2.1
Quality3.7
Difficulty22%
Would Retake83
Reviews22%
Would Retake
83
Reviews
Rating DistributionOfficial
5
5
4
7
3
14
2
32
1
25
What Students Say
“His class was super disorganized”
MATH1009 - 2.0 rating“Really nice guy, but super disorganized”
MATH1099 - 3.0 ratingClass Info
Online Classes
100%
Attendance Mandatory
5%
Textbook Required
31%
Grade Predictor
Your expected effort level
Predicted Grade
A-
Grade Distribution
Common Tags
Rating Trend
Improving
+0.32 avg changeRatings by Course
MATH131
4.0
(1)MATH20
3.0
(1)MATH1231
3.0
(10)MATH33
3.0
(1)MATH1099
3.0
(1)Difficulty by Course
MATHEMATICS31
5.0
MATH
5.0
CALC32
5.0
CALC3132
5.0
MATH32
4.8
Reviews (83)
he is an ok dude, a little confusing and a little disturbed, but overall a ok math teacher, use his office hours as you can because itll help sooo much in the end!!
expect to teach yourself from the book... going to class is sort of pointless, but you might as well do it just to get on his good side. He IS a little disturbed but he means well. Overall hes an ok person, but doesnt give enough examples in class (you'll see what i mean) good luck suckas!! :P
He's horrible, he's unclear and feels the need to write every single thing he says on the board. if you've taken calc before, you don't really need to come to class. he uses theorems and proofs that i've never seen before. just beware!
tests are all in theoretical form. gives us problem sets to turn in for homework but there appear different problems on the exams. can't expect what is going to be on the test even if we go to lectures. If you have not taken calc class before,STAY AWAY FROM HIM! he doesnt even review for tests!
He's just like my old hs science teacher that looked anorexic, was balding, jumped at anything, and smelled like cat food. U fall asleep in lectures and gives u really hard problems for graded homework. He writes really small on the board & when u ask him to write bigger, he tells u to sit up front.
Honest evaltuation- He is too intelligent for such a low level Calc class that he confuses everyone. He copies parts of the book word for word on the board in a small print, hard to read. Jumps from topic to topic. HW sets contain only the difficult non-typical problems. Could be worse!
He is the worst GW Math Professor of all time. Makes calculus seem harder than it is. Does not give you lots of partial credit. Writes in small print on blackboard. You have to expect totally different problems on the exams. Lectures are basically worthless...He tells you to study from the book
The only advice I can give is - COME TO OFFICE HOURS! The graded homework problems are SO incredibly hard that even recitation doesn't help. He doesn't give examples in class that we can apply to these problems either. However, if you come to office hours, he will do the problem for you.
He sucks. Hard Exams. No curve. We'll see what he does after the final. Class Average was a low 60 and there were majority in the 50's and 40's on the second test. FINAL is going to be a nightmare! uggggh! I hate schmitt!
URRRRRRGH! I want to drop the class now. My average is so low and the class average is like a 50. He gives the hardest HW problems & exams ever! He tends to memorize you while passing back your exams...it's so scary. Don't take him.
worst teacher ever! the man knows his stuff but when he tries to explain it he loses you after the first word.. his first test was ok but then he just turns MEAN ..if you like calc. u won't after this class...
We have to get him out of the GW math department NOW! worst teacher ever. Horrible HW problems. You can not miss a lecture or recitation. IF YOU DO, then you are screwed! Exams are extremely difficult! but quizzes are OK because the TAs grade it. DO NOT TAKE HIM if you are starting calc...
Do not take him. Exams are horrible. You do not know what to expect.........doesnt make sense in lectures..you cant learn anything out of his lecture...it is much better to study the material from the book..and must GOTO recitations
DANGER! This man is going to be hated by everyone! Run as far as you can!
He almost got me cheating today! whew.. The final was better than the other exams though. There were a couple multiple choices. Still, his final was irrelevant to his lectures..such a moron!
worst teacher ever don't take his class worst decision all semester
simply awful
Just don't take his class.
Want a decent grade? Take his class notes- but let me warn you- the class is boring as hell- bring something to do. And teach yourself - becuase he's not that great of a teacher.
HORRIBLE, HORRIBLE CLASSES!! take any professor other then schmitt, honestly it couldn't get much worse then him. a total ****bag who doesnt care about his students at all and is never flexible with anything. you will learn NOTHING and the tests are impossible!!! StAy AwAy!!!
i don't know..................
worst teacher ever. very unhelpful. test questions have no relevence to what we've learned. DO NOT TAKE HIS CLASS.
