2.1
Quality4.1
Difficulty35%
Would Retake85
Reviews35%
Would Retake
85
Reviews
Rating DistributionOfficial
85 total ratings5
7
4
10
3
10
2
20
1
38
What Students Say
“If I had 3 hours to live, I'd spend it in this class”
BU413 - 1.0 rating“probably the worst proff I've had at laurier”
BU223 - 1.0 ratingClass Info
Online Classes
100%
Attendance Mandatory
31%
Textbook Required
45%
Grade Predictor
Your expected effort level
Predicted Grade
B+
Grade Distribution
Common Tags
Rating Trend
Stable
-0.15 avg changeRatings by Course
RISKPERFIN
4.0
(1)FINANCE
4.0
(1)ECON101
4.0
(1)BU453
3.0
(6)RISKMANAGEMENT
3.0
(1)Difficulty by Course
BU423F
5.0
MBA
5.0
BU200
5.0
BUSINBU23
5.0
BU653
4.7
Reviews (84)
No Comments
Boring
BORING!
Boring - learned more by reading the textbook
Unfriendly, seems unhappy teaching. Not helpful at all.
TERRIBLE, time to get a haircut!!!
Boring and difficult. Wish I had read these ratings before taking the course.
Hands down one of the worst profs in all of Laurier, not just SBE (and I've had some BAD phys-comp profs). Surly, unhappy, unhelpful. Worse yet is in a class of few students, he wouldn't even bother to answer questions in a lecture: your hand is raised, he looks at you, looks away and keeps talking.
not only does he suck as a teacher... his class won't teach you a squat about how to manage ones finances
Awesome prof! He's boring as hell, but you NEVER have to buy a textbook for any of his classes, cuz he teaches RIGHT off slides that have good examples. NEVER asks a question thats not on his slides. So, just get the slides and look at them the night before a test, and you are SET. Asweome guy, cuz he doesn't give a**** too.
The class is not very structured. People on this site are vert bitter because the midterm was ridiculous but the prof is nice and he teaches pretty good.
People don't go to class cuz he's extremely boring, but then get pissed cuz his tests are straight from his classes and lecture notes.
Very Cute prof. Fair and tries to help out the students as much as possible. People don't come to class and wonder why they did bad and then blame the profs. Go to class and u'll do fine!
He made himself so available to his students. Answered all my stupid questions. Very Boring but so helpful! Awesome Prof!
Boring, terrible midterm, doesnt care about students
Very knowledgeable and prepared for lectures. Does not refer to textbook as much, mostly from lecture slides. Knowledgeable answers to questions. Tests can be pretty hard if not prepared, you MUST have lecture slides/notes to do well. Prof is decent, but can be very boring and dry. CLASS MATERIAL ITSELF very useful!! Excellent COURSE..
Maybe the worst prof I have ever had. Dry, boring and honestly annoying to listen to. Class is a must but is so boring I had to drop it...
Probably one of the most challenging courses I have taken yet. He is very boring but obviously experienced. You will have to keep up with the material because he goes through things quickly usually without much explanation. tough quizzes almost every week, hard midterm... somehow pulled off a B+ after studying for the final for a solid week.
This guy is not at all interesting. And he does this annoying thing where he clears his nasal passages throughout the class.... gross. Not really a great prof.
the ratinf for bu111... he doesn't teach 111... very boring prof, doesn't care at all about students, often quite RUDE in how he handles students and their needs
As I'm sure his career outside of teaching has been a success, he fails to show or provide the student with the tools in which to succeed in his class. When asked, "May we have a review class befor the final", it was followed with, "What's the point, you all did so poorly on the mid-term". Well done, Ernie. You're surely Laurier's finest.
BU223, the course HE created is non sense. He made it way too hard with stupid material that will be of no use to anyone in the future. I had this course at 7 am, and I would rather break both my legs than have to go through it again. Almost everyone did poorly.. which should be a sign to change the course material eh Ernie?
Don't take this guy, seriously, do not take him!
At first, I thought this class would be useful. But, he totally ruined the course. Very poor. Do not recommend taking him.
