3.1
Quality4.2
Difficulty47%
Would Retake87
Reviews47%
Would Retake
87
Reviews
Rating DistributionOfficial
5
23
4
12
3
24
2
13
1
15
What Students Say
“Don't buy the textbook, you won't use it”
FIN432 - 1.0 rating“he is simply terrible”
FIN432 - 1.0 ratingClass Info
Online Classes
100%
Attendance Mandatory
69%
Textbook Required
48%
Grade Predictor
Your expected effort level
Predicted Grade
B
Grade Distribution
Common Tags
Rating Trend
Declining
-0.87 avg changeRatings by Course
439
5.0
(1)FIN1
5.0
(1)FINANCE439
4.0
(1)FIN432AND439
4.0
(1)FIN432439
3.5
(4)Difficulty by Course
FIN605
5.0
FINANCE432
5.0
FIN1
5.0
FIN
5.0
FIN432AND439
5.0
Reviews (87)
Any inaccurate student feedback is sharply rebuked causing student feedback and interest to wane dramatically. Tests are two steps above difficulty of homework. Still, next to Accounting, THE key course in MBA track. Study hard!
Tough class that requires a lot of time!
Such a pompous jerk. You can tell how smart someone really is by how much he believes everyone else is stupid. Such a bad attitude for a professor. Wound way too tight, also. Inapproachable for help; just too paranoid or something.Really over the top.
hes a dick but hes just joking. you cant take him too serious. joke back around with him and break his balls a little and he's cool. if you argue and give him a hard tim he's ruthless. i liked him in the end. i got an A.
an "amusing" teacher, makes the class interesting, don't know if he really is or pretends to be a dick, but he'll more than explain something if you need exta help. Overall if you try you'll like his classes.
Griffith is cool if you do your**** and don't dick around in class. If you need extra help, which you will, he is always around to lend help. Not a bad cat, he truly cares about his students and their futures in the finance field.
The best
very helpful
Arrogant/Pompous/All Around @$$hole. He gets off on putting down others so that he seems superior. If you ask for help, dont be surprised when he seems shocked you don't understand something, followed by a comment to make you feel like an idiot.
do the work, ask questions. He is rough verbally, but he will pass you if you seek his help. Take his sarcasm with a gran of salt.
No Comments
Dr. Griffith's classes are challenging. He assigns alot of work. If you do the work, ask questions about things you don't understand, he will help you. Alot of people think he is an arrogant jerk, but I have to disagree. Those people probably didn't do well. I got A's out of both classes. I learned more from him than any other FIN professor.
Gives all the help you need.. He wants everyone to do well.. even if you have to call him at home
Tuff material, but easy to understand if you pay attention. Helpful if you have questions. Highly recommend him for this class
Very hard but great teacher. Wants you to do well. Best professor I have had at ODU.
Good teacher
If you value your GPA, stay away from this class! It's hard material to begin with and he does not teach or instruct on how to do the cases before hand. He waits and "teaches" the material after the cases have been turned in for a grade. A good instructor will teach the material relevant to the projects before they are due, he doesn't.
Tough class but great professor. You get way more out of this class than at most equivalent schools. My best advice is take him for 432 and make sure you are understanding the Excel projects. Excel is key in 439.
horrible professor. egotistic, useless, slides do the teaching. Sad thing is that they're not even his slides.
I took his class earlier this year. I do not know anyone who passed it. I repeatedly asked for help form him and from my distance site. I could not find any help. I stayed up many nights working on the assignments. He never went over them, there was almost guidance on where to get the information to use. He give a 0 for the whole thing if not exact
Very hard class, definitely have the upper hand if you are not at a site & sit in the classroom setting. Tests are fair, assignments are ridiculous, his grading system is all credit or half (10 if you got it right, 5 if you got it wrong). I came out with an A and studied my butt off...no easy grade but he is as good as he'll get!!
Not too bad. He can be rude to students, mostly the distance students. I think he gets mad because the delay. Also he can never understand what distance students say. Do the problems at the end of the chapter before doing the HW and Quiz, It will help!!!! He does take attendance.
Knows what hes talking about but is VERY HARD on students...he taought himself and i think he wants everyone else to teah themselves too. I took him for 432 and 439 and both were the hardest two classes ive ever taken. Would not recommend him to ANYONE. hes very rude to students and expects you to know things already without him teaching them.
Dr. Griffith is a great teacher, if you are sensitive to verbal attacks you'll have a hard time...he means well. Just work hard, and dont be afraid to ask for help, because he will definitely give it.