He's really not that bad. He's not the greatest teacher ever, and he's not very good at answering questions, but he's not as bad as everyone makes it seem.
Everyone makes this guy seem horrible. Truth be told, if you have taken calculus before, it's not that bad at all--pay attention in class and do the homework. Everyone who complains about him is lazy--it's their fault the class is hard. Quizzes are VERY fair, exams are fair as well. I thought it was a great class.
To the person who commented below this: yea, he might be a good professor if you've taken Calc before and already know it! But what about people who are trying to actually LEARN Calculus?! He is the worst teacher I have ever had. He mumbles and does not explain what he is doing or try to teach you anything.
He definitely doesnt explain anything very well and th class seems disorganized. Go to the recitations and do the homework.
Do not take this class. The tests are impossible and he doesn't really care if anyone knows what the hell is going on.
I took this class and got alot out of it. Most of those who complain are freshmen who did not attend regularly, didn't work problems outside of class and didn't come to office hours. I failed the 1st exam, but showed up, worked hard and got an A. Schmitt was very helpful, but he has no patience for lazy, spoiled students looking for an easy ride
I don't know about how helpful he was but he was most certainly clear in class. If you attend lectures and do the homework there is no way you will get below B in his course unless u r an idiot. Problems from the quizes and tests are sometimes the exact same examples he did in class or assigned as homework or worse case scenario incredibly similar
absolutely horrible. he only teaches in the way he understands the material, which is very conceptual and uses no examples. afraid of large crowds and unable to answer questions. seriously, avoid this class.
Impossibly hard tests that don't match the examples in the book (which are the same as in his notes). Makes simple concepts hard and skips mathematical steps that would clarify the concepts. You're better off taking Calc 32 over the summer at some community college than at GW.
Don't take him. The course is terrible. i have never worked harder for a class. I barely was passing at one point in the semester! his tests are ten times harder than his quizzes. very misleading.
The WORST prof I have ever had. we are only 1/2 through the semester and HE has skipped class five times!! He obviously doesnt care about his students. Incredibly hard tests-- and he assigned HW to be turned in the day before spring break where no one was there. DO NOT TAKE SCHMITT!!
Schmitt is by far the worst teacher I have ever had. The matieral was taught nearly entirely through proofs with almost no actual examples of what we would be doing. Was also frequently late and had no discernable intrest in teaching this class. Avoid if at all possible.
Awful. Doesn't use any examples and won't help at all. AVOID AT ALL COSTS!!!
I have taken precalculus and calculus in high school, so taking this sort of course was going to be a piece of cake for me. The only way I know what he's trying to explain in class is because of my high school teachers. I was unable to follow alot of the things he said in class, despite the fact that I understood the material. BAD at explaining.
If you take this class I sincerely hope you have kept your notes from high school precalculus. If I had not kept mine I wouldn't have passed this class because he doesn't explain anything he talks about, and doesn't answer questions clearly at all.
Professor Schmitt could not care LESS about his students. He is condescending and makes it clear that he thinks his students are stupid. I am a Math major and I have NEVER had such a horrible professor for any of my math classes. He is always late and constantly makes sarcastic comments in class and on homework. Don't expect any feedback.
He has no interest in teaching. His interactions with students outside of class are either aimed to make his students feel stupid or are otherwise compeletely inappropriate things for a professor to say to a class/student. No one wants to be in his class, not even him. Avoid him at all costs.
TERRIBLE.TERRIBLE DO NOT TAKE YOU WILL FAILLLLLLLLL
He's a nice guy but can't teach very well. He makes topics more complicated than they should be. But he will give a study guide before the test, which is the test he used previously. It's basically the same thing. It's really easy. Theres no pop quizzes in recitation. He's much easier compared to other 021 teachers. Take him
Unlike the below comments that despise him, I think he is a very nice guy, easy to get acquainted with, and most importantly, he is great at explaining concepts which are new to us. Take him, it's not that hard, but you should do the suggested problems he gives you and you should do great.
Always late to class and held the class late at the end. Has missed class. Frequenly changes/cancels office hours. Nice until your attention is lost and he snaps at you (understandable). Don't expect to be able to do work for anything else in class. He makes errors every once in a while in lecture, but worse, he isn't the easiest prof to follow.
He should be the man writing the book, not speaking to a class. He uses proofs to explain everything instead of just telling us how to do the problems. Doesn't use examples. Homework is impossible. Not the easy A i thought it would be after taking Calc in HS!! AVOID!
he is a nice man and can be funny at times but teaches straight out of the book, which isn't a problem until you have a test. His tests are really hard and have problems that aren't in the book. avoid unless you have had calc before and really know what you are doing
Syllabus given 3 weeks after class started. 2 impossible midterms (25% each). Gives very hard hw due the day of midterm. Changes office hours. Do not go to class. Get a tutor and be prepared to kill your GPA and future. Forget grad school, Schmitt will destroy your dreams. Oh and he's rude. He curves at the end of the semester (doesn't help).
