Jonathan Otto at University of British Columbia | Rate My Professors (2024)

Advertisem*nt

Jonathan Otto

Compare

CaringTough graderRespectedGives good feedbackParticipation matters

Check out Similar Professors in the Art Department

• 5.00Carolyn Stockbridge
• 4.90Krista Sigurdson
• 4.60Saygin Salgirli

Advertisem*nt

• WRDS150

  May 1st, 2024

  Quality

  4.0

  Difficulty

  4.0

  WRDS150

  May 1st, 2024

  For Credit

  : Yes

  Attendance

  : Mandatory

  Would Take Again

  : Yes

  Grade

  : A-

  Textbook

  : N/A

  Dr. Otto's expectations were high, and it was difficult to get high marks on assignments. He was very kind and tried to make the best of the course content, but I found the class itself very dry and uninteresting.

  Tough graderGroup projectsCaring

  Helpful

  

  

• Advertisem*nt

• WORDS150

  Jan 5th, 2024

  Quality

  5.0

  Difficulty

  4.0

  WORDS150

  Jan 5th, 2024

  For Credit

  : Yes

  Would Take Again

  : Yes

  Grade

  : B

  Textbook

  : N/A

  Such a kind and understanding professor. Definitely had high expectations for grading, but he provided lots of help and resources.

  Helpful

  

  

• WORDS150

  Jan 2nd, 2024

  Quality

  4.0

  Difficulty

  4.0

  WORDS150

  Jan 2nd, 2024

  For Credit

  : Yes

  Attendance

  : Mandatory

  Would Take Again

  : Yes

  Grade

  : B+

  Textbook

  : N/A

  Great dude, a ton of research and writing, with tough marking expectations. Great teacher, not the best subject.

  Tough graderGroup projectsSo many papers

  Helpful

  

  

• WRDS105B

  Dec 14th, 2023

  Quality

  5.0

  Difficulty

  3.0

  WRDS105B

  Dec 14th, 2023

  For Credit

  : Yes

  Attendance

  : Not Mandatory

  Would Take Again

  : Yes

  Grade

  : A

  Textbook

  : N/A

  I'm not a big fan of writing, but I genuinely enjoyed this course and learned a lot about how to write academically. Dr Otto is incredibly kind and caring towards his students. He's always willing to provide help outside of classroom, for example through email and one-to-one appointments outside of office hours.

  Tough graderCaringAccessible outside class

  Helpful

  

  

• Advertisem*nt

• WRDS150A

  Dec 14th, 2023

  Quality

  5.0

  See Also

  University of British Columbia - Okanagan | Rate My ProfessorsLynn Norman at University of British Columbia | Rate My ProfessorsJuliet O'Brien at University of British Columbia | Rate My ProfessorsTara Lee at University of British Columbia | Rate My Professors

  Difficulty

  2.0

  WRDS150A

  Dec 14th, 2023

  For Credit

  : Yes

  Attendance

  : Mandatory

  Would Take Again

  : Yes

  Grade

  : A-

  Textbook

  : N/A

  I honestly really enjoyed this class, even though WRDS isn't inherently interesting. Dr. Otto was very clear about course expectations and marked very fair. There were lots of assignments so your grade was very representative of effort and they were very straightforward, office hours were helpful. Also, he marks ridiculously fast (within a week).

  Participation mattersCaringAccessible outside class

  Helpful

  

  

• WRDS150

  Dec 12th, 2023

  Quality

  5.0

  Difficulty

  2.0

  WRDS150

  Dec 12th, 2023

  For Credit

  : Yes

  Attendance

  : Mandatory

  Would Take Again

  : Yes

  Grade

  : Not sure yet

  Textbook

  : N/A

  Awesome professor, very caring and respectful to students, at the beginning of every class he chats about some relaxing topics such as his daily life and his daughter, and he cares about his students' well-being. Group work every week, easy to do. Not much course content, although grading is tough, hard to get A or A+, but easy to learn!

