| Information | Review |
|---|---|
|
Allison Doherty
COMM200 Expecting an A Anonymous 01/29/2026 |
I started this course expecting an A- or higher and maintained that expectation for most of the course. The information is easy to understand (IMO). That isn't because she's a good professor, or even a good communicator. It's solely because what you're learning isn't that difficult. She explains concepts and ideas in a way that is difficult to understand, and she does not offer much clarification. If you have a question, I would suggest either googling it or writing it down on a piece of recyclable paper and throwing it away, because she's not going to help you. If you don't mind hating the class and the work it requires, so long as you get an A, I would take this course. If you care at all about your experience, take COMM107 or wait until there's a different professor. I don't even know what else she teaches, but just steer clear of her to be on the safe side. It's not the work that makes her courses difficult; it's her. |
|
Allison Doherty
COMM200 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 01/19/2026 |
As a STEM major, this was my favorite class I've ever taken at UMD, possibly ever. I loved the classroom setting with less than 30 people that encouraged discussion compared to other classes at college and all the unique stuff we did like outdoor activities with the class and interviewing people we would later advocate for. The class meets twice a week, and there was a reading assignment due each session. It's something that annoyed a lot of people, but it was genuinely just graded on completion. I know many people GPT'd the readings and got away with it, but other than the length of the readings, all you have to do is yap about your thoughts on the reading for 300 words, which are pretty easy to skim. There were also occasionally other assignments that followed a similar response format, including replying to others' responses, but that's also just graded on completion. There's really no reason to not get a 100 on all of these. The other part of grading was the projects, which were also quite easy to get 90-100s on, and only one of them was individual. And on the weeks you're working on the project, you don't have any reading engagements :D. And the final exam was practically a joke; it's just an assignment that's available on Canvas from day 1 and realistically takes 2-3 hours to finish...and it's an easy 100 as well. It's 3 parts; I did the third part in the 10 minutes before the deadline and got full points lol. Admittedly the class is quite a bit of work, but as long as you put the work in, the class is an easy A. I genuinely looked forward to going to class every week. The reason I give Allie a 4 other than the work is her occasional bias. She sometimes has specific ideas on things and won't budge, which is quite out of character for the class which usually incentivizes conversation and different viewpoints. She sometimes disagrees with interpretations of a concept but won't give a formal definition herself. She's can also be biased against certain students, but as long as you’re respectful and don’t say anything offensive, this isn’t an issue. Overall, COMM200 is an engaging and rewarding class if you're willing to put the work in. |
|
Allison Doherty
COMM200 Expecting a B Anonymous 01/09/2026 |
She was very accommodating and such a nice person. She's a fair grader and great with feedback. The instructions for certain assignments are usually but not always clear. There was definitely a lot of work for the class so I would say if you're trying to fulfill your oral communication gen ed take 107 instead. There are long reading assignments due before basically every class and the first part of class is discussion on the reading. You're sorted into a group each unit with whom you complete assignments with that lead up to the final presentation. It was a little frustrating when I had bad group members but it didn't tank my grade too much. Most classes we'd learn about pretty useless concepts and definitions though so it can get tedious. No quizzes or anything just presentations and a paper for the final. |
|
Allison Doherty
COMM200 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/22/2025 |
Awesome prof and course is a free A as well. Overall a light grader, but when it came to grading the final she graded pretty strict. 3 group presentations, individual presentation, and a take-home easy final are the biggest assignments, but easy class in general. She is a fun person to talk to and honestly my favorite prof of the semester. |
|
Allison Doherty
COMM200 Expecting an A- Anonymous 12/07/2025 |
Overall I did not enjoy this class, but I do not entirely blame this on her. Take COMM107 if you can or just know what you are signing up for (group presentations, weekly reading assignments with long readings, etc.). But about this professor, I would say she is somewhat of a fair grader, just be on her good side and you'll be fine. She is a little passive aggressive at times but on most days she can be nice. A lot of the assignments are inconsistent and directions are really unclear. As a STEM major, there should be no reason for me to be stressing over my comms grade than my main major courses. |
|
Allison Doherty
COMM200 Expecting a B+ Anonymous 12/07/2025 |
Very unaccommodating and she is very unclear when explaining assignments. While some professors may forget bits of information when introducing assignments, she consistently forgets major aspects of the assignments and will only clarify her expectations right before the deadline. |
|
Allison Doherty
COMM200 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 12/07/2025 |
She is extremely passive aggressive, unclear with assignments, and overall not professional. She would have multiple misspellings on her slides. Continuing, she would also be extremely unclear on what she actually wanted you to be doing for an assignment, where if you ask her a question that would be a straight forward answer, she can never give a clear answer. It was very hard to stay interested in class. However, the assignments were light, BUT grading was CRAZY. She could tell you that you did everything right but SOMEHOW you still get 10 points off even if you follow everything she "wants" (but you never know what she wants.). |
|
Allison Doherty
COMM107 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 06/12/2025 |