If you don't care about your future, then maybe this class is not for you. This guy will teach you what you need to succeed in this thing called life. I hate listening to people complain about him when he is preparing you for your future job! Do you think your life is going to be easier when you graduate?!?!
Very abrupt; harsh reputation; was 1 of the best professors I've ever had! Whole lot of material; expect to memorize a 'million' formulas. Dr. Griffith cares about students. 432 as teletechnet was a disadvantage. The "C" I got was my fault, not his (family losses;lack of focus, study time). Study hard; take him for 432 if you plan on taking 439!
While many people do not do well in his class. I did extremely well. If you are a student that does not like to come to class or do their homework then this is not the class for you. But this a senior level class for a reason, it requires a lot of time and dedication. You can do well! and do not give up at first if you do not do well.
I still do not have my degree, I have 2 classes left to take and both are taught by John, I am in debt and cant make it through, no one I know was able to pass his class and I could not find a tutor
This class is beyond difficult. If you are a trad. student that lives and breaths school than you might do alright, but if you are a non-trad that is working and trying to survive take this class by itself. It is a very tough class that will be helpful in the future,but it is too much info in too little time with a teacher that cares too little.
Griffith has taught me all I know about Finance-if you care at all about your future or career you will learn a lot from him. I made an A in 432 & will make an A in 439. VERY Hard, very rude, but oh well such is life! Asks if you have ?s, then tells you to GOOGLE IT!!! However, learned a lot, it IS possible to pass if you are willing to work HARD!
(cont'd from below) I never ever used the book-always used slides & THOROUGH class notes. Use slides/toolkit from 432 in 439. If you can't handle 432, you can't do well in 439 which is ALL cases, you learn nothing new. If you didn't take Griffith for 432, 439 will be almost impossible. But it is possible if you love Finance & love learning!
the best professor at odu
Great teacher.
I heard such terrible things, and he is not bad at all! I have had much worse. You have to work hard but it is possible to do well. I am not a great student but have an A in his class.
Tough class. His tests are extremely hard you must know the material inside and out to do really well on the tests. This class is not impossible if you study. Gives a quiz and spreadsheet about every week but they're not that bad. Nice man overall but Final exam was horrible. I'm pretty sure he curved it though because I passed
Hard tests if you don't know the material. As long as you know how to work the problems they're not bad. Quizzes can be tricky sometimes, very helpful if you have a time conflict. One of the best professors I've had here, very excited about the subject.
Great professor for 439 and 432. Assignments are very hard and he makes you think. His methods of teaching really get you ready for the real world.
Dr. Griffith is decent teacher. However, he has a tendency to intimidate students due to his taciturn behavior. His tests and assignments are fair; Dr. Griffith provides you with everything you need to ace his class. Dr. Griffith's bark is definitely worse than his bite.
Dr. griffith has a unique style of teaching. He say it like it is. If you remember the material in 432 than you will do well. Keep all finance material. I really enjoy his class because i use the material all the time at work. Remember to ask the right question and show that you are eager to learn.
He's a great teacher for FIN 432. The class is not that hard if you follow along in class and use your book as a reference. His test are fair and not as difficult as some say. As long as you study you should do well. FIN 439 he doesn't teach you anything new and that class is hard but not as some make it. Get a good group for FIN 439.
Don't be intimidated by Dr. Griffith since he does like to mess with his students. Its actually pretty funny when he does. His class is not nearly as hard as some people say or as much as he would like you to believe. Extremely generous grader with partial credit and lets you retake exams for extra credit, makes it very easy to get a good grade.
Tough class. Tests sometimes do not even resemble the material on the tests. He is the only teacher for this subject, so get ready to work!!! has a spreadsheet and quiz for every chapter you cover. he is also the only teacher for 439, so if you are a finance major then you must learn to love him! he is a nice guy, and a finance guru. study alot.
Mostly have to learn it on your own. Not that hard of a subject to comprehend. He will answer everyone's questions on subjects
The Best!!
Tests are difficult, not what he covers in class. He does not test what he teaches. Tries to trick the student. If he would teach the way he tests I would be ok. Not a good teacher but all a finance major has for 432 and 439. Good luck.
The best professor at Old Dominion University. The material covered in this class it not difficult to comprehend but there is so much of it. The only way to understand this much material is through hard work which is what his classes are. You must study, you must ask questions, and you must do all of the assigned work.
The best professor at ODU.
Best professor at ODU. Not a class for slackers. Show up to class and pay attention. If you work hard and show him that you do (ask questions/bring questions to his office hours) he will go out of his way to answer them and help you understand. If you work hard and understand everything in FIN 432, then FIN 439 should be a breeze.
