Carney Curve

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

Top of the board1.ECON 9902962.LAWS 8856973.PRTO 3300984.BSLW 2299975.PHIL 4932986.LAWS 8308987.SCWK 9960998.EESC 99011009.MUSP 16609610.UGMG 10109811.UNCP 55119712.SCWK 883197

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 · Fall 2021 – Spring 2026

Thomas Seyfried

Biology · 15 evaluation records across 2 classes

On each class's board
BIOL 5420only instructor on recordBIOL 11002nd of 2 instructors
What the overall is made of
78BC evaluations15 records · weight ×1.0 · Fall 2021 – Spring 2026
74RateMyProfessors7 ratings · weight ×2.0 · 71% 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
63rdMore challenging than 63% of BC instructorsranked against every one we hold
90BC — “Intellectually Challenging”15 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 68 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
28thMore work than 28% of BC instructorsranked against every one we hold
43BC — “Workload”15 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: 7 ratings, 71% would take again, difficulty 68 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 15 records
The Professor4 items
Clearly Explains MaterialThe instructor was effective at creating an understanding of difficult subject matter.
8621st pctl
Available Outside of ClassThe instructor was available for help outside of class.
817th pctl
Brings Out Your Best WorkThe instructor motivated me to do my best work.
8521st pctl
Sparked My InterestThe course stimulated my interest in the subject matter.
9143rd pctl
The Course3 items
Well-Organized CourseThe course was well organized.
8115th pctl
Clear Learning GoalsThe learning objectives for the course were clear.
8214th pctl
Useful Beyond the CourseWhat I learned is applicable beyond this course.
9152nd pctl
Assignments & Feedback3 items
Assignments Help You LearnAssignments and exams contributed to my learning.
8320th pctl
Gives Feedback PromptlyI received feedback on my work in a timely manner.
736th pctl
Meaningful FeedbackThe feedback I received on my work was meaningful.
703rd 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.
4328th pctl
Intellectually ChallengingThe course was intellectually challenging.
9063rd pctl
Attendance MattersAttending class was necessary to do well in this course.
8951st 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 · 15 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 5420 Cancer As A Metabolic DiseaseOvr79Chal57thWork28th
On this class's boardonly instructor on record

10 sections on record · course itself rated 83 out of 100. See the full board for BIOL 5420.

TermSecInstrCourseWork
Spring 202601748340
Fall 202501878740
Spring 202501757740
Fall 202401748360
Spring 202401838340
Fall 202301899340
Spring 2023017275—
Fall 202201728040
Spring 202202858540
Fall 202101838860
All 13 items for BIOL 5420
The Professor4 items
Clearly Explains MaterialThe instructor was effective at creating an understanding of difficult subject matter.
8616th pctl
Available Outside of ClassThe instructor was available for help outside of class.
826th pctl
Brings Out Your Best WorkThe instructor motivated me to do my best work.
8615th pctl
Sparked My InterestThe course stimulated my interest in the subject matter.
9340th pctl
The Course3 items
Well-Organized CourseThe course was well organized.
798th pctl
Clear Learning GoalsThe learning objectives for the course were clear.
8110th pctl
Useful Beyond the CourseWhat I learned is applicable beyond this course.
9566th pctl
Assignments & Feedback3 items
Assignments Help You LearnAssignments and exams contributed to my learning.
8937th pctl
Gives Feedback PromptlyI received feedback on my work in a timely manner.
683rd pctl
Meaningful FeedbackThe feedback I received on my work was meaningful.
691st 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.
4428th pctl
Intellectually ChallengingThe course was intellectually challenging.
9257th pctl
Attendance MattersAttending class was necessary to do well in this course.
9573rd 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 1100 General BiologyOvr76Chal25thWork25th
On this class's board2nd of 2 instructors

5 sections on record · course itself rated 71 out of 100. See the full board for BIOL 1100.

TermSecInstrCourseWork
Fall 202501726540
Fall 202401767440
Fall 2023017374—
Fall 202201817740
Fall 202101766640
All 13 items for BIOL 1100
The Professor4 items
Clearly Explains MaterialThe instructor was effective at creating an understanding of difficult subject matter.
8511th 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.
8411th pctl
Sparked My InterestThe course stimulated my interest in the subject matter.
8715th pctl
The Course3 items
Well-Organized CourseThe course was well organized.
8625th pctl
Clear Learning GoalsThe learning objectives for the course were clear.
8519th pctl
Useful Beyond the CourseWhat I learned is applicable beyond this course.
816th pctl
Assignments & Feedback3 items
Assignments Help You LearnAssignments and exams contributed to my learning.
691st 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.
743rd 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.
8625th 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.

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.