Elvin Holt - Texas State University, San Marcos, TX

Professor: Elvin Holt

Department: English

College: Texas State University, San Marcos, TX

Rating # 1

Overview:

• Course: ENGLISH3555
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

Dr. Holt's lectures are inspirational, he doesn't progress with the schedule. IE, we read a book a week for class. We're on the 4th book, he's still talking about the 1st. His desires for the reader responses are not clear, there is an example. The example isn't what he wants. You don't find what you did wrong until RR 2, so two bad grades. Eng5332

Rating # 2

Overview:

• Course: ENG1310
• Grade Received: Not sure yet
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 1.0

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

Comment:

Do NOT take this professor. Nothing posted on TRACS page and you won't know your grade until after the semester ends. You want to spend time hearing him talk the ENTIRE time about why fragment sentences are bad, go ahead and take the class. Do the readings and essays on time and you'll pass. But good luck because he doesn't follow the syllabus.

Rating # 3

Overview:

• Course: ENG3341
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

This class is comprised of: 50 minute multiple choice AND 3 page essays, quizzes based on miscellaneous reading information, no tracs page, and a professor that's difficult to be reached by email. Do not take this class if you're not okay with all of the above, or if you want to learn about the world. Dr. Holt only covers African Literature.

Rating # 4

Overview:

• Course: DVST5310
• Grade Received: C
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Over 30 assignments within the semester. Does not give any leeway. Once assignments are closed, they are closed. Wasn't the best at communicating. Assignments included book reviews, weekly forums, weekly quizzes, 15-20 page research paper, and limited extra credit.

Rating # 5

Overview:

• Course: ENG3336
• Grade Received: B-
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

You have 50 minutes to answer 25 short answer grammar and punctuation count. also in that 50 minutes you have a three page essay you have to be very detailed. he goes off on tangents and expects you to remember very small details. Stuff not even important to the class. I really wanted to like him hard to when he is so hard,

Rating # 6

Overview:

• Course: ENG3331
• Grade Received: C
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Get ready to ACTIVELY read! Graded on daily reading quizzes (15%), one paper (20%), two exams (20% each) and a final (25%). His exams are pretty tough: 25 short answer (using complete sentences) and a 3 page, handwritten essay... in 50 minutes. His exam reviews include material not discussed in class (thank you, Google).

Rating # 7

Overview:

• Course: ENG3331
• Grade Received: D+
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

I have had a lot of hard professors but Holt was absolutely ridiculous. For our exams, we have to give answers to 30 short answers and write a 3-page single spaced essay in 50 minutes(no open book for quotes and don't receive prompts beforehand). No TRACS and specification on grading policy. The pickiest and hardest grader I've had. DO NOT TAKE!

Rating # 8

Overview:

• Course: ENG3343
• Grade Received: C
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

This was the worst class of my life. In a class full of English majors/minors, he told us to basically all dropout and be plumbers. If how you word your answer or essay isn't how he would word it, HE WILL TAKE OFF. AVOID THIS TEACHER AT ALL COSTS.

Rating # 9

Overview:

• Course: ENG3335
• Grade Received: C+
• Overall Rating: 1.5
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

I'm an English major so I love reading & writing but Holt lowered my self esteem to the point where I'm questioning my major AND career choice. I'm a straight A student and I got a C in this class...I worked SO hard and barely got by. He expects WAY TOO MUCH from his students on tests and quizzes and won't hesitate to call you out for doing poorly

Rating # 10

Overview:

• Course: ENG3335
• Grade Received: C+
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

I am an English major; I read for fun. That being said, I absolutely would not recommend this class. I was in his American Lit course and he assigned 10 novels for the semester. We had zero time to digest, reading just enough to be able to answer the daily quizzes. There was no discussion, and our grades were based off of being able to memorize.

Rating # 11

Overview:

• Course: ENGLISH1310
• Grade Received: Not sure yet
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

Dr. Holt is the hardest grader you will even have. I would go to the writing center and have my peers check my papers and still get D's on papers I tried very hard on. I have all A's expect this class. He takes off whole letter grades for one small grammar error. UNFAIR grader. Just drop him and take another English professor.

Rating # 12

Overview:

• Course: ENG3331
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.5
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

The main thing you need to do is read. Read the material-Or sparknotes/schmoop-and you'll pass. Write down what he writes on the board and study the dates/names with flashcards. This class is really not hard at all.

Rating # 13

Overview:

• Course: ENG3331
• Grade Received: B
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

All considered, this class was pretty brutal. I've never had to work so hard for a B in my life. That said, it was worth it in the end. I learned a lot. Honestly though, not sure I'd do it if I'd known about his tests in advance... 20 some odd short answers and an essay in 50 minutes is no fun at all.

Rating # 14

Overview:

• Course: ENG3335
• Grade Received: D
• Overall Rating: 1.5
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Terrible class. He seems like he knows his stuff but doesn't convey it well since he repeats everything you already know from the readings. Exams are ridiculous. 3 pages in-class essay on top of 25 short-answer questions in just a 50 min. class period. Demanded 6 pages on the final. Unclear and vague "prompts" for the term paper (I almost failed).

Rating # 15

Overview:

• Course: ENG3335
• 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:

SO MUCH READING TO DO! He quizzes you over tiny details you read at the start of every class but there's so many they hardly matter. Spends the entire "lecture" rambling on and repeating everything you've already read. I feel like I'm not learning much and class is just wasting my time. No discussions, very dull and boring.

Rating # 16

Overview:

• Course: ENG3335
• Grade Received: B
• Overall Rating: 2.5
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

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

Comment:

Dr.Holts class was easy if you read the books, if you did not you would fail the quizzes. He gives you reviews for the tests, just make sure you take notes in the class and you'll be fine. He also has essays on his tests, which aren't bad. He lets us discuss in class, despite what the other reviews have said. He can be slow in his lectures though.

Rating # 17

Overview:

• Course: ENG3331
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.5
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Professor Holt IS A TERRIBLE PROFESSOR. He lectures AT the class, discourages discussion, and wastes time defining words like "ambiguous" for 20 minutes. He's unorganized and can't stick to his unorganized syllabus. I was so excited to take AfroAm Lit and now I just do homework for other classes during his class. It's a frustrating waste of time.

Rating # 18

Overview:

• Course: ENGLISH3555
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

He expects you to read a book a week and after you have read the book you take a quiz and then he repeats back to you what you have already read. He leaves no room for classroom discussion and asks questions and answers them himself. When you try to make a comment the conversation is not engaging at all. I failed the paper and failed his class.

Rating # 19

Overview:

• Course: ENG3331
• 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: N/A

Comment:

He is very knowledgable and well-read. Very fair grader. There are lots of quizzes that are about very minor details of the reading, but there are so many of them, they lose weight. Very interesting. Pretty easy to at lest get a B.

Rating # 20

Overview:

• Course: ENG3326
• 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: N/A

Comment:

Tough but fair grader. Notice that all the bad ratings are coming from 1310 students.