2.6
Quality3.7
Difficulty44%
Would Retake85
Reviews44%
Would Retake
85
Reviews
Rating DistributionOfficial
5
16
4
13
3
13
2
12
1
31
What Students Say
“She's so helpful and makes accounting seem easy and fun”
ACCT503 - 5.0 rating“The exams were multiple choice forms”
ACCTG321TAX - 4.0 ratingClass Info
Online Classes
100%
Attendance Mandatory
43%
Textbook Required
29%
Grade Predictor
Your expected effort level
Predicted Grade
B+
Grade Distribution
Common Tags
Rating Trend
Declining
-1.10 avg changeRatings by Course
ACC432
5.0
(1)ACCT659
4.0
(1)BA100
3.6
(5)ACCTG321TAX
3.5
(2)ACCT503
3.4
(8)Difficulty by Course
ACC659
5.0
ACCT659
5.0
ACCTG332
4.4
ACCTG503
4.0
ACC325
3.9
Reviews (85)
Expect 300+ pages of reading assigned per night but it is not discussed in class. Tests are open book/note. They ranged from easy to insanely difficult. She knows her stuff but wants to cram too much material into this class. Good luck!
Touch material. Tough class. Final exam was insane. However, she knows her stuff and is fair when it comes to grading.
Prof. Mackenzie is awesome! She's so helpful and makes accounting seem easy and fun. There's a test every 2 weeks so each only covers 2 chapters. The tests are open book and notes, which is awesome for all those tax laws and codes. There's also an individual presentation but that's a piece of cake. Definitely recommend taking this class with her!
Wow! She has some good energy but she needs to work on explaining what we are doing, anyone can read power points. she "lectures" for 30 min then we do book work the rest of the class. final was a 1040 w/ 5 schedules and 3 forms. pretty insane! show up its worth 20% of grade.
She''s such a nice person very pleasant to be in class with. She talks fast moves through the slides fast so pay attention. The exams were multiple choice forms. Not easy but not impossible either. I actually learned a lot more than I thought I did. All Summer I was quoting tax laws to friends and family. I''ll probably take her for 503 too.
This is my second time taking prof. MacKenzie (for different classes). She's awesome! There wasn't that much work: 15 LS assignments, 6 quizzes (covered 2-3 chapters), 2 simple HW assignments, a 3 point extra credit assignment, and a final. The final was worth 27% of our grade, which was a little excessive in my opinion. I ended up with a B+
There were no tests at all. For BA, you showed up to class and got points for it and did the specified events and you got credit for the class. It was very simple and straightforward and the professor is a nice and intelligent lady.
1 unit business community class pass/fail. Not as helpful/beneficial as expected. Most classes revolved around resources available at sdsu, which got repetitive. Not worth an hour each week of your time.
She doesn't actually 'teach' anything, just reads off slides about the chapter you read. Tons of reading, tons of information. Take real good notes on Chs and refine. LearnSmart for 16 chs, memo, 3 online quizes, midterm, presentation, cumulative final. Group work in class helps with concepts. She's nice and helps if you ask.
Like the student below said, she doesn't teach she just quickly goes over power points. She doesnt even teach you how to do problems she has you do them in groups and just tells you the answer at the end. The exams are pretty hard. There is a test called the cbk that you have to get at least a 70 or else you get a 0 on it, a lot of people got zeros
if you ask questions she will go over it till you get it. Don't be afraid to ask. Her tests are hard as hell, not multiple choice! but i think she grades pretty fairly. if you write something down you will get points even if its not completely right. The CBK was hard, you have to get higher than a 70 to get points for it, i got a 0 and so did many
I liked her. if you read before class, pay attention during class and ask questions during the in class work you'll do fine. The exams are tough but as the other student said, she grades pretty fairly. I liked her, you can tell she loves the subject and enjoys teaching it to others. Not an easy class at all but id recommend taking it with her.
The class is hard as most Accounting classes. Midterm and final are both hard since you have to read around 20 chapters, but she grades fairly if you make the effort to fill out the tax forms. I didn't like the CBK exam(you have to get over 70% to get the points ).3 Quizzes, 1 presentation , and 1 Research paper easy let's say! You'll learn a lot.
Most classes are in class group exercises from the textbook. Not too much lecturing, which is too bad because she can explain things well. Make sure you practice filling out the tax forms. The two exams are tough but try and show effort/work and you can still get partial credit. And it IS possible to pass the class without passing the CBK.
