3.0
Quality3.3
Difficulty42%
Would Retake89
Reviews42%
Would Retake
89
Reviews
Rating DistributionOfficial
5
21
4
21
3
13
2
14
1
20
What Students Say
“She told us our grades don't matter”
ENG1320 - 2.0 rating“for ENG1310 you have to show up&attendance matters”
ENG1310 - 2.0 ratingClass Info
Attendance Mandatory
98%
Textbook Required
47%
Grade Predictor
Your expected effort level
Predicted Grade
B+
Grade Distribution
Common Tags
Rating Trend
Declining
-0.75 avg changeRatings by Course
ENGLISH
5.0
(1)1310
4.3
(6)ENG1300
4.0
(1)ENG1310
3.4
(46)ENGCOMPII
3.0
(1)Difficulty by Course
1320
4.3
ENG1300
4.0
ENG1320
3.6
ENG1310
3.1
ENGCOMPII
3.0
Reviews (89)
Just 5 essays and 1 final. No homework. Tough grading of tests.
Best teacher I've ever had.
she's cool, she has a nose ring and dropped a couple f bombs in class the other day. Every other 1310 english is reading a book though she told us to take ours back and we were only going to do five fairly easy essays
unbelieveable take her you wont regret it!!!
No Comments
Great teacher, really enjoyed class
She an ignorant b**** that seem to have mentality "my way, or no way at all." Grading is ridiculous...i urge you to stay away
seriously the coolest and easiet class youll ever take, though its impossible to get an A. theres only 5 easy essays and one EASY final paper, its just impossible to get an A on any of em. shes still a badass chic though
Francine has a great personality! There 5 essays are graded pretty difficult, but if you put work into it and not write the night before, you will be capable of making a good grade. With her you will have fun in this class =)
Honestly, contrary to the other comments, I earned an A on 3 out of the 5 papers and made an A in the class. She is extremely energetic but is a really nice lady and If you try, it isn't hard at all.
unorganized & flaky. not knowledgeable on the subject. the paper topics are ridiculous. she gives u NO guidance but then gives u bad grades. she'll fail u if u miss 2 many classes, but coming to class is pointless. one of the worst prof. i've ever had. i ended with a good grade to my surprise but it took a hell of a lot to get it. good luck.
I absolutely hate her class. She never shows up on time nor does she end class on time. She is very disorganized and the topics she goes over have nothing to do with the class itself. She has the attitude of it will be my way or not at all. My advice; find someone who is knowledgeable in what they are doing and stay away from this class.
Very interesting instructor. Show up every class, ask for help and you get much more than you expect. You do have to work for an A, but some of the assignments are really easy. Take this teacher.
hippie. you have to work very hard to get an A in the class, they are all essay papers and the grading in very difficult. i would NOT recommend her. in order to get any clarification or help on the essay's you have to schedule one-on-one time with her.
She's a GREAT professor! Mrs. P is very interesting and knows how to keep the students attention. I wish I could have her again. I would definitely recommend her!
She was ridiculous. I would never recommend her to anybody. I went from making all A's on my papers in other english classes to all C+++++++++'s in her class. Her class was a total waste of time and by far my worst experience here at Texas State. Save yourself and don't take her.
No textbook. Grade is based on 5 essays. Go to the writing center and have your papers looked over and you're golden. I got an A without even trying. She is a very interesting and chill lady. On Halloween she set up a creepy table setting and sat on the table and read us ghost stories. Pretty bad A if you ask me. Seriously...five essays...thats it.
I loved this class! Mrs P is a very sweet woman and she always made the class interesting. The five papers were not that hard. The topics were interesting and easy to write about. She was a bit tough with the grading but it was worth it. If you needed any help she was very useful. Her one-on-one sessions really helped me out. I learned a lot.
She shows up late everyday almost. Impossible to schedule appointments with. Gives all the horrible essays great grades and all the actual hard worked essays C's. She's nearly impossible to please and there's only been one A the entire semester.