  Group projectsCaringRespected

  Helpful

  

  

• Advertisem*nt

• WORDS150

  Dec 6th, 2023

  Quality

  5.0

  Difficulty

  3.0

  WORDS150

  Dec 6th, 2023

  For Credit

  : Yes

  Attendance

  : Not Mandatory

  Would Take Again

  : Yes

  Grade

  : Not sure yet

  Textbook

  : N/A

  Dr. Otto is very kind and caring towards his students and does his best to support them in any way he can!

  Clear grading criteriaGives good feedbackCaring

  Helpful

  

  

• WRDS150A

  Dec 6th, 2023

  Quality

  5.0

  Difficulty

  2.0

  WRDS150A

  Dec 6th, 2023

  For Credit

  : Yes

  Would Take Again

  : Yes

  Mr. Otto is a great person who cares about his students, he is a bit of a tough marker but overall gives good feedback. Some of his instructions are unclear and took a good amount of questions to understand though.

  Group projectsSo many papersCaring

  Helpful

  

  

• WORDS150

  Jan 10th, 2023

  Quality

  5.0

  Difficulty

  4.0

  WORDS150

  Jan 10th, 2023

  For Credit

  : Yes

  Attendance

  : Mandatory

  Would Take Again

  : Yes

  Grade

  : A-

  Textbook

  : N/A

  Down to earth and caring professor. He explains content well. WRDS 150 can only be so interesting, but he makes it tolerable. It is a lot of group work and he marks thoroughly, but keep up with he work and you will do fine.

  Tough graderParticipation mattersCaring

  Helpful

  

  

• Advertisem*nt

• WORDS150

  Jul 6th, 2022

  Quality

  4.0

  Difficulty

  4.0

  WORDS150

  Jul 6th, 2022

  For Credit

  : Yes

  Attendance

  : Mandatory

  Would Take Again

  : Yes

  Grade

  : A-

  Textbook

  : N/A

  I have never met such a genuinely caring, warmhearted teacher with such a pure and calm nature. Otto was definitely a tough marker, however, and I felt like I wasn't always getting the clearest feedback for assignments. Participation is also super important in his class so make sure you are not only talking but contributing useful commentary!

  Tough graderParticipation mattersCaring

  Helpful

  

  

  See Also

  Susan J. Blake at University of British Columbia | Rate My Professors

• WRDS150A

  Jun 13th, 2022

  Quality

  2.0

  Difficulty

  5.0

  WRDS150A

  Jun 13th, 2022

  For Credit

  : Yes

  Attendance

  : Mandatory

  Grade

  : A-

  Textbook

  : N/A

  He's a gem of a human being, but it was extremely difficult to do well in this class. Several times people with drastically different work quality would receive the same grade, and feedback was never really constructive or clear. It was a challenge to get anything above a 75.

  Tough graderCaringAccessible outside class

  Helpful

  

  

• WRDS150B

  May 19th, 2022

  Quality

  4.0

  Difficulty

  4.0

  WRDS150B

  May 19th, 2022

  For Credit

  : Yes

  Attendance

  : Mandatory

  Would Take Again

  : Yes

  Grade

  : B+

  Textbook

  : N/A

  Lectures were great and he was a very caring and personable professor. Criteria and structure of the course was very clear. Maybe as expected from a course with writing to be assessed, marking could be very subjective and quite harsh with high expectations.

  Tough graderCaringRespected

  Helpful

  

  

• Advertisem*nt

• WRDS150

  Apr 16th, 2022

  Quality

  5.0

  Difficulty

  4.0

  WRDS150

  Apr 16th, 2022

  For Credit

  : Yes

  Attendance

  : Mandatory

  Would Take Again

  : Yes

  Grade

  : A

  Textbook

  : Yes

  Jonathan is excellent. Made me appreciate research and what goes on in the scholarly community. I considered graduate school because of him.

  Helpful

  

  

• 

  WRDS150B

  Jan 6th, 2022

  Quality

  4.0

  Difficulty

  3.0

  

  WRDS150B

  Jan 6th, 2022

  For Credit

  : Yes

  Attendance

  : Mandatory

  Would Take Again

  : Yes

  Grade

  : B

  Textbook

  : No

  Online Class

  : Yes

  Very supportive and kind to students. His expectations for the course are very clear and provides good feedback. He is not an easy grader at all. His expectations are a little high so get ready to work pretty hard as you progress into the term. With decent amount of hard work, you can try for a A in his course. I suggest to work ahead of time.

