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.

Instructor record · Economics · Fall 2021 – Spring 2024

Arnab Palit

Economics · 9 evaluation records across 3 classes

On each class's board
What the overall is made of
79BC evaluations9 records · weight ×1.0 · Fall 2021 – Spring 2024
40RateMyProfessors1 rating · weight ×2.0 · 0% would take again
Student reviewsno reviews — does not contribute

Sources are averaged by how much we trust each one and by how many records sit behind it, so a handful of reviews nudges the number rather than replacing it.

What the challenge rank is made of
22ndMore challenging than 22% of BC instructorsranked against every one we hold
83BC — “Intellectually Challenging”9 records · raw score out of 100

Boston College's own “intellectually challenging” question — 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. RateMyProfessors separately rates this instructor 80 out of 100 for difficulty — that IS a difficulty measure, but it is about the person across everything they teach, not about any one class, so it is shown here rather than folded into the number above.

What the workload rank is made of
29thMore work than 29% of BC instructorsranked against every one we hold
43BC — “Workload”9 records · raw score out of 100

Boston College reports workload 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.

Ratings from outside BC

Not evaluation data

Collected from RateMyProfessors, not from Boston College: 1 rating, 0% would take again, difficulty 80 out of 100. Difficulty is not a quality signal in either direction — a harder course is not a worse one.

Anyone can post there — no @bc.edu check and no enrolment check — so it is weighted alongside the evaluation data, never above it.

The line

All 13 items · means across 9 records
The Professor4 items
Clearly Explains MaterialThe instructor was effective at creating an understanding of difficult subject matter.
8827th pctl
Available Outside of ClassThe instructor was available for help outside of class.
8618th pctl
Brings Out Your Best WorkThe instructor motivated me to do my best work.
8417th pctl
Sparked My InterestThe course stimulated my interest in the subject matter.
8212th pctl
The Course3 items
Well-Organized CourseThe course was well organized.
9051st pctl
Clear Learning GoalsThe learning objectives for the course were clear.
8628th pctl
Useful Beyond the CourseWhat I learned is applicable beyond this course.
8626th pctl
Assignments & Feedback3 items
Assignments Help You LearnAssignments and exams contributed to my learning.
8527th pctl
Gives Feedback PromptlyI received feedback on my work in a timely manner.
8217th pctl
Meaningful FeedbackThe feedback I received on my work was meaningful.
789th 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.
4329th pctl
Intellectually ChallengingThe course was intellectually challenging.
8322nd pctl
Attendance MattersAttending class was necessary to do well in this course.
8016th 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.

Class by class

3 classes · 9 sections

How each position is worked outPositions 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.

ECON 3389 Machine Learning for EconomicsOvr77Chal51stWork78th
On this class's board4th of 7 instructors

4 sections on record · course itself rated 71 out of 100. See the full board for ECON 3389.

TermSecInstrCourseWork
Spring 202401817460
Fall 2023017875
Fall 2023028375
Summer 2023016460
All 13 items for ECON 3389
The Professor4 items
Clearly Explains MaterialThe instructor was effective at creating an understanding of difficult subject matter.
8717th pctl
Available Outside of ClassThe instructor was available for help outside of class.
8715th pctl
Brings Out Your Best WorkThe instructor motivated me to do my best work.
806th pctl
Sparked My InterestThe course stimulated my interest in the subject matter.
814th pctl
The Course3 items
Well-Organized CourseThe course was well organized.
8938th pctl
Clear Learning GoalsThe learning objectives for the course were clear.
796th pctl
Useful Beyond the CourseWhat I learned is applicable beyond this course.
8820th pctl
Assignments & Feedback3 items
Assignments Help You LearnAssignments and exams contributed to my learning.
660th pctl
Gives Feedback PromptlyI received feedback on my work in a timely manner.
724th pctl
Meaningful FeedbackThe feedback I received on my work was meaningful.
620th 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.
6078th pctl
Intellectually ChallengingThe course was intellectually challenging.
9151st pctl
Attendance MattersAttending class was necessary to do well in this course.
744th 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.

ECON 2228 Econometric MethodsOvr72Chal9thWork30th
On this class's board21st of 33 instructors

3 sections on record · course itself rated 72 out of 100. See the full board for ECON 2228.

TermSecInstrCourseWork
Fall 202110757540
Fall 202113605740
Fall 202115808360
All 13 items for ECON 2228
The Professor4 items
Clearly Explains MaterialThe instructor was effective at creating an understanding of difficult subject matter.
806th pctl
Available Outside of ClassThe instructor was available for help outside of class.
783rd pctl
Brings Out Your Best WorkThe instructor motivated me to do my best work.
752nd pctl
Sparked My InterestThe course stimulated my interest in the subject matter.
741st pctl
The Course3 items
Well-Organized CourseThe course was well organized.
8832nd pctl
Clear Learning GoalsThe learning objectives for the course were clear.
8414th pctl
Useful Beyond the CourseWhat I learned is applicable beyond this course.
827th pctl
Assignments & Feedback3 items
Assignments Help You LearnAssignments and exams contributed to my learning.
8516th pctl
Gives Feedback PromptlyI received feedback on my work in a timely manner.
778th pctl
Meaningful FeedbackThe feedback I received on my work was meaningful.
733rd 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.
809th pctl
Attendance MattersAttending class was necessary to do well in this course.
744th 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.

ECON 1158 Statistical Computing: Programming in StataOvr97Chal19thWork2nd
On this class's board1st of 9 instructors Provisional

2 sections on record · course itself rated 83 out of 100. See the full board for ECON 1158.

TermSecInstrCourseWork
Fall 202201948640
Fall 2022021008020
All 13 items for ECON 1158
The Professor4 items
Clearly Explains MaterialThe instructor was effective at creating an understanding of difficult subject matter.
9986th pctl
Available Outside of ClassThe instructor was available for help outside of class.
9987th pctl
Brings Out Your Best WorkThe instructor motivated me to do my best work.
9986th pctl
Sparked My InterestThe course stimulated my interest in the subject matter.
9661st pctl
The Course3 items
Well-Organized CourseThe course was well organized.
9465th pctl
Clear Learning GoalsThe learning objectives for the course were clear.
9465th 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.
9580th pctl
Gives Feedback PromptlyI received feedback on my work in a timely manner.
9464th pctl
Meaningful FeedbackThe feedback I received on my work was meaningful.
9254th 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.
302nd pctl
Intellectually ChallengingThe course was intellectually challenging.
8419th 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.

How to read this pageScores are out of 100 — Boston College's 1–5 agreement scale, ×20, the way these numbers were printed for years. Almost every class scores high on that scale (the median is about 90), so challenge and workload are shown as a rank against every instructor we hold rather than as a score; the raw figure is in the breakdown above. Neither describes quality, and neither is ever marked better or worse anywhere on this site. A dash means the question was not reported, and is never a zero. The position printed against each class is this instructor's place on that class's own board, computed from the same records the board itself is built from.