2.2
Quality4.0
Difficulty100%
Would Retake113
Reviews100%
Would Retake
113
Reviews
Rating DistributionOfficial
5
22
4
6
3
8
2
19
1
58
What Students Say
“I agree he is hard on cheats but he knows his stuff”
MTHEL305A - 5.0 rating“Excellent prof, straight forward, no tricks, no bull”
ACTSC221 - 5.0 ratingClass Info
Attendance Mandatory
0%
Textbook Required
0%
Grade Predictor
Your expected effort level
Predicted Grade
B+
Grade Distribution
Rating Trend
Improving
+0.57 avg changeRatings by Course
ACTSC859
5.0
(1)ACT858451
5.0
(1)ACTSC459
5.0
(1)ACTSC221F2005
5.0
(1)MTHEL01
5.0
(1)Difficulty by Course
ACC221
5.0
ACTSC859
5.0
MTHEL
5.0
ACTSC458
5.0
305B
5.0
Reviews (113)
He threatened to fail everyone all the time.
Tests are almost impossible but he does curve it when everyone fails
It's very tough to be memorizing but that's what it's got to be. He's helpful...
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Unbelievably horrendous. Stay away!!!! Absolute Nightmare.
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His textbook, lectures, exams, absolute nightmare.
No Comments
it's impossible... wanna challenge urself? take his course.
made exams alternately too hard or easy, notes riddled with errors, boring
Stay away!!!!!!!
if you're gonna take this course, make sure it's a different prof!
I'd rather watch curling
Stay away unless you want to fail
mistakes in course notes, not very organized, will go over trouble spots
No Comments
not a hard course as long as you have a brain and functional ears
Course Layout was completely confusing; NOTHING was Explained dammit! Suicide.
still remember it ( the course, not the material) after 9 years
Really helps people
long the departments elimination course. Prof ok
In the tales of mice and men gang aft agley...read his text...garbage
he is clear as crystal...and knows wat hes talking about...
worst prof i had, hate when he talks. i can go on and on with what i hate. sigh-
Nice guy, clear as mud. Pulls numbers out of thin air in notes. Stay away
DAMN, this dude needs to wake up......thinks too higly of himself!!!! STAY AWAY.
Better than alternatives
Incompetent and disorganized. Useless as a teacher.
my CAV around 80%, don't know if i got 50% in this course. worst prof. ever!!
worst prof ever, unclear, makes marking unreasonable, torture to take his class
it will be better to take Distance Ed than actually going to listen to his class
POMPOUS!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Knows what is needed to pass actuarial exams and shows you how.
No Comments
Take him to the writing clinic
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No Comments
Worst prof I've ever had!!! Thank God it's over! He was extremely unhelpful, disorganized and often rude.
No Comments
Knows what he's talking about. Class notes and textbook (he's the author of it) a little dry though. Killer mid-term and final!! Important course for ACTSC students, but it can be made easier. Definitely not a first year level course as he claims it is.
he generelly sets out for you to do bad in his class. assignments have nothing to do with lectures/text (even for distance ed!) he even forgot to include mortality tables for the final exam.
Frank Reynolds is a terrible prof... very smart guy, but terrible prof.
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He forgot a sheet of paper that was needed for the exam, so we had to omit that part. Midterms and finals questions are useless for anything. Not a true indication of what Actuarial Science is. This course is not needed for any upper level Actsc courses
Got a 93% final grade after completely hating this dispicable excuse for an "actuary". An absolutely joke and complete abomination of ActSci's reputation embodied with this guy.
Eben though I got 90+ on this course, he's the worst professor I have ever seen.....
My employeer told me that this course was no longer a requried course simply because of HIM. He is the worst prof you ever find, with tonnes of excuses as well. students beware!f
Everything bad said about this prof comes from very bitter students who don't ask questions. This guy knows his material, has excellent examples to cement the concepts, and is very approachable. Ask Questions!
He knows all the info, but he is such a bad prof. Too dry and boring. And, if you're too hot in the room, turn the heater down instead of complaining!!
Nice person. Knows his stuff. Weird marking scheme but fair for hard-working students.Good prof!
If you really wanna know something about insurance(not the calculations), take this course...if you think mark is more important to you, then just skip this one...Help for ActSc students but hard to get marks! I wont take B part anyways...