Great teacher. She really understands tax. This is definitely not an easy class but if you put in work and get partial credit on the tests you should be fine. It's also very important to pass the CBK which isn't too difficult if you study. I received an A in her class even though I got a C on both the midterm and the final. Highly recommend her.
Mackenzie is a really good teacher. However most of the class consisted of in class assignments. Its a shame too, she was able to teach tax in an extremely effective way. She even made tax seem somewhat fun as crazy that might sound. If she lectured every class (she did it like 2-3 times) it would have been one of my favorite classes. CBK worth 10%
Professor Narelle is exceptional and knows her craft well. She inspires me to be a CPA in the future.
BA100 is the easiest class you will ever take. It is based on attendance and like 5 easy assignments. She gives you so much time to do the assignments and the class "lectures" are usually guest speakers or she will give a lecture about career skills. Just show up, listen, do the very few assignments and you are guaranteed to pass.
She doesn't teach at all, just read off based from PowerPoint slides. DO NOT TAKE HER!!
I thought I was going to fail this class when it started, ended up with a B. One midterm and one final. One presentation. Learnsmarts. 4 quizzes with one drop. 2 big HW assignments. She does not lecture which is frustrating, so get ready to read while completing the learnsmarts. In-class problems are reflective of quizzes. Fair grader on exams.
Do the HW and come to class to pass this class. Easy grader for the exams. Got a C with not much stress. Tax is a hard subject but definitely a practical class that will help you in real life.
I don't know why everyone is telling that she doesn't lecture at all but she does and extremely helpful and give insights for real-world application of tax. Exams and quizzes are not that hard if you go to her class because the in-class exercises are pretty much the exam and quiz questions. I definitely recommend her if you want to learn taxation.
Overall a good class to take for the credit. You'll have to teach yourself everything because she just goes through slides and zooms through examples during classes. Though the material is tough, her grading criteria was generous. You can get a decent grade if you put in the effort on HW and in class exercises.
This class was a 1 unit course for my learning community so no actual material was taught. Class was pass/fail and there was no textbook. She can be a bit rough around the edges but she cares about her students and their success.
She is very enthusiastic about taxation and very helpful when you ask questions. Although her attendance is not mandatory, it is very helpful to attend her classes. The group work by the end of each sessions helps to understand and absorb the materials. Read the chapter before going to class.
She's nice but she goes through slides fast. What counts towards your grade is homework, learnsmart, 1 tax memo, 2 online quizzes, 1 presentation, and 1 final exam. You can bring 2 cheat sheets to the final. You must attend all presentations in class even after you're done with your presentation. You'll lose points if you don't. She curves too.
Her exams come from in class assignments that you work in groups. She does not really teach, and expects students to learn via book, but use class time mostly for questions. She will call on students in class so thats pretty annoying. 1 Quiz which is 80 questions timed, and 1 presentation where she brings in professionals in the tax field.
the worst professor I have ever seen do not take
she is very hard teacher, she reads over the lecture. your have to teach yourself do not take her. worst teacher ever
Lectures are terrible. She blazes through entire tax concepts in 20 minutes then phones it in. She forces everyone into groups and makes us do problems from the $150 online textbook and everyone googles the answers. The online reading assignments take hours. Most of your grade is based on this busy work so you will pass. She's useless though.
Yes, this class is challenging. She expects you to watch the lectures and read the book before coming to class. Class time is used for groupwork on practice problems and she is available to answer questions. She is very clear on what's expected. She loves to answer student questions and always replies to emails quickly. I would take her again!!
Very recommended! I was scared of a lots assignments at first, but they were achievable, you can get full points as long as you study, notes help a lots, remember to review every activity in class, they're on midterm w same format. I only got 47/100 on midterm cuz thought 2 activities are two long, they might not on exam but they were.
Loads of busy work but not too difficult. Does not accept ANY late work even if you are having a technical issue. Plus, she has odd deadlines. Very inconsiderate of students circumstances. BTW show all work on exams/quizzes, she'll deduct major points if you don't. Take this class with someone else if you can.
3 exams & final only 20% of overall grade, but are hard. Prof very nice but lectures are not too helpful, basically a self-teach class. lecture quizzes, practice problems, chapter notes (handwritten) & reading assignments are literally free points. though homework gives 5% penalty for every extra attempt. grades easy on presentation and tax memo.
