2.3
Quality3.5
Difficulty30%
Would Retake105
Reviews30%
Would Retake
105
Reviews
Rating DistributionOfficial
5
9
4
17
3
15
2
22
1
42
What Students Say
“He is undoubtably the worst teacher I have ever had”
WRITING - 2.0 rating“Isaac Cates is a horrible professor”
ENGS030 - 2.0 ratingClass Info
Online Classes
100%
Attendance Mandatory
87%
Textbook Required
28%
Grade Predictor
Your expected effort level
Predicted Grade
B+
Grade Distribution
Common Tags
Rating Trend
Stable
-0.03 avg changeRatings by Course
ENG114
5.0
(1)ENG14
4.5
(2)ENGS119
4.3
(3)ENGS095
4.0
(1)ENGS030
3.7
(3)Difficulty by Course
1002
5.0
ENG162
5.0
X
5.0
ENGS119
4.7
ENG30
4.5
Reviews (105)
He lectures even though this is a discussion based class, and doesn't give great grades unless your views exactly match your own. It makes it hard to come up with your own ideas when they are continuously shot down.
Cates is one of the worst professors I have ever had at UVM. He shoots students down in class and is extremely discouraging with his comments. He grades like he is teaching at grad level and he recently had to scale our classes midterm 30 points so the entire class didn't fail. 30 point scale ON AN ENGLISH EXAM? you have got to be kidding me!!
Horrible grader, gives serious attitude to students and is overly self-righteous. If you want to double-check this rating take a look at what his Long Island University students said about him. enough said.
Cates means well, but it doesn't quite take him far enough. He does a very poor job of articulating complex ideas--a strange characteristic for an English prof. He is also frequently distracted and rambles for sometime about his own obscure interests. His class is very easy, however. I did very little work or reading, and had no problem.
Cates is the best professor I've had at UVM. Great love and understanding of poetry that gets many of his students interested. Most of the criticism of him on here is laughable. Students with too fragile of an ego to be told they're wrong in an English class or to sometimes get a low grade should not take his class.
Very discouraging, more often than not he will devalue students' comments. His attitude is to the point that it significantly discourages one from wanting to participate and speak up in class. He can severely embarrass a student and single them out in front of the class.
Interesting class, horrible professor. Very arrogant and doesn't listen to anyone else's opinion. You can only get good grades on the tests if you say exactly what you think he wants to hear. Disorganized, criteria for papers and tests very confusing and not clear at all.
He's a great professor. He gives great feedback and is always really helpful if you want to improve your writing. His class has helped me understand my weaknesses as a poet, and the work load is just the right amount!
Okay, so yes he's definitely got some pretentious-intellectual yada yada goin on, but cates is a legit great prof. he steers discussions and workshops really well, pulling out the important stuff. In terms of assignments, he definitely wants what he wants, but its usually just a good quality assignment. hes also flexible with late stuff.
Dr. Cates is one of the best professors I have ever had at UVM. A warning though: he's not the type to sugar coat things. You need to work hard for him, but he's always willing to help.
Was not a fan. He can be pretty cruel and even when, according to his standards, you've done decently he can still make you feel like you've failed. Is very critical and demeaning at times. However, he is funny, I'll give him that.
An extremely frustrating teacher. Is very pretentious and has unrealistic standards of what his students retain. Never offered a clear overview of what the class was actually about and scaled EVERY grade we received, including midterms and finals because we performed so low as a class due toteaching style. I think he was my worst prof at UVM.
very passionate about his subject, occasionally funny and always engaging and interesting. i definitely recommend him, i enjoyed the class and it was at 8 am so...
First impression of Cates: new prof, teaching out of his subject realm and not pleased about it. I was surprised to learn that he has a Ph.D and writes poetry himself! He is unimaginative, the readings were dull and won't hear anything against what he preaching. Once in a while he would spit out a know-it-all fact that made him seem cool.
Consistently proved that he was too preoccupied with his own self image to effectively teach creative writing. Condescending, often cruel; both self-deprecating and deprecating of others. Unable (?) to grasp some complex ideas, and often took a long time to express a very simple concept (then asking the class slowly "Does that make ... sense?").