One of the best Fin teachers. He really wants you to understand the material, so when he seems like he's being an ass..he's really just trying to get it through your skull.
Great
A great professor, really cares about his students. He wants them to do well.
I was going to change my major from finance to who knows what.... I went to him to drop the class and after talking to him I decided to stay in finance. I still tell everyone tat I wouldn't be where I'm at today if it wasn't for dr. Griffith!!! Thank you dr. Griffith!!!!!
Great teacher! Pay attention and ask questions - he likes that. He does not have patience for people that are not prepared or are not taking the class seriously. I enjoyed his class as he challehed me.
This guy does nothing other than teach from the Power Point slides supplied with the textbook. He may be intelligent, but his teaching ends up producing mindless drones that think that they can comprehend the world of finance because they have learned to parrot the formulas from their cheat-sheets for exams. I've had better Finance professors.
Was a good teacher, but you must work hard. Lot of homework but he is leaneant in grading. Tests are pretty tough but you get a cheat sheet. I would recommend if you show up and pay attention and write down nothing more than formulas then youll do well.
He is the worst professor I have ever taken in my 4 years at ODU, however he is the only professor that teaches 432 and 439 so I advise you to complete the work and work hard to get through
He is a good teacher but he is so rude! If you ask questions he gets frustrated and mad. The material is not too bad, he is just so confusing and even when you ask a question he explains it the same way the second time...not helpful
3 exams , a final and h.w . His test are hard and beyond what he teaches or what the h.w is on , avoid this guy if you can unless your able to 20 hrs a week and go beyond the text and h.w to prepare for the exams.
exams are hard and long -- not really enough time to finish, and the (exam) material is (beyond)not what is taught in class or in the book so good luck figuring that out.
avoid, exams contain material not taught in class or in the book ( beyond the material, like what would be in a class ahead of this). no review or prep for that, and no warning to go to the library to find word problems a step ahead of the assigned text either .good luck with that .
This guy is a hot mess. If you want to take a class where you sit through a three hour lecture and walk out more clueless than you walked in... This is your guy. His expectation is that everyone is a FIN major. Too bad 75% of his students are Business Admin majors...
Unfortunately he is the only professor for 432!! Aplia homework is a headache, between that, the reading and the spreadsheets, it takes up AT LEAST 12 hours a week!! His lectures are basically him reading the book provided powerpoints! And the tests are ridiculous, nothing like the homework problems!
Not an easy subject, and he doesn't make it easy BUT that is because he expects you to use your brain! You HAVE to put in the time & do the work. FIN 439 consists of group work, so pick your group wisely. The key...If you don't understand something, you absolutely need to go see him. He is very helpful as long as he knows you are making the effort!
Aplia homework is only helpful after it is due. It's annoying that this is supposed to help you but it literally is like taking a test, you only have 2 hours to finish it. It's new material but he expects you to do it as if you already know it well. Then spreadsheets are time consuming. It took me at least 8 hours to do homework a week. Excluding having to go back and learn the material to do well on tests. Rude guy! Unapproachable
My suggestion is to take this course in either the Spring or Fall semester, NOT the summer. This is a difficult course that is accompanied by a large workload. I attempted this course in the summer and did not do well, took the course again in the fall and earned an A. Dr. Griffith also seemed more willing to helpdiscuss course concepts in fall
This is a very hard class. He's not very clear in class but very helpful if you go talk to him during office hours. The tests are online and timed. Make sure you do all the homework and go to class. If you are having trouble GO TALK TO HIM. He WILL help you.
Worst professor in ODU ever!!! He is rude and won't give you time to explain your problem. He will not help you if he doesn't like you. What's more ironic? He is the only teacher for this course so may this is the reason why he is so arrogant. By the way, I got B+ by myself work and never ask him questions because I know he will not answer that.
I can honestly say he is the worst professor at ODU. I sent numerous emails and rarely got a response. You get a lot of excel spreadsheet assignments and he doesnt tell you where you messed up. you go into the test without knowing what you did wrong. Online videos are horrible. This is the only finance class i have taken that i didnt learn anything
Great professor.
Don't buy the textbook, you won't use it. Don't bother studying the slides, his class lectures are pointless. You'll be teaching yourself. Read and study the Alpia chapters, that's where the problems come from. Lots of HW, grades for attendance, loves to publicly humiliate students that ask questions in class. Doesn't give feedback for HW or tests.
very rude and unreasonable. if you have the choice DO NOT take a class with this professor. hands out zeros as if he enjoys it, and its like pulling teeth trying to get him to reply to an email. he is simply terrible.
