Carson Varner - Illinois State University, Normal, IL

Professor: Carson Varner

Department: Law

College: Illinois State University, Normal, IL

Rating # 1

Overview:

• Course: FIL185
• Grade Received: Not sure yet
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 1.0

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

Comment:

Took this for an honors section course, easy A or B. If you want to learn more about communism, corn, and Carsons life history, you should take this course. Otherwise, do yourself a favor if youre a business major, and take it with a teacher who will actually teach you something about business law and ethics.

Rating # 2

Overview:

• Course: FIL312
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

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

Comment:

A sweet, older man with a vast array of international experience and knowledge. Very fair grader who doesn't have a big course load, though WSJ project is time consuming. He will take you on a historical ride in his lectures, as opposed to actual law emphasis. If you intently listen and overlook his ego, it is a great experience.

Rating # 3

Overview:

• Course: FIL312
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 1.0

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

Comment:

The class is an easy A, but I hated the class. Attendance is mandatory, but you learn NOTHING in his class. Everything I learned in this class was just about his personal life and nothing that had to do with the subject of international law. I was looking forward to this subject and this teacher ruined it.

Rating # 4

Overview:

• Course: FIL185
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

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

Comment:

Easy A class if you just show up and actually take the notes, literally 3 grades the entire semester and they're essays. Sweet old guy, pretty conservative too. He talks alot about the stock market and his farms. But overall great class and super easy.

Rating # 5

Overview:

• Course: FIL185
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

He is all over the place and your quizzes (which are open note) are impossible if you dont go to class. He is so random and he talks about himself and his family for half the class everyday and the tests you on that rather than business law. Easy A if you come to class, but be prepared for the most random information to be thrown at you.

Rating # 6

Overview:

• Course: FIL312
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 3.5
• Course Difficulty: 1.0

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

Comment:

Dr. Varner has a very different approach to teaching. He doesn't actually teach about the subject of the class, rather more stuff about "the real" life aka World War 2, stocks and his farm. Really easy class. Only 3 essays for a grade. Show up to his class , take some notes and you will be fine. Easy A

Rating # 7

Overview:

• Course: FIL185
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.5
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

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

Comment:

Dr. Varner is different. I think he talked more about farming and historical events of the past 100 years more than anything business related. He's really nice, though, and does care about his students. He just tends to ramble about whatever happens to go through his mind. Boring at times, but it made for an easy A or B

Rating # 8

Overview:

• Course: FIL185
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 2.5
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

I was excited to take a class on business law. However, the class only has 3 grades: a written midterm, a Wall Street Journal project, and a written final exam. He only lectures about his harm and stocks. The test prompts are really confusing and you don't learn much valuable information.

Rating # 9

Overview:

• Course: FIL185
• Grade Received: B
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

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

Comment:

This was an easy class. All we needed to do was write 3 5 page papers for the tests and turned in a scrap book of wall street journal articles for the final. His grading system is very different than other classes making it very difficult to get an A and impossible to get below a C. I learned very little about business ethics, but it helped my GPA.

Rating # 10

Overview:

• Course: FIL185
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 1.0

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

Comment:

Great teacher who is very funny and shares interesting stories. Do not need to buy a textbook, only subscription to WSJ. Tests are take home and pretty easy. Overall a great teacher, with easy tests, no homework and funny. Definitely take him!

Rating # 11

Overview:

• Course: FIL185
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.5
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

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

Comment:

no textbook. exams are take home essays that he advises you to work together on. sit in clas and scribble down every word he says - that's the only way you'll do well on the essays. WSJ project is easy but time consuming. definitely guaranteed an A or B, as long as you take good notes

Rating # 12

Overview:

• Course: FIL185
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

You go over his stocks every class. Then he rambles about random stuff like his farm, travels, WWII, and his family. No hw. take home tests that were impossible for me to get an A on. Wall Street Journal project isnt bad but time consuming.You dont learn anything. Easy B, A if you take notes on everything he says

Rating # 13

Overview:

• Course: FIL312
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.5
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Very interesting and entertaining professor who combines his considerable knowledge of history with his considerable knowledge of business. He is an attorney and likes to talk and share his experiences. This is a good round-out course for seniors.

Rating # 14

Overview:

• Course: FIL405
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.5
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

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

Comment:

I expected to talk about business law in that class. We talked about corn, and wars...

Rating # 15

Overview:

• Course: FIL312
• 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:

I loved this class. It was relaxing and interesting. Very chill atmosphere. He takes attendance and you need a sub to the wallstreet journal. Only assignments are a few papers which are easy A's. He doesn't consider this FIL 312, but instead your "senior seminar" and teaches you "everything a graduate should know" go to class and take notes, easy A

Rating # 16

Overview:

• Course: FIL312
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.5
• Course Difficulty: 1.0

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

Comment:

Most boring class I have ever taken. It is a total waste of time but an automatic A if you do the busy work. He is not upfront about assignments so that is irritating. Mostly he just rants about Germany, farming, and brags about how rich he is.

Rating # 17

Overview:

• Course: FIL185
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 1.0

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

Comment:

I personally hated this class and was on my computer all class! If you don't mind having 3 hours of your life wasted every week take this class. While it requires no studying it is a waste of your time! There are other professors you can take and get an easier and more interesting A. He rants about farming, Germany, and WWII all class!

Rating # 18

Overview:

• Course: FIL405
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.5
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

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

Comment:

This was the worst class I have ever taken in my five plus years of higher education. Like many other people wrote, all he does is talk about farming and World War II, neither of which had anything to do with business law. I have never done an evaluation of a professor, but "Dr." Varner was so bad I felt the need to warn possible students.

Rating # 19

Overview:

• Course: FIL185
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

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

Comment:

On paper, Varner is not the best teacher. No textbook or itinerary. He goes on (seemingly) irrelevant tangents about farming, baseball, and many other things, HOWEVER, Varner talks about the real world. I learned more in his class than in many others. Write down every word he says. If you want to be interested, you will.

Rating # 20

Overview:

• Course: FIL185
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 1.0

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

Comment:

I loved Dr. Varner.. the comments other people have mentioned about farming is true. Take good notes and that's all there is to this class. Rewrite the lectures into an essay and thats your test. This is the only teacher I've had that will actually talk daily about what's going on in our economy. The class wasn't structured strictly out of a book.