| Information | Review |
|---|---|
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Michael Abrams
ARCH200 Expecting a B+ Anonymous 12/06/2023 |
This class is a lot of work and a lot of money - don't buy everything off the materials list until he actually says you are going to NEED to use it. Though it wouldn't hurt to get most of the basic stuff eventally because you end up using half of it again in 300. Very knowledgable professor who knows what he's doing, and is VERY good at communicating what he's looking for - a little overly critical of students work sometimes though (if you just take it as suggestions it's really not so bad). Personally I enjoyed him as a professor even with all his criticalness - never felt like I didn't know what I was suppose to be doing. |
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Michael Abrams
ARCH200 Expecting an A Anonymous 10/20/2022 |
I think Professor Abrams does genuinely care about his students and gives great feedback either by asking or during critique. He's also pretty nice and is fun to listen to at times. His lectures are simple and easy to follow along and though it was annoying to have to get the textbook he wrote (theres a free pdf online), it was pretty useful especially the tables telling you which lineweights to use per drawing type. I find myself using it time to time in other arch classes. Missing class is definitely a no no because it really sets you back. In terms of purely lectures and personality, great. But what sets this class back in rating is HOW UNORGANIZED IT IS!!! The pacing of the class is horrendous because its so slow in the beginning and so much time is spent on one of the projects so then theres no time left for the others and everything becomes rushed in the end. I really liked that he wrote out assignment briefs to let you know what is expected in each assignment, but there would be errors in it. Like telling you the wrong dimensions needed or what to scale to which just makes it more work for you to ask the TA and what they want. The communication between TA and the prof is absolutely zero (most arch classes anyways), so its all different and up to each individual TA on what they want the projects should have which sometimes went against what the prof wanted. And just a heads up, there's a TON of drawing to do. Drawing exercises, drawing warmups, drawing homework, drawing projects, drawing drawing drawing. Overall I think the information being taught and Professor Abrams has lovely intentions, but the details of the class needs to be smoothened out because the class was hectic week after week. Goodluck!!!! |
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Michael Abrams
ARCH400 Expecting an A- Anonymous 06/12/2022 |
I have had Abrams for arch200, 300, and 400. Overall, what he teaches and the feedback he gives is very useful. Its clear he's knowledgeable on the subject and you can learn a lot from him. He can be a harsh grader at times and has high expectations but nothing too unreasonable. Make sure you do not miss class, even with justified reasoning it'll really set you behind. But in general I would say he is a good professor to have. |
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Michael Abrams
ARCH200 Expecting an A- aruff 05/26/2022 |
Makes you buy his textbook as required reading (find a free pdf because I hardly ever used it except for the drawing exercises in it that count towards a grade (which is how he guarantees you buy his textbook)), plays favorites with students and the art/projects they make+present. The TAs were previously his favorite students, also. Vague project instructions (with vague clarifications), with errors in them that TAs and the professor did not catch, despite him having taught at UMD since 2015, and having previously taught this class before. Big discrepancies between what he expected in projects vs what TAs expected/liked in projects. Obviously could only pander to him or the TA, not both. Very disorganized. Was 20 minutes late to class once, blamed traffic. Almost a 1k materials list, a lot of which we barely used. Made us buy 1/8" wooden dowels, didn't include a way of cutting them. Will do "warm up sketches" in class (ungraded) of ridiculous things, expects you to use a whole page on it, will grab your textbook, flip to a new page, and tell you to "draw big!" if he sees you drawing on a page with other sketches. The absolute worst class I have ever taken at UMD. Ridiculous that I paid money for this. I have taken community college classes set up better than this. |