William Schatz

This professor has taught: ENGL392

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William Schatz ENGL392 Expecting an A- Anonymous 05/15/2014	I will, from this day on, tell every one of my friends who are considering taking ENGL392 to not take it with Schatz. I am and English major and am going to law school, so I figured that a rigorous writing class would be good for me. Not to toot my own horn, but I am VERY proficient in grammar and professional writing, so I thought I would do relatively well. My papers have been drenched in red ink for mistakes that I'm sure don't exist outside of Schatz's mind. I don't mind being wrong; if I blatantly went against something the professor said, then I'm wrong and that's fair. But when I get points off for things that were NEVER mentioned in class, not intuitive at all, and are superfluous at best, I'm pissed. Fighting for your grade or against Schatz is pointless. I've spent many office hours trying to convince him that he never mentioned the problem in class with proof from other students, and I received nothing but condescension in return. I understand that legal writing is hard and legal writing in law school is hard. I shouldn't be getting A+ on every paper I spit onto and turn in. But this class is not academically challenging, it's personally challenging, to the point where I feel like I'm playing Frogger with my grade. The professor is disorganized, condescending, and hypocritical (he has at least 1 spelling error in every email; how can he hold me to a high standard when he himself can't spell?). In short: arbitrary grading based mostly on personal preference, barely any help for those who question their grade, no respect for timeliness, and your hard work and actual knowledge of the material is not reflected in your grade
William Schatz ENGL392 Expecting an A- terpalum 03/06/2014	EDIT... I am updating this review one year later to reflect my refined opinion of this professor now that I have been most of the way through 1L at UC Berkeley (top ten law school). I am about to submit a brief for an actual law school writing class, and it made me reflect on this horror of a professor. I have just a couple points. 1) Schatz's grading in no way resembles how the grading is done in law school. Especially true for legal citations which Schatz is ultra critical about, but the law schools aren't. Indeed, I can discern no logical reason for the way he grades. 2) Schatz grades on a worse curve than law schools do (Schatz gives about 1 A for every 25-30 students). We are required to take legal writing first two semesters, but in the first semester, Berkeley doesn't even put our grades on the transcript because they knew legal writing has such a steep learning curve. 3) This class only marginally helped me for my actual legal writing class. Regarding everything else, I think it's all covered pretty well in the reviews below. You guys are paying for your education and you deserve a competent, useful teacher, and a reasonable shot at getting an A comparable to the rest of the professional writing classes. They all effect your GPA the same. My advice, skip this class... and demand your money's worth.
William Schatz ENGL392 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/13/2013	I left this course shocked at the level of disregard for student concerns and Schatz's exorbitantly brutal grading methods (many of which I will probably never understand). I nearly dropped this course a couple months ago, and it appears that I should have done so. If you take Schatz you will learn something about legal writing, but your scores will probably not reflect your effort or quality of work on any level. Schatz graduated from Georgetown Law, and that's great--awesome. Doesn't make him an expert on everything or his interpretations correct. This seems to be his view, and it handicaps any ability he might have once had to teach anyone who isn't a 3L student. WAKE UP, Schatz. This is UMD, not Georgetown Law. We have jobs. We have other classes. And we most certainly did not enter your class with the ability to read minds and with experience enough to enable us to write "at the A+ level" (with legal writing) you said you came in expecting to see! Obviously, a few students have had exceptionally good experiences with Schatz (mostly his TAs). Good for you. You'll probably have an easier time in law school than the rest of us, if you go. This review is for the purpose of informing other students of professors' quality of teaching and that is what I intend to do. A friend of mine said she had Ernest and that she was easily approachable and worked well with most people. I don't know if she still teaches this class, but if you still want to take it, try it with her. As terpalum said, you will not receive any form of clear direction when you're trying to write for assignments. I just tried disputing a grade and his explanation was that I was wrong. What a joke! On top of it, he is someone who rarely (if ever) admits he is wrong (which, ironically, is most of the time). I felt that I was teaching the class half the time because people would come to ME asking me what was going on and how to do it, yet I also consistently received grades that were FAR below fair. Clearly, I was one of the few people who could even GUESS correctly at how to approach some of these assignments. His rude and unapproachable demeanor only makes things worse. It almost doesn't matter how well you do your job, because he will not do his.