Great professor!!! I did have public speaking experience going into the classroom but I felt that she was very encouraging and very UNDERSTANDING when it came to assignments. Super friendly and doesn’t grade too harshly either. My only nitpick would be that she doesn’t use modules on canvas which makes it slightly annoying to navigate it and find things. I also do wish she’d talk more about the upcoming speeches and stuff ahead of time. Quizzes were also easy as they usually are about things directly from the textbook. These are all very small nitpicks though and overall she’s a great prof! Again super understanding (great for commuters) which is so appreciated! |
|
Allison Doherty
COMM200 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 05/18/2025 |
This class was honestly really chill, and I would recommend her. It was all group work basically, which is nice because in comm107 you have to give so many speeches. You only do one individual speech and it's 2-3 mins about a hot take you have. The rest is 3 unit projects, all in a group, but the second one you don't have to give an in-class speech on. There are readings before each class and questions to answer which were a little annoying, but easy, and graded on completion. She is a super lenient grader too which is good. I would recommend, especially if you aren't a fan of public speaking. easy A |
|
Allison Doherty
COMM200 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 12/17/2024 |
I liked having Allie as a Prof. I think her grading was fair, and I loved the way she structured class. I think she's organized and knowledgeable. I think she's a good person as well. As long as you actually do your work, which isn't too tedious, I think you'll be successful in this class. |
|
Allison Doherty
COMM200 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/11/2024 |
Super fun teacher. Not as much public speaking as you'd think, but 3 big group presentations. No HW. Just do the work and you'll get an A. |
|
Allison Doherty
COMM107 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 05/12/2024 |
Comm is not fun but she tries to make it fun. Lecture isn't really mandatory, but a big portion of assignments happen in class so its in your best favor to go. Only thing with her is she announces things that are do like the day before or the day of, so its hard to plan for her class and have to constantly be on top of work. I'm not familiar with the other COMM107 professors, but she is a nice person and I didn't dread class. |
|
Allison Doherty
COMM107 Expecting an A Anonymous_2018 01/23/2024 |
I had Professor Doherty as a sub for the past few weeks of the fall semester. Since the last professor was new and not great, I was hoping Doherty would make the last few weeks worthy of a communications class. I'm not sure why she gets a bad rep here, considering she was a decent professor. Yes, she sometimes did talk about other stuff (like her ex-husband, lol), but I think she does that to connect with the class a little more and alleviate the tension of a new professor a bit. Everyone likes a professor with even a small sense of humor. However, as a professor, she spoke clearly, and at least for me, I could tell she was a decent communications professor. She even discussed one-on-one at selected times during class with different groups on their outlines and presentation slides. With only a few weeks left, she graded our last two presentations with leniency and gave constructive feedback. She did say she graded her own students harder, but overall, I think she has higher expectations. Overall, the last weeks went smoothly. |
|
Allison Doherty
Expecting an A Anonymous 01/21/2024 |
I loved this professor, I expected to get a B in this class and ended with an A+. I fully can not public speak, but she was very supportive and would help you if you asked. She doesn't have the best organization, so be sure to ask her for her expectations. Otherwise, I loved her class- very entertaining. Very little work besides practicing your speech and online open note quizzes. |
|
Allison Doherty
Expecting an A Anonymous 12/30/2023 |
subjective grader and extremely unaccommodating to students. Take someone else. |
|
Allison Doherty
COMM107 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 12/15/2023 |
Not sure why she gets a bad rep on here and RateMyProfessor, because she is a very nice and caring professor who wants people to succeed. She grades speeches and outlines lightly according to the rubric, so just follow the points and you'll do fine. She does a lot of activities to make the class fun and get people over their fears of public speaking. While these activities are annoying and embarrassing at first, they will 100% make you a better speaker. She is somewhat strict about late work, but if you have a good excuse you can often receive less of a penalty. Quizzes are online and super easy (the questions are straight out of the textbook). The only real work for this class is preparing for speeches, but she gives you outline templates for all of them that makes them a lot less work. Overall, a great professor. |
|
Allison Doherty
Anonymous 12/11/2023 |
Doherty was new to UMD this semester, and she has some things to sort out with her teaching style. First, she likes to go off on tangents during classes, from talking smack about her ex-husband to making Trump jokes. She does make it pretty clear about what she wants in the speeches, but it feels like she is extremely subjective in her grading. When I compare my grades and feedback to my peers, she seems to give or take points at random. By no means is she a bad teacher (she is nice as well), but you may find yourself often annoyed or uncomfortable during class. |
|
Allison Doherty
Expecting an A+ Anonymous 12/05/2023 |
for someone who is literally a communications teacher, she cannot give clear instructions to save her life. it is never clear what needs to be due before class, especially since she will make you finish something before class when the due date on canvas will be later that night. she also constantly created assignments that i had to do the same day they were assigned which i found disrespectful towards my time and extremely hard to plan for. her lectures and activities during class time are useless, but required. she grades the speeches very subjectively and i think she makes some stuff up if she can’t remember. for example, one time she claimed my speech was a minute over the time frame (which she tried to take 8 points off for) but when i showed her the video recording i was only 20 seconds over the time frame. she also will claim you didn’t say enough oral citations when in reality i think she just zones out and misses it. i am still getting a good grade so that isn’t the problem, she is just extremely incompetent and annoying |