RamRatings: Mackay, Bruce

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Mackay, Bruce

Cumulative GPA: 2.92/4.00 with 13 evaluations
Presents Material Clearly: 2.69
Recognizes Student Difficulties: 2.85

Finance and Real Estate Department, Colorado State University
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FIN 305 Junior Grade Earned: C Required (Major) 11:33 am, Apr 11, 2008		1 of 1 people found the following evaluation helpful: He is a good teacher. He does go through things quickly sometimes so its hard to catch up if you get behind. He also goes off on some random topics that have nothing to do with finance at all. Dont get behind, buy the calc, and you'll do fine. Was this rating helpful to you?

FIN 305 Junior Grade Earned: A Required (Support) 5:21 pm, Jun 10, 2010		Great professor. If you attend class regularly and buy the calculator you will succeed. He teaches finance based on his experience working in the field which is a nice relief as he knows what he is talking about. He expects you to put forth effort (it is a 300 level course) but if you take your studies seriously there is no reason you should end up with anything less than an A. Was this rating helpful to you?

FIN 305 Junior Grade Earned: B Required (Support) 1:54 pm, Apr 17, 2010		First things first, Bruce was tough getting use to. While he is a bitter at times, you need to look through it all and see that he is just being sarcastic. Second, BUY THE CALCULATOR he recommends. It's less than $30 and will save you numerous headaches during the semester. Go to class everyday and pay attention. With the calculator and knowledge gained in the lectures you should have no problem passing the class with a good grade. Bruce also has no problem meeting with students after class. And his stories? Let's face it, the class is all about finance, we need something other than that to keep us entertained. I feel that the negative reviews below are from students that never went to class and were bummed that they received poor grades in the end. Was this rating helpful to you?

FIN 305 Senior Grade Earned: N/A Required (Major) 5:56 pm, Mar 12, 2010		He's a great teacher! He is hilarious and if you attend class and listen, the material is very straight forward. He made a very dry subject easier to learn and fun to be in class! Was this rating helpful to you?

FIN 305 Junior Grade Earned: C Required (Major) 11:57 pm, Dec 10, 2009		1 of 2 people found the following evaluation helpful: Nice professor! Was this rating helpful to you?

FIN 305 Senior Grade Earned: C Required (Support) 4:13 pm, Oct 16, 2009		1 of 2 people found the following evaluation helpful: Bruce Mackay is perhaps one of the rudest professors at CSU. I felt he was unattentive to my needs, and unwilling to help me outside of class. Even after taking the class there are other students that agree that he is their worst professor EVER! He spends the majority of class expressing personal opinions and talking about his wife (making fun of her most of the time)rather than actually teaching the subject matter. There were only a few days when I was in the class and felt i actually learned something. However, 90% of the time i left feeling completely lost and wondering why I was paying money to listen to this guys personal and political opinions. Was this rating helpful to you?

FIN 305 Senior Grade Earned: A Elective 9:34 am, May 15, 2009		I have to disagree with the last evaluation. Mr. MacKay knows the subject matter inside and out. He expects that students attend class regularly and that students be responsible for their own actions. He was always at his designated office hours, and if he had to miss, would inform us ahead of time and provide an alternate time for office hours. Buy the calculator, it's an absolute must! Do the work, attend class, and the exams will be easy. If you can't get an "A", it's not because of the instructor. Was this rating helpful to you?

FIN 305 Senior Grade Earned: B Required (Major) 8:35 pm, May 8, 2008		LOVED this guy. Buy the calculator - it really helps. He is kinda crazy and a bitter old man, but for the most part he is my favorite professor/class in my college career. Was this rating helpful to you?

BF 305 Junior Grade Earned: B Required (Support) 6:53 pm, May 5, 2005		He is a great teacher and the class is easy if you go. Make sure you go to all the classes its hard to catch up if you miss some. You do most of the homework in class so it makes it easy, and buy the required calculator it is well worth your time. Was this rating helpful to you?

BF 305 Junior Grade Earned: A Required (Major) 6:57 pm, Dec 6, 2004		This was a good class, with good examples and teaching. Was this rating helpful to you?

BF 305 Senior Grade Earned: B Required (Support) 12:04 pm, Sep 1, 2004		McCay is an awesome professor and knows the material very well. Even though this course is geared toward non-majors, McCay still treats everyone with respect and teaches with a great sense of humor. He gives a variety of real-world examples and applications for all the concepts and answers questions patiently and effectively. I wouldn't classify his tests as easy, but if you go to lecture and at least skim the text you'll do well. My best advice would be to go to class and do well on the problem sets that he gives throughout the semester. This was definitely one of the most useful courses I've taken at CSU so far. Was this rating helpful to you?

FIN 305 Senior Grade Earned: B Required (Support) 2:43 pm, May 11, 2010		0 of 1 people found the following evaluation helpful: I would avoid this professor at all costs! Bruce was by far the worst teacher that I have had at CSU during my entire tenure. His lectures were very dry and boring, and all he did was read the slides verbatim. His tests did not cover ANY of the material that we were supposed to study. Instead, he pulled random questions, completely irrelevent to the course and finance to use for his tests. I am normally not a hard person to impress. However, this is one professor that I would certainly not recommend. Avoid him at all costs! Was this rating helpful to you?

FIN 305 Junior Grade Earned: C Required (Support) 3:27 pm, May 13, 2008		0 of 2 people found the following evaluation helpful: MacKay is an awful professor with little knowledge of the subject or with the passion to help students outside of class. He oftne goes off on subjects that are not important to the class and mumbles which makes it very diffcult to follow! He is grumpy and never made me want to attend the class or learn the importance of finance. He also has a diffcult time relating the subjects learned in class to real life. Overall, I would say this teacher is horrible and dont take this course if you dont need to! Was this rating helpful to you?

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