2nd midterm avg was 40.. destroys GPA.. avoid math at GW.. we have the worst math department.. take it at GMU or over the summer at a community college.
The textbook was a better teacher and had a better personality.
He is very smart, I'll give him that, and that is all. His exams are all but impossible, 10 questions, that's all. He all but puts me to sleep every class. Hopefully my math32 professor revives my interest in calculus next semester. I would avoid him if you're taking a low level course with a lot of students in the class.
He is difficult but not impossible. If you study, do the practice problems, and take notes in class (especially the examples) you should be fine. Ask your TA questions!!! Schmitt is not very approachable/nice...
This man should not be teaching. Thank god I had taken calc before, otherwise I would have been hopelessly lost. For your own good, DO NOT TAKE HIM. I did not think anything was particularly difficult, he just insists on teaching only through theorems and roundabout definitions. I could have taught that class better.
Flip a coin. That's about the correct probability that he'll show up to class on any given day. I've never experienced such tardiness from an instructor in my entire life.
DONT TAKE SCHMITT. First of all this class is very difficult. Don't take unless you're a math major. If there's an alternative to this class, take the alternative.Schmitt is ALWAYS 15mins late & is an awful professor. The exam & final are both super hard & long.He doesnt care if the class does poorly. A good portion of my class did not pass as in F
This professor honestly doesn't care about students' academic futures. Try to reach him after class, and he will essentially brush you off. Ask him to sign you into a class, and he will give you a cop-out answer. He wants nothing to do with students. He should not be teaching.
I used to be like the rest of the reviewers on here. When I had him for calc 31, he was miserable. I seriously believe he hated the basic material he was teaching then, because in calc 33 he's great. He shows a lot more enthusiasm to keep us interested and actually teaches us. If you want to take a higher-level math course, Schmitt isn't half bad.
This professor is clearly an expert about what he is doing. I think people are easily frustrated with him because he doesn't hand out A's. I have learned more about math through him than any other math teacher. If you do the work he assigns, it is similar enough to the exams to where you shouldn't get lower than a B.
I can't believe the comments I see below. This class was perfect for people likemyself taking 17 credits and don't have time for busy work. Go to hisoffice hours, attend most lectures (I attended about 80% and got an A-) and DO THE PRACTICE EXAMS. Literally print out ten copies of the practice exam and keep doing it, that will be enough to get 80%.
This class is an easy A as long as you do the homework, go to discussion, and do the practice exams. I blew this class off all semester for other more engaging classes but still did the homework and practice tests and I got an A. He also curves so you as long as you say ahead of the curve you're fine. MAD BORING THOUGH.
He is very intelligent, and is more than willing to help outside of class. He will even accommodate you outside of office hours. He spends a lot of time making sure you understand the concept, as opposed to just doing problems from memory. I recommend to anyone who is interested in the topic. An A is well within reach if you work at it.
Horrible professor. He does not explain very well, however the one perk to taking his class is that he has a notoriously large curve. Otherwise do not take the class, you will be better off trying to learn Calculus on your own.
His class was super disorganized. I can't be too critical, as he mentioned he was having some family issues involving illness that were out of his control. Overall, he was an easy grader: gave us a decent amount of prep work for quizzes and tests. His lectures were hard to follow but you can learn fairly easily from review problems.
The worst professor ever. He even didn't come to class without informing the students. No syllabus two months after classes begin.
He sometimes doesn't show up on time, but if you've taken calc before and you just need the credit it's an easy A. Just don't take this class if you haven't done calc before.
probably better for lower level courses. he's a bit disorganized since he's old but otherwise a clear lecturer if you listen. like i said, he's old so his writing could be a bit unclear etc. but he curves heavily.
Class is an easy A if you just take the tests and come to class. You can also self-study but ultimately he grades pretty fairly. It's a straight-forward class.
Disorganized class, no syllabus, doesn't hold office hours or reply to emails. TA fulfills these functions though. Lectures are actually pretty good. Homework is rare- most practice problems are ungraded so hard to find motivation to do them, but good if you don't like tedious graded assignments or are familiar with material. Large curve-73 is a B.