When I got my first paper back I was extremely disappointed but she told me exactly what I didn't do and what she expects so I did better on all the others. People who say she grades hard are right but they probably didn't attend class, she tells you what she wants so if your not there you would have no idea. Verrry interesting I reccomend her!
Awesome personality. She is strict on attendance, but her class is enjoyable. 5 essays and a final sounds pretty easy, but you will work your butt off on thoses essays and make C's & C+++'s (still a C!!) on them all.... :(
GREAT! shes crazy wonderful!!! attendance is mandatory but she is such a character!!!!!! you will leave classes everyday feeling like youve truely learned something although it usually isnt about english!
Stay away.
don't take her because she favors students, grading relates to her stories, and if you arent a favorite you get a c or worse! she is very strict w/ her grading policy
Overall fairly nice teacher class is not easy and her instructions are not crystal clear. Attendance is a must. Would I take her again not likely
Would NOT recommend her. She was late everyday. Her interpretation of the grading standards were not the same as the writing center, went there after working on the research paper for 2 weeks, got great feedback, but the grade did not reflect it at all! C's and D's are what youll make. Her instructions are not clear and grades suffer because of it.
She grades very inconsistently but it is a relatively easy class. Got B-'s and C's on all the papers but ended up with an A in the class...not sure how I did it. Make sure you show to class---low attendance numbers guarantee you a low grade regardless of your paper grades.
She always shows up late to class. And her assignments aren't very clear. She literally lectures from the time she walks in the door to the minute class ends. I wouldm't recommend her if you're not an excellent writer. I wouldn't take her class again.
This class was fairly easy and we rarely had any outside reading which was great. She didn't grade papers very hard and made assignments very clear. Sure to get an easy A if you just show up to class. Would recommend for everyone!
Loved this class. The papers were interesting to write. She can grade with high standards but when I made a low grade I went to an office meeting and she explained everything to me and was very helpful. You can meet with her before an essay is due and she will tell you what youre missing. She may be late sometimes but it didnt affect the class.
She is kind of odd but she's a nice professor and is very helpful. She does, however, grade very strictly. I had mostly A's on essays in high school English, but the highest I got from her was a B-. Downfalls, she was late to nearly every class and when she would assign essays to be read outside of class she would read them aloud to us anyway.
She definitely won't give you an A. She grades pretty strictly, mostly on grammer and paragraph structure. Her attendance is mandatory, but she'll definitely make you a better writer. Make sure you at least act interested in what she has to say.
She is very interesting and passionate about what she teaches. If you give her your attention and interact with her she is likely to favor you and help you as much as she can. Just go to class and look somewhat interested. I got a B in the class with about half C papers and B papers, some of which were late.
Francine is a great person, but I didn't care for her grading methods. At the beginning of the semester, she said an A paper had very few mistakes of any sort. She hands me a paper back with 2 mistakes (which were just words she would have used instead) and gave me a B. Her comments said I improved with every paper, but my grade stayed the same.
She was pretty funny, cusses in class, we took an entire class to read ghost stories one day. Grades EXTREMLY HARD! On the first essay every student made a C, one person made a B and no A's. No one is doing much better still B's and C's and no A's. I would take a different teacher if i could.
She is a very hard grader. VERY HARD.
She really likes what she does, but her topics are vague and relate to texts from the 90's. You wont get an A unless you are a writing God. She is a fun person to talk with and an amazing character. I loved her class just put your all into her essays.
she is a very hard grader avoid!!!
She's a nice teacher, but her class is really hard. I spent hours on her essays, go to slac, writing center, peer-edited, etc. and still got a c+. Though, no lie, you'll defiantly learn something. So, take her if you want to learn something and don't care as much for your grade, but if you care for your grade avoid her.
Francine is great! Yes she's a hard grader but she provides various opportunities. Schedule an office hour with her every essay and use the writing center or OWL. Also! essays are only 60% and she drops lowest grade. Just show up and use your resources and you'll do great. She loves her students.