Personal finance prof, interesting course, Brutal professor. Just pure brutal, i think everyone else's comments sums it up
This guy is aweful. He doesn't help at all online, and probably isn't any better in class. DO NOT TAKE ANY OF HIS COURSES!!! I can't stress this enough he doesn't give a damn about students or giving them a fair chance at getting grade. He is the absolute worst prof at WLU (this is coming from a 4th year student).
Gave a 4.0 for shorty longback
EXTREMELY BORING; did a POOR job in explaining materials and terminologies in class. He made the midterm way too hard; had to memorize all tax things that a pro may not know without looking up govnt guide. MC questions all have 5 choices with "all of/none of/neither nor/either or" type of answers. This course could be useful but he ruined it!
Is an unhelpful, unapproachable man. Is not very helpful when going to see him in his office hours and is very intimidating. Overall he is not interested in the well being of students. Do not stress; ride the curve HARD.
The course itself it not that hard but BELIEVE me when I say this, he is BORING! He will teach off the slides the entire time, no jokes, no small talk, nothing to engage the class!
Cosgrove's interaction with students in this section is minimal/ non-existent, but don't let that get you down. His outline and sample exams are all you need to succeed in this course. The prof knows this is a bird course and knows that you know. Read the notes and complete the sample exams and you're guaranteed a B+ or higher.
Worst Prof I ever had. His lectures don't match the text book nor the test content. Nor does the test content match the material. Really rude to students when you ask him questions and his lectures are SUPER dry
I took the online course and it was the hardest class I have ever taken (4th year student) Not helpful at ll with all the math components. Exams are soo detailed that it is impossible to remember everything. Dont take this online course
If I had 3 hours to live, I'd spend it in this class. Lasts an eternity...
This prof is horrible. do not take this class unless you were born in the 1950's it will not be useful. Maybe he should try updating his notes more than once a decade. Don't give students hundreds of sample questions and then pull stuff out of nowhere for the midterm. If the majority of the class does poorly it just proves he is bad. STAY AWAY.
The single worst professor I have ever had. Bad attitude towards students looking for help, does not prepare students well for exams, lectures down at students in a condescending manner. Avoid at all costs.
In BBA there are plenty of bad experiences with profs, some good some bad. This was the first prof I'eve ever had that took joy in people doing badly.
BU223 was a course he designed HIMSELF (How he got faculty approval I have no idea). The way he teaches this course is scattered all over the textbook. Be prepared to scour it all daynight. I wouldn't recommend taking this class to my worst enemy. He is unhelpful to say the least. a lot of his testing material is from practise material.
I have taken classes in multiple disciplines at the undergraduate and masters level, and I am sorry to say this is the worst class I have ever taken. He is beyond boring, unhelpful, and not clear whatsoever. His teaching style is a random walk in the park, going from one unrelated topic to another. The class has no idea what to expect on exams.
Watching paint dry is like a Michael Bay film compared to a lecture with this guy.... its' THAT boring. Can't comment on him as a person as I was unable to maintain consciousness long enough in his class to experience his personality. Don't count on him to post grades either... had an online class w him where he literally did not post one grade
.. so bad
your going to have to teach yourself the course. slides are useless, lectures are just so long dry and boring. very cold person if you try get help at office hours. probably the worst proff I've had at laurier.
Do not take his/this class at all costs. Be prepared to get around 30% on the midterm and then drop the course because you hate your life and can't have a failing average/course. He is the most boring lecturer to ever face the earth. His midterm was 3000 times harder than the practice questions and were of content that he did not teach.
Brutal professor. Doesn't actually do the math concepts in class, just explains them, which is hard if you don't understand certain steps of a problem, you are left with no idea how it works. Not very helpful in office hours and doesn't seem to care much for his students success. Survive his class then run.
I am taking an online course with Ernie, so I have not met him in person, however he has been good to deal with thus far. He is good at communicating news about the course via email. His emails always have a friendly and approachable tone to them. The notes he has posted online are clear and everything tested has come from the text or notes.
- Teaches from a set of ancient set of slides that have around 8-9 colours of font - Has listed chapters to read but the slideshow and the textbook are two completely different things - Tests are extremely difficult - He doesn't care at all about your grade
Overall, I found his class very easy. For M/C, he gave you all of them before the midterm and the final. In terms of short answer, they were pretty straight forward as well. If you actually put in the work and read his lecture notes (which were pretty good) you should be fine.