Midterm was 200 questions M.C. with penalties for wrong answers. Final was 300 questions M.C. Smart man, but boring professor. Can be quite rude with students, but can also be funny at times. Likes to pose on his desk though.
I took the course through Distance Ed, and worked my a$$ off. I listened to all the lectures, took neat notes, memorized, read the book... and ended up with a disappointing 70.. :( . The assignments in this course scared me for life..lol
I bet he uses old midterms and finals, the format never changes. He's messy and unorganized (just go to his office once and you'll know.) A well known Act Sci professor (even my employer who graduated 10 years ago know how bad he is).
Don't EVER take a DE course from this freak. Period. He is so UNhelpful, wierd, and definitely has pyshological problems. The assignments are totally undo-able.
Memorize the book. Memorize the book. Memorize, memorize, memorize. Down to the very last percentage. Don't to the very last date. Memorize, memorize your butt off! If you do this and can willfully regurge the text, you'll ace the course.
This guy knows his stuff...but he doesn't know how to explain it. He would make an excellent actuary I'm sure, but not a good professor.
He knows his stuff, but when it comes to teaching it... he doesn't know jack how to.. Lots of times U need to guess what he's doing! Always go to him for help.. gives major hints to questions on assignments! He doesn't give enough practice problems :(
Never take this course from this****head. he's a **** and is very mean to the students. the previous post that gave the guy a five must be either bribed or reynolds in person. seriously the school should really fire****heads like him.
"If you want to get an ace in this course, then you'll have to read it [pointing at the textbook] six times." By the end of the term, you would have done 500 true or false questions, without remembering anything after the course is over.
avoid like the plague. knowledgeable but can't teach. course notes almost useless.
He's a jerk. 300 M/C's in the exam - marks off for each of the wrong answer. Audio tapes put you to sleep in less than a minute. Great course if you need a cure for insomnia. Unfair gradings in assignments, wrong notes, take it if you wanna fail a course.
Not a very helpful prof. Course was confusing and he provided little assistance. Has many mistakes in notes. Avoid this course and prof!
Worst prof I've encountered in all 4 years. Well known for making many mistakes in notes, text, and lectures. Knows material well but incapable of teaching any of it. Sounds like Captain Kirk on lecture tapes.
One of the worst prof I've encountered. Doesn't know how to teach at all. He also likes to make some very unfunny jokes and expect people to laugh with him. If you expect to learn anything from this guy...dream on!
He's very lazy, barely write anything on the board, talking all the time and wasting time. He's good for those who don't want to learn the course material coz he'll talk a lot of "funny but useless" things.
No Comments
a very very brilliant,wise, kind and dedicated professor in the university. He welcomes questions. He likes student to ask. I really learned so much practical knowledge from him. Just wanna say"Thank you so much" , Prof Reynolds
No Comments
knowledgable , but a dreadful professor, almost nigthmare. Worst thing is that he is pretty earnest in his tries but for a man as intelligent as him it is a pity that he cannot realise he makes a hard course harder
I am glad I am not the only one complaining this ridiculous guy. This dude is making an easy course much harder than it is and his course notes SUCK big time !! You won't be able to understand fully without going to his class and he can't teach at all. Future applicants better avoid this nightmare.
Do your work and attend class and this man will help you. He spends a great portion of the day helping students so find him if u need help. Very smart and kind man. Thank you.
Very nice prof. Willing to help if you show him you have attempted the problem.
extremely difficult prof... i would soooo avoid him if i could turn back time.. TT_TT
He expects you to do some work. Helpful if you ask questions. Attending class a must. He can teach if you WANT to learn.
This is a general course, but this old man tried so hard to make it harder and harder. The course notes he made is so confusing, unclear and useless. He makes stupid error on assignment handout. he'd never posted assignment solution online. I guess it's time for him to retire.
The notes are not complete, formulas, expressions, notation are not explained clearly. His lectures do not flow well. His jokes aren't funny and he puts students down saying we are stupid. Nice to see the professor visits this site and pads the reviews with his own comments to improve his rating.
He's horrible at explaining things. Course notes are confusing and vague. We wouldn't have to ask so many questions in class if he could explain things properly in the first place. If he is so good at these retirement planning annuity questions, he should be retired by now.