Self teach class, but here's the thing. 30% of the class is based on exams, with the other 70% being based on homework. This means you literally can not fail this class if you do the homework. Video lecture's don't correlate with the chapter, so use the textbook to review. If you get 33% on every test, you get a B-. Easy B or C at least.
Does not even lecture in her own modules, and then proceeds to give test with short response accounting questions, where if you get one part wrong, the whole problem is wrong. WOULD NOT TAKE AGAIN!
God awful professor. The thing that saved me in the end was the fact that 70% of the grade was busy work (Get 100% on everything). The tests were terrible, mostly because she didn't teach anything, the book was the way you learned. I ended up finishing the class with a B, but she curved me up to a B+ in the class.
You really need to do a lot for this class. For example, quizzes, final, midterm, tax memo, watching lecture videos before the class, doing homework, taking notes and submitting them for grades, as well as GLEIM quizzes. Nothing is extremely hard, but you need to study in order to pass this class.
Not the best lecturer but she is very nice. In my experience, she will find every way to give as much points in quizzes as possible, event if a problem seemed way off. The midterm is harder than the final for it's specifics, while the final is mostly from Gleim.
Haven't posted here before, but felt the need to do so with Professor Mackenzie. DO NOT TAKE, the worst professor I have ever had. Took her online, provides boring pre-recorded lectures and an ebook to study. Homework was god awfull and the tests were the same. Discriminatory, reports to school for "cheating" for getting open ended questions wrong
This class is hard and content heavy no matter what professor you have. Narell genuinely cares about the students and is always willing to help those who ask for it. She is very nice, understanding, and her expectations are clear.
Narelle Mackenzie, STAY AWAY from here. I honestly don't even know how she became a professor. She doesn't invest in her students, she doesn't teach anything. she is expecting you to teach yourself everything, and when you try to ask her something she will make you feel like you ask a stupid question. terrible professor. Take it with someone else.
Lots of assignments but they're fairly easy; you just have to remember to do them. Pop quizzes for attendance. Similar to her 503 class, its the same textbook. Pretty lenient grader. Just remember to explain how you got your answer and you'll probably get at least partial credit. Tax is hard in general. She's just a nice person that loves tax LOL
she was one of the worst teachers I've ever had, Never got help from her. she doesn't care about her students at all. Exams are so hard they are made to make you fail and she will almost never give full credit on a quiz or written assignment.
God awful professor, we haven't had a meeting in over a month. The whole class is based on McGraw Hill. I have a good grade in the class, but it might as well be Phoenix University with how there's no interaction. Would avoid if you were an actual accounting student.
Accounting is hard enough without her complete utter lack of teaching and knowledge on the topics. When you ask for help she literally doesn't know how to do the problem. There is no instruction in class (she forces you to work with other students who are equally as lost) and then she writes the answers straight from the book on the board. dont
Although I am doing great so far, please take my advice and avoid her if you really want to learn. Her recorded lector is a joke. It is an entirely self-taught class. If you don't mind the tedious workload and just want to pass a class, take her! 70% of the grade is based on the busy work!!!!
This lady needs to stay away from teaching. Terrible structure, she only gives prerecorded lectures and tedious busywork, no teaching in person, puts you in breakout groups w other confused people and gives pop quizzes for attendance. Narelle is passionate about taxes but she really doesn't care about her students and the class. Take somewhere else
Heaaavy load of reading and homework every single week. Very unmotivating to watch the pre recorded lectures and difficult to keep up with the schedule. The grading is pretty easy and lenient. The presentations aren't too bad and worth a lot, so do them well. This class is ALL ON YOU & dont expect to walk away as a tax or accounting expert.
Absolutely horrendous class. You will spend hours doing mindless busy work every week and not learn a single thing. I think she's the only one who teaches this class so everyone has to suffer through it, but busy work is like 80% of the grade so its almost impossible to get below a B. Just gotta get it over with
Do notttt!!!!! Take her she literally reported me for academic dishonesty and took 54 points off my course grade because I submitted the wrong notes for a 3 point assignment. She gives a lot of work you will fail the weekly quizzes and she is not understanding at all. Very hard grader just disrespectful overall!
