Larry Goldsman - McGill University, Montreal, QC

Professor: Larry Goldsman

Department: Accounting

College: McGill University, Montreal, QC

Rating # 1

Overview:

• Course: ACCT385
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Great lecture notes accompanied with real life examples to get the material accross. It's a Tax course, be ready for the technical stuff. Not sure if the Income Tax Act helped me in the course. Prof was always available to see me outside of class.

Rating # 2

Overview:

• Course: ACCT385
• Grade Received: A-
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

Goldsman is the Bronfman legend - been here for too long that he has become an experience. Extremely funny guy with a very kind heart. The best way to take him is to record all lectures and listen to it once you make a manager at Big 4 and encounter a tax challenge - you will find wisdom in his lectures. For undergrad, u wont get a thing he says

Rating # 3

Overview:

• Course: ACCT385
• Grade Received: B+
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

Avoid this class and this prof at all costs! (1) This class is super content heavy and difficult. (2) Larry just reads directly from the ITA and his lecture notes. (3) Larry tells a lot of boring old man stories that are unrelated to the course material and a huge waste of time. (4) Read the textbook and do his old exams if you're stuck with him

Rating # 4

Overview:

• Course: ACCT385
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Professor Goldsman is a great prof! He makes the course as interesting as possible. Beware, tax is a heavy course load with lots of rules to memorize. With that said, his exams are fair, especially considering he gives you practice midterms and finals.

Rating # 5

Overview:

• Course: ACCT385
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Prof Goldsman is great! I'd say one of the best I've had at McGill so far. He makes the material as interesting as possible, and is a really kind person. Try to get your hands on old exams, they're really helpful. Also, beware, the first midterm is quite easy, the second not so much. Final was bearable!

Rating # 6

Overview:

• Course: ACCT385
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 3.5
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

do the previous exam and you will be more than fine. Make sure to understand at the beginning, everything come back again and again.

Rating # 7

Overview:

• Course: ACCT385
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.5
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Goldsman makes all the tax rules tolerable. Speaks quickly, lots of material. Review his old exams, they will get you through. Lots of office hours.

Rating # 8

Overview:

• Course: ACCT385
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.5
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

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

Comment:

Lots of material coverage, but Goldsman's lecture notes are a great help. Office hours are a help if you need to see him as he' s pretty available. Quickly replied to my email questions.

Rating # 9

Overview:

• Course: TAXATION1
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

Stay away fron this guy if you have a chance to take this course with another professor. Very unpleasant as a person and and old-fashioned as a teacher. He know his subject well, but his teaching technics (I would say no teaching technics, but some course irrelevant intertaining personal stories) don't work well if you want to learn in class.

Rating # 10

Overview:

• Course: ACCT385
• Grade Received: A+
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

You have to be very detail oriented to enjoy this course. I learned a lot and Larry is through and through, extremely intelligent. He probably knows all 5000 pages of the tax act off the top of his head. Although not necessary, textbook questions really help.

Rating # 11

Overview:

• Course: ACCT385486
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 1.0

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

Comment:

Larry makes a boring subject as interesting as he can. He goes quickly, but is always ready to slow down and repeat if you need him to. Very knowledgeable about the subject, and available to help whenever you need it. Exams are very straightforward, and if you put the least bit of effort into them you can do well. Amazing teacher.

Rating # 12

Overview:

• Course: ACCT482
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

"The Taxman" by excellence, the go-to professor for Tax classes. Very good professor, he even helped me on extra curricular stuff.

Rating # 13

Overview:

• Course: ACCT385
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.5
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Has great examples and anecdotes from his personal life. Really clear with the material and manages to make tax kind of fun. Really, really nice guy and underrated prof. Tests are pretty straightforward but it's tax so pay attention to details!

Rating # 14

Overview:

• Course: ACCT486
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.5
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: No
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: Not Mandatory

Comment:

Goldsman is terrible for undergrads. Extremely funny guy, Absolutely experienced tax authority in Canada. However, goes through course content very fast, regardless of the level of knowledge students possess in tax area. Also, story-based teaching, no examples prepared u for exams, but if u r already in tax industry for a while, he is ur guy

Rating # 15

Overview:

• Course: ACCT486
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 4.5
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Such a funny guy! He always has a story to help give relevance to the examples. Do the practice exams he gives and memorize the solutions and the assignments. Very nice guy and approachable (just don’t bombard him before the midterm and final exam). Tax 2 is significantly harder than Tax 1. Strong recommendation.

Rating # 16

Overview:

• Course: ACCT385
• Grade Received: C+
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

The exams are hard and overall very tricky. It's a memorization course. He goes over the material very quickly even though it is clear sometimes that the class is not following. Advice: learn to adapt to this class' pace and style quickly, or risk having to re-take it like I did.

Rating # 17

Overview:

• Course: ACCT486
• 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:

Goes quick over the examples and waste time on details and on unuseful contend.

Rating # 18

Overview:

• Course: ACCT385
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

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

Comment:

poor prof. not clear in his examples, tests you from the book, his coursepack is useful but it does not contain everything you need for the midterms. to ace the final, you need to solve past practise exam.

Rating # 19

Overview:

• Course: ACCT385
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

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

Comment:

Such a funny guy! Great teacher, maybe the most “human” I’ve had at McGill. He always has a story to help give relevance to the examples. Do the practice exams he gives and memorize the solutions and the assignments. Very nice guy and approachable (just don’t bombard him before the midterm and final exam). Strong recommendation

Rating # 20

Overview:

• Course: ACCT385
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Goldsman is terrible! His course pack is seriously lacking in clarity and he spends the whole class explaining theory and no practice problems. If it wasn't for a tutor I prob would have failed. Do as many practice problems from past midterms & finals to get a decent grade. He's also a hard marker and hardly gives part marks. Avoid!