I was told not to take a class with isaac cotes no matter what i do, but i decided to anyway. i hugely regret that decision. he literally cannot agree with anyone else's input or ideas, and has no problem shooting students down and rudely tearing apart their work. i do not recommend you take a class with him, he has nothing positive to share.
I recommend to NOT take any class taught by this professor. He was frequently condescending and threatened to fail me even though I was at every class, did all the homework, and handed in every assignment up to par and on time. He made every student feel inadequate and, more times than not, lectured the entire 50 minute class about nonsense.
Don't take a class with Cates. He's arrogant and only cares about his own opinions. If your ideas are different than his he will basically make you feel like an idiot in front of the class, and his comments on papers are incredibly harsh and insulting. Work is enjoyable and easy, but Cates is an awful teacher, and rambles the whole class.
Isaac Cates is a horrible professor. He is boring to listen to and could never admit he is wrong about anything. you'll never know how you're doing in the class because the guy never hands anything back until the end of the semester.
Do not take any classes with him. Horrible teacher. Lectures are very boring and just talks the whole time, so you can't take good notes. His tests are just horrible, he only accepts what he thinks, doesn't care about your opinions. If you care about your GPA, do NOT take a class with him.
He is a horrible teacher. His lectures are just very bad. His exams are ridiculous, doesn't accept your answers, only cares about what he thinks. Didn't grade anything so you didn't know how you were doing in the class until the last day. HORRIBLE.
He's really a great teacher in most respects. He cares a lot about what he does, and he's more than willing to help if you go out of your way to get it. However, none of my papers were graded until the very end of the class. That's my one complaint.
Cates is an educated guy. His self-described "nuts and bolts" approach to creative writing was very helpful and seemed to work well for an intro class. For getting foundational advice on pacing, grammar, dialogue, etc., Cates is your guy. Some might be disappointed with his lack of interest in beginner writer's attempts at "experimental" pieces.
Bad professor
Isaac Cates is a controversial teacher. As others have mentioned his "nuts and bolts" approach to introductory creative writing is a very helpful one; I can't recommend him more highly for this class. However, his class is about creating a foundation for creative writing that requires you to mimic the reading assignments and doesn't give freedom
Cates was not an easy man to deal with. I signed up for his class one day after the semester started (still in the adddrop period wout instructor permission) and he dropped me from the class. I had extensive conversations with him as this isn't something profs are allowed to do but he wouldn't budge and basically told me to shut up. Unpleasant.
He literally spent the whole time reviewing all the cartoonists' work and telling you what he would have done differently.
Do yourself a favor and NEVER take a class with this man as your teacher. He is undoubtably the worst teacher I have ever had. He has no respect for his students, he is unclear and rude and wastes class time creating more unessecary hw. I have wasted a semester being tortured by his lazy, sloppy, cruel, pretentious attitude, don't make that mistake
Teaching wise, Cates was a pretty decent professor but was very slow at returning papers. He does like to trail off on his own topics sometimes but was pretty good at teaching the material. -Not a tough grader on Essays. -Is semi-okay with you skipping a few classes
Really awesome guy, very knowledgeable. Some people don't like his teaching style, but if you give him effort hell make it worth it.
I thought he was a great professor. He definitely trails off on his own topics but i think thats just his way of being a person, which in the academic setting i found refreshing. His classes were very open and much like he was just talking to us like normal.
You'll turn in multiple papers for this class but he will never hand back your graded papers or post grades online. You will go through the entire semester blindly knowing how you're actually doing in the class because he never post grade averages at any point during the semester, which is why it's important to show up for class for participation.
He didn't give a full syllabus so the assignments were unclear, he doesn't post any grades and often goes off on long tangents in class that make class extremely long and boring. He is, however, very intelligent and was helpful when he did pass back grades and I loved the writing workshops in class although I wasn't a fan of the assigned readings.
Cates is an interesting dude but if you enjoy graphic novels you'll enjoy his class. The reading selections are great, one per week with an easy quiz. The actual class period is just straight lecture with a lot of tangents, but it's still interesting enough. He doesn't give grades back until finals though and it's super annoying.
Professor Cates is a super knowledgable dude. His lectures are ramble-y, and he does take a while to grade, but if you participate and don't take it too seriously he'll like you. And put some effort into what you write.
