Omar Keshk - The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH

Professor: Omar Keshk

Department: Political Science

College: The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH

Rating # 1

Overview:

• Course: IS3400
• Grade Received: B+
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: No
• Would Take Again: Yes
• Attendance: Mandatory

Comment:

Four assignments, weighted heavier each time and gets harder. Extra credit for 2.5pts. No midterm. One Final worth 35%. Covers material quickly. Take a lot of notes. Find a friend to help study with and share notes. Pay attention. Know material before he moves on. Ask a lot of questions. Having an understanding of calculus will help, not required.

Rating # 2

Overview:

• Course: INTS2200
• Grade Received: B+
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: No
• Would Take Again: No
• Attendance: Not Mandatory

Comment:

Doctor Keshk's lecture style is extremely boring, but he tried to liven it up with participation. He told the class participation matters but did not take attendance for a grade, so you don't need to go to class really. You write 3 article responses throughout the semester, and if you follow his guide you'll be fine. The final paper is 5-6 pages.

Rating # 3

Overview:

• Course: IS3700
• Grade Received: B+
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: Yes
• Attendance: Mandatory

Comment:

I took Dr. Keshk's Intro to Intelligence course. I didn't learn very much about the material. He takes attendance every class so you should go but 95% of the lectures were basically in-class debates. Great guy, interesting debates. Only graded on 2 papers and a final paper that are mostly research based but need the book to cite for the papers.

Rating # 4

Overview:

• Course: INTSTDS3700
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 1.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: Yes
• Attendance: Not Mandatory

Comment:

No idea why this professor rates so low. There are only three grades in the course (all papers) and an opportunity to gain more points through participation. The professor assigns interesting articles predominantly about the Middle East and some regions of Africa and gives great lectures that are conversational base. I'd recommend!

Rating # 5

Overview:

• Course: IS3700
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: No
• Would Take Again: No
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

This professor has a non-mandatory attendance policy but gives weird attendance grades anyway (I missed 2 classes and got a 67% on attendance). He admits to being an extremely hard grader and there were only 3 grades in the class, 2 papers and a final paper/presentation. He goes off track a lot in his lectures as well.

Rating # 6

Overview:

• Course: INTSTDS2200
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: No
• Would Take Again: Yes
• Attendance: Mandatory

Comment:

He hates grading tests and papers as much as I hate doing them, he cancelled my classes second midterm and didn't even have a final. Lectures can be boring, but he likes has no problem spending an entire class talking about current events in the middle east. He's also really bad at spelling. Easy A though.

Rating # 7

Overview:

• Course: IS3400
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: No
• Would Take Again: Yes
• Attendance: Not Mandatory

Comment:

Omar Keshk is one of the funniest professor I ever had at OSU. The course can be extremely difficult if you don't attend, so skipping is a big mistake. He tends to go fast during lecture, but will not mind whatsoever if you have a question. He has plenty of time slots available for office hours. He has a dry/dark humor, which is great!

Rating # 8

Overview:

• Course: IS3700
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: No
• Attendance: Not Mandatory

Comment:

Graded on 2 papers, a presentation, & final paper. Vague on what he wants (go to office hours) & the grade on papers doesn't match up to his feedback. Lectures give decent info but aren't necessarily related to assignments. Gives random attendance points but it isn't mandatory. I wouldn't recommend this professor and will be avoiding his classes

Rating # 9

Overview:

• Course: INTSTDS3400
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: No
• Would Take Again: Yes
• Attendance: Not Mandatory

Comment:

Five fairly straightforward homework assignments, with progressively more weight. If you go to class, pay any attention at all, and do your homework, you will get an A. He ended class twenty minutes early almost every day. Sometimes up to forty. There was an online textbook but it was free and I barely read it, to be honest.

Rating # 10

Overview:

• Course: IS3400
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: No
• Would Take Again: Yes
• Attendance: Not Mandatory

Comment:

Good teacher but he moves fast, make sure you ask if you don't understand something (he doesn't mind it). Pretty hands-on class, which was nice. I also just thought he was a cool person in general, has kind of a dry humor. Also, going to class is the only thing that'll help you do well on the homework.

Rating # 11

Overview:

• Course: IS3400
• Grade Received: A-
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: No
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: Mandatory

Comment:

Material is a little difficult, but nothing that can't be done. It's all understanding, and barely any memorization. He helps you through it though. Make you sure you are clear on the homework though because there are only four assignments and it's a major part of your grade.

Rating # 12

Overview:

• Course: INTSTDS4300
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: No
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: Mandatory

Comment:

Stats for Intstd and Polisci majors. At the beginning states it's stupid to make ppl memorize things they can just look up, then makes you memorize a bunch. Really entertaining and nice in lecture, but takes off stupid pts on hwk. Final was hard because he doesn't make it clear whats on there. If you go to class though you should pass.

Rating # 13

Overview:

• Course: INSTDS3400H
• Grade Received: A-
• Overall Rating: 3.5
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: Mandatory

Comment:

I took Dr. Keshk's INTSTDS 3400H "Intro do Development". The class was small and I loved his lectures, but as a freshman I was definitely unprepared for the workload. Lots of reading (like 8 books), and he's a really tough grader on papers. Office hours are helpful. All in all the class was tough, but interesting & thought-provoking.

Rating # 14

Overview:

• Course: IS4337
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.5
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: No
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

Although Dr. Keshk is funny, I found his class to be very difficult and quite boring. I went to every single lecture and struggled to understand the overall concepts. I also attended a few of his office hours, but still had issues understanding. I would not recommend this class to students who struggle in stats or computer programing.

Rating # 15

Overview:

• Course: INTSTDS4300
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: No
• Would Take Again: Yes
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

I thought he'd be so hard. I had NO idea how to program in R. But I showed up & took great notes. He teaches & explains everything you need to know. Don't buy the book. He's funny, I enjoyed his lectures. I even ended up getting all A's or 100 on the HWs (take 5 hrs @ least). I did not do 15 min of R a day like he asks. R was not even on the exam!

Rating # 16

Overview:

• Course: IS3400
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.5
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: No
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

This class was unnecessarily difficult. Keshk was helpful when you went to office hours but class was boring and we only needed R for two assignments and learning to write program was extremely annoying.

Rating # 17

Overview:

• Course: ISECON3400
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: No
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

You won't need the books if you attend the lectures and his humorous delivery makes them worth going to. He also covers everything on the hw and exams directly in class, easy and straightforward.

Rating # 18

Overview:

• Course: INTSTDS2500
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

He is funny but at first comes off as if he doesn't really like teaching but I really enjoyed this class although his test were brutal. As long as you study you will do good but he wants you to be specific. You have to go to class. He says he doesn't take attendance but if you don't go, you won't pass. Take notes and participate. You will do fine.

Rating # 19

Overview:

• Course: INTSTDS2500
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: No
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

Amazing sense of humor. Encourages students to have there own opinions. Tests aren't hard if you take notes in class. Overall an excellent class

Rating # 20

Overview:

• Course: INTSTDS2500
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.5
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: No
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

Interesting class, funny guy, but his exams are brutal and he tore apart papers. Don't take unless you already have a working knowledge of the third world. Very few grades in the class, very difficult, if not impossible to get an A. Doesn't use Carmen.