AI Rate Professor

Science

Michael Hood

ASTR5 · AST5 · ASTRO5 · ASTR5L · ASTRO1 · 73 lifetime ratings

AI rating
52/100
RMP rating
3.3/5
Take again
48.39%
Difficulty
3.5

The decision

if you like space science and will study hard for a demanding GE; otherwise pick a lighter astronomy professor.

Best fit · Hardcore LearnerTough graderLots of homeworkTest heavyCaring but hardPhysics-heavy astronomy
  • Passionate astronomy instructor who many find interesting but unforgiving as a GE option.
  • , and .
  • An A requires strong study habits and often some physics comfort; many struggle or drop.

Key questions

Four answers before you build your schedule.

Is this an easy A?

HardWork

38/100

Students say you work for ; , and heavy weekly tasks make an easy A unlikely.

Online and ; a few older in-person fans report As with heavy studying.

Is the course easy?

Challenging

30/100

Content leans physics-heavy, fast, and concept-dense for an intro astronomy GE.

Both formats call the material difficult; .

Is attendance flexible?

Varies

48/100

as , while others use clickers or mandatory policies that punish absences.

; several online reviews list attendance as not mandatory.

Is this professor recommended?

Depends

48/100

lovers praise passion and clarity, others warn of , and .

Online recent reviews are somewhat warmer on support; .

Course guide

See how this professor fits your week.

Grading

Strict

28/100

wording issues and limited partial credit on labs and projects.

Format shift

Strict grading appears in both formats; .

Workload

Heavy

30/100

Weekly quizzes, multipage assignments, labs, projects, and .

Format shift

Online winter and lab sections also report high assignment volume.

Teaching experience

Average

58/100

Many admire passion, humor, and ; others feel he avoids direct answers and leaves students to struggle.

Format shift

In-person lectures draw both love and boredom; online kindness is noted but clarity still varies.

Assessment method

Balanced

58/100

, and multiple tough exams all matter, with tests often feeling decisive.

Format shift

Online emphasizes assignments and labs; in-person adds clickers and major 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

40 reviews

High confidence · Best fit for Hardcore Learner

In-person lectures can be engaging and , and the intro label misleading.

Main concern

and nitpicky grading make this a high-stress GE for non-science majors.

What students said

“this dude grades as if we're all astronomy majors”
ASTR5
“THE ”
ASTR5
“ IF YOU WANT TO FAIL YOUR CLASS!!”
ASTR5

Remote format

Online

10 reviews

High confidence · Best fit for Effort For Reward

Online ASTR sections can work for focused students, but labs and and .

Main concern

, and .

What students said

“It was a lot of work overall but mostly just time consuming”
ASTR5
“ ”
ASTR5L
“he gave A LOT of assignmentsssssss!”
ASTRO1

Exam style

Know what to expect from exams and major assignments.

Exams and graded labs are widely described as tough and nitpicky rather than student-friendly.

Test heavyTough examsWeekly quizzesLab competency gradingProjects

Assessment risk

Strict

35/100

Low score means less forgiving assessment conditions.

In person

and long, with and projects adding pressure.

Tough midterms and finalClicker questionsProjectsWeekly quizzes
“ if you STUDY. This class is not an easy A”
ASTR5
“ ”
ASTR5
“ ”
ASTR5

Online

, and competency-based lab grading; webcam proctoring is not clearly proven.

Hard quizzesHeavy assignmentsLab redos
“ ”
ASTRO1
“He grades on competency and it's frustrating”
ASTR5L

Student evidence

See what students actually said.

Top student voice

“This class is not an easy A, you work for what you get”

Voice snapshots generated from 50 astronomy lecture and and high academic pressure. Credibility rating: High.

⚖️

28/100

“this dude grades as if we're all astronomy majors”

🌌 Teaching Passion

58/100

“you can tell he's passionate about astronomy”

📚 Workload Load

30/100

“He requires you to do at LEAST 5 assignments a week”

👍 Split Recommendation

48/100

“THE ”

Theme 1

👨‍🏫 About Teaching Style

  • his lectures are amazing and extremely interesting
  • Doesn't really teach, expects you to understand everything in lecture within minutes
  • Mike is an awesome professor

Theme 2

📈 About Difficulty & Grades

  • Hardest A that I got
  • he is the
  • Don't expect an easy A

Theme 3

🧪

Data context

See exactly what the AI read.

Analysis sample

50

Recent reviews read by the AI

73

Lifetime ratings

88/100

Evidence confidence

50 reviews from 2014-2025 with and heavy-work themes give strong confidence despite mixed quality scores.

Inside 50 stored ratings

Quality ratings

5 out of 525
4 out of 513
3 out of 512
2 out of 56
1 out of 517

Course coverage

ASTR526 reviews
ASTR5L8 reviews
ASTRO58 reviews
AST54 reviews
ASTRO13 reviews
Show 1 more courses
219451 review

Reported outcomes

B range results lead the reported letter grades.

33 reported outcomes

A range

10

A+ 3 · A 7

B range

11

B+ 2 · B 7 · B- 2

C range

6

C+ 1 · C 4 · C- 1

D range

0

No reported values

F

2

F 2

No letter grade reported

4

Drop/Withdrawal 3 · Not sure yet 1