lord bless.
1/26/2022
DO NOT TAKE PHAGE!!! I am warning you guys this class was so bad. They advertise this as a fun awesome class where you get to do research but that is absolutely not the case. She is boring, has no energy, and puts the entire class to sleep. I drink 2 cups of coffee and somehow still fall asleep in her class.
12/15/2021
Absolutely useless professor. I have no idea how she was assigned to be in charge of intro bio. Refused to answer students questions, and often ridiculed students for asking questions when it was clear that she just did not know the answer herself. Should be fired
9/10/2021
It's apparent that Kath Hafer hates people and hates her job. All she does is read from a powerpoint slide that is written at a level of bio not understandable for people who haven't taken ap bio. If you're like me and didn't take ap bio, you will have to teach yourself everything.
7/13/2021
Dr. Hafer seems to be a very sassy person, but in reality, she cares about students. I know students in my class complained a lot about the lectures and exams. However, I couldn't believe others could lecture better than her. I've also taken her lab session. She's a fantastic teacher!
6/8/2021
Worst teacher I have ever had period. If 0 was a rating option I would give it.
5/19/2021
For a school that is ranked number 10 for their biology program, I have no idea how Professor Hafer landed a job. It's pretty obvious she enjoys being there less than her students by the way she treats her colleagues and TAs. I think that she would be better off working at a public high school. Also, she overuses the adjective squishy. Not good.
4/16/2021
Terrible person and professor. She hates her students and her colleagues, can't lecture without reading off the slides, and can't answer basic questions. Not accessible either in or out of class. When she has a bad day, she takes it out on her students. The tests and quizzes are not terrible but the grading is ridiculously unfair.
4/16/2021
For a professor that says she's dedicated to teaching, she sure seems to hate her students and TAs. Seems to genuinely dislike her students, and yells at people for asking questions during class. Also seemed to have problems with the TAs and yelled at one on a Zoom call five minutes before class started. Not very accessible outside of class either.
4/16/2021
You're literally graded on random chance. Example of a question that would be on a test in this class: "List some colors that start with the letter 'S.'" The students answer: "Sandy brown Sangria Sapphire Scarlet Seashell Sepia Sky Blue Slate grey Smalt Spring bud Spring green" The grading: 0 pts. Did not include steel blue.
3/29/2021
Avoid at all costs. She only read off of her slides, word for word. She has a very condescending tone, and beware of asking for help because she will attack you for asking basic questions. I've asked many questions and the only answer she gives is "because that's the way it is." Your best bet is crash course instead of lectures.
3/24/2021
Very unhelpful, does not know answers to some relatively basic question, is very not engaging lecturer
12/9/2020
Hafer does not care about her students at all and seems to go out of her way to make class harder. She is extremely rude and condescending when asked questions (and rarely even gives an answer), and she does not act like she wants to be giving a lecture at all.
10/20/2020
Hafer's lecturing isn't great, so just show up for the iClicker extra credit if you want it. She's not very personable; a friend of mine emailed her about a mistake on MT2 and she responded with a passive aggressive refusal. Class is memorization heavy, but not challenging otherwise. Do the practice tests and problem sets likely get an A.
6/24/2020
Not the nicest person, but thats not what matters. Shes straightforward, and I value that in a professor. The tests arent meant to trick you, theres just a lot of information to memorize, and shes pretty upfront with what you need to know.
5/10/2020
I LOVED Dr. Hafer. I would always feel welcomed during office hours, and get a kick out of her interesting stories. The class was not easy, and I had to work for my grade. Even though I didnt earn the grade I wanted, I at least learned something from my experience. And thats all that matters. Overall, a very solid choice.
4/27/2020
Professor Hafer's lectures aren't too revolutionary, mostly reading off slides, and she is not the friendliest professor out there. However, the class offers 2.3% extra credit which means you can have a B- test average (which is the usual test avg) and still earn an A- thanks to how course assignments are weighted. Memorization heavy.
4/26/2020
Awful teacher. It seems like she doesn't even understand half of the things she is teaching about. Reads off slides and is very condescending. Do not recommend.
4/23/2020