  Gives good feedbackParticipation mattersClear grading criteria

  Helpful

  

  1

  

• 

  WRDS150

  Dec 23rd, 2021

  Quality

  5.0

  Difficulty

  4.0

  

  WRDS150

  Dec 23rd, 2021

  For Credit

  : Yes

  Would Take Again

  : Yes

  Grade

  : A

  Textbook

  : No

  Online Class

  : Yes

  I took WRDS 150 online and really enjoyed the class. Prof Otto is a great teacher and I learned a lot. He is a tough grader but gives clear instructions and is always available to help outside of class. Plus, with the two big papers in this class you can pick a topic that interests you.

  Accessible outside classTough grader

  Helpful

  

  

• Advertisem*nt

• 

  WRDS150B

  Jul 12th, 2021

  Quality

  5.0

  Difficulty

  3.0

  

  WRDS150B

  Jul 12th, 2021

  For Credit

  : Yes

  Attendance

  : Mandatory

  Would Take Again

  : Yes

  Grade

  : A-

  Textbook

  : No

  Online Class

  : Yes

  Otto is a good professor that is caring about students' online learning. He adapts his class well to the online environment instead of just recording lectures. The concepts are clear and assignment expectations are detailed. He gives good feedback on students' work, though he is a tough grader. Overall, the class was enjoyable.

  Participation mattersGives good feedbackTough grader

  Helpful

  

  

• WRDS150B

  Jun 26th, 2021

  Quality

  5.0

  Difficulty

  4.0

  WRDS150B

  Jun 26th, 2021

  For Credit

  : Yes

  Attendance

  : Mandatory

  Would Take Again

  : Yes

  Grade

  : A-

  Textbook

  : No

  Extremely compassionate, understanding of students, and makes sure that students understand his expectations. He is a tough grader but you can get an A if you follow the examples he gives in class and ask him for feedback. He took participation marks but his lectures are worth it. I'd take it again for the safe space he made in (virtual) class.

  RespectedParticipation mattersTough grader

  Helpful

  

  

• WORDS150

  Jun 25th, 2021

  Quality

  3.0

  Difficulty

  5.0

  WORDS150

  Jun 25th, 2021

  For Credit

  : Yes

  Attendance

  : Mandatory

  Would Take Again

  : Yes

  Textbook

  : No

  Professor Otto is caring and will make you very interested in scholarly writing. While he is compassionate and a great person (the course was extremely well structured), it is almost impossible to achieve a 90% or higher in his class. No matter how outstanding your writing is, he does not give out A+ marks ever. The average for assignments are 75%

  RespectedTough grader

  Helpful

  

  

• Advertisem*nt

• 

  WRDS105B

  Jun 20th, 2021

  Quality

  2.0

  Difficulty

  5.0

  

  WRDS105B

  Jun 20th, 2021

  For Credit

  : Yes

  Attendance

  : Mandatory

  Would Take Again

  : No

  Grade

  : B+

  Textbook

  : No

  Online Class

  : Yes

  Dr. Otto is incredibly genuine and cares, but I am a 90% average, science student who got 90 in ENG 110 and this class has been an insane regret. There are 2 thing that impacts your grade and there is never a section of the rubric that defines how to get above 75 %. Note that he qualifies 75% as "exceeds expectations". No clue how he has 5/5!

  RespectedGraded by few thingsTough grader

  Helpful

  

  

• 

  WRDS150A

  May 28th, 2021

  Quality

  5.0

  Difficulty

  2.0

  

  WRDS150A

  May 28th, 2021

  For Credit

  : Yes

  Attendance

  : Mandatory

  Would Take Again

  : Yes

  Grade

  : A-

  Textbook

  : Yes

  Online Class

  : Yes

  You will always know what you need to do to get a high grade in this class. prof Otto have a very clear criteria so student can follow that easily. Nice professor well done!

  Gives good feedbackRespected

  Helpful