William Schatz ENGL392 Anonymous 05/13/2013	This guy is really the worst professor I have had at UMD. He is extremely unclear with assignments. He is messy and unorganized. You will do nothing of value in class but critique articles in the Diamondback and peer review.. except nobody understands what is going on because the professor doesn't tell you. Yet this terrible professor somehow thinks its cool or of value to give super harsh grades. Quite ironic. Take another class or switch professors. This guy should be fired.
William Schatz ENGL392 Expecting an A- Anonymous 02/28/2013	This professor is terrible. Don't be fooled by the 2 or 3 good reviews, read further down and you will see a half dozen reviews that are much more accurate. Prof. Schatz is the most unorganized, unhelpful and most unfair professor I have had. Yes, the class will help prepare you for law school, but only because you are forced by the assignments to think like a lawyer. You would learn equally much if the class were taught by a monkey, but you would be much happier.
William Schatz ENGL392 Expecting an A- Anonymous 01/09/2013	I would strongly advise not taking this class with Professor Schatz. He is very unclear about what he wants. He is very disorganized. He grades extremely harshly. You will be very stressed out about this class. It is helpful if you are going to go to law school, but it is NOT worth it.
William Schatz ENGL392 Expecting a C umdalum 12/21/2012	Please don't think you'll be the exception. I took this class thinking hard work would defy the poor grade distribution. I was wrong. This was my only C in college and probably my biggest mistake. If you don't have to take this class, don't. Going to class is pointless but attendance is mandatory. Literally useless peer reviewing 7/10 classes. Subjective grading doesn't even begin to cover it. And harsh grades on assignments are his thing (Cs and Ds on personal statements anyone?). Expect unrelated examples of assignments and then be told to go do it for the next class. And completely illegible comments on assignments. Nice enough guy but a little full of himself. Skip it if you can and pick another professor if you can't.
William Schatz ENGL392 Expecting an A- Anonymous 05/22/2012	Legal Writing with Schatz was one of the more difficult classes I have taken at Maryland. The assignments are challenging and will prepare you for 1L writing assignments. I learned a lot from them and improved as a writer. However, in comparison, the assignments are much easier than dealing with Schatz. Don't expect him to follow the syllabus at all. Expect assignment sheets to be emailed out 12 hours before the assignment is due. He is extremely disorganized and can be a pain to deal with.
William Schatz ENGL392 Expecting a B+ Anonymous 05/21/2012	Schatz is a great professor and a great guy. He is willing to listen to students' concerns and help where he can. He provides very useful feedback on assignments and is willing to change the date of assignments if need be. The class was overall pretty good, it seemed to go by quickly each time. The assignments in the beginning of the semester aren't very hard but they become prgressively harder. However, this is to your benefit if you want to go to law school because it prepares you for your first year. The key to doing well is to attend every class. By the end of the semester, the only students to show up and/or to complete the final project were students that showed up 99% of the time because they actually knew what they were doing. Overall, if you're planning on going to law shcool, I would definitely take this class. If not, take another junior english.
William Schatz ENGL392 Expecting an A- Anonymous 05/19/2012	If you are at all considering going to law school - TAKE THIS CLASS, and TAKE IT WITH PROFESSOR SCHATZ! He is by far the best professor I've ever had at Maryland, and his was also the most challenging class I've ever taken at Maryland. If you take this class, Schatz will definitely push you beyond any limits you may have thought you had, and he will bring out potential that you never thought you had in you. You will no doubt come out of this class thinking and writing like a lawyer, and you will be 100% more prepared for law school. He is extremely responsive to student concerns, and he has this amazing way of connecting with each and every one of his students. He is a tough grader, but only because he has justifiably high expectations for his students and wants to see them succeed. Don't get me wrong, the class is not impossible by any means. I worked my ass off and got an A-. TAKE THIS CLASS WITH SCHATZ! You won't regret it.
