Reviews of professor Richard Astro

Rating: 5.0/5, difficulty: 1.0/5
Take ENGL320 to fulfil my General Ed requirement. This class is hybrid, only meets once a week for 1.5 hours. There is no homework / midterm / exam / required class attendance. Only 2 papers to write. Richard is a great guy, easy grader. There is a weekly reading requirement but I skim most of it.

Rating: 4.0/5, difficulty: 2.0/5
He just wanted us to read a few books and write papers on them; the class had no structure outside of that but it was chill, he's a very easy grader so if you do all the work (doesn't take too long) and know how to write (you won't learn it in this class) you should get an A.

Rating: 2.0/5, difficulty: 3.0/5
He's a really harsh grader, so it's hard getting above a B. He only graded 4 things this term with 100 points total, so it's hard to make up for one bad grade. He also has no rubric, so it's a guessing game for what he wants. One of the things he docked the most for this term is "prose", but never gives examples of good or bad prose.

Rating: 2.0/5, difficulty: 4.0/5
Comparable to a grumpy old man. He gives really harsh feedback (wrote in my that my writing "was an issue"), and is a relatively tough grader. The grade is based on two essays, literally no other work graded in this course. There was a bunch of reading to do each week, but you could kind of get by without reading virtually everything.

Rating: 1.0/5, difficulty: 4.0/5
If he doesn't like your writing style, prepare to get a poor grade even if it's decent writing. he creates vague writing prompts and then gets upset when you don't adhere to instructions that he does not even mention. He also throws in harsh criticisms in your essays that aren't constructive in the slightest. Waste of time to take this prof.

Rating: 5.0/5, difficulty: 1.0/5
Literature of Baseball with Prof. Astro is just about the best college course I've ever taken. He is unbelievably passionate about the subject, can answer any obscure baseball question you may have ("What did Sandy Koufax major in?" Without skipping a beat, "Architecture.") The lectures are not recorded, so I highly recommend you do not skip class.

Rating: 1.0/5, difficulty: 1.0/5
DO NOT TAKE THIS CLASS! Put it you straight, the class goes his way or no way and you'll fail. If he doesn't like you're writing style, you fail. If you're not a Steinbeck pro, you'll fail. He just really shouldn't be teaching this class. Harsh maybe? but not are harsh as his grading. Avoid this class at all cost.

Rating: 1.0/5, difficulty: 3.0/5
Run if you can, no rubric and based on 4 assignments: 3 essays, and 1 group presentation. Unless you are really passionate about the topic, you will not learn anything as he does not teach. All lectures are posted and it is up to you to view them or not. Even after, it's a gamble on if he likes your writing or not.