My last comment messed up: Francine is great! Yes she's a hard grader but she provides various opportunities. Schedule an office hour with her every essay and use the writing center or OWL. Also! essays are only 60% and she drops lowest grade. Just show up and use your resources and you'll do great. She loves her students.
Outlines clearly what it takes to get each letter grade, an A is nearly impossible. I got a B, missed a few classes but she never gave formal exams. All papersassignments were done at home and discussed in class. Much of class was discussion, starts every class with relaxing poem journal entry. I enjoyed it, although she is very UNIQUE & liberal.
Tough on grading but very helpful if you have questions or concerns. She's very laid back and offers opportunities to earn extra attendance so if u ever miss a day. Class conversations with her are the best!
She seems super cool at first because she's pretty funny and is a total hippie, but that turned into the most annoying thing. She told us before even seeing an rough drafts that none of us will likely get A's. She told us our grades don't matter. I constantly thought she was making up things as class went on. SHE DOESN'T EVEN USE TRACS.
for ENG1310 you have to show up&attendance matters. her essay prompts are kind of weird and theyre a little difficult but if you talk to her she helps a lot. shes a cool person and fun to talk about stuff other than english. She doesnt use TRACS and you have to make an appointment w her to find your grade out. Wouldnt really recommend you take her
Its possible to receive an A from this teacher. I did and I worked my ass off for it. She really pushes you to be a better writer and I honestly give her a lot of credit for helping me with my writing skills. She's helpful when you see her in office hours. Write your essays early and my biggest tip if you have her is to proofread.
Francine is a wonderful teacher! She is a hard grader but that's because she pushes her students to be the best writers they can be. She really does care for her students and is extremely laid back.
Attendance matters but if you miss class she'll give extra credit to make up for those classes. I have always been a strong writer and was upset to get a C on my first paper but she has sculpted my writing into something I am proud of! She is kinda crazy but you will never get bored. She has a potty mouth and it's ok if you cuss in your writing !
Strict attendance policy. High grading standards. 5 essays + take home final. MAKE OFFICE HOURS if you want a more clear understanding of expectations. Exceeds class time. Has a chill personality but don't let that fool you, grading is tough. I never received over a B on my papers even with using on campus resources & office hours. I would avoid.
I love Ms. Pilkington, honestly. What I love about her is the fact that you can tell she loves what she teaches. Her lectures can get boring tho. Office hours are good in order to get a better understanding. I think that she gives good feedback on the papers. Occasionally gives "mental health days", so try not to use all your absences at once.
I love her. Shes passionate about what she teaches and cares about her students. During class she would often talk about her past memories which were always a joy to listen to. She grades on the improvement of your writing which is fairly easy to master if you follow her feedback. Shes an amazing professor, Im going to miss having her.
Francine is a joy! Shes hilarious because she doesn't really have a filter. She makes herself very easily approachable about anything you may need to discuss. She grades the first "diagnostic" essay hard because the rest of the essays are graded partially based on improvement of writing. Go to office hours, take good notes, follow syllabus!
Extremely strict grader. NEVER stays on topic. Rants about Donald Trump a lot. Not clear grading criteria (she considers a "C" the "you met standards" and no body has received an A yet). She goes on tangents. Always late for class and talks over the ending time. I would avoid if possible. She is a cool person, but a GPA wrecker.
I was scared to take this teacher because she had bad ratings, but let me tell you SHE IS AWESOME! She is so relaxed and chilled. She does give off a hippy vibe. She is a tough grader however, if you dont make any sentence boundary mistakes on your essays you will get an A. Also the final was a 20 line poem. Wish I could take her again for 1320!
terrible professor, always late, literally freaks out if she hears or sees a cell phone. Extremely strict grader, never received a c plus and always attended classes. Lecture heavy, gets distracted easily, judgemental about other students. The only good thing about this class is that there was no mandatory textbook
She definitely cares about what she teaches, but that's this professor's saving grace. The class is difficult, but not in ways you may think. There is very little work assigned at all, it's that the assignments should NOT be graded as harshly as they are. Also, BEWARE irrelevant rabbit trails.
