Carney Curve

Boston College course evaluations · every published number, ranked class by class

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 · HIST · MCAS

HIST 2254

A Social History of Money in the World · 1 instructor on record · 3 sections

What the course score is made of
90BC evaluations3 records · weight ×1.0 · Spring 2023 – Fall 2025
Student reviewsno reviews — does not contribute
RateMyProfessorsno ratings — does not contribute

That is the class itself, averaged across everyone who taught it. Who taught it, and how each of them scored, is the board below — that is what a student picking a section is actually choosing between.

What the challenge rank is made of
31stMore challenging than 31% of BC classesranked against every one we hold
87BC — “Intellectually Challenging”3 records · raw score out of 100

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
30thMore work than 30% of BC classesranked against every one we hold
47BC — “Workload”3 records · raw score out of 100

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.

The only instructor on record

3 sections · nobody else has taught itFull record
InstructorOverallWorkloadChallengeRMP overall
Penelope IsmayAssociate Professor, Director of Undergraduate Studies, Director of Undergraduate Engagement · History923 records30th31st1001 rating · all classes

There is no ranking to read here: Penelope Ismay is the only instructor with evaluation records for HIST 2254, so the number is a record, not a position. The RateMyProfessors figure is their overall score across everything they teach, not their score in this class.

Also taught by Penelope Ismay

5 other classes
ClassInstructorsCourse score
UNCS 2245First-Year Topic Seminar32107 records89
HIST 4961Honors Seminar410 records96
HIST 3256Study and Writing of History: Odd Women to the New Women15 records92
HIST 7202Graduate Colloquium: Modern European History34 records85
HIST 2251The Credit Nexus: The Secret History of the Economy in Britain, 1600s-1900s13 records89

Other HIST classes

All of them
ClassInstructorsCourse score
HIST 1001Europe in the World 12077 records72
HIST 1002Europe in the World II1541 records75
HIST 1113The African Diaspora and the World I1239 records76
HIST 1012Atlantic Worlds II: Race, Religion, and the Struggle for Democracy1134 records75
HIST 1093Modern History I930 records79
HIST 1094Modern History II824 records81

The line

All 13 items · means across 3 records
The Professor4 items
Clearly Explains MaterialThe instructor was effective at creating an understanding of difficult subject matter.
9561st pctl
Available Outside of ClassThe instructor was available for help outside of class.
9346th pctl
Brings Out Your Best WorkThe instructor motivated me to do my best work.
9345th pctl
Sparked My InterestThe course stimulated my interest in the subject matter.
9556th pctl
The Course3 items
Well-Organized CourseThe course was well organized.
9465th pctl
Clear Learning GoalsThe learning objectives for the course were clear.
9149th pctl
Useful Beyond the CourseWhat I learned is applicable beyond this course.
9138th pctl
Assignments & Feedback3 items
Assignments Help You LearnAssignments and exams contributed to my learning.
8834th pctl
Gives Feedback PromptlyI received feedback on my work in a timely manner.
8939th pctl
Meaningful FeedbackThe feedback I received on my work was meaningful.
9356th pctl
Workload, difficulty & attendanceNot ratings
WorkloadHow 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.
4730th pctl
Intellectually ChallengingThe course was intellectually challenging.
8731st pctl
Attendance MattersAttending class was necessary to do well in this course.
9254th pctl

Bar length is the rank against every comparable record we hold, not the raw score: BC's questions all have a median around 4.5, so a raw-scale bar would be nearly full on every row and would tell you nothing. 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

3 sections · newest first
InstructorTermSecInstrCourseWork
Penelope IsmayFall 202501949660
Penelope IsmayFall 202401898340
Penelope IsmaySpring 202301939040

How to read this boardInstructors 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.