Do not take Cates' course: i want to believe he has good intentions however he should not be a professor. -you will not receive a single grade back all semester -he expects second, third, and fourth drafts of papers without seeing corrections or feedback for the first -you accomplish virtually nothing in class -he only talks about himself
Dr. Cates is a nut. He goes on tangents that have absolutely nothing to do with the material. Essay rubrics are so unclear, no feedback is given, I feel like I learned nothing during this class. Doesn't respond to your emails, doesn't hand back any papers, doesn't accept any opinion besides his own. Also he WILL subtweet about you and your class.
All he does is talk talk talk. He gets off topic, he's unorganized and really doesn't care about you. If you are a good writer you will have no problem in this class but its boring and hell. There are 5 papers that are 5 pages each and take a while. He grades somewhat fair but won't really give you the benefit of the doubt. Very very boring.
His class is littered with digressions, and if you get stuck with him in a three-day-a-week class then expect half of the 50 minute period to be taken up with him talking about things that have nothing to do with class materials. It is an easy class, but he doesn't take well to students disagreeing with him. I would not recommend him.
This man made me change my major.
Tends to ramble. Like, A LOT. But sometimes the digressions can be fun or even enlightening, and at the very least can be a pleasant break from coursework. I highly recommend taking his Graphic Novel and Making Comics courses, the man is a passionate nerd and I delighted in many before class (and mid-class) geek discussions.
Nice, chill guy with mad dad vibes. His laugh is grand but he can be very serious. Tough on papers but wants you to get better. Chooses good reading material. Small class size so participating is definitely important to your grade.
This guy is so hard for the comics that he writes. He also grades based on how much he enjoys your writing, not the overall quality of it. If it doesnt directly relate to him or his likes, youre screwed
Honestly the only way to do well in this class is to pretend to agree with him and to pretend that you are interested in his perpetual tangents. He's nothing more than a bad professor with a bad attitude.
an extremely frustrating professor. half the class is him going off on tangents (might sound fun- it's not.) he rarely hands back work, he has no compassion for struggling students, and won't help you succeed if he doesn't already like your writing. please, for your sake, avoid classes with him.
Dr. Cates is by far the worst professor I have ever had in my life. He spends 3/4 of class talking about absolutely random and unrelated topics that are never interesting. He will never give you back any of your assignments and does not use blackboard so you never know what your grades are. He is also never in office hours. AVOID AT ALL COSTS.
Cates' English002 class is the worst thing I have ever experienced. Never in my life has a class felt so long and drawn out. Expect zero feedback on what your grades are, how to improve your papers or anything for that matter. He will go off on random tangents. If for some reason you HAVE to take this class, agree with everything he says.
He's a pretty tough grader, really nit picky. If you go to class, participate (speak once or twice), and do your work, then you'll be just fine. He can be easily irked, so just try to not get on his bad side.
Doesn't really seem to care about students. Talks about himself a lot. Practically begged us to give him good reviews before course evaluations, trying to guilt us, making us thing we would cost him his job if we gave bad evals. Tweeted about us. You have to read his mind in order to succeed in writing papers for him.
Took a chance with Dr. Cates after reading these horrific reviews -- they did him a pretty huge disservice. Yes -- he tends to go on random tangents, laugh at his own jokes, etc. But he is also incredibly intelligent, caring, kind, and gives really constructive feedback. Our whole class loved him. Take a chance and form your own opinion of him.
Dr. Cates is an incredibly sweet and funny guy who has given me some of the most constructive feedback I've ever received on writing--it always felt like he really cared about helping us improve. He does go off on tangents a lot, but put in the effort to get to know and interact with him and your class, and it'll be both enjoyable and valuable.
Cates is a really good professor. His vibe is really laid back and relaxed. I always looked forward to attending his class, and I always left in a good mood. I learned a lot from his class and produced some of my best writing. Not really sure what these negative reviews are about. If you like writing, I strongly suggest taking classes from him.
This professor is by far the WORST I've had at UVM. No response to emails or feedback on assignments. ONLY LIKES YOU IF YOU AGREE W HIM. Seemingly grades you based on that agreement. Grades on participation but doesn't ever let students speak. Ego through the roof. I love poetry, and his intro to poetry class made me hate it. Avoid, avoid, avoid.
