Western Kentucky University / S / Ralph Salvatore
Averages:
Overall Rating
OKv
Grade Received
Bv
Course Difficulty
Difficultv
Quantity of Notes
Overkillv
Tag Summary:
True/False: 3
Multiple Choice: 17
Matching: 7
Fill in the Blank: 14
Essays: 5
Problem Solving: 18
Mandatory Final: 18
Cumulative Final: 15
Textbook Required: 17
Extra Credit: 6
Attendance Required: 4
19 Total Evaluations
CHEM-340 : Organic Chemistry I - Posted 1/2/2005
Overall Rating:
Good
Grade:
B
Quantity of Notes:
Moderate
Difficulty:
Difficult
Comments
I have to admit that Dr. Salvatore is truely the best professor that WKU has. Or should I say had. The chem dept really let the students down by letting him go. I've never met a professor so concerned about his student's performance. He puts in long hours even on weekends to help his students. Where ever he goes I just may be transferring.
CHEM-340 : Organic - Posted 11/18/2004
Overall Rating:
Poor
Grade:
Not Specified
Quantity of Notes:
Moderate
Difficulty:
Difficult
Comments
Dr. Salvatore knows this material very well, but he does play favorites when it comes to his students. Always check your test for mistakes in grading because they will be there. If you are a good suck up, go ahead and take this teacher. The exams are very difficult and long. They get longer as the semester goes by. He is entertaining in class though.
CHEM-340 : Organic Chem1 - Posted 8/8/2004
Overall Rating:
OK
Grade:
C
Quantity of Notes:
Moderate
Difficulty:
Difficult
Comments
Not the best Organic teacher, and has a rep for being sexist against his female students. Stay on his good side! It will help you to do ALL his recommended homework problems cause you probably will see them again. Even though most test Qs are multiple choice, they are not easy, you will have to work them out, but it does help you prepare for the ACS final.
CHEM-340 : Organic Chemistry - Posted 5/25/2004
Overall Rating:
Poor
Grade:
B
Quantity of Notes:
Moderate
Difficulty:
Difficult
Comments
Where to begin? Dr. Salvatore favors his male students. He makes tests ridiculously hard. He is so full of himself and his research. I didn't learn a thing from him either. The only thing I learned from the course was when Dr. Holman filled in for him for a few days. He will assign every problem from the chapter (about 50-80 problems) and only 2 will be on the test. If you get them wrong, he yells at you and says you didn't do the homework. I do not recommend this teacher unless you are male and help him with his research.
CHEM-340 : Organic Chemistry - Posted 1/6/2004
Overall Rating:
Good
Grade:
B
Quantity of Notes:
Overkill
Difficulty:
Difficult
Comments
Dr. Salvator is a really good teacher. He is actively helpful with students. Some say he is sexist but i did not see it at all. You take alot of notes and if you study the notes and know them well you wont need the book. The only thing the book is good for is study problems. There is no homework but i would recommend at least looking at the problems. Overall he is difficult but you will learn more than you need to know for grad school test in my case the DAT.
CHEM-340 : Organic I - Posted 10/13/2003
Overall Rating:
Good
Grade:
Withdrew
Quantity of Notes:
Moderate
Difficulty:
Difficult
Comments
Dr. Salvatore is a great teacher. He is always available to help and is good at explaining tough concepts. I may have gotten a W in the class but it wasn't him.
CHEM-340 : Organic Chem I - Posted 3/30/2003
Overall Rating:
Poor
Grade:
Not Specified
Quantity of Notes:
Overkill
Difficulty:
Difficult
Comments
Dr. Salvatore is the hardest teacher you'll ever have, and the biggest jerk. He gets upset if more than two people make A's on the test. He has no interest in you as a person. sometimes I think it gives him pleasure to see his students fail. Whoever gave him a good evaluation is crazy, obviously they must be one of his favorites. He'll give one person a 100 and another a 90 for the same exact quiz. If you're female definetely watch out for salvatore, he is sexist!! His tests are impossible, they are 3 hours long and like nothing you've ever seen before. He gives you old tests to study by, but they're nothing like his tests. Avoid this teacher if you can. I've heard Slocum is worse, but at least he doesn't get pleasure out of making people miserable!
