Carney Curve

Boston College course evaluations · Fall 2021 through Spring 2026, ranked class by class

How this list is ordered

Positions account for how many records stand behind each number, so one perfect review does not outrank a semester of them. Every score shown is the real average — only the ordering is adjusted.

Class record · ACCT · CSOM

ACCT 3321

Intermediate Accounting for Finance and Consulting · 5 instructors on record · 18 sections

How the curve score is built
61Teaching70 raw · 7th percentile of BC classes
+1Easiness adjustmenteasiness 79 · 53 raw workload · lighter than 59% of BC classes
62Curve scorethe teaching curve +1 for the workload · at most ±6 either way

Boston College's ratings are bunched at the top — the median instructor averages about 88 out of 100 on the raw scale, and 44% of them clear 90 — so a raw score cannot separate anybody. Every figure here is ranked against BC classes and that rank is re-expressed out of 100, which is what turns a raw 88 — the middle of the university — into a figure that says where somebody actually stands. On this scale 77 is the median, 84 the top quarter and 91 the top tenth. Workload is then an adjustment on top of that, worth nothing at all for an ordinary one. Lighter work than 59% of BC classes.

What the course score is made of
70BC evaluations18 records · weight ×1.0 · Fall 2021 – Spring 2026
—Student reviewsno reviews — does not contribute
—RateMyProfessorsno ratings — does not contribute

The class itself, averaged across everyone who taught it — who taught it is the board below.

How is this worked out?

That is what a student picking a section is actually choosing between: the board carries each instructor's own score for this class, and the score above is the class averaged across all of them.

What the challenge rank is made of
40thMore challenging than 40% of BC classesranked against every one we hold
89BC — “Intellectually Challenging”18 records · raw score out of 100

Boston College's own “intellectually challenging” question. It is not a measure of difficulty, grading or workload.

How is this worked out?

Boston College's own “intellectually challenging” question for this class only — students answer it positively about courses that stretched them, so it measures intellectual challenge and NOT grading, workload or quality. Almost every BC class scores high on it, which is why it is shown as a rank rather than a score.

What the workload rank is made of
41stMore work than 41% of BC classesranked against every one we hold
53BC — “Workload”18 records · raw score out of 100

One of Boston College's five workload bands, not a number of hours. Higher means more work, not worse.

How is this worked out?

Boston College reports workload for this class only as one of five bands, not as a number of hours, and it does not publish what the bands mean — so this site will not translate it into hours. Higher means more work, which is not the same as worse.

This intermediate financial accounting course builds on ACCT1021 to provide, in greater depth, a comprehensive understanding of financial accounting topics important to assessing firm performance. The course is designed to teach users of financial statements (rather than preparers of financial statements) how accounting information, shaped by regulation, has advantages and limitations in assessing the economics of the underlying business. The goal of the course is to provide a better understanding of financial reporting and accounting information as an input to evaluating a firm. With hands-on use of cases and SEC filings, this course is beneficial for students seeking careers that require the use of financial statement information as an input to decision-making.

The board

5 instructors · ranked on this class onlyCompare the top 3

Scores are real averages. The order also accounts for how many records back each one — the count is under every score — so one perfect review does not outrank a semester of them. 2 of the 5 rows carry a mark saying so.

RankInstructorCurveEasinessChallengeRMP overall
1Mary Ellen CarterProfessor and Joseph L. Sweeney, Esquire '23, LL.D. '63 (hon.) Chair in Accounting · Accounting Provisional7689 raw · 2 records68−2 to the score88th801 rating · all classes
2Mark BradshawJoseph F. Cotter Professor and Chairperson · Accounting Provisional fewer records7084 raw · 2 records68−2 to the score63rd1001 rating · all classes
3Mark CrowleyAccounting7282 raw · 4 records84+2 to the score42nd9611 ratings · all classes
4Christina WilliamsAccounting fewer records6066 raw · 3 records81+1 to the score2nd201 rating · all classes
5Thomas WhalenAccounting6273 raw · 7 records68−2 to the score61st6014 ratings · all classes

2 of 5 rows are marked provisional: fewer than 3 records stand behind the number. That is thin evidence, not a bad instructor — the record count is in every row. The RateMyProfessors column is an instructor's overall figure across everything they teach, not a figure about this class.