He'll go off topic a lot which depending on the person could be annoying. He's a tough grader. If you have a different opinion from him he'll usually take away points. But if you give an eloquent argument back to him as to why you disagree, he'll give you a better grade. For quizzes, you have to know exactly what he thinks in order to pass.
Rude, pretentious and unaccommodating of struggling students. Disagrees with nearly every viewpoint his students take. Unsympathetic. Unfit for English professor position
I would not recommend his class to anyone. He is very condescending when talking to students, often disagrees with us in a rude manner. If he doesn't agree with what you're saying he automatically deems you "in the wrong". Grades things based on if he "likes it". Rarely lets students speak/participate. Goes off on tangents. No valuable critiques.
I LOVE Cates. He is a really caring and understanding guy, very easy to work with, and tells you exactly what to do in order to do well in his classes. I enjoyed this class so much, and the good grade came easily because of that.
Wow. Cates is quite literally the worst English professor I have ever had. He is condescending, talks about other students in class, and decides your grade based on if he likes you or not. Took his class as a senior english major and was so disappointed. Do not take.
Rarely responds to emails and discourages students from attending office hours. goes off on tangents constantly and your grade depends on if he likes you and he likes you if you only say what he agrees with. but if you show up to class and figure out what he wants to hear you can get a good grade
There is some required reading, but no exams or quizzes, and you don't really have to do the reading. Most of the class is spent w him going on tangents about unrelated things, it's nice! I think he's great, haven't gotten my grade for the class back yet but we shall see. Class is 50/50 graded on participation and one anthology of poems. He's nice!
He's pretty good. Very laid back guy. Prone to going off on long tangents (and saying he won't get into something and then immediately getting into it and it takes up half the class) if that annoys you. It didn't bother me personally tho. Knows the material well, is personally engaged with it. Good sense of humor. Very easy class tbh
He gets so off topic during lecture and talks about nothing. So many people don't go to class if we don't have a quiz. If you never go to class you won't miss a thing bc we don't learn anything he just talks about his opinion. His quizzes are so obscure/unfair. If you have an original opinion about something, it's wrong if it's not what he thinks
Cates has a lot of interesting insights, but you will probably not have a great time in the class unless you participate a lot and get him to like you. He gives good feedback, but grading is unclear and he isn't ever available outside of class for help. Gave me a ton of really helpful advice and guidance in writing.
Cates gives incredibly dull "lectures." All the quizzes are on Mondays, so be ready for the Sunday series to be even scarier. All the quizzes are open-ended questions that are very precise and ask about material only shown once throughout the book. Cates also sucks at responding to emails, which can be very frustrating. Be ready to spend $200+
Isaac cates is so knowledgable and funny. He definitely talks a lot about random things in class but it's all relevant and interesting. He is kind and really thinks about what you have to say about the readings and poems. Class work and homework is simple and easy to understand.
It is an arduous task to stay awake in his lectures. For a class under the category of arts, Cates allows little room for personal interpretation.
I tried to like Professor Cates but he makes it impossible. He goes off on random tangents that end up lasting the whole class. He asks for student's interpretations, then says they're wrong. NEVER answers emails, was not understanding at all regarding my medical related absences. Extremely condescending and boring. DO NOT TAKE THIS CLASS.
I really disliked this class. Never going to take one of his again. You are graded based on his opinion of how "interesting" he thinks something is. Participation was half of my grade and he won't call on you unless he likes you (plays favorites). He gets so off topic and it feels like a waste of your time attending his lectures.
Nice, but boring & frustrating. Spent most of the time going on long tangents about unrelated topics. 50% of grade is participation, but ignores questions or disagrees with anyone given the chance to say something. Other 50% is a compilation of 25 poems with 100 words on each & an introduction. Not the class to actually learn poetry, but an easy A.
Didn't read the material? Get ready to struggle. Gives quizzes on reading material and a brief lecture on the history of the author. Then, during the discussion class, goes off on a tangent about literally nothing. But attendance matters. Questions on the most minor part of the book.