CHEM- : Organic Chem I Lab - Posted 3/13/2003
Overall Rating:
Good
Grade:
A
Quantity of Notes:
Few/None
Difficulty:
Moderate
Comments
Dr. Salvatore is a good lab teacher, he doesn't want to be in lab any more than you do. You'll never be in there the whole time, and he's pretty laid back about lab. You have no final or midterm, only quizzes. Although these quizzes take about an hour to do, and aren't always easy. They're pretty straight forward though, if you study about an hour or two you'll be fine. The only hard thing is the 10-12 page lab reports, you do about 4 of these. Overall I would recommend him for lab, just avoid his lecture class. Although he is horribly inconsistent. I should probably warn you that he may give your lab partner a 49/50 and give you a 46/50 for exactly the same work.
CHEM- : Organic I - Posted 3/13/2003
Overall Rating:
OK
Grade:
Not Specified
Quantity of Notes:
Overkill
Difficulty:
Difficult
Comments
This guy is not one of those professors that wants his students to do well. He's disappointed if more than 2 or 3 students make an A on his exams. He explains things well in lecture, but the problem is he gives stuff on the exam and quizzes that he never even mentioned. And if he grades you exam wrong, that's too bad, he will not admit he's wrong. If you take Dr. Salvatore you better be prepared to study your butt off, and you still may not do well. I should also tell girls considering his class that he doesn't seem to like girls to well. He's much friendlier with guys. Only one girl got an A out of about 5 A's in his class. The highest grade on his final last semester was in the low 80's. Avoid Dr. Salvatore if you can.
CHEM- : Organic Chem I - Posted 3/5/2003
Overall Rating:
OK
Grade:
B
Quantity of Notes:
Overkill
Difficulty:
Difficult
Comments
Dr. Salvatore is okay, but he makes the class much harder than it has to be. He enjoys doing it too. The only day he is in a good mood is on exam days. He doesn't like to give more than 2 A's on a test, and will go back and grade harder is too many people do well. He's an okay teacher in class, but he's not a nice guy outside of class. He leaves things out of lecture that are really hard, and expects you to figure them out on your own. Also if you're female avoid Dr. Salvatore, he has a problem with his female students. He's very unfriendly to girls, and favors the guys.
CHEM-340 : Organic Chemistry I - Posted 11/22/2002
Overall Rating:
Poor
Grade:
Not Specified
Quantity of Notes:
Overkill
Difficulty:
Difficult
Comments
Dr. Salvatore plays favorites! If you're not one of his favorites, please double check anything that he grades. I had him for both lecture and lab and my lab partner and I had the exact same answers for our lab assignment, and one of us got 10 more points than the other. He teaches the lecture at a graduate level pace. He has old exams to help you study, but they don't help. Your exam will be nothing like the one from last semester. He works elementary problems in class and the problems on the exam are very difficult. The book he uses sucks and he's the only professor of Organic that uses that book. Unless this is the only class you're going to take for the semester, I don't recommend him.
CHEM-340 : Organic Chemistry - Posted 6/8/2002
Overall Rating:
Poor
Grade:
C
Quantity of Notes:
Overkill
Difficulty:
Difficult
Comments
DO NOT TAKE THIS TEACHER. He is awful...he has very little concern for his students and more for his research. Plus, he plays favorites. The final was impossible and I didn't get finished due to time elasping. Trust me....steer away from this teacher. Taking him is a waste of time, there are better teachers to take for Organic.
CHEM-341 : Orgainc Chemistry Lab I - Posted 5/14/2002
Overall Rating:
Poor
Grade:
B
Quantity of Notes:
Moderate
Difficulty:
Difficult
Comments
Although Dr. Salvatore is quite knowlegable in the area of organic chemistry, he lacks many of the interpersonal qualities that make an effective educator. Dr. Salvator is a very insecure person. At times it seems that he is still trying to "fit in" with the students. This hinders his ability to stay objective when grading assignments. Furthermore, Dr. Salvatore seems uncomfortable, and at times defensive, when interacting with students. Whenever I went to him to seek help, I always felt as though I was being rushed out of out of his office. This occured even after he had promised to spend some time going of assignments in depth. So where it is true that Dr. Salvatore is knowledgeable in the area of organic chemistery, his insincerity and lack of social skills make him an incompetent educator. Prehaps some behind the scenes research and lab work would be a more fitting position for Dr. Salvatore.
