Miriam Urzua-Montoya - University of Arizona

Professor: Miriam Urzua-Montoya

Department: Languages

College: University of Arizona

Rating # 1

Overview:

• Course: SPAN210
• Grade Received: B
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

Very unclear in her assignment directions and will happily mark you down on questions that are ambiguously worded. Perhaps it is a language barrier issue, but my unanswered emails left me discouraged to even try and contest it.

Rating # 2

Overview:

• Course: SPAN350
• Grade Received: B
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Tough grader. I feel like it's impossible to compete and be paired with the native speakers. She is a harsh critic, and her comments often left me feeling hopeless instead of inspired. Even after making her suggested improvements, I never made an A on assignments. If you're a native speaker, easy A. Otherwise, be prepared to put in some work.

Rating # 3

Overview:

• Course: SPAN201
• Grade Received: B-
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Professor Urzua-Montoya seems fun at first; but is completely unreasonable and confusing about what she expects. Span201 has content overload and she will expect you to know the entire revolutionary history of over three different countries by heart. She will get mad at you in class if you don't have the exact answer in a very condescending way.

Rating # 4

Overview:

• Course: SPAN210H
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Dr. Urzua-Montoya was definitely not my favorite professor. She is a very tough grader, and is very unclear about what she wants in terms of the essays. She is extremely condescending and makes you feel stupid if you do not give the answer she wants in class. I do not recommend taking her if you want to struggle to get an A in a gen ed.

Rating # 5

Overview:

• Course: SPAN210
• Grade Received: B+
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Worst professor I have ever had at the UA. She is not caring at all and only cares about herself. Makes you feel stupid every time you decide to participate in class. Tough grader on essays and is not specific on how she wants them written.

Rating # 6

Overview:

• Course: SPAN251
• Grade Received: Not sure yet
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

This class was a significant jump from 201/202. I struggled a lot initially (her grading criteria was really tough and she's a bit judgmental of your speaking abilities sometimes) but the more you get to know her the nicer she is. She helped me a lot with the questions I had and gives lots of opportunities to improve your grade.

Rating # 7

Overview:

• Course: SPA251
• Grade Received: B-
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Grades way too hard on the papers and is not clear about anything. It can get very frustrating but she's pretty nice. The Spanish department should rethink who they put in the classes.

Rating # 8

Overview:

• Course: SPAN325
• Grade Received: B
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

The class is very straight forward and the midterm/final is exactly like the study guide. She gives plenty of opportunities to improve writing assignments to get a better grade. Homework is mostly online and she is very flexible. Those who struggle in the class seem to be the students who have no real desire to learn Spanish.

Rating # 9

Overview:

• Course: SPAN325
• Grade Received: B
• 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 spanish class I have ever taken. How to succeed in this class: be fluent in spanish. Also being a mind reader would help. She has extremely specific grading criteria/preferences for spanish writing yet never teaches it to. She is condescending and unhelpful. Made me want to quit my spanish minor.

Rating # 10

Overview:

• Course: SPAN325
• Grade Received: C
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

The worst professor I have had. Needlessly difficult, and apathetic to the fact that most of her class does not understand the content.

Rating # 11

Overview:

• Course: SPAN325
• 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:

How to get a good grade in this class: Be a fluent spanish speaker who can also write (in spanish) at a doctorate level. If you cannot do these things, I would advise taking a different professor and save yourself from a best case scenario, C+. Also, Hardest grader ever and unbelievably hard to understand (English or Spanish).

Rating # 12

Overview:

• Course: SPAN201
• Grade Received: B
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Her English was horrible. Her grading was tough on the papers. Final super easy.

Rating # 13

Overview:

• Course: SPAN210
• Grade Received: B+
• Overall Rating: 1.5
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

She was a tough grader on the papers!! Her accent was hard to understand. Her exam was easy. Good luck trying to understand her English.

Rating # 14

Overview:

• Course: SPAN210
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

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

Comment:

Class was interesting and the films were fun to watch. But the scene analysis were really tough and mainly because of how harshly they are graded. She did give a 3% extra credit throughout the semester and the final even had some extra points. Very understanding, would extend deadlines and even curved the extra credit at the end of semester.

Rating # 15

Overview:

• Course: SPAN325
• Grade Received: C
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Most mediocre Spanish teacher I have ever had the misfortune to know. Not clear on due dates or assignment requirements, not helpful to struggling students, and in fact she is downright discouraging. Gave up on Spanish for a year because of her. Don't take any classes taught by this person. She is really hot though.... BUT STILL it's not worth it.

Rating # 16

Overview:

• Course: SPAN210
• Grade Received: C+
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Quizes have no partial credit for answers with multiple answers which makes up the majority of the quiz. Extremely harsh grader and was unclear about exactly what was expected.

Rating # 17

Overview:

• Course: SPAN210
• Grade Received: A+
• Overall Rating: 3.5
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

The class was pretty easy in my opinion. No exams (just a non-cumulative final), two papers, weekly quizzes that can be tough at times, and a video project. You watch movies in class and while lecture attendance isn't mandatory, she DOES NOT post her powerpoints online so you must go to get the notes for the quizzes. She's an okay professor.

Rating # 18

Overview:

• Course: SPAN210H
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 3.5
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Lets you know what you need to do to succeed in this class. However, you do need to show that you put in an effort, since a 92 counts as an A and she gives 90s if you half ass it. Lots of participation points. She can be incredibly condescending, but just ignore it, she won't punish you for not knowing something.

Rating # 19

Overview:

• Course: 325
• Grade Received: C+
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

She was one of the least helpful teachers I have ever had. Everything we had was extremely difficult and lessons were unclear. The average on the midterm and final was a D and she did not curve the class. Do not take this teacher. I studied for the final for 10 hours and still got a D. Did everything that was asked and was still unsuccessful.

Rating # 20

Overview:

• Course: SPAN325
• Grade Received: C
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

She is an absolutely brutal and totally unclear grader. Although I could have pulled off a B if I did not miss a quiz, as far as I know nobody gets an A in her class as I had easily in 202 and 251. She is the definition of unhelpful and unclear and not that sympathetic. Sometimes funny, though, and not a horrible teacher overall.