Abstract course notes--no formulas, just numbers!He is too bad on explaining things. can't imagine why Waterloo had this guy. He makes easy course complicated,doesnt know how to teach at all. should let him retire ASAP
course notes = ****
looking at his notes is like looking at van gogh's arts....never take his course~
This prof is horrible, his course notes are bad and filled with errors. The guy is washed up and pathetic. Blames students for doing poorly when it's really his teaching
Worst prof I've ever had at Waterloo
Class would be easy if we had decent course notes. The notes are impossible to follow and filled with errors. He's actually a prety nice guy if you talk to him.
the worst prof of the world
Either fix your course notes or retire Reynolds. Stop coming here and rating yourself. It's not RateMyself.com
Worst teacher eVER! He has brutal course notes that make the material impossible to learn b/c he doesn't derive anything so nothing is understood. Worst final exam - said he would take the q's from ass't/tests and totally went another way. Good Luck if you have to take it. Maybe he'll retire soon!
No Comments
Hardest exam ever!! I regret studying for it so much. If I knew he would screw us like this I wouldn't bother. I really suggest staying away from this prof. Expects you to know things he can't explained and hasn't covered!
Probably the worst teacher I've ever had, along with the worst course notes I've ever had. Result: Worst course I've ever taken Keep far far away from this teacher, as he can't teach and takes pleasure in demeaning and power-tripping off the limited authority he has over his student's fate.
Worst ever~ he is qualified as a prof. plz retire, renoid.
he is terrible, stay away...
Notes were unhelpful, scattered, and full of mistakes. Insults students for not understanding the formulas and solutions in his head. Anything you learn is based solely on one random example that you will never see again and that he can’t explain. Worst prof I have had so far. Good Luck!
Course notes were very unclear and filled with errors. Didn't need to attend class b/c we just went over course notes. Unlike prof said, exam was out in left field somewhere, not anything like the tests or assignments. Could have been a half decent course if it was better organized. He is willing to help if he sees your face in class regularly.
After taking almost 40 courses in my undergrad, I can still say this was BY FAR the worst. The recorded modules are awful. Assignments are useless and the final exam is terrible. How can you omit a major set of tables we need to do the written part of the exam? Just speaks to how absent minded he is. I can't believe they still let him teach.
so glad im not the only one complainning this old guy. if you really wanna have some challenge, just go to this class.
I can't believe this guy is still teaching. I had him in '88 and he was a grumpy, poor teacher then. He delighted in tormenting students...
How can you apply negative marking scheme on assignments? The worst of the worst of the worst ever in everyone's life whoever took his class. Please stop teaching!
He is one of the very few profs that know me by name. He makes him self available for help both after class and during office hours. His lectures are very helpful, tells you exactly what you need to focus on for examinations. His tests are not difficult in the least. His questions are strictly out of the course notes! No tricks added either!
this prof teaches well but his negative marking scheme is the worst.
The guy who talks about negative marking must have failed Stats. He is not going to give you a 50 just for writing your name and marking every answer as true.
Excellent prof, straight forward, no tricks, no bull
No Comments
Audio lectures were uninteresting and boring; Didn't address questions on the discussion forum, especially the ones concerning the final exam.
Do not take this course. Final exam will cause you to fail due to negative marking scheme. Over 350 questions in 2 1/2 hours
You can sure tell who did not work. His lectures were well prepared but he did require that people work. And from the look of things they still resent it. We had some in our class who hated him I have seen two flipping burgers at fast food stores. Hmmmm
Knows his stuff. Very unpopular with cheats and the lazy. But if you want to learn, excellent
I agree he is hard on cheats but he knows his stuff. The final is fair but hard if you do not work
Prof Reynolds is a legend.
Class Info
Attendance Mandatory
0%
Textbook Required
0%
Grade Predictor
Your expected effort level
Predicted Grade
B+
Grade Distribution
Rating Trend
Improving
+0.57 avg changeRatings by Course
ACTSC859
5.0
(1)ACT858451
5.0
(1)ACTSC459
5.0
(1)ACTSC221F2005
5.0
(1)MTHEL01
5.0
(1)Difficulty by Course
ACC221
5.0
ACTSC859
5.0
MTHEL
5.0
ACTSC458
5.0
305B
5.0