She LOVES to ramble. She said her students fall in her lectures and I understand why. Her lectures are hard to follow since she adds so much fluff. Lack of cohesiveness. Her accent also makes it a little hard to understand too. Weekly tasks and journal entries based on the readings. Lectures are recorded but good luck trying to decipher her words.

So many mini assignments which weigh so heavily if misses. This is a 100 level course but she treats it like a 400

ABSOLUTLY HORRIBLE PROF. TALKS FOR HOURS STRAIGHT DOESNT EXPLAIN PROPERLY. I THINK I LOST BRAIN CELLS TAKING THIS CLASS WITH HER

In-person ENGL 199; 1Expects a first year student to write a research paper with her horrible instructions. She needs do a better job of explaining. 2If you miss more than 1 class say bye to your B grade - the way she grades 3.Hard marker but gives good feedback 4.If you need to take this class, In all honesty DO NOT take it with her. 5.word limit

For 199w- she requires to use a tracking changes tool on word. The tracking tool just makes it easier for the prof and TA to read the final paper a lot faster and easier. It also makes edits visible. Which imo is incredibly stupid as we used to hand in physical papers. Gave me 37 percent for having the tool and refused to read the paper.

Took her last sem in 114 and now again in 199, and both times were mistakes. Just because i didnt use the right font and 1 less source she gave me a 50% on an assignemnt worth 30% of ur entire grade. I literally gained no english knowledge from this course. Do not recommend this prof

Tutorial attendance is mandatory. MC final. There is no curve or scaling in this class at all so do not rely on it. Random participation quizzes in class. Essay is graded heavily make sure to focus on ethos pathos stuff. Class is kinda boring tho and you probably won't understand anyth cuz she takes 2hrs to read like 10-15 slides. Stressless course

I think anyone and everyone should not take her English 199W class. She is a mice prof but she cannot teach. For the sake of your grade stay away from her. Also didn't learn much English at all, boring lectures, and just talks to herself in class as no one has the attention span to listen to her talk for 2 hours straight

horrible prof for 199W

If you can avoid this prof I would. Treats a first year class like a fourth. Really needs to rethink her syllabus. Almost everyone in the class STRUGGLED. For your sake, stay away. She also has this annoying contract if you are late or miss any assignments you have no chance to get a grade higher than a B.

Horrible don't take this class

This class stressed me out so much. I am only one month in and wish I could drop it. You MUST follow the instructions to a T unless you want to lose marks. Instructions are unclear at times. Assignments are confusing and the hard thing is if you mess up, it impacts your grade greatly. When asked questions, answers are unhelpful and confusing.

Do not take this class with this prof. Just don't. I am a straight A/B student and this class took me for a wild ride. Her instructions are so unclear & the material just doesn't make sense. I emailed her several times and her responses were not helpful whatsoever. Just do not do it. It's not worth it.

ENGL199W is the most useless class I have ever taken. It is full of work that is assigned just for the sake of doing work. The prof has unclear and convoluted instructions that are full of typos, and the textbook (which is also a horrendous piece of writing) is mandatory for about half the coursework. Avoid this class at all costs.

No clear instructions to do good. just don't take this course. good luck.

She seems nice, but I honestly didn't enjoy her teaching style. Grading criteria was clear, however the instructions for projects was super confusing, and asking her for clarification just made things worse. The group projects felt unnecessary, and often didn't have much relation to the big solo projects. The lectures were WAY too long!

The assignment instructions were often unclear, making it difficult to understand expectations and achieve good grades. The professor seemed to make the course unnecessarily difficult without ensuring the quality of the content. Please avoid her by any means.

unprofessional, many notes and posts weren't posted and materials needed for work was not given in time to effectively work on assigments.

Unorganized and very boring. Seems like prof gets power trips just cuz she's teaching 100 students lol. Do not take a class with her. Grading is just setting you up for failure.

Worst class with worst prof I have taken

Never take

Worst teacher at sfu

Mean professor

All the rating she has received shows what her classes are like. She makes the most boring and unorganized lectures. Also is very rude

Hated lectures

Honestly so boring

Letting anyone be a prof these days

Lectures are a waste of time. She spends hours on stuff that should take 15 mins max

not sure how she is a professor. Never made sense what was going on during class.

Smh do not take

Extremely disorganized course content, which fails to actually give a student an understanding on what the course is about. "Language and Purpose" had no clear purpose. Feedback which was supposed to be given to help the final paper draft was not given until AFTER the draft was submitted, giving no time to actually fix the paper. Genuinely horrible

Worst English professor who doesn't know how to teach. Very unorganized and demotivating. She prevents her students from succeeding in all possible ways. Inspiring students with good grades is the last thing she wants to do. She offers courses to crash student's GPAs that's her only goal!! Be aware!

avoid this prof if possible.

Very unorganized lectures. Pretty much just reading from slides, not engaging at all.

sooooo boring

Made the course very difficult for no reason

She claims to give free marks for weekly assignments, but grades on essay drafts and finals are intentionally lower. In most English courses, 10% comes from attendance and participation (easy mark), but in this one, missing weekly assignments hurts your grade. The highest essay draft grade I heard of was 60%, and the instructions are vague. AVOID!!

