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 · Biology · Spring 2022 – Fall 2024

Emrah Altindis

Biology · 8 evaluation records across 2 classes

On each class's board
What the overall is made of
94BC evaluations8 records · weight ×1.0 · Spring 2022 – Fall 2024
100RateMyProfessors8 ratings · weight ×2.0 · 100% 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
75thMore challenging than 75% of BC instructorsranked against every one we hold
92BC — “Intellectually Challenging”8 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 60 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
63rdMore work than 63% of BC instructorsranked against every one we hold
57BC — “Workload”8 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: 8 ratings, 100% would take again, difficulty 60 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 8 records
The Professor4 items
Clearly Explains MaterialThe instructor was effective at creating an understanding of difficult subject matter.
9683rd pctl
Available Outside of ClassThe instructor was available for help outside of class.
9247th pctl
Brings Out Your Best WorkThe instructor motivated me to do my best work.
9579th pctl
Sparked My InterestThe course stimulated my interest in the subject matter.
9784th pctl
The Course3 items
Well-Organized CourseThe course was well organized.
9153rd pctl
Clear Learning GoalsThe learning objectives for the course were clear.
9264th pctl
Useful Beyond the CourseWhat I learned is applicable beyond this course.
9586th pctl
Assignments & Feedback3 items
Assignments Help You LearnAssignments and exams contributed to my learning.
9382nd pctl
Gives Feedback PromptlyI received feedback on my work in a timely manner.
8320th pctl
Meaningful FeedbackThe feedback I received on my work was meaningful.
7911th 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.
5763rd pctl
Intellectually ChallengingThe course was intellectually challenging.
9275th pctl
Attendance MattersAttending class was necessary to do well in this course.
9378th 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

2 classes · 8 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.

BIOL 4290 Medical Biochemistry and MetabolismOvr95Chal69thWork78th
On this class's boardonly instructor on record

4 sections on record · course itself rated 93 out of 100. See the full board for BIOL 4290.

TermSecInstrCourseWork
Fall 202401929060
Spring 202401949460
Spring 202301969460
Spring 202201969660
All 13 items for BIOL 4290
The Professor4 items
Clearly Explains MaterialThe instructor was effective at creating an understanding of difficult subject matter.
9669th pctl
Available Outside of ClassThe instructor was available for help outside of class.
9343rd pctl
Brings Out Your Best WorkThe instructor motivated me to do my best work.
9564th pctl
Sparked My InterestThe course stimulated my interest in the subject matter.
9770th pctl
The Course3 items
Well-Organized CourseThe course was well organized.
9150th pctl
Clear Learning GoalsThe learning objectives for the course were clear.
9254th pctl
Useful Beyond the CourseWhat I learned is applicable beyond this course.
9779th pctl
Assignments & Feedback3 items
Assignments Help You LearnAssignments and exams contributed to my learning.
9471st pctl
Gives Feedback PromptlyI received feedback on my work in a timely manner.
8523rd pctl
Meaningful FeedbackThe feedback I received on my work was meaningful.
8111th 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.
9369th pctl
Attendance MattersAttending class was necessary to do well in this course.
9250th 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.

BIOL 5100 Microbiome and Human DiseaseOvr93Chal49thWork43rd
On this class's boardonly instructor on record

4 sections on record · course itself rated 93 out of 100. See the full board for BIOL 5100.

TermSecInstrCourseWork
Fall 20240110010060
Spring 2024019296
Spring 202301949440
Spring 202201878060
All 13 items for BIOL 5100
The Professor4 items
Clearly Explains MaterialThe instructor was effective at creating an understanding of difficult subject matter.
9776th pctl
Available Outside of ClassThe instructor was available for help outside of class.
9134th pctl
Brings Out Your Best WorkThe instructor motivated me to do my best work.
9668th pctl
Sparked My InterestThe course stimulated my interest in the subject matter.
9770th pctl
The Course3 items
Well-Organized CourseThe course was well organized.
9039th pctl
Clear Learning GoalsThe learning objectives for the course were clear.
9255th pctl
Useful Beyond the CourseWhat I learned is applicable beyond this course.
9462nd pctl
Assignments & Feedback3 items
Assignments Help You LearnAssignments and exams contributed to my learning.
9362nd pctl
Gives Feedback PromptlyI received feedback on my work in a timely manner.
8114th pctl
Meaningful FeedbackThe feedback I received on my work was meaningful.
786th 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.
5343rd pctl
Intellectually ChallengingThe course was intellectually challenging.
9049th pctl
Attendance MattersAttending class was necessary to do well in this course.
9571st 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.