AI Rate Professor

History

Paul Swendson

HIST101 · HIST103 · HIS27278 · HIST102 · HIST170 · 24 lifetime ratings

AI rating
20/100
RMP rating
2.4/5
Take again
30%
Difficulty
3.7

The decision

Avoid Paul Swendson unless you specifically want a demanding, reading-heavy history course and .

Best fit · Hardcore LearnerTough graderHeavy readingEssay examsRequired bookPolarizing lectures
  • Most , and quizzes or tests that are hard to navigate.
  • Some students praise his humor, passion, and learning value when they are willing to do the work.
  • Online reviews are especially negative, while but still risky.

Key questions

Four answers before you build your schedule.

Is this an easy A?

HardWork

26/100

An A is possible for a few students, but most comments show that , and .

Online reviews strongly argue against an easy A, while but still describe demanding essay-based exams.

Is the course easy?

Challenging

32/100

The course feels challenging because students must handle lots of , and professor-specific materials.

Online reviews describe the course as heavy and stressful, while information-dense.

Is attendance flexible?

Varies

45/100

Attendance expectations are inconsistent, with one review saying he tracks exits and absences while and work completion.

Online reviews do not clearly establish attendance policy, while being used against students.

Is this professor recommended?

Avoid

30/100

because , and assessment design feel punishing, despite a minority praising his humor and passion.

, while in-person reviews are more divided between enthusiastic praise and strong warnings.

Course guide

See how this professor fits your week.

Grading

Harsh

15/100

Many students call him a and report low grades, inconsistent grading, or harsh essay evaluation.

Format shift

Online reviews repeatedly criticize grading, while and .

Workload

Heavy

22/100

Students report lots of reading, notes, essays, quizzes, and tests across both formats.

Format shift

Online reviews emphasize heavy reading and homework, while , and essay tests.

Teaching experience

Poor

35/100

His teaching is polarizing, with some students praising humor and passion but many describing poor support, opinion-heavy content, and .

Format shift

Online teaching feedback is mostly negative, while and avoid warnings.

Assessment method

FocusOnExams

76/100

, and essay-format exams, with assignments and discussions also present.

Format shift

Online reviews mention quizzes, tests, and essay exams, while and essay exams.

Luni fit check

Weigh these signals against your actual schedule.

Get help balancing workload, grading, and timing when no option is an obvious fit.

Course format

Compare the in-person and online experience.

Classroom format

In person

11 reviews

High confidence · Best fit for Hardcore Learner

In-person reviews are split between strong praise for humor and learning and , and grading.

Main concern

Essay-based tests and large amounts of .

What students said

“ honesty, such a terrible experience”
HIST101
“ /essay!”
HIST103

Remote format

Online

13 reviews

High confidence · Best fit for Hardcore Learner

Online reviews are mostly negative, with recurring complaints , and difficult quizzes or exams.

Main concern

Students say effort does not always translate into grades because grading and .

What students said

“Even if you work hard on assignments, he loves to give a low grade.”
HIST102
“They are T/F and you can't go back.”
HIST102

Exam style

Know what to expect from exams and major assignments.

with essay or short-answer formats and limited quiz navigation.

No BacktrackingEssay ExamsShort Answer ExamsTimed QuizzesFinal Essay

Assessment risk

Strict

18/100

Low score means less forgiving assessment conditions.

In person

, midterms, finals, and exams, but do not clearly prove closed-book rules or proctoring.

Short Answer ExamsEssay ExamsMidtermFinalNo Multiple Choice
“ /essay!”
HIST103
“ .”
HIST101

Online

Online reviews clearly mention no backtracking, tough true-false quizzes, short-answer or essay exams, and rules.

No BacktrackingTrue False TestsShort Answer ExamsEssay Exams
“They are T/F and you can't go back.”
HIST102
“ .”
HIST103

Student evidence

See what students actually said.

Top student voice

“Even if you work hard on assignments, he loves to give a low grade.”

Voice snapshots generated from 24 reviews, highlighting key themes in , and ; credibility rating: High.

🎯 Teaching Quality

35/100

“ unless you want to suffer.”

⚖️

15/100

“ .”

📝

18/100

“ /essay!”

Theme 1

⚖️

  • He will and class discussions
  • Even if you work hard on assignments, he loves to give a low grade.
  • Had a bad experience with because I understood his assignments were easy but the .

Theme 2

📚 About Workload

  • This course is heavy, take lots of notes that you can get back to.
  • I will b honest there is a lot of reading.
  • There is so much information that it is hard to know exactly what to study.

Theme 3

👨‍🏫 About Teaching Style

  • He wrote his own book that's really interesting and made it fun to learn history.
  • He is a good teacher, lectures are long but informative.
  • You're going to learn Prof. Paul Swendson's view of the History.

Data context

See exactly what the AI read.

Analysis sample

24

Recent reviews read by the AI

24

Lifetime ratings

90/100

Evidence confidence

Twenty-four reviews across many years and both formats provide detailed, consistent concerns despite some polarized opinions.

Inside 24 stored ratings

Quality ratings

5 out of 55
4 out of 52
3 out of 51
2 out of 56
1 out of 510

Course coverage

HIST1029 reviews
HIST1038 reviews
HIST1015 reviews
HIS272781 review
HIST1701 review

Reported outcomes

C range results lead the reported letter grades.

17 reported outcomes

A range

4

A+ 2 · A 2

B range

3

B+ 1 · B 2

C range

8

C+ 3 · C 3 · C- 2

D range

1

D- 1

F

0

No reported values

No letter grade reported

1

Incomplete 1