CHEM-340 : Organic Chemistry - Posted 4/13/2002
Overall Rating:
OK
Grade:
B
Quantity of Notes:
Overkill
Difficulty:
Difficult
Comments
Dr. Salvatore is a very interesting teacher...it is rare that I am bored in class. His teaching method is effective because I actually do learn the material. My greatest problem with Dr. Salvatore is his inconsistency. I have had him for both semesters of Organic and both times, halfway through the semester he decided to make the test impossible. It seems like he enjoys watching us suffer through a 5 hour exam that there is no way we can succeed at. I believe for the first test, the average was an 89, while the average for the third test was a 71. He does give out take-home exams, which help in preparing for the test....but be prepared to spend at least 10 hours on it, if not more. Overall, I enjoy Dr. Salvatore as a person, but due to his testing procedures, I would not recommend him as a teacher.
CHEM-340 : Organic Chemistry I - Posted 1/31/2002
Overall Rating:
Poor
Grade:
Not Specified
Quantity of Notes:
Moderate
Difficulty:
Difficult
Comments
Organic Chemistry lived up to everything I was told. This subject was a nightmare and the pace at which it was taught did not help. The class in which Dr. Salvatore taught started out at a managable pace. Although, after the second test the hourly test went to 4 to 5 hour test with material extremely more difficult than material covered in lecture. It seemed that our instructor was trying to frusterate us with highly complex problems. Due to this inconsistent manner, I do not recommend Dr. Salvatore for Organic Chemistry.
CHEM-341 : Organic Chemistry Lab - Posted 1/22/2002
Overall Rating:
OK
Grade:
A
Quantity of Notes:
Moderate
Difficulty:
Difficult
Comments
This lab was difficult and tedious. I learned alot from another professor more than Dr. Salvatore. You and your lab partner need to do your reports together that way when you have different scores, you can go and get the same grade. His grading is incredibly inconsistent and he doesn't give that much partial credit, regardless of how hard you try. Organic is stressful enough as it is, but he made it even worse.
CHEM-340 : Organic Chemistry I - Posted 1/11/2002
Overall Rating:
Good
Grade:
B
Quantity of Notes:
Moderate
Difficulty:
Difficult
Comments
Once again I was blessed with a great chemistry teacher. Organic chemistry is very difficult, but if you have a professor like Dr. Salvatore it makes things a little easier. He was great at teaching the material, and his enthusiasm in the subject made the class fun. The greatest thing about Dr. Salvatore was that he kept office hours all day every day. I doubt I could count how many times he helped me out of a bind. If you have the opportunity to take Dr. Salvatore, do whatever you can to do so.
CHEM-341 : Organic Chemistry I Lab - Posted 1/10/2002
Overall Rating:
Good
Grade:
A
Quantity of Notes:
Moderate
Difficulty:
Moderate
Comments
This lab was very fun. It was somewhat discouraging at first when all the equipment kept messing up, but it only got better as the semester went on. Luckily, we never had to stay the entire 4.5 hours in lab. We were usually out of there in 3 hours. The pre-lab lectures were excellent for explaining the background for the lab as well as the procedure to follow. Be sure to take good notes because you can use them for the tests.
CHEM-340 : Organic Chemistry I - Posted 1/10/2002
Overall Rating:
Good
Grade:
B
Quantity of Notes:
Moderate
Difficulty:
Difficult
Comments
Dr. Salvatore is an excellent teacher. He is very intelligent and very helpful. He is willing to help students with problems in and out of class. He offers an open door policy for office hours, so you can drop by when it is convenient for you, not just one or two hours a week. He shows enthusiasm in his teaching and loves to share information about his research. I also like the fact that he uses real drugs as molecules for examples, it makes the subject seem more real when you know the structure is something real, not just a bunch of letters connected by lines. I would recommend taking Dr. Salvatore if you are given the opportunity.