Worst English professor at SFU! Please avoid her if you care about your grade, time and money. It's such a waste of both.

avoid this prof

The lectures were very boring and often seemed unorganized. Prof was just reading off the slides most of the time.

worst prof of all time!

She doesn't know what she is doing. She is very uninspiring and boring. Please avoid!

doesn't give good feedback, just criticism. the content of her lectures made no sense, majority of assignments are easy marks except the only 3 big projects (paper outline, paper draft and final copy) she gives an additional 2 day grace period without any penalty for almost every assignment that needs to be handed in

lectures is just yap but very very easy participation/completion marks. Instructions and material is unclear and unorganized. teacher gives you "second" chances but doesn't grade fairly. Got 0.1 off of a B but she wouldn't round it whatsoever and said she gave me enough opportunities to get a good grade

this prof makes the class very boring

horrible, stay away

She is an awful professor, as you can already tell from her rating. I recommend that everyone avoid her.

As you can already tell by her rating, she is arguably the worst prof out there. She does not want you to succeed in her class and is a crazy hard marker for no reason. Basically, wants you to fail her class and does not want to answer your question then complains about how no one asks questions. Stay far away from her as possible.

Must I say more? Stay away if you enjoy fair grading. Wouldn't recommend her to my worst enemy. She has bad rating even in schools from the US. Will she ever learn?

She's genuinely the worst professor in this university who disregards any hard work you put into your assignments and all of her lecture videos are a waste of time. If you're considering taking this course just because it's online, stay away and just take it in person if you want to have a good grade in this class.

One of the worst the prof ever. Assignment instruction is unclear, does not want her students to succeed, does not care about her students, get ready to fail the class even if you try, lots of reading, and boring lectures. Save your money, time, and sanity. Just don't take class, actually the worst prof at SFU.

The average rating speaks for itself. She wants students failing her class

rudest prof ever.

The rating speaks for itself. Hands down the worst prof at SFU. Don't take her.

I dont understand how people like her are allowed to teach. Havent seen a more condescending prof ever.

just stay away from her.

Don't take her. Terrible prof, she shouldn't be teaching at all, don't understand how she still hasn't been fired yet. She basically told our class that don't expect to do well in this course because she won't be giving out good grades.

she makes me regret every minute of my life I waste in her lectures

fr tho, how is she still teaching? she will answer questions in the rudest way possible and is just overall not helpful.

This professor is extremely difficult and has a harsh grading style that feels unnecessarily strict. She doesn't seem invested in her students' success and can be unapproachable when it comes to answering questions

just look at the ratio between 5 and 1 ratings she has

dude jsut stay away form her

worst prof at sfu

to save yourself from unwanted frustration, do not take a course with this prof.

definetly the worst prof at sfu

Avoid this professor at all costs. Lectures are very monotone, boring and not very relevant. She doesn't care about the effort her students put into assignments and doesn't want them to succeed. Quizzes and readings do not relate to major assignments and students are expected to know how to complete assignments perfectly with minimal guidance/help

She states in the syllabus "Only a few exceptional students whose work is above average are granted a grade higher than B". Alys expects her students to already be experts in what she teaches. If a student passes her class with an A+, they should be outright given an English degree as that is the level you must write at to achieve that grade.

This prof will make instructions confusing and if you ask her for clarification, you will end up even more confused. Beware!!! listen to all the 1 ratings and don't take any course with her.

Not good. Instructions are incredibly confusing, and the subject is just so dry and boring. Even if you do manage to follow it exactly you still end up with less than 60% and its worth 45% and 35% of your grade. The only upside is that the lectures are 15-20 mins. She wants her students to fail lol

worst prof

Terrible professor. She will do everything she can to make sure you don't get a good grade. She should be fired and banned from teaching. What everyone else is saying is true. Just avoid her at all costs.

All the other reviews are very true about her and her demeanour. She wants students to not do well, she is also very sassy and answers questions in the most condescending way. She does not deserve to be teaching at ANY University.

There is a huge language barrier and her methods are not very practical or reasonable.

all the other reviews perfectly describe her

All the reviews about her are correct. She is unfair to her students and she definitely has favorite. You're graded on few things and she marks extremely hard and does not want you to do well. Just don't take her.

She is one of the worst profs ever her grading scale is whack does not make any sense and if not willing to give out good marks. I didn't check her reviews and I should've cause it would've saved me from this mental abuse and my GPA. Her lectures are boring as and her quizzes are unfair, she doesn't give you enough time. Worst class ever stay away

I have an A or an A- in all my other SFU upper-level English courses. I am set for a B in Alys's ENGL 470W class. She takes marks off for the most nitpicky of things in amounts that do not make sense. Many of the activities we did in groups in her class had nothing to do with the course overall and seemed like make-work just for the heck of it.

ah yes. if i wanted my child to teach english, grade in the most unfair way possible, and teach everything unrelated to course assignments, i would name them alys avalos-rivera.