How this board is built and ordered

Positions account for how many records stand behind each number, so one perfect review does not outrank a semester of them. Every score shown is the real average — only the ordering is adjusted. The comparison here is the class itself: a thin record is read against how this class was rated overall, not against the university.

Every instructor with an evaluation record for this class is on this board — it is not a top ten, and nothing is hidden behind a “show more”. Curve is the instructor's score for THIS class only, ranked against every instructor we hold and printed back out of 100, with the raw BC average underneath it; nothing on this board is an average across the other things they teach. Easiness is an adjustment on top of it, worth up to about ±6 — BC's workload item, ranked and turned over, so a lighter section gains and a heavier one loses, while an ordinary one changes nothing — and each row prints the adjustment, signed. The board is ordered on the same figure it prints, adjusted for how many records back it. Challenge is BC's “intellectually challenging” item shown as a rank against every class we hold; students answer it positively about courses that stretched them, so it is not a measure of difficulty or grading, and it is never marked better or worse.

That site has no course dimension, so its figure is shown for information and kept out of the ranking.

The line

All 13 items · means across 18 records
Instructor4
Course3
Feedback3
Workload & Challengenot ratings

Bars are ranks, not raw scores. Nothing here is graded good or bad.

What each item asks
Explains Clearly
The instructor was effective at creating an understanding of difficult subject matter.
Available
The instructor was available for help outside of class.
Motivating
The instructor motivated me to do my best work.
Sparks Interest
The course stimulated my interest in the subject matter.
Organized
The course was well organized.
Clear Goals
The learning objectives for the course were clear.
Useful Later
What I learned is applicable beyond this course.
Assignments
Assignments and exams contributed to my learning.
Fast Feedback
I received feedback on my work in a timely manner.
Useful Feedback
The feedback I received on my work was meaningful.
Workload
How much work the course took outside class, on Boston College's five-band scale — the band boundaries are not published, so this is not a number of hours.
Challenge
The course was intellectually challenging.
Attendance
Attending class was necessary to do well in this course.
Why these numbers are curved

Both the number and the bar are the rank against every comparable record we hold, printed back out of 100. BC's questions all have a median around 4.5, so on the raw scale every cell here would read in the high eighties and every bar would be nearly full — thirteen numbers that tell you nothing. Each cell prints its raw BC figure and its percentile underneath, so nothing is hidden by the transform. Every bar is one ink colour — nothing here is graded green or red. The hatched bars are not ratings at all: a higher number on either describes a different course, not a better one.

Game log

18 sections · newest first
InstructorTermSecInstrCourseWork
Mark CrowleySpring 202601757440
Mark CrowleySpring 202602848040
Mark BradshawFall 202501817260
Mark BradshawFall 202502877260
Mark CrowleySpring 202501797440
Mark CrowleySpring 202502888340
Thomas WhalenFall 202401726660
Thomas WhalenFall 202402767460
Thomas WhalenSpring 202401797160
Thomas WhalenSpring 202402686060
Thomas WhalenFall 2023017166—
Thomas WhalenFall 2023027366—
Christina WilliamsSpring 202301676260
Christina WilliamsFall 202201716440
Thomas WhalenFall 202202757060
Christina WilliamsSpring 202201584840
Mary Ellen CarterFall 202101938560
Mary Ellen CarterFall 202102857560
How to read this board

Instructors are ranked on their record in this class only, never on their average across everything they teach. Scores are out of 100 — Boston College's 1–5 agreement scale, ×20, the way these numbers were printed for years. Workload is BC's own five-band figure, not a number of hours, and is shown as a rank. A dash means the question was not reported, and is never a zero.