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Costello, Micheal

Cumulative GPA: 3.10/4.00 with 21 evaluations
Presents Material Clearly: 3.14
Recognizes Student Difficulties: 2.67

Crop Science Department, Cal Poly, SLO
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PSC 431 Senior Grade Earned: B Required (Major) 9:03 pm, May 2, 2013 Report Evaluation		(PPSC431) I had Costello for both Ag entomology and Insect Pest Management. Get Dr. Hedrick instead if you can!! Costello is very disorganized both in lab and lecture, he doesn't give clear deadlines and he grades everybody super low, then has to scramble to correct it because his assignment instructions are very poor. He is kind of an odd guy and he is rather demotivating (not engaging at all) most of the labs he does it seems like he has never done them before and there are either no bugs to work with, what he asks for is very tedious, and they usually don't show the results that they are supposed to. Hedrick is a great teacher, cool guy and he has his stuff together, get him instead.

PSC 110 Freshman Grade Earned: N/A General Ed 2:00 am, Mar 1, 2013 Report Evaluation		Costello is an amazing professor. His PPSC 110 class was pretty easy to take, it's a good and interesting class for a GE. His tests are on the little fun facts/random stuff he says in class, so make sure you go to ALL THE CLASSES. Alot of students in my class missed the Friday classes and ended up getting a C on the mditerm, when people who went all the time got an A. His class is really straightforward and he'll take the time to answer any questions. Overall, Costello is the bomb and a hilarious professor.

FRSC 331 Sophomore Grade Earned: B Required (Major) 6:40 pm, Nov 28, 2012 Report Evaluation		As a wine and vit major, Costello just seemed like he was out of his element teaching this course. It was pretty obvious that they didn't know who to replace Patterson to teach this class so they just picked someone who knows a lot about farming, dirt and bugs. He did post a lot of relevant and important material, but his class was literally just reading off powerpoint slides without a lot of explanations. Since he posted all of his powerpoint slides on polylearn, I really didn't have any motivation to go. Still got a B on both midterms.

PSC 110 Sophomore Grade Earned: C General Ed 11:21 pm, Apr 23, 2012 Report Evaluation		The class wase qvery easy, and the lab instructor was a joke. hardly had to do any work throughout the whole quarter. HOWEVER Costello and Mike Whitt (the lab instructor) consistently said throughout the quarter that there would be an overall grade curve at the end of the quarter and there WAS NOT. THE ONLY C I'VE EVER GOTTEN AT POLY and this class was a joke. Fuck this.

PSC 110 Freshman Grade Earned: B General Ed 6:04 pm, Feb 24, 2012 Report Evaluation		Costello is an interesting man. His lectures are long and sometimes rushes through them in order to get everything in. He likes to talk about "little" details, be sure to study those for the midterm/final. Not a difficult class, not much work required, just a lot of studying for midterm and final.

CRSC 110 Freshman Grade Earned: B General Ed 5:11 pm, Mar 23, 2011 Report Evaluation		Costello definitely presents material in a clear and organized fashion. His lectures are powerpoint slides with spaces so that you come to class to get the words that should be filled. I took this class as an easy way to get out of BIO, mostly because I hate science. The class was really straightforward, the labs are really easy and you get all the points in lab just for doing what he tells you. The midterm and final are pretty hard. No one ever gets an A, so the people with the B's get the A's and so on. It is a lot of memorization of bug facts and so you just need to memorize everything on the lecture slides. Also, the lab practical is going around and looking at a bunch of bugs under a microscope and identifying them either by their latin names or their common names. Be sure to memorize all of the factors that help identifying them and you should be fine.

CRSC 102 Freshman Grade Earned: A Required (Major) 2:16 pm, Mar 16, 2011 Report Evaluation		costello is probably the best professor ive had so far at cal poly. i had him for a wine and vit class and although he's not the chillest professor on campus, he definitely knows what hes talking about and presents it in a way thats easy to understand. I remember everything from his vit lectures, seirously such a good teacher



CRSC 311 5th Year Senior Grade Earned: C Required (Major) 8:22 pm, Jan 6, 2011 Report Evaluation		The class was PPSC 311. Tests are pretty difficult. Lotta information to absorb in a short time. Very nice and willing to help. Teaches PPSC 311, whereas Dr. Headrick teaches it in the Spring. Insect collection pretty time consuming. Study hard!

CRSC 311 Junior Grade Earned: C Required (Major) 12:28 am, Feb 4, 2010 Report Evaluation		His test are hard as hell! If you dont like bugs then don\'t take his class because you go out and collect bugs for a collection.

PSC 110 Freshman Grade Earned: B General Ed 8:14 pm, Feb 17, 2008 Report Evaluation		Had costello for ppsc 110, the class is 4/5 quizzes, 1 midterm, 1 final. The labs are really easy and the paper is easy as well. He uses a bunch of papers that you can throw in a binder for a book. His lectures can get boring because the whole book is basically a power point with fill in the blanks which are the material for the test. The lab portion is pretty dope you get to catch bugs, eat bugs, and fuck around with bees. The lab portion is combined with the class. The lab test was on bugs and their parts and shit but it wasn't too bad. Take this class if you want a really fucking easy lab.