Cates seems like a good guy. Knowledgeable in his field, assigns good books too. But this class is actually so painful to sit through. Participation and attendance are graded, but don't expect space to participate with his long tangents about nothing. Also, block out time after this class. No respect for student's time, he never ends class on time
I loved when we were assigned to read one graphic novel yet the entire lecture was on a completely different novel by the same author. Most notable, when we read the Love Bunglers then entire quiz we had was on a different novel called Love Rockets that was almost a prequel to the Love Bunglers. Hate this class DO NOT TAKE.
Cates is a smart and knowledgable guy, but his teaching style is borderline unacceptable. He assigns weekly readings that are of good content, but goes on tangents about unrelated topics and doesn't encourage participation despite a majority of the grade being based on participation.
Cates is clearly knowledgable on the subject but don't expect to learn anything from this class. He is awkward and at times offensive when it comes to themes relating to racism, classism, sexism homophobia. The class is participation based but he doesn't allow anyone to participate.Often misinterprets key ideas in books, discredits others opinions.
Loves what he teaches but his class is POORLY structured. Monday quizzes include obscure and unrelated questions. Lectures include multiple tangents lasting for most of the class. Submissions for Wiki discussions spontaneously close, leaving students hanging. Wants students to spend ridiculous amounts of $ for books. Always ends late.
Cates assigned great readings but that's about the best it gets. He goes on and on about unrelated topics and doesn't show much interest in what others have to say. He encourages participation but ignores students who want to participate and goes on and on himself. Cates is knowledgeable but doesn't teach well, even for an extremely small class.
his class is not for everyone, but i loved it. reading material is interesting, he is knowledgeable about comics. class is often him going on a tangent, but i always enjoyed them and found i had better insight after. class usually ends 3-5 minutes late. only complaint was the wikis, having a less than 24 hr window to do it was impossible at times.
His graphic novel class was great, he's nice and really knowledgeable. We read one graphic novel a week and have 1 quiz and 1 discussion question, so the workload is very manageable and the books are enjoyable. We had a couple of essays which were also manageable. You have up to 10 skips in the semester. I loved it!!!
Not so much a tough grader as he has high expectations that he knows you can live up to if you put in the effort. Really knows his stuff when it comes to writing. Goes off on tangential conversations with people in the class a lot but it can be fun!
Kicked this annoying girl out of the class when she was disruptive on a daily basis
Great with the students.
He was not responsive to emails, did not release a rubric for assignments and just expected you to know what to do. He also did not teach anything in the class he just talked about his own opinions and feelings for the full class time. One of the worst teachers I have had at UVM in my three years here.
Dr. Cates is not my favorite, personally. The majority of your grade is based on participation yet I've seen, on multiple occasions, where someone raises their hand and Cates just continues to talk. He talks about a bunch of random things every class. Gives quizzes a lot and he purposely writes weirdly worded questions. Do not recommend taking.
I really dislike this class. Dr. Cates always goes on tangents (that are not funny, even when he thinks they are), his quiz questions are obscure, he grades writing based on his opinion rather than the objective, and he never answers his emails. I like the reading that he assigns, but that's the only enjoyable component of this class.
Dr.Cates is very knowledgeable on his topic of choice, but he grades mostly on participation and refuses to let people talk. I once had my hand up for about 10 minutes and he never called on me. His quizzes have absurdly specific and confusing questions, even if you actually did the reading. He also is not good about responding to emails...at all.
Talks entire class. Almost like he sets things up so we fail. Grades based on his personal opinion instead of if you did the work correctly. Changes grading criteria after we turned in assignments. Admitted to writing questions to confuse us. He talks like he is a nice professor but grades like he is a mean professor.
I have Cates for British Literature 1. I highly suggest you do not take this course with him. He was not useful during office hours and did not look at or give feedback on assignments except regarding our final papers. You will read so much and understand little to nothing. Save yourself or be ready to drop the class if necessary.
Really difficult class especially having it so early in the morning. Very vague lectures and difficult quizzes because they are based on what he finds interesting. Currently having to bs my way through 1 of the 2 essays we have and I feel so lost. Didn't learn anything and will not touch poetry ever again even with a 10 foot pole.