William Schatz ENGL394 Expecting an A- Elizabeth Ding 12/01/2011	Schatz is one of the best professors I've had at Maryland. If you're interested in pursuing law school, I HIGHLY recommend that you take the legal writing course with him - he teaches you how to think and write like a lawyer. If you can't manage his class, then you probably should reconsider your law school aspirations. He went to Georgetown Law, so he knows first-hand what it's like to attend law school, and is very willing to provide any kind of feedback (for law school applications, or for law school in general). He's a really nice guy! Great professor. But like the other reviews, his syllabus does tend to change, but not in any significantly drastic way. He may push deadlines back, or assign one extra assignment (if the class did really poorly on average on the first one). He's very reasonable, and you definitely have to attend class every day.
William Schatz ENGL392 Expecting a B Anonymous 12/18/2010	Schatz will help you write a great personal statement. He may give you a great recommendation for an internship. However, you are rolling the dice if you think hard work will get you an A in his class. No amount of hard work or following instructions will result in an A. The rules change and shift arbitrarily. If you ask why you lost points on assignments, there will be an awkward silence. If you want to improve your chances of getting an A, then brown nose. Don't question his grading criteria because it is vague if not non-existent and he will become threatened. Do be critical of your classmates and the Diamondback. Again, there is no amount of hard work that will get you an A in this class. I thought I was the exception when I read these reviews before taking the course. I wasn't.
William Schatz ENGL392 Expecting an A- Anonymous 12/16/2010	Schatz is a hard grader and is not particularly organized. However, if you want to go to law school, this class will put you way ahead of your peers. Whether you like it or not, you will learn how to write, research, and think better in this class. I would absolutely take this class again.
William Schatz ENGL392 Anonymous 12/09/2010	Professor Schatz handed us the syllabus on the first day of class and that was the first and last time he ever looked at it. Assignments were emailed to us the night before the class they were due. Our "semester" project was given to us about a week and a half before it was due, and he even had the nerve to change it to a group assignment a few days later, changing the whole dynamic of the project about a week before it was due. Overall, he is extremely disorganized, unprofessional, and VERY frustrating as a teacher.
William Schatz ENGL392 Anonymous 12/16/2009	This was possibly one of the worst classes I have ever taken at this University. I'll admit, I learned a lot but it was not worth the frustration and unrewarded effort I experienced throughout the semester. I would not suggest taking ENGL392 with Schatz unless you really have nothing else going on and can dedicate all your time to this class. Additionally, it was hard to determine where I stood in this class (grade-wise) because 25% of your grade is based on participation. Also, the assignment break down did not work out how he had planned so it was hard to tell what each assignment was really worth. I'll be interested to see what I get in this class.
William Schatz ENGL392 Expecting a b Anonymous 09/01/2009	I received a B on this class. I was a frustrating class, Prof. Schatz is by fat the worse professor I have ever had. He gives you assignments that are due hours before class starts, he posts stuff on elms very late. He is not understanding at all.
William Schatz ENGL392 Expecting an A Anonymous 06/01/2009	Class was always interesting and useful, but I was often frustrated because assignments were posted hours before class or hidden deep in elms. Very tough grader. I never had any idea what my grade in the class was... I was shocked when I got an A. I definitely was more stressed out over this class than I have ever been before.
William Schatz ENGL394 Expecting a B Anonymous 04/28/2009	Professor can be funny, but is very demanding. You'll have several projects and/or papers you will need to complete. He doesn't give you a chance to procrastinate, he'll always have an assignment that you're spending time on and a paper you'll be writing or drafting. Expect to put time into this class whether you want to or not.
William Schatz ENGL392 Expecting an A Anonymous 02/05/2009	Although I received an A in this course, I would advise going another route. Minimal instruction is provided with maximum expectations. The class was repeated scolded for getting something wrong that he never taught us. Also, expect to get homework via email a few hours before its due. ENJOY