As a non-math major, this class was good: the content was simple & straightforward. Admittedly, Prof Schmitt is disorganized -- we never got a syllabus and weren't given a lot of heads up about exam dates. However, there's only a few homework assignments and 3 tests. TA & Schmitt are both super nice and helpful, if you show up and study it's fine.
Class is only mandatory because his lectures are all over the place, and probably the most confusing class to exist. Honestly, I'm not sure how he still has a job here. Rambles on, takes forever to return grades, and misses class often (to be fair he credited family issues). However he is caring and just wants his students to pass, curves heavily
Bad news: Never got a syllabus. You have no clue what's going on. Schmitt is often (always?) late to class. The lectures are extremely unclear. You'll need to do a LOT of Khan academy. Good news: Schmitt is smart and very nice. He's willing to help if you ask him. Curve is HUGE. Work extra hard: you'll get an A Work normal: good luck...
Really nice guy, but super disorganized. Never got a syllabus. Material in the lectures is basically the exact same as the exam, so take good notes. We had some hw that counted for a grade. He writes everything on whiteboards in really tiny font and talks low, so sit in the front. If you can deal with dysfuntion for an A, take him.
Look, if you're here you have to take Calc 2. It's not fun no matter what, but Schmitt is probably one of your better bets. He's very disorganized and never gave us a syllabus, but if you sit near the front to hear him and come to class, his tests are straightforward and fair. He's not great, but he's fair and you should be able to pass.
Granted the virus made things difficult, but Schmidt transitioned to online teaching AWFULLY. Didn't provide any online teaching. He would give a couple pages of messy notes for each section and that's it. Even in person, it was all lectures. Recitation was a joke and no one showed up. Nvr got a syllabus. Vry smart man but a terrible teacher.
Look, don't take him. Extremely disorganized, never got a syllabus the whole semester, and not really a good teacher. The lectures aren't gonna do you a lot of good, his writing is really bad, and he really isn't available outside of class. You'd be better off choosing any other professor.
Easy to pass but have to put in some effort. His lectures were well put together and he tries to clarify.
This class should be easy, but it isn't. The Professor is very disorganized and he isn't good at explaining concepts to students. He isn't good with technology so be prepared for hiccups in that regard. This class is all in all way to big of a headache to warrant taking. You will only do well if you are willing to 100% teach yourself.
While Schmitt is not the best Professor, he gives a very nice curve at the end of the class. I don't think I would take again, but it wasn't the worst experience I have had at GW.
Im going to be real, Covid really didnt make this class an easy online transition. Prof Schmitt isnt the most organized prof on the planet, but the course material isnt hard at all. Theres very little actual math required- its basically just application. Its an easy A but if you want an engaged professor, this class isnt it.
Compared to my other classes, I can't believe he gets paid and teaches at the same school. No schedule, mind-numbing lectures with no visuals, and he complains about his sad life. I taught myself everything on youtube. One day he didn't even show up. Only seven kids showed up by the end of the semester. Take for an easy, boring A.
If you're looking for an organized professor, Schmitt is not the one. He has missed one class w/o explanation, and takes a while on grading. That being said, the content is straightforward, he is caring (always checking in on our well-being), and is sensitive to the pandemic stresses. It depends what you value in a professor, but I like him.
Teaching during covid was definitely not the best situation for Dr Schmitt, he canceled a lot of classes, and overall not very engaging lectures. That being, he is super lenient with quiz and exam submissions (we had 24 hours to complete a pdf of questions), and he was really kind with grading. He gets the pandemic stress, but class is self-taught.
Professor is quite unorganized but all assignments (including exams) were take-home. The material is easy to understand but he explains it poorly. Just be willing to teach yourself the material and you'll be okay.
Professor Schmitt literally never answers emails and is never clear about when exams are. our midterm was pushed back for three weeks for no reason and no one knew when the final was until the day of, it was then posted late. avoid at all costs.
Avoid this class at all costs. Never answers emails, lectures are incredibly confusing, and he is overall a horrible professor. Super unclear about assignments and wouldn't give out practice problems even when asked. Didn't let us know when the final would be posted until day of and even then it was posted late, adding extra stress to finals.
Class Info
Online Classes
100%
Attendance Mandatory
5%
Textbook Required
31%
Grade Predictor
Your expected effort level
Predicted Grade
A-
Grade Distribution
Common Tags
Rating Trend
Improving
+0.32 avg changeRatings by Course
MATH131
4.0
(1)MATH20
3.0
(1)MATH1231
3.0
(10)MATH33
3.0
(1)MATH1099
3.0
(1)Difficulty by Course
MATHEMATICS31
5.0
MATH
5.0
CALC32
5.0
CALC3132
5.0
MATH32
4.8