If you can avoid taking this class over the summer do it. So much busy work, yeah it is structured to pass the class even if you fail the exams, but the amount of busy work is disgusting. All Connect everything little to no effort put in on her part. if you like busy work take her, if not avoid at all costs because you aren't going to learn.
So much unnecessary busy work. Typically 8 assignments are due per week throughout the regular semester which makes it seem like you're taking a summer course. If you have the option to take her irl vs online, just choose online because she doesn't even teach irl, just pairs you with other classmates to do groupwork who are equally as confused.
You have to study every single day for at least 6 hours in order to pass the class during summer.
Be Careful... Be Careful...Be Careful take classes with this professor. So many homework and assignment. Easy for her to give zero for the homework and assignment even if you do well.
Professor MacKenzie was extremely rude and demeaning towards students. Many students weren't very happy and she is pretty strict. I ended up dropping the course right before the drop deadline and after reading other reviews, I'm thankful I didn't stay in her class. Unfortunately, this class is still required and my options are pretty limited.
Don't take it with her ask people and listen to what she did with them. Listen to more than 1 person.
This class is a lot of work, but this may be a good thing for students that get stressed over heavily exam-weighted classes. I failed about every quiz (I am not a good test taker), but still ended with an A. Make sure you do every assignment, because her curve bumped my grade 2 letters. Prof. MacKenzie responds promptly and is easy to reach.
Avoid at all costs! There were 10 assignments a week. "Domino effect" class structure ex: if you missed 1 reading assignment you aren't eligible for the curve at the end of the semester. Not flexible at all. This 3 unit class was double the work of my 4 unit finance class. Homework, presentations, quizzes, exams she throws everything she can at you
Teaches the first portion of 656, but her lectures were not helpful and the international portion has so much information to learn. However, she graded really nicely on midterm and quizzes (take-home, open internet) and the presentations (group) were easy points to boost our grades. Better than her undergrad classes.
She is the WORST professor I ever had. She just read through her PPT in her video lecture, helps nothing with the learning, her videos only aim to put more weights on students. Beside all the tedious homework and assignments, she also assign tax memo and personal presentation to each students. Same, she helps nothing but provide many REQUIREMENTS.
Very heavy workload. She looks for any reason to fail you. I was "caught" cheating because my answer was too similar to the correct answer (when it was from my own brain) and failed me without proper trial. Avoid if possible as this professor is demeaning towards students and will not help if you reach out.
Don't take her. If you do get ready for condescending canvas announcements, excessive busy work, and a teacher who invests more time into trying to catch academic dishonesty than helping you understand the material. Want to file a grievance? Good luck she is on the grievance board. Textbook Karen. If you're reading this Narelle, retire.
First off, I was so disappointed because this was a course I actually wanted to learn. This is a BUSY class, and her lectures are not helpful at all. Be ready to do a lot of work and just do them. 80% of your grade will come from tedious work, and dont worry about failing the weekly quizzes. just do the busy work and 2 presentations and you'll pass
The class itself is fairly easy and it's not hard to get an A. There is a TON of busy work due each week but overall it just helps you get a better grade with easy homework and unlimited attempts. The tests are whatever, not easy but also not worth much. Take her if you want an A, not an education.
Don't know why she became a professor because she does not know how to teach at all, she just speaks in accounting jargon and expects you to understand. Tons of busy work but if you do everything you won't have to do super well on exams to pass the class
Horrendous "professor." This is pretty much a self-teach class. Her pre-recorded lectures are pretty useless for the most part. 70% of the grade is busy work and 2 class presentations so it's nearly impossible to get below a C if you do them. You won't walk out of this class as a tax expert since you have to teach yourself through McGraw Hill.
Some of you are going to have no choice and have to take her to fit your schedule. She is manageable but I would highly recommend using extensions like College tools for the reading assignments and chegg for the homework. This class has over 150 assignments total with 7-12 due on a given week. Class is easily passible as midterm and final total 30%
Had her for a winter class 503. Very lecture and work heavy, yes it was over the winter so I was expecting such. She always replied quickly and tied her real life experience into what we were doing which I really enjoyed. I would take her again.
I do not like MacKenzie's communication style. She would allow us to take the quizzes in class with an assigned group or at home alone. This caused me to stop attending class because I do not want to be forced to work with people who will ruin my grade. She also speaks very loudly and quickly, which is not ideal for a tax class. 5/10
The worst professor I've ever had in my four years of university. the class itself is not as hard if you read the book and do the homework. But she will not be of any use at any time. Her attitude is what is repulsed me and made me hate the class. She is so unpleasing to talk to. idk how she still has a job. I reported her to the university.
