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 · English · Spring 2024 – Fall 2024

Kara Mccabe

English · 3 evaluation records across 2 classes

On each class's board
ENGL 108054th of 90 instructors ProvisionalENGL 10098th of 12 instructors Provisional
What the overall is made of
87BC evaluations3 records · weight ×1.0 · Spring 2024 – Fall 2024
100RateMyProfessors1 rating · 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
26thMore challenging than 26% of BC instructorsranked against every one we hold
84BC — “Intellectually Challenging”3 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
35thMore work than 35% of BC instructorsranked against every one we hold
47BC — “Workload”3 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, 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 3 records
The Professor4 items
Clearly Explains MaterialThe instructor was effective at creating an understanding of difficult subject matter.
9146th pctl
Available Outside of ClassThe instructor was available for help outside of class.
9576th pctl
Brings Out Your Best WorkThe instructor motivated me to do my best work.
9254th pctl
Sparked My InterestThe course stimulated my interest in the subject matter.
9246th pctl
The Course3 items
Well-Organized CourseThe course was well organized.
9264th pctl
Clear Learning GoalsThe learning objectives for the course were clear.
9049th pctl
Useful Beyond the CourseWhat I learned is applicable beyond this course.
8418th pctl
Assignments & Feedback3 items
Assignments Help You LearnAssignments and exams contributed to my learning.
8950th pctl
Gives Feedback PromptlyI received feedback on my work in a timely manner.
8837th pctl
Meaningful FeedbackThe feedback I received on my work was meaningful.
9047th 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.
4735th pctl
Intellectually ChallengingThe course was intellectually challenging.
8426th pctl
Attendance MattersAttending class was necessary to do well in this course.
8634th 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 · 3 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.

ENGL 1080 Literature CoreOvr86Chal29thWork25th
On this class's board54th of 90 instructors Provisional

2 sections on record · course itself rated 80 out of 100. See the full board for ENGL 1080.

TermSecInstrCourseWork
Fall 202422918940
Spring 202435807140
All 13 items for ENGL 1080
The Professor4 items
Clearly Explains MaterialThe instructor was effective at creating an understanding of difficult subject matter.
9133rd pctl
Available Outside of ClassThe instructor was available for help outside of class.
9666th pctl
Brings Out Your Best WorkThe instructor motivated me to do my best work.
9033rd pctl
Sparked My InterestThe course stimulated my interest in the subject matter.
9129th pctl
The Course3 items
Well-Organized CourseThe course was well organized.
9146th pctl
Clear Learning GoalsThe learning objectives for the course were clear.
8830th pctl
Useful Beyond the CourseWhat I learned is applicable beyond this course.
838th pctl
Assignments & Feedback3 items
Assignments Help You LearnAssignments and exams contributed to my learning.
8830th pctl
Gives Feedback PromptlyI received feedback on my work in a timely manner.
8730th pctl
Meaningful FeedbackThe feedback I received on my work was meaningful.
8936th 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.
8729th pctl
Attendance MattersAttending class was necessary to do well in this course.
8522nd 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.

ENGL 1009 First Year Writing Seminar for Multilingual StudentsOvr89Chal5thWork78th
On this class's board8th of 12 instructors Provisional

1 section on record · course itself rated 86 out of 100. See the full board for ENGL 1009.

TermSecInstrCourseWork
Fall 202401898660
All 13 items for ENGL 1009
The Professor4 items
Clearly Explains MaterialThe instructor was effective at creating an understanding of difficult subject matter.
9242nd pctl
Available Outside of ClassThe instructor was available for help outside of class.
9564th pctl
Brings Out Your Best WorkThe instructor motivated me to do my best work.
9565th pctl
Sparked My InterestThe course stimulated my interest in the subject matter.
9445th pctl
The Course3 items
Well-Organized CourseThe course was well organized.
9575th pctl
Clear Learning GoalsThe learning objectives for the course were clear.
9465th pctl
Useful Beyond the CourseWhat I learned is applicable beyond this course.
8717th pctl
Assignments & Feedback3 items
Assignments Help You LearnAssignments and exams contributed to my learning.
9149th pctl
Gives Feedback PromptlyI received feedback on my work in a timely manner.
8938th pctl
Meaningful FeedbackThe feedback I received on my work was meaningful.
9146th 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.
785th pctl
Attendance MattersAttending class was necessary to do well in this course.
8830th 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.