Course Evaluations

Best and Worst Comments Taken from the MIT Course Evaluation Guide

1. “Text is useless. I use it to kill roaches in my room.”

2. “He teaches like Speedy Gonzalez on a caffeine high.”

3. “In class, the syllabus is more important than you are.”

4. “Help! I’ve fallen asleep and I can’t wake up!”

5. “Text makes a satisfying ‘thud’ when dropped on the floor.”

6. “The class is worthwhile because I need it for the degree.”

7. “His blackboard technique puts Rembrandt to shame.”

8. “Textbook is confusing … someone with a knowledge of English should proofread it.”

9. “Have you ever fallen asleep in class and awoke in another? That’s the way I felt all term.”

10. “This class was a religious experience for me … I had to take it all on faith.”

11. “The recitation instructor would make a good parking lot attendant. Tries to tell you where to go, but you can never understand him.”

12. “Problems sets are a decoy to lure you away from potential exam material.”

13. “Recitation was great. It was so confusing that I forgot who I was, where I was, and what I was doing—it’s a great stress reliever.”

14. “He is one of the best teachers I have had… . He is well-organized, presents good lectures, and creates interest in the subject. I hope my comments don’t hurt his chances of getting tenure.”

15. “I would sit in class and stare out the window at the squirrels. They’ve got a cool nest in the tree.”

16. “The absolute value of the TA was less than epsilon.”

17. “TA steadily improved throughout the course… . I think he started drinking and it really loosened him up.”

18. “Information was presented like a ruptured fire hoseÑspraying in all directions—no way to stop it.”

19. “I never bought the text. My $60 was better spent on the Led Zeppelin tapes that I used while doing the problem sets.”

20. “What’s the quality of the text? ‘Text is printed on high-quality paper.’”

21. “The course was very thorough. What wasn’t covered in class was covered on the final exam.”d in class was covered on the final exam.”