Carl Olson - Allegheny College

Professor: Carl Olson
Department: Religious Studies
College: Allegheny College
Rating # 1
Overview:
  • Course: REL580
  • Grade Received: A+
  • Overall Rating: 5.0
  • Course Difficulty: 4.0
  • For Credit: Yes
  • Textbook Used: Yes
  • Would Take Again: Yes
  • Attendance: Mandatory
Comment:
Top-notch scholar! Ive taken most of the classes he teaches + independent seminars. Classes are lecture heavy & summarize assigned readings. Its important to cite text, consult lecture notes & formulate cogent arguments in papers. He has a great sense of humor & nicely melds personal experience into lectures. Read the texts & pay attention!
Rating # 2
Overview:
  • Course: RELST190
  • Grade Received: N/A
  • Overall Rating: 4.0
  • Course Difficulty: 3.0
  • For Credit: Yes
  • Textbook Used: Yes
  • Would Take Again: Yes
  • Attendance: Mandatory
Comment:
Reading is from textbooks he has written. Two papers throughout the semester with mandatory leading of two classroom discussions based on the readings. Participation is key.
Rating # 3
Overview:
  • Course: FS101
  • Grade Received: N/A
  • Overall Rating: 1.5
  • Course Difficulty: 1.0
  • For Credit: N/A
  • Textbook Used: No
  • Would Take Again: N/A
  • Attendance: N/A
Comment:
An extremely easy professor but doesn't care about your grades. I worked my butt off and a friend of mine who didn't show up and never opened the textbook got the same grade as me. He is definitely a little old, but non-professor-wise he's a good guy. Not sure I'd take a class of his again though.
Rating # 4
Overview:
  • Course: RELST160
  • Grade Received: N/A
  • Overall Rating: 2.5
  • Course Difficulty: 3.0
  • For Credit: N/A
  • Textbook Used: Yes
  • Would Take Again: N/A
  • Attendance: N/A
Comment:
Good professor. Makes everything understandable. Not always helpful outside class, but overall a good professor.
Rating # 5
Overview:
  • Course: REL160
  • Grade Received: N/A
  • Overall Rating: 4.0
  • Course Difficulty: 2.0
  • For Credit: N/A
  • Textbook Used: Yes
  • Would Take Again: N/A
  • Attendance: N/A
Comment:
Lecture style classes, attendance wasn't mandatory. I enjoyed his Buddhism class... pretty easy, 2 papers, got an easy B+. Worth taking!
Rating # 6
Overview:
  • Course: REL170
  • Grade Received: N/A
  • Overall Rating: 1.0
  • Course Difficulty: 4.0
  • For Credit: N/A
  • Textbook Used: Yes
  • Would Take Again: N/A
  • Attendance: N/A
Comment:
I don't understand how anyone can like this guy. I didn't learn a thing, the class hurt my GPA, and two of my friends who worked their asses off ended up with different grades. There's no telling what grade you'll get in this class. Anyways, this guy's heyday is long gone, it's time for him to retire. I didn't learn anything, waste of time & money
Rating # 7
Overview:
  • Course: RELST210
  • Grade Received: N/A
  • Overall Rating: 4.0
  • Course Difficulty: 3.0
  • For Credit: N/A
  • Textbook Used: Yes
  • Would Take Again: N/A
  • Attendance: N/A
Comment:
Goes really fast in lectures, it's hard to keep up with him note-wise. Aside from that, it's a pretty straightforward class. A word of advice: keep up with the readings; you'll regret it if you don't.
Rating # 8
Overview:
  • Course: RELST210
  • Grade Received: N/A
  • Overall Rating: 3.0
  • Course Difficulty: 2.0
  • For Credit: N/A
  • Textbook Used: No
  • Would Take Again: N/A
  • Attendance: N/A
Comment:
He is absolutely hilarious. His comments about the course material will make you laugh for hours! There are only 2 papers in the class and they are your only grade. He tells ALOT of stories about his life and he'll tell the same ones over and over, its pretty funny. I'd recommend him if only for how much fun his class was, and he lets out early
Rating # 9
Overview:
  • Course: RELST165
  • Grade Received: N/A
  • Overall Rating: 4.5
  • Course Difficulty: 3.0
  • For Credit: N/A
  • Textbook Used: No
  • Would Take Again: N/A
  • Attendance: N/A
Comment:
Good class. Only 2 papers, which will be your only two grades.
Rating # 10
Overview:
  • Course: ZENBUDDHISM
  • Grade Received: N/A
  • Overall Rating: 1.0
  • Course Difficulty: 5.0
  • For Credit: N/A
  • Textbook Used: N/A
  • Would Take Again: N/A
  • Attendance: N/A
Comment:
He is very biased towards guys...gave all the girls "c's" on the final exam. He is very boring, my friend and i countlessly fell asleep in his class. We had to draw in our books to stay awake. My advice, avoid him. And you'll have to buy like 7 books, and only use 1. It's a waste of time.
Rating # 11
Overview:
  • Course: 165
  • Grade Received: N/A
  • Overall Rating: 3.5
  • Course Difficulty: 2.0
  • For Credit: N/A
  • Textbook Used: N/A
  • Would Take Again: N/A
  • Attendance: N/A
Comment:
Very good class. He made it fun at times, and seems to be very knowledgable. Theres only two tests , they are both take home essays. There are usually between 4-6 pages each. If you go to class, and pay attention they should be very easy.
Rating # 12
Overview:
  • Course: REL580
  • Grade Received: N/A
  • Overall Rating: 2.5
  • Course Difficulty: 2.0
  • For Credit: N/A
  • Textbook Used: N/A
  • Would Take Again: N/A
  • Attendance: N/A
Comment:
There were times where I felt like I understood the material better than he did, which was scary. Didn't seem very enthusiastic about the material (usually got out early, etc). Lots of unrelated tangents in discussion. Despite all this, still very personable & easy to get along with.
Rating # 13
Overview:
  • Course: RS170
  • Grade Received: N/A
  • Overall Rating: 3.5
  • Course Difficulty: 4.0
  • For Credit: N/A
  • Textbook Used: N/A
  • Would Take Again: N/A
  • Attendance: N/A
Comment:
Dr. Olsen is a fantastic teacher. He is engaging and even has a great sense of humor - but he's rather arrogant. I was afraid to ask him questions because he seemed to like to make fools out of people who did. Also, leave the politics out of the lectures, PLEASE. Otherwise, his class was a wonderful experience.
Rating # 14
Overview:
  • Course: BUDDHISM
  • Grade Received: N/A
  • Overall Rating: 5.0
  • Course Difficulty: 1.0
  • For Credit: N/A
  • Textbook Used: N/A
  • Would Take Again: N/A
  • Attendance: N/A
Comment:
Professor Olson is the bomb diggity. I've had the honor and pleasure of taking several of his classes, and he is one heck of an intelligent, funny, upstanding guy. Words simply cannot describe what I learned and experienced having him as a professor. He is my hero. If you do one thing at Allegheny, take one of his classes in Eastern religion (Buddhism, Hinduism, Religions of China, etc.) He will knock your socks off.
Rating # 15
Overview:
  • Course: RELST580
  • Grade Received: N/A
  • Overall Rating: 3.5
  • Course Difficulty: 2.0
  • For Credit: N/A
  • Textbook Used: N/A
  • Would Take Again: N/A
  • Attendance: N/A
Comment:
He's a funny guy, his interests are more eastern religion and he'll tell you that, but you have to break thru the crust and he'll open up some
Rating # 16
Overview:
  • Course: FSREL201
  • Grade Received: N/A
  • Overall Rating: 1.0
  • Course Difficulty: 4.0
  • For Credit: N/A
  • Textbook Used: N/A
  • Would Take Again: N/A
  • Attendance: N/A
Comment:
Absolutely horrible professor. This guy has absolutely no clue how to teach. He even gave us the wrong book to read. He talks all the time about his own life. He also grades things crazily. One time, he'll grade you one way, and another time, another way. No way to predict it. Stay away!!!
Rating # 17
Overview:
  • Course: HINDUISM
  • Grade Received: N/A
  • Overall Rating: 4.5
  • Course Difficulty: 4.0
  • For Credit: N/A
  • Textbook Used: N/A
  • Would Take Again: N/A
  • Attendance: N/A
Comment:
Absolutely Wonderful! Yes, you must love a good lecture, and his grading is difficult. But this class is well worth the time and energy. I have found a love in religious studies because of this man. He is funny, and engaging. Take every possible class with him!
Rating # 18
Overview:
  • Course: FSREL
  • Grade Received: N/A
  • Overall Rating: 1.0
  • Course Difficulty: 3.0
  • For Credit: N/A
  • Textbook Used: N/A
  • Would Take Again: N/A
  • Attendance: N/A
Comment:
This gut does not know how to teach. His assignments are absolutely ridiculous and he has the notion that we can read over 100 pages for 1 class. He is the reason I don't want to major in Religious Studies any more. Do not take him if you can avoid it!
Rating # 19
Overview:
  • Course: RELST165
  • Grade Received: N/A
  • Overall Rating: 1.0
  • Course Difficulty: 5.0
  • For Credit: N/A
  • Textbook Used: N/A
  • Would Take Again: N/A
  • Attendance: N/A
Comment:
Both incredibly dull and thoroughly unclear. Attempting to actually learn in this class is frusterating. His only two assessments (counting for your entire grade) had unclear criteria and were unfairly graded. KILLED my GPA when I worked my butt off.
Rating # 20
Overview:
  • Course: FRSEM
  • Grade Received: N/A
  • Overall Rating: 2.5
  • Course Difficulty: 1.0
  • For Credit: N/A
  • Textbook Used: N/A
  • Would Take Again: N/A
  • Attendance: N/A
Comment:
We had NO class discussion because he would ask a question, someone would answer, and then he'd move on to the next point. Also, I had a sneaky suspicion that he never read our papers- he just gave us arbitrary grades.
Add Your Review Below:
Search Professors:
Welcome:

Before signing up for classes every students should gather as much information as possible to make a decision on which professors as well as which courses to take. This website will help you make this decision easier.

Here, the students can rate, research and cross-reference the overall performances of the professors to select the best ones, and always be informed and up-to-date with what’s important.

Join the fun! Visit all pages and get all the information you need to choose the best class and best professor that you’ll enjoy listening to and learning from.

Our Friendly Sponsor:
Schools:
Our Friendly Sponsor:


Celebrity Net Worth Visa Bulletin