In my 5 years of schooling from YorkU, UW and Laurier I have never had a worse course than BU223 with Ernie. Going to lecture was a death sentence by way of boredom. The lecture slides were awful- unclear - essentially useless. The formulas and calculations differed between the textbook, lectures and formula sheet. Needlessly complicated. AVOID!
Disagree with the prior reviews. He certainly cares about his students. Sure the lectures are boring, but just take the time to talk to him after class. He's clearly very resourceful. You have to study his lecture notes. Mid term was very hard. He made the exam easier after complaints. Also his formula sheets are amazing.
Worst prof ever at Laurier. Slides make zero sense and it doesn't go with the textbook at all. Students literally go into the exam blinded because we don't know what to expect. His lectures are extremely difficult to follow, boring, and hard to understand. Get ready do poorly and teach yourself the entire class.
This guy is a straight up beast. I'm talking an absolute ox of a man. Really knows what he's talking about. If you are interested in learning about how to use your own money, you simply can't get a better teachin'.
WOAH WOAH WOAH slow down with the hate people! Ernie is a real gem, made a fairly tough subject easy to understand and FUN. Yes, he is a little bit monotone but more than makes up for it with constant off the cuff jokes that are honestly so witty and hilarious. Truly knows his stuff and shows a great deal of care towards his students. Would retake
Poor lectures, very difficult tests that he fails to prepare you for.
Very dull prof. No matter how hard you study for the exams, he makes it extremely difficult for you to do well because he puts material that was never included in lectures/textbook on them. Avoid.
Although he may have experience in personal finance, he was unable to pass on his expertise to most students. Long, boring lectures. He reuses slides from many years ago. He fails to prepare you for his midterm and final and does not provide a lot of support.
Horrible.
he teaches very old and irrelevant information, his slides are from the 1990s and he hasn't changed or updated the course at all for as long as he has been teaching it. His exams/mid-terms are based solely on his slideshows however these slideshows are extremely old, hard to understand, and frankly, contain information that is no long relevant.
Lectures are boring, very monotone. He basically reads slides and doesn't provide any useful information for exams.
The worst prof i had during my 4 years studying here. Literally useless
Worst prof ever. Can't teach anything. Avoid at all cost
He's a fair professor, if you put in the work you will get the mark.
Tough course, took it online and this guy made it brutal. If you ever think I can do a 3 hour lecture online with Ernie you cant. Ive never studied this hard in my life for an exam to finish with a B but I had to after nearly failing the midterm and never getting any feedback on the very tough assignment.
Ernie is easily the worst prof I've ever had - by a large margin. Avoid his classes at all costs. He was rude, arrogant, and condescending when asked questions. Lectures were painfully boring. Before semester, I was most excited for his class - excitement died quick. In my humble opinion, Professor Cosgrove's calling is not to inspire young minds.
What ever you do, do not take this class! He does not teach at all and gives zero help when it comes to mid term and final prep. Worst Prof in my entire university experience!
I would not recommend this course to anyone. The course content is very difficult, and the prof just throws a whole bunch of reading at you and review tests for the final. The syllabus is very unclear and the prof is not approachable at all. Lots of math and you will get screwed over if you don't study the 'right' stuff for the exam. Very very bad.
Look, the classes may be hard and the financial math is pretty intense, but he's approachable if you ask questions and is very helpful if you ask him for assistance. His lectures are boring, sure, but you need to put in the work for a good grade, and I'm not sure how this material can be made interesting by anyone
very knowledgeable professor. all the notes are right in front of you and easy access and he explains everything well. lectures are long, as he just teaches the entire 80 minutes and doesn't ask if we have questions. Will throw tough quizzes at you. if you do the work and study, you will pass
Not gonna say this is the most engaging prof I have ever had, but the 1 star reviews on here are not fair. If you attend Ernie's classes you'll do well, and may actually learn some things. Never had to reach out to him for help so I can't speak to that aspect of his personality, but he seems like a good guy who prepares his students well for exams.