It was a very hard class and a TON of work to do well. I read the book, watched lectures and did all the homework. Took this class online. When I didnt understand things or wanted to go over my exam he was available via phone which was awesome because he explained everything in real world situations. If you put in actual effort he WILL help you.
AVOID THIS GUY AT ALL COSTS. He is by far the worst professor I have ever had. Have a question? Don't bother asking, he'll tell you to look it up online. But don't look it up online because then he fails for for plagiarizing! He gives out 0's like it's his job and has zero interest in teaching the class. He doesn't even grade his papers!! AVOID
I don't understand the hate this professor gets - very stern, yes, but the class itself isn't bad. A lot of homework, one multiple choice set, one Excel set. For our class, tests were all online, open book, and no ProctorU - that was basically an easy A. Hard professor, but fairly straightforward class.
The book is online, in class or not, and very stressful to navigate. The homeworks are difficult, and graded based on correctness. There are also complicated Excel assignments which you will get a zero on if you hard code ANYTHING. Book does not help with Excel either. Tests are insanely tough. I'm teaching myself, try and get in-class or diff prof
Tests are graded heavily, we took our tests online just using respondus Browser, hard material if you aren't interested in it.
This guy is definitely the worst professor I have ever had. I have never experienced so many egregious issues with a professor, as this one. His grading is not logical. A few times, I could make ten mistakes on one assignment and receive a 70, but on two assignments, I made one small error and received a 0 with no explanation. He does not care.
The worst professor at ODU. DO NOT RECOMMEND HIS CLASS FOREVER! If you want to get low grades, take his class. If you want to take tricky tests, take his class. If you want to do lots of homework, take his class. If you want to ask professor some questions but won't get professor's explanation, take his class.
AWFUL. He assigns a ton a work and gives zeros on everything. He doesnt answer questions or tell you what you did wrong. Would NOT recommend!
Literally top 3 worst professors I've ever experienced at ODU. Gives minimal to no help & when you do get help on assignments you have to listen to him talk down on you EACH TIME before he helps with the answer. I read the bad reviews & thought I could go into it building a relationship with him to make it easier. Doesnt work. DO NOT TAKE HIS CLASS
Here's the thing this class comes with a lot of assignments. I would not take this class if you have other priorities. This was my only focus and I still thought it was a lot. Assignments aren't hard but they are a grind. I like Griffith he's blunt but not mean and he will help you out. There were only a handful of things I had to teach myself.
No tests. Only graded on assignments which were not bad just time consuming. He was helpful and always responded to my emails but is was rude and belittles you. Although I do believe he genuinely cares that you understand the information.
Looking at the older reviews of the 439 course it's obviously changed a bit. There are no tests for this course just the case studies which are pretty easy just time consuming much like the 432 course. Really no reason to struggle in this class. If you have other responsibilities I would not take the 6 week course. You may not like his attitude.
Professor Griffith was great in my opinion. He responded quickly to emails and answered all questions. You can not hard code anything. He wants to see the work. It is a lot of homework and exams are long (3 hrs 15 min). I took the class online so exams were done through Lockdown Browser. No proctor u which was great. Time-consuming but manageable.
Terrible professsor! although he did respond to my emails very quickly they were of no help what so ever. He'll just tell you to figure it out yourself. One tiny mistake on your spreadsheet and he'll take off 60 points without an explanation.
I think he's a jerk but I reason that the class is just a hard class and that the Finance field has a lot of jerks. I put I would take him again because he's the only professor that teaches some of these subjects online. If you can, I would suggest taking Investments before FIN432. I made a B but it was a real struggle and I usually make A's.
I can see why people may not like his personality however he is a great professor if you can look past that. He can't stand hardcoding so don't even try it, just follow the videos he provides and you will get an A on the spreadsheets. There's no reason to make anything less than a C+ in this class and it lets you get familiar with Excel.
Class Info
Online Classes
100%
Attendance Mandatory
69%
Textbook Required
48%
Grade Predictor
Your expected effort level
Predicted Grade
B
Grade Distribution
Common Tags
Rating Trend
Declining
-0.87 avg changeRatings by Course
439
5.0
(1)FIN1
5.0
(1)FINANCE439
4.0
(1)FIN432AND439
4.0
(1)FIN432439
3.5
(4)Difficulty by Course
FIN605
5.0
FINANCE432
5.0
FIN1
5.0
FIN
5.0
FIN432AND439
5.0