William Saslaw - University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA

Professor: William Saslaw

Department: Astronomy

College: University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA

Rating # 1

Overview:

• Course: ASTR1220
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Definitely a nice dude and super intelligent. His tests are hard and consistently have a 60 average or so, he even said this was true for like the last 20 yrs. If you read the book you can pull a 70 pretty easy, which should be an A with the curve. He always talks about how he's friends with all the scientists in the book, interesting guy.

Rating # 2

Overview:

• Course: ASTR1220
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

This class is blatantly unfair and Saslaw should not still be teaching. His tests are extremely difficult and everyone in the class fails them. He is unable to teach and you basically have to teach yourself from reading the book. Please do not sign up for this class if you would like to keep your sanity.

Rating # 3

Overview:

• Course: ASTR1220
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 1.0

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

Comment:

Saslaw gets a lot of heat for being an old and boring lecturer, but if you actually listen to the things he says and not immediately write him off, he's incredibly interesting. Loves teaching about astronomy, and has tests that are almost word for word questions from the book and sometimes lecture. Very generous curve, so if you read expect an A.

Rating # 4

Overview:

• Course: ANTH1220
• Grade Received: B
• Overall Rating: 2.5
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

He's a nice guy but doesn't explain anything and puts very esoteric questions on the exams.

Rating # 5

Overview:

• Course: 1220
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

Good grief I should have looked at this before registering for this class. I now find it hard to enjoy looking up at the night sky. I'm relieved that his curve is enormous, but I am not happy that UVA billed me for such a fraud of a class. They clearly know how poor he is at actual instruction.

Rating # 6

Overview:

• Course: ASTR1210
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

He is more useless than murphy. He cannot teach at all and he looks like a sloth.

Rating # 7

Overview:

• Course: ASTR1220
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

Professor Saslaw is easily the worst professor I've had. His lectures often deviate from the material and become too difficult to understand. You have to do the reading, but the 3 tests are way over everyone's heads and are the only grades. Also, he does not make himself available for help if you need it. Take this class with a different professor.

Rating # 8

Overview:

• Course: ASTR1220
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.5
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Do not take ASTR 1220 with Saslaw. You can go to lecture and take extensive notes and also read the chapters assigned and you will still not recognize many of the terms on the test. The test averages are usually around a 60 and he claims they "should be rounded at the end of the semester". This is not a class that you can take for fun!

Rating # 9

Overview:

• Course: ASTR1220
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

Professor Saslaw is absolutely ridiculous. He is clearly very intelligent, but there is no reason he should be teaching this course. The lectures are the most boring I have ever sat through, and the averages on our tests are between 50-60. The only silver lining is that the information is incredibly interesting and the textbook is very good.

Rating # 10

Overview:

• Course: ASTR1220
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

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

Comment:

WORST professor at UVA. He's super old doesn't understand technology and doesn't understand how to teach. He might understand astronomy, but he has no idea how to help YOU understand it. Lectures are boring and you may as well not go. Just read the textbook and you should be fine. There is a generous curve. I got a good grade and understood NOTHING

Rating # 11

Overview:

• Course: ASTR1220
• Grade Received: B+
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

I reccommend that you do not take this class with Saslaw. The only reason I passed is because most of the material I knew from high school. He is too old and too much of a scientist to be a decent lecturer.

Rating # 12

Overview:

• Course: ASTR1220
• Grade Received: B
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

If you're not comfortable with Astronomy then find a different teacher. Saslaw can be difficult to learn from as he follows the textbook exactly or goes way off-topic in class. He seems really interested in the field though. Besides that, the class is difficult, but the curve is generous. I had D's on almost every test but passed with a B.

Rating # 13

Overview:

• Course: ASTR003
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

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

Comment:

My feelings for this class are neutral. Professor Saslaw defiantly knew the material. However his lectures were extremely boring. The class average on exams were consistently in the low 60's upper 50's. On average 50% of the class was present at the lectures. If you are taking this class read the text book before the exam and you will do fine.

Rating # 14

Overview:

• Course: ASTR1220
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

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

Comment:

I think that Professor Saslaw was a great teacher. He always laugh at my jokes. If you come to class and read the book thoroughly, you will do better than the average. The class is curved so you will not fail unless you're a poor student. I was on point and passed the class with a decent grade. I can't say so for some others.

Rating # 15

Overview:

• Course: ASTR1220
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.5
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

Please pay attention to the comments you see from people about his class. I thought it would be fine, it wasn't. I hated this class. Its nothing interesting like astronomy you see on discovery channel its mainly a physics/chemistry class. ONLY take this course for credit/no credit. NOT for a letter grade. Thats the best advice I could ever give

Rating # 16

Overview:

• Course: ASTR1220
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

Please do not take class with this instructor. I read comments on Ratemyprof and thought it wouldn't be that bad, but I was wrong. This guy might be a good scientist, but not a good teacher, he should be confined to some kind of lab, not here teaching. I am greatly disappointed by him, and I suggest everyone to avoid him, and take astro with a diff

Rating # 17

Overview:

• Course: ASTR1220
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Don't take this class... it'll just be a waste of your time. Attending lecture is quite unnecessary (though I always did, hoping it would eventually get better... fail). It doesn't much matter whether you work really hard or not, you'll still probs not do super great. Saslwa is just incredibly monotone and hard to follow, tests are hard.no good.

Rating # 18

Overview:

• Course: ASTR1220
• 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:

Bad teacher. Unclear and not engaging. Class is easy if you read EVERYTHING in the chapters. Interesting material nonetheless, would recommend taking this class with a different professor.

Rating # 19

Overview:

• Course: ASTR1220
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 1.0

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

Comment:

He's a cool guy i guess.

Rating # 20

Overview:

• Course: ASTR122
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.5
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

:D he may be slow, but sometimes that's what students needs in order to conjure up their thoughts about the topic before he moves on to greater details. a simple equation defines the class: you have patience- take it; no patience- don't take it. I would classify this guy as "old reliable" and, frankly, gives very intelligent answers to questions.