Lisa Benton-Short - George Washington University

Professor: Lisa Benton-Short

Department: TBD

College: George Washington University

Rating # 1

Overview:

• Course: GEOG1001
• Grade Received: B+
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Honestly the worst professor I could ever take. It was a traumatic experience as a freshman. She is so disrespectful and a really tough grader. She forms the exams in a way that she can easily cut points, even because you didn't write a word that was in her ppt. I don't know why that kind of people continue to teach in universities. GOOD LUCK!!!

Rating # 2

Overview:

• Course: GEOG1001
• Grade Received: A-
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Is knowledgeable about the subject. Is often rude in email correspondence and will make you go to office hours to answer simple question. Test definitions are literally based word for word on her slides and a single incorrect word causes her to grade the whole question wrong. Informative but not worth the intro credit and suffering by this course.

Rating # 3

Overview:

• Course: GEOG1001
• Grade Received: A-
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

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

Comment:

Professor really isn't that bad at all. She's just not fantastic, but she'll still teach you something. The material itself is basic but really interesting. Her lectures are pretty straight forward. The exams are super specific but not impossible as long as you do the readings, which also aren't that bad. Project is easy. Class is doable.

Rating # 4

Overview:

• Course: GEOG1001
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

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

Comment:

Not the best professor but class is easy enough if you pay attention. The exams (3) literally cover EVERYTHING but are not cumulative so that's a big win. Attendance is mainly mandatory as she hands out attendance sheets and in-class assignments. Big global change project is research-heavy but not awful.

Rating # 5

Overview:

• Course: GEOG1001
• Grade Received: B
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

Hands down the worst professor ever. Avoid at all costs if you have to take this class for a requirement. If you're taking her class voluntarily you must be a masochist. She teaches material that can be found on the first paragraph of a wikipedia article and structures assignments so that you lose points on technicalities and minutia.

Rating # 6

Overview:

• Course: GEOG1001
• Grade Received: A-
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Hands down the most disrespectful, rude, incompetent, and openly hostile person I have ever met in my life. Her quizzes are based on memorizing obscure "facts" and "definitions" from her lectures that are often inconsistent with reality and based on her shockingly naive perception of the world. She does not deserve to be a professor.

Rating # 7

Overview:

• Course: GEOG1001
• Grade Received: A-
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

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

Comment:

An easy class that covered interesting material, however, this professor is openly disrespectful and hostile to students. It's a little shocking. Her grading is often inaccurate, so check to make sure that it is corrected, and save email correspondence with her, she may send you some surprisingly rude emails.

Rating # 8

Overview:

• Course: GEO001
• Grade Received: B
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

Hardest teacher for an INTRO course- do NOT take thought I learned a lot of this course and genuinely enjoyed the material- she made the tests unnecessarily difficult with many opportunities to LOSE points as her tests were SO insanely specific. A shame because I actually did enjoy class material and studied very hard.

Rating # 9

Overview:

• Course: GEOG1001
• Grade Received: B
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Every single detail that she mentions in class could be a question on the test so it's important to show up (it's mandatory anyway) and take comprehensive notes. If you do miss class she posts lectures online. Her tests always have a few very specific questions on them so don't expect an 100. Global Project is time consuming and graded harshly.

Rating # 10

Overview:

• Course: GEOG1001
• Grade Received: A-
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Professor Benton-Short's class was the most pointless class I've ever taken. She makes her lectures mandatory but spends the whole class explaining a single basic concept over and over again. Her tests are long and graded awfully- knowing all the material doesn't guarantee you a good grade, she will take points off whenever and wherever she can.

Rating # 11

Overview:

• Course: GEOG1001
• Grade Received: A-
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

GEOG 1001 with LBS is the way to go as soon as you can. Definitely a great class that is applicable to every other social science subject you'll be taking alongside this. Lectures are mandatory but she puts slides online and her tests reflect them almost entirely. Really great prof for the high school to college transition. Would recommend!!

Rating # 12

Overview:

• Course: GEOG1001
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

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

Comment:

Be there for attendance - you fill out attendance sheets that end up being questions on the test. Class is super straightforward and she uploads the lecture notes at the end of each unit. She's always happy to answer your questions during office hours!

Rating # 13

Overview:

• Course: GEO001
• Grade Received: A-
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

I found her lectures to be incredibly well organized + very interesting. She definitely cares about her students learning, but not lenient on extra cred. will give points back on tests in office hours. 3 exams, 25% of grade EACH (second exam is very specific + difficult) do the final project throughout the semester so it doesn't catch up to u

Rating # 14

Overview:

• Course: GEOG1001
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Attending lecture is extremely important as most of the test questions come directly from them. But she will also post them online so you can listen to them before the tests. Reading the textbook is not important for the course if you attend every lecture. Attendance in mandatory but not heavily weighted. Very engaging class.

Rating # 15

Overview:

• Course: 4195W
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

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

Comment:

Lisa Benton-Short is the greatest counter-example to the idea of meritocracy I have yet encountered in my life. Her attempts at playing toughnosed professor are laughably see through, and while needlessly rude and shockingly uninformed, at the very least a I learned from her the value of networking. Class content was also utterly banal.

Rating # 16

Overview:

• Course: GEO001
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Best professor at GW. Hands down.

Rating # 17

Overview:

• Course: SUST1001
• Grade Received: A-
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

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

Comment:

This is the second class I have had the misfortune of taking with this professor. Lisa Benton-Short attempts the "tough, but respected" status but instead is just rude and petty. She reads of her slides and makes test harder by making basic memorization the cornerstone of this class. The only teacher I have had zero respect for at GW.

Rating # 18

Overview:

• Course: SUST1001
• Grade Received: A-
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Don't buy the textbook, you don't need it because LBS regurgitates the entire thing for you. Her lectures are long and boring, & compensates for her poor teaching style by requiring attendance and writing obscure and random test questions that aren't relevant to the course. She's just an extremely unpleasant person to be around, overall.

Rating # 19

Overview:

• Course: SUST1001
• Grade Received: A-
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

She makes saving the planet seem boring. Attendance at every lecture is mandatory and verified through a series of clicker quizzes. If your clicker malfunctions, she'll mark you absent even if you talk to her. This is just one example of the many ways that she's needlessly arbitrary and rude to students

Rating # 20

Overview:

• Course: GEOG1001
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Worst professor in the geography department by a massive margin. I've had been unfortunate position of having to take three different classes with her.(She teaches classes which fulfill requirements and are usually empty) LBS brings the worst parts of high school to life in boring, busy work heavy, and substance less classes. Spare your sanity.