Francine is a pretty cool professor not gonna lie, but I have never met anyone who gets so off topic as much as her! The curriculum for college writing I is really easy though, even if you're not the best at essays it shouldn't be difficult to pass her class. She offers an interesting extra credit assignment at the end of the year too. Funny woman!
Shes not a horrible teacher, but not a very good one either. You definitely wont fail as long as you do everything, but she makes it impossible to make an A. I also got a 70 on an essay because she lost my paper and told me to re-turn it in for a late grade so theres that too.
By far the worst professor here. She gets off topic super quick and you learn nothing. Very very hard grader when it comes to the essays. not much work and she doesnt believe in the internet so you dont know your grade unless you make an appointment with her. Literally freaks if youre on your phone. save yourself and just switch professors.
Professor Pilkington is an interesting woman. She gets VERY of topic but its entertaining. Pilkington doesn't believe in the internet so don't even try to get on your phone. She also doesn't have a TRACS site so make an appointment with her if you want to know your grade. She's a hard grader but if you do the work and go to class, passing is easy.
She's really a great person. Honestly, if you just go to class, turn things in on time, and use her feedback/critiques, you should get an A.
Hardest professor Ive had at texas state. She doesnt put the grades in until the end of the semester so you dont know what you have. She has very unusual essay topics that are difficult to write. She grades very very hard too and thinks we are English majors. Lectures are very unorganized to. Drop the class when you can.
I dreaded going to her class. She gets so off-topic that I almost never knew what she was talking about. She read us a different poem each class that had to do with nothing. I learned absolutely nothing. I am a good writer, but she graded way too hard for a freshmen English class. She also took us on a 'field trip' to a cemetery...
Her lectures are VERY unorganized and always started class with a poem that had nothing to do with what we were learning. The essay topics are very confusing and she isn't much help when asking for examples of what the essay should look like. She doesn't post grades until the very end of the semester so I never knew what I had in the class.
One of the worst classes I have ever taken. The papers are graded off of political opinion. She is always behind during lectures and talks about off-topic things more than the actual material. She is always late to class by about 3-5 minutes. Not a hard class just a bad teacher.
She's very polite, but will not respond to emails. Her class is STRICTLY pen and paper. The only time you'll do something online is when you have to print your paper. Harsh grader, but I do find that I've definitely improved with my writing.
horrible. Would not recommend this class to anyone. Essay topics are confusing she doesn’t help to clarify them at all. Class time is a waste she reads a random poem every class that has nothing to do with the assignments and gets off topic consistently. I’m a good writer and her grading is impossible.
Awful class. If you want a C then take the class. Nobody got an A. We follow her outlines in class and then she tears are papers to pieces
Overall, Francine Pilkington is unprofessional, racially insensitive, and will contradict herself. She has called my class refugees and has said the n-word, the k-word when she referred to Jewish people (look it up if you don't know what it is). If you care about your grade, don't take her. AT ALL
She doesn't post your grades, so you really don't know what you have in the class until the semester is over. She grades a little harshly in my opinion, but overall not horrible. The thing that really got me about her class is that sometimes she would give us the same exact lecture she had the day before and it was a little annoying.
Gotta love Francine! One of my favorite professors for sure! As an English major, I loved the way she grades essays. Just listen to her feedback and you'll become a better writer! It's also refreshing that she doesn't use technology at all; papers are turned in on paper and she uses any open space to give you the best critiques.
Can not find the words to describe how confusing and frustrating this class is. Lacks the ability to stay on topic during lecture and talks about politics way too much. Assignments are not clear cut and will pick apart your final draft without any examples following up to fix it. Does not answer emails quickly either.