Her teaching method is not for the weak. She makes it really hard to understand anything as she moves from one topic to another. Her class is homework-heavy, where you must read two chapters and two weekly reading assignments. She states, "I am going to make you love Taxes at the end of the semester!" but man, it is making me hate tax.
I took the online fall class, however, she mandated 2 exams in person. Both being on a Saturday (beware when you sign up). Homework is really time consuming, but is worth racking up points with. Presentations are easy. She is strict with plaigarism (cite everything and put few words). Exams are extremely difficult, your cheat sheets might not help.
Honestly the class structure wasn't great but you can easily pass if you put in effort. There's a McGraw-Hill reading assignment and quiz due twice a week, midterm and final exam, daily group pop quiz, easy 5 minute group presentation. Homework and quizzes twice a week is tedious but if you do them all and get full credit you will pass easily.
Great class! It's split into managerial and tax accounting. There's a lot of coursework, but it helps since exams aren't weighted heavily. Tons of extra credit, definitely take advantage of it. Exams are tough, but the class is fair and well-organized. Would recommend! And take the online version if you can
took this online in the summer. she assigns so much homework, connect, excel, and lecture videos embedded with quizzes. Fortunately she opens the course early so you can get a head start. do the work, submit on time, and it will probably be an easy B/A. very vague and expects you to watch and read her videos word for word. would not take again
Not the best class and there's lots of busy work, but you can easily pass if you keep up with all the assignments. Theres multiple homework assignments due almost every day, which sucks. It is easy to get 100% on them though. Overall the class is easy if you keep up and put the time in. Shes not a super tough grader either. Def take online
This class is not hard to pass in the slightest. She is extremely knowledgeable and the GRADING SYSTEM IS SO NICE you can only ADD points and low scores don't affect your grade! I LOVED this teacher srsly take her don't listen to the bad reviews. Just don't have your phone out or something else pulled up on your laptop she will call you out.
Prof. MacKenzie is a great instructor and very approachable. Tax is difficult so you have to put in the time and study but she was honestly very fair with the difficulty of her quiz questions & she is very fair with the course structure and weighting. She gave great feedback on tax memo and presentations. Can't wait to take her for ACCTG 503 next
She was responsive, but her summer classes are too much work to the point where it was hard to understand the info. Multiple presentations recorded on Zoom where students grade you, and long SmartBook flashcards. She had spelling mistakes in almost every assignment as well, so it felt like she didn't put in energy that she expected students to do.
Literally one of the worst professors I've ever had. Her lectures are just her reading off the slides, they add no value, yet they're mandatory. She assigns so much damn homework it's literally impossible to keep up, even as a straight A student. So disappointing considering it is a upper division major requirement.
She is the worst teacher and most negative person in the entire world. Don't ever take a class from her unless you want to have a horrible life. She doesn't care about you and wants you to fail.
She is an angel. I was treated as a person and not just a number. Although I had to withdraw eventually due to a health concern, she truly cared and I felt as if she was there for me. You must attend lectures for participation points and lots of readings. It's not a class you can fall behind in but that's expected for ACCTG 332. Take her.
I don't know why she doesn't have better ratings. She is very direct with the resources she provides for students, and I can tell she genuinely wants every student to do well in class. Yes, the class is very material-heavy and it consumed most of my time.She's an easy grader. The class presentation with evaluators had me nervous.
This class seems hard at first, but once you understand the structure it gets much easier. Do the readings and Gleim quizzes easy points. Presentations are simple if you sign up early. Midterm and final are tough, but you can still get an A if you keep up.
Class Info
Online Classes
100%
Attendance Mandatory
43%
Textbook Required
29%
Grade Predictor
Your expected effort level
Predicted Grade
B+
Grade Distribution
Common Tags
Rating Trend
Declining
-1.10 avg changeRatings by Course
ACC432
5.0
(1)ACCT659
4.0
(1)BA100
3.6
(5)ACCTG321TAX
3.5
(2)ACCT503
3.4
(8)Difficulty by Course
ACC659
5.0
ACCT659
5.0
ACCTG332
4.4
ACCTG503
4.0
ACC325
3.9