Don O'Malley is a Biology professor at Northeastern University rated 2.92/5 by 264 students, with 2.7/5 difficulty and 47.0% who would take them again (TRACE + RateMyProfessors + Reddit, updated July 2026).
Don O'Malley professor reviews and ratings: 2.92/5 from 264 student reviews at Northeastern (47.0% would take again). TRACE + RateMyProfessor + Reddit.
Genuinely nice guy, but he really needs to retire. Taught out of his own textbook that we had to pay for with $30 cash, and most of the vocab are terms he made up. Lectures are ramble-y and the slides are very confusing. Easy A (he even says he will allow you to redo assignments if you don't get an A), but I don't think I learned anything.biol2299 2026-01-26 21:07:00 +0000 UTC
He's a nice guy but horrible lecturer and presenter. He's so all over the place it's so hard to follow along. Do not take the class.BIOL4705 2024-12-12 09:41:20 +0000 UTC
Professor O'Malley was such a kind and caring professor. He clearly cared about the material, and really made an effort to get to know students (a rarity in the College of Science). Definitely would recommend taking a class with him, he will go above and make sure you do well, and loves answering questions.BIOL5581 2020-04-09 19:48:10 +0000 UTC
Don is super funny in class (if you show up- which most ppl don't). However, his lectures drag on forever and its very hard to keep up with notes out of pure boredom and he is fast and skips random slides. The only grades are from his midterms (3-4 of them I think). His tests are almost identical to his practice midterms- so look at them!!!BIOL2217 2020-03-26 17:35:45 +0000 UTC
2+2 is 4 - 1 that's 3 quick maffs. he taught me that, he teach quick maffsBIOL3405 2017-10-28 20:23:46 +0000 UTC
Goes off topic all the time and refers nearly everything to the text instead of adequately answering in class.BIOL7384 2017-09-15 16:18:04 +0000 UTC
this is an intro class so you have to be dead not to get an A. i skipped 50% of class and don't miss much. he is very interested in biology and tries to encourage students to get into it as well. he is friendly but not very intune with the students, though he tries. show up, bring a lap top to keep occupied,he rants, you get an a.BIOL1000 2015-12-03 23:41:37 +0000 UTC
He's always sidetracked and isn't clear at all. Its really hard to pay attention to his lectures, which is a bummer because neurobio is super interesting, but he just makes it dreadful, long and painful.3405 2014-10-02 23:52:32 +0000 UTC
I enjoyed the class, but you must be motivated to learn this material. Class averages were 68-76 plus a usual 10 pt curve. He's funny if you like punny and nerdy cultural references (esp monty python). If you only took Psychobio you are not prepared for this class!BIOU405 2008-12-18 16:46:43 +0000 UTC
Had O'Malley for Neurobio. He knows the material very well, but gets sidetracked and wanders off topic. Loves his slides, which are useless unless he's explaining them. He knows the material very well, but isn't so great at getting anybody else to understand it. Tries to help, but not so great at itBIO405 2008-12-15 15:46:19 +0000 UTC
He trails off after every sentence so its hard to understand him. THe use of projectors doesn't help in the slightest. Hes all over the place with the slide. He is willing to help however. Unless your a grad student i would not recommend this class to anyone, unless i didn't like them.BIOSECT 2007-10-02 22:34:28 +0000 UTC
confusing teacher, he was all over the place.APIII 2005-01-08 18:12:29 +0000 UTC
I honestly would've given Prof O'Malley 1 star, but had to give him credit for how nice he is and how easy his class was. If you want an easy A, take his class, but if you want to learn anything at all, go somewhere else. He is an AWFUL lecturer and is so hard to follow. I seriously didn't learn a thing in this class, attendance isn't mandatory.biol2299 2025-04-28 13:53:26 +0000 UTC
I do agree that his slides are a bit disorganized, but if u ask him to do a review of the information - he connects the dots for u pretty fast. Also, the slides certainly LOOK like a lot, but if you listen to his lecture you realize a lot of them reinforce the same idea:) Funny guy too.BIOL4705 2024-02-01 02:42:55 +0000 UTC
The greatest biology I have ever had. Such an inspirational person.BIOL3405 2017-10-28 20:22:25 +0000 UTC
Don O'Malley has an average rating of 2.92/5 from 264 student reviews. 47.0% of students said they would take them again.
Don O'Malley's classes have a difficulty rating of 2.7/5 based on student reviews.
Data updated July 2026.