She will fail you due to being late even if you have no control over how extremely the buses are. But she can be late all the time. She's racist, calling my class a refugee camp, saying the n-word & k-word. Never replies to emails and ridicule you about your grades. She for sure will read one of the students' essays and say how much it sucked.
Terrible unfair and unfit teacher with TERRIBLE grading practices. Don't waste your tuition money. Unfit to teach English and biased against every topic with a different viewpoint of her own. I personally have been told by the English department chairmen they don't agree with her teaching policy or grading standards but cannot do anything. BAD!
She fully admitted to us she fakes her Rate My Professor ratings. HUGE RED FLAG NOT TO TAKE HER!
She told a student that we would stop meditating in class if our generation stops committing suicide. Her grading standards are terrible and she grades us as if we've been writing for 50 years. No tech in class which would be fine if she was an intriguing teacher.
Not good at all. I learned more about politics then actual college writing.
Francine was a great professor who took the time to really understand things outside of just a normal english course. most students probably say negative things because of her heavy no technology policy, but in this course i felt like i was actually learning and getting good feedback on my work rather than just blowing it off
A few years in hindsight, she is probably not fit to be in any position to ultimately affect her students' academic careers. She's entirely too dictated by, inappropriately expressive of, and malicious with her emotions. She gave me 2/3 allotted absences in the 1st week of class for simply excusing myself to use the restroom. She's cruel. Caution.
Overall, this was probably one of the best professors I could've gotten for this class. Sometimes she can get a little side tracked in certain subjects, but for the most part this a great professor and a great class.
Francine was very clear with what she wanted in her essays through both rubric and lecture. Her essays were short, and very easy to write. She provides excellent feedback on your writing and truly cares about her students. Would take again!
I took Francine's 1310 as well and made sure to take her again. She is very clear with how she grades and gives great feedback. I have improved as a writer! Essays are short and easy to write.
Honestly, I don't know why Francine has so many bad ratings. She's honestly the best professor to take for an English class. If you want someone who is genuine and truly cares about your writing abilities, please take her. She is super kind and makes her class very easy to follow. PLEASE GO TO HER OFFICE HOURS. Overall, great professor!
Francine was the best professor i've had so far! she is so funny and kind, and very accommodating. She give 5 papers fr the while semester but they are very easy and fun. She makes it fun to write and she definitely helps you improve, she's a little quirky but that makes her even better. Take this class1
She gave the best feedback on everyone of my essays and always made us aware that she was there to help us if we needed it. She's so funny and by far one of the best professors I've ever had.
attendance mandatory & she will notice if you are absent. I had no idea what my grade was the whole semester until it was finalized she doesn't use canvas... She cares more about following proper structure and grammer for essays rather than authentic thoughts and unique writing styles. she just really values participation and showing like you care
I would take her as many chances as I could get to learn from her.
She was a very sweet person and give awesome feedback about your essays and wanted you to succeed. My problem was she doesn't grade on canvas at all so im assuming my grade is a b because of my essays. I wouldnt take her again because she doesn't use canvas but overall she is very sweet her teaching is not for me!
She was nice but doesn't allow any form of technology. Your attitude of class and attendance is 15% of your grade. She can be a tough grader but she gives good feedback and allows as many rewrite as you need. Overall, if you can put in the work and don't mind not being on your devices for the duration of the class, it's an easy A
Class Info
Attendance Mandatory
98%
Textbook Required
47%
Grade Predictor
Your expected effort level
Predicted Grade
B+
Grade Distribution
Common Tags
Rating Trend
Declining
-0.75 avg changeRatings by Course
ENGLISH
5.0
(1)1310
4.3
(6)ENG1300
4.0
(1)ENG1310
3.4
(46)ENGCOMPII
3.0
(1)Difficulty by Course
1320
4.3
ENG1300
4.0
ENG1320
3.6
ENG1310
3.1
ENGCOMPII
3.0