All the reviews are right about her. She grades unfairly, marks extremely hard, and gives low grades even when she says your work is great. Doesn't answer questions and clearly favors certain students over others. She doesn't want students to succeed. Should be fired and banned from teaching. Don't take her.

if you want her to drop your gpa, if you love unfair marking, if you love failing, if you love having a bad prof Alys Avalos-Rivera is your best friend. The worst prof at this school absolute garbage of a prof. I have good As in all my other English class other than this one. She makes me wanna question my sanity. Makes me wanna drop out.

she drastically changed the course from last semester to this one. what was a b+ average is now presumptively a c+. horrrrrrrribllllllleeeeee

I know that rate my prof is inaccurate often, but I cannot stress the accuracy of the reviews of this prof. Terrible assignments with extremely vague criteria, with extremely harsh grading. Raising your grade with organic chemistry or calculus is easier than getting a major assignment higher than 60 percent in this course. Good luck.

Someone tell me why mbb331 is easier than this course by a considerable margin? Never got an evaluation lower than 90 in that class. Still yet to break 75 in this one. Egregiously harsh.

She says your work is excellent and then proceeds to give you a 60% on major assignments. With the minimal feedback she gives you just makes no sense especially since you did exactly what she told you to do. She's an English prof yet can't write proper email yet she expects you to write like you're Shakespeare. Don't take her.

You have a higher chance of winning the lottery than getting anything above 80% in this class. Marking make 0 sense, doesn't answer your questions, do exactly what she tells you to do and you'll still get 70% with minimal feedback. Taking her class is like the worst form of torture possible

id give her a 0 if i could. SFU administration really should look into why she has a review average this low. please avoid her

I went to office hours to get help with a big assignment and she took a look at my content and assisted me. She then gave me a 70% on it and in one section her feedback was that it looked like I haven't thought very much about how to write it. Girl make it make sense??? I literally went to you for help and you told me how to write it?????

Average must be hovering around 60% for this class. Feedback given on papers is condescending and makes you feel stupid. She is a horrid educator and only inspires you to do the bare minimum as you can't achieve better regardless of how hard you try. Professors should be encouraging but Dr. Rivera chooses to do the opposite and demean her students.

This course was the worst class I've taken here at SFU. There was no guidance in the class, the professor was not helpful at all and showed no care for her students. The feedback was vague, research paper itself is a whole chunk of the course and it made no sense. The quizzes were fine, but is not a big chunk of the mark.

This course was one of the most difficult, boring and unhelpful class I have ever taken at SFU. The prof and TA were very hard to contact and barely responded to emails or messages. I strongly advise you to get engl credits from a different class because you will NOT succeed in this class, good luck :)

This professor grades you like you've been writing research proposals since the day you were born. TA and prof never answer emails. Feedback is vague and laughable because it looks like they didn't even read your assignment. TA will give you suggestions and if you implement them, prof will take marks off because you didn't do your assignment right

the worst prof ever! do not take her unless you want to lower your GPA. she is so particular with what she wants leaves no room for creative liberty. i'm in my last semester and this class is ruining my GPA because of how difficult it is (it is my hardest class and i'm in 3 other 400 level classes!)

definitely the rudest prof at sfu

The worst prof ever

There is no way of getting an A in this class no matter how hard you try. Attending office hours with the TA was way more helpful than with the prof. The major assignments are difficult to understand and quizzes are not easy because the textbook itself is a hard read. I would recommend taking this class with any other prof to save you the trouble.

Watch out don't do it. Impossible to do well!!!

Do not take any class with Dr. Avalos-Rivera.

The award for the worst prof of all time goes to Alys Avalos-Rivera. Her grading criteria are so unclear, you'd have better luck decoding ancient hieroglyphs. And when you email her with a question, you'll get a full essay in return, everything except the actual answer you needed. Take this course with any other prof but her.

Take the class with any other prof but her

DO NOT TAKE ANY CLASSES WITH THIS PROF!!!

LORD HAVE MERCY IF YOU HAVE THIS PROF

Avoid at all costs.

Do not take this course it will tank your GPA. Your grade is almost entirely your research proposal and she will give you a terrible mark no matter how hard you try or how much you improve your draft. Her criteria for grading is extremely unclear. She also refuses to round grades so a 74.99 counts as 74 not 75.

The professor doesn't help TAs or students, a GPA dropper. 84.98 to 84, no grade rounding or even consideration. Grade appealing is just a pain, even to try to communicate. 70% Paper!?!?!?!? Is this class seriously for all majors? No Business, science, engineering major wants this. Listen to the 1s.

I was an AP-English student in highschool… This class made me want to cross the street without looking both ways, in the hopes I would get hit by a car.

Diabolical grading system, why is ONE PAPER worth 70% of our grades?!?! Prof only taught useful writing tips (not learned in high school) AFTER we submitted our final papers already. The only reason I got an A was because my TA was super helpful; I spent every lecture watching Youtube and only paid attention in tutorial sessions.