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 2475

America's War in Vietnam · 1 instructor on record · 4 sections

What the course score is made of
91BC evaluations4 records · weight ×1.0 · Fall 2021 – 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
48thMore challenging than 48% of BC classesranked against every one we hold
90BC — “Intellectually Challenging”4 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
25thMore work than 25% of BC classesranked against every one we hold
40BC — “Workload”4 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.

This course will examine America's thirty-year military involvement in Southeast Asia, one of the most controversial episodes in U.S. history. Students will read a wide variety of primary and secondary sources, from recently declassified state and Defense Department documents to poetry and short stories. Course readings are selected from various points on the left-right political spectrum, with both "hawks" and "doves" receiving their day in court. Lectures will include the origins of the Cold War; the Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson, and Nixon presidencies; antiwar activism and other Vietnam era movements; and American soldiers' experience during and after service in Vietnam.

The only instructor on record

4 sections · nobody else has taught itFull record
InstructorOverallWorkloadChallengeRMP overall
Seth JacobsProfessor · History944 records25th48th8636 ratings · all classes

There is no ranking to read here: Seth Jacobs is the only instructor with evaluation records for HIST 2475, 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 Seth Jacobs

4 other classes
ClassInstructorsCourse score
HIST 1068America and the World II620 records84
HIST 4495U.S. Foreign Policy I14 records83
HIST 4496U.S. Foreign Policy II, 1945-Present14 records87
HIST 2476The Cold War in the Third World11 record82

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 4 records
The Professor4 items
Clearly Explains MaterialThe instructor was effective at creating an understanding of difficult subject matter.
9454th pctl
Available Outside of ClassThe instructor was available for help outside of class.
9030th pctl
Brings Out Your Best WorkThe instructor motivated me to do my best work.
9346th pctl
Sparked My InterestThe course stimulated my interest in the subject matter.
9771st pctl
The Course3 items
Well-Organized CourseThe course was well organized.
9571st pctl
Clear Learning GoalsThe learning objectives for the course were clear.
9465th pctl
Useful Beyond the CourseWhat I learned is applicable beyond this course.
9029th pctl
Assignments & Feedback3 items
Assignments Help You LearnAssignments and exams contributed to my learning.
8620th pctl
Gives Feedback PromptlyI received feedback on my work in a timely manner.
8835th pctl
Meaningful FeedbackThe feedback I received on my work was meaningful.
8520th 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.
4025th pctl
Intellectually ChallengingThe course was intellectually challenging.
9048th pctl
Attendance MattersAttending class was necessary to do well in this course.
8317th 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

4 sections · newest first
InstructorTermSecInstrCourseWork
Seth JacobsFall 202501918540
Seth JacobsFall 202301959440
Seth JacobsFall 202201949040
Seth JacobsFall 202101979540

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.