Dr. Cates tends to go off on semi-related tirades, but it comes from a place of passion and is honestly really interesting to listen to if you're into the subject! He always makes sure to come back to the subject, though, and is easy to talk to 1-on-1. I'm only putting a 4* because he requires speaking in class, which is not fun for anxious people.
yapper
As much as I feel bad writing this because Professor Cates seems like a good dude (which is why I didn't give him a 1), he is a not a great teacher. He tries to trick you on quizzes with how he writes them, he grades reading reports based of off what he finds interesting, and isn't accessible with regards to improvement and assignment clarification
Classes consisted solely of sitting there and listening to him ramble. Whenever a student presented a different interpretation of a text, he shot it down and stuck to his own take. I feel as though I barely learned anything other than to avoid taking his classes in the future.
Class is spent listening to him ramble(he is way to interested in the readings). He will grade you based on if he agrees with your opinion or not. Grading is based on daily quizzes, reading reports, and a final project. I would not recommend taking a class with him, but if you have to, laugh at his bad jokes, look engaged, and get on his good side.
I had Isaac for Brit Lit and thought he was a great teacher. I takes him a while to get back grades on written pieces but that makes sense because of the large class size and length of each piece. You will be expected to participate and do the readings but if you have to miss a class he is forgiving.
Goes off on of tangents and yaps majority of the class. Pretty tough grader and expects a lot from your work even if it's an intro class. He is, however, very lenient on attendance.
I took Isaac Cates for an intro to poetry class. He spent each class rambling over the readings, basically talking to himself. The poetry we would read was extremely sexual and he made a point to discuss the sexual aspects of all poetry, even if there wasn't anything explicit in the readings. I was always very uncomfortable in his class.
This guy is just not great :/ Took this class to fulfill a requirement and regretted it with every fiber of my being. Had to go home for family emergency and found out he told my entire class about it! Wtf dude! He yaps in class even though grades are heavily based on participation.The one good thing about this class, was the guest author visit
Took Intro to Creative Writing, which, despite being in an intro class, I had experience in. Even so, he graded as if his students were accomplished writers He taught nothing and rambled during class but again graded as if he had been teaching us how to write. He is generous with giving A- but that doesn't mean anything if nothing is learned.
The discussions are just him rambling on about his take on the book and refusing to hear other ideas. He leaves zero air for questions or comments, then reprimands you for not taking part in the discussions at all. I'm actually sitting in a discussion right now zoning out as he rambles on about panel composition, only two people have talked.
Professor Cates has a specific teaching style, but engage with it and you'll learn a lot. The lectures are worth attending, and unstuck study is great for study prep. Just stay focused and do the work.
I would've enjoyed the class more and gotten more out of it if it had just been a reading list posted online. I hate saying that because he seems like a nice guy and he's really passionate about the comics and graphic novel medium but his lectures are just him rambling for an hour with no structure and often mansplaining queer and feminist books.
Okay so i take it all back. I wrote kind of a mean spirited review on Cates earlier this semester but after getting used to him, he's honestly not so bad. Quizzes are difficult if you didn't do the reading but fine if you did them. Fair enough. He is kind of set in his opinions so discussion isn't much use. talk at least once or twice and ur good.
Good guy who I'd love to hang out with outside of class. Genuinely funny, interesting and overall pleasant person to be around. This does not mean he is a good professor. Grades are not dependent on your work or even his grading criteria. This is the type of professor you'd like to audit, cause his classes are interesting, but not worth it gpa-wise
He's honestly a great guy, I really enjoy him and would hang out and talk to him about anything. However, his grading seems sort of arbitrary and his interpretations of poetry is often hard to see. Participation is important but as long as you try your best and speak once or twice a week he generally gives you the credit. also he's a yapper.
This is the worst professor I have ever had at UVM. He yaps for over an hour every class and doesnt even encourage students to speak. He has 0 grading criteria and assignments have vague instruction, however he has extremely specific and high expectations. It is an intro course but each assignment felt like an exam. Can barely get an 80 on HW
Class Info
Online Classes
100%
Attendance Mandatory
87%
Textbook Required
28%
Grade Predictor
Your expected effort level
Predicted Grade
B+
Grade Distribution
Common Tags
Rating Trend
Stable
-0.03 avg changeRatings by Course
ENG114
5.0
(1)ENG14
4.5
(2)ENGS119
4.3
(3)ENGS095
4.0
(1)ENGS030
3.7
(3)Difficulty by Course
1002
5.0
ENG162
5.0
X
5.0
ENGS119
4.7
ENG30
4.5