Ernie is, by far, the least engaging prof I've had in my 4 years at WLU. He makes no attempt whatsoever to be engaging.
Terrible professor. He seems like he does not want to teach. Gives very snarky and condescending replies to very simple questions. Dosent give much useful feedback on quizes either.
Professor Cosgrove may take the crown for the least engaging lectures at Wilfrid Laurier University. It is telling when after the first few weeks the class lecture participants drop from the 50s to single-digit numbers. I would only recommend Mr. Cosgrove's classes to insomniacs who need something much stronger than melatonin.
ernie instant nut but THE MOST BORING PROF EVER. i never knew time could move so slow. never take a course with him. only admire from afar.
One of the worst profs I've ever had. Extremely monotonous lectures and honestly quite disrespectful when being asked questions. When asked a question in class, he puts you down and makes you feel stupid. Honestly such a terrible prof.
Doesn't actually teach anything. you have to learn the material on your own through the provided slides and learning objectives. I recommend to you that you also go through the textbook (which is never used otherwise) to learn the learning objectives as well because 90% of the time his slides either don't coveror don't cover enough of the topic.
He's a really nice guy, but exams are TOUGH. One question asked about taxing a specific type of purchase pre 1970? Very slow lectures and exams are lecture/slide based.
Ernie Cosgrove went above and beyond for me when I was in a tough situation and needed assistance. Most professors would not care about their student's issues however Mr. Cosgrove made sure that I had all the assistance I needed. Tough class but great professor
He tests you on so much content. You have to make sure you attend lectures (there are pop-quizzes), take lots of notes, THOROUGHLY read the textbook and do external research based on LOS. Does not seem to care for his students and prides himself on failing them. Terrible professor and made this relatively easy class super difficult.
Despite all of the bad reviews professor Ernie he highlights everything you need to know on the LOS and the ST quizzes. If you study those and really take notes through lectures you will do great. He always cared about his students that attended class and truly taught and related finance to current day. I
Lectures are INCREDIBLY dry and emotionless. The course is terminology heavy, NOT MATH HEAVY. 80% of the quantitative questions asked on the midterm (30%) and final (40%) were straight out of TVoM from 111/121. The way the course is taught is very morbid, just to warn you. Lots of focus on what happens if certain people die (i.e. insurance, wills)
This prof is really difficult but is very knowledgeable. To do well you have to put in the effort. You will learn a lot but very time consuming. There are pop quizzes so attendance is mandatory. Lecture are very slow so hard to not fall asleep. ONLY TAKE IF YOU WANT TO LEARN otherwise this is a very difficult prof and course.
The course content can be difficult, but should be fairly straightforward for anyone who knows basic personal finance. The lectures were quite dull and boring, but covered the material adequately. The questions on the midterm and final exams were almost identical to those in the practice and weekly quizzes.
On top of being about as entertaining as watching paint drying, Ernie makes a conscious effort to make your life as difficult and miserable as his. Made us stay past 9:30pm for in class-quizzes and purposely writes his exams in such a way that even if you know the material, you get lost in his confusing wording (which is intentional). Stay away.
I've taken this professor twice in one year, despite negative online reviews. He's incredibly knowledgeable and provides clear lecture videos and slides. I suspect the poor ratings come from students who prefer a less demanding approach (and just want finance credits), but in my experience, his teaching style is excellent, and you actually learn.
Ernie Cosgrove is one of the most knowledgeable professors you'll ever meet. - Most people do poorly in his classes because they miss class lectures. - Be prepared for roman numeral type MCQ + short answer on the exam/midterm. - Lecture slides are long, so be prepared to pay attention. - No participation marks.
Class Info
Online Classes
100%
Attendance Mandatory
31%
Textbook Required
45%
Grade Predictor
Your expected effort level
Predicted Grade
B+
Grade Distribution
Common Tags
Rating Trend
Stable
-0.15 avg changeRatings by Course
RISKPERFIN
4.0
(1)FINANCE
4.0
(1)ECON101
4.0
(1)BU453
3.0
(6)RISKMANAGEMENT
3.0
(1)Difficulty by Course
BU423F
5.0
MBA
5.0
BU200
5.0
BUSINBU23
5.0
BU653
4.7