PSC 110 Freshman Grade Earned: C General Ed 6:10 pm, Dec 10, 2007 Report Evaluation		Costello is a pretty cool guy. He's REALLY into bugs which makes the class actually interesting (I definitely don't share the love, but still liked the class) I took this class because people said it was a slider lab, but honestly I hoped I'd do better! I usually didnt go to the friday 9 am classes, but most people didnt go to far more than that and probably did better. Watch out for the lab practical on orders! Failed that...make sure you know them well!!! Friends did well on it though. The paper isn't bad; I spent a little time and got an A-. Costello is AWESOME to have for labs too! We had the 2 TAs and they were cool too.

PSC 110 Freshman Grade Earned: B General Ed 12:00 pm, Dec 3, 2007 Report Evaluation		costello was very good at keeping the class's attention. he's funny and entertaining. the information is interesting and not too hard to memorize if you put in the time. there is a lot of it though. 1 midterm which was kind of hard. 1 term paper, easy grader. and a comprehensive final. and labs were always fun and easy. highly recommend this class for ge.

CRSC 311 Sophomore Grade Earned: B Required (Major) 9:29 pm, Dec 15, 2005 Report Evaluation		First off, I had Professor Costello for PPSC 311 Agricultural Entomology (they didn't let me choose PPSC). I had him for both lab and lecture and this guy knows his stuff. It's somewhat fast past and it's a lot of information. I never knew there was so much stuff about insects. I'll never look at one the same way again. He has a quiz every week in both lecture and lab, if you just go over what he went over from the last class meeting you will do fine, they're very straight forward. THe lab quizzes are a little harder because you just fill in the answer, but the lecture quizzes are M/C. He has 2 tests in lab that are very hard. I thought I knew all the material and did not do anywhere what I expected, beware, study hard and know your insects. The lecture has 3 tests, 2 midterms and 1 final. The midterms aren't cumulative, but the final is, and it's hard. Try and keep up with the material, and really listen to what he has to say. As far as the book goes, it's not a bad idea to have it, to look back on and help you identify some insects that you didn't have time to look at or have explained to you. Costello is a fair man and he curves very well, so don't get too freaked out. One more thing, you will have to make a "bug" collection. START HUNTING right away! You need 40 different insects, just collect everything and freeze it, it will help you to get a head start on this, or become friends with someone else who did. Good luck.



PSC 411 Sophomore Grade Earned: C Elective 6:30 pm, Aug 12, 2004 Report Evaluation		Costello has it out for some of his students and he tries to give you bad grades. Out of the 10 weeks I had him, he only taught the class 2 times and his assistant and guests lectured the other times. There are better teachers out there

CRSC 110 Sophomore Grade Earned: A General Ed 5:06 pm, Jul 11, 2004 Report Evaluation		Dr. Costello is one of THE BEST professors I've had at Poly. People, Pests, and Plagues is by far the best choice I could have made in fulfilling my B2/B4 GE requirements. He and Dr. Headrick team teach the course. They make an awesome team. The material is incredibly interesting, and even when the material itself isn't the most interesting, they do their best to present it in a captivating way. The labs are awesome. I really liked the bee lab. There's a few really easy lecture quizzes, a mid-term, and a final. The quizzes are a mixture of different types of questions. The midterm and final are multiple choice. The class prepares for the mid-term and the final by playing Insect Jeopardy. Great class!!! Highly Recommended!!!

CRSC 521 Graduate Student Grade Earned: A Required (Major) 3:00 pm, Jun 18, 2004 Report Evaluation		Dr. Constello is fantastic. His powerpoints are really informative, and easy to study from. His labs are very scientific and exemplify concepts from lecture very well. He brings in a few guest lecturers who are also terrific. His first test is very difficult, but subsequent tests are easier. I feel that I left his class better educated in this very challenging area of entomology.

PSC 110 Sophomore Grade Earned: A General Ed 1:40 pm, Mar 14, 2004 Report Evaluation		SICK AS FUCK!! No way should you miss this guy for PPSC 110. He and Headrick are so stoked over bugs that it gets you really interested. The information just sticks in your head after that. Both of these guys are awesome and the class is enjoyable. Minimal studying, slide show presentations, lab requirement, NO REASON not to take this class. Easy A, Very easy B, highly unlikely C.

CRSC 110 Sophomore Grade Earned: A General Ed 4:01 pm, Jan 6, 2004 Report Evaluation		Not the most organized guy, but I had him for PPSC 110, and I really enjoyed the class. Fairly easy, but study more than you think you should. The labs are fun, and Costello has a weird sense of humor that I enjoyed. Take this class if you're dreading Biology or Chemistry as a GE. Though it was more biology than I thought, I learned alot and the class was pleasant! I highly recommend it.

CRSC 110 Sophomore Grade Earned: A General Ed 7:55 pm, Dec 15, 2003 Report Evaluation		People, Pest & Plagues is the most awesome class I have ever taken, hands down. Not only is it easy, you will actually learn a lot of cool facts about insects. Labs are way fun too. I'm so glad I took PPSC for biology credit rather than lame-o Bio 111. As an added bonus, there is no textbook, and Costello is a hillarious guy.



CRSC 110 Sophomore Grade Earned: A General Ed 9:49 pm, Dec 8, 2003 Report Evaluation		Mr. Costello is an awesome teacher for PPSC 110. The class is enjoyable and I learned a lot. The labs were really fun too. Costello is definetly one of the best teachers I've had at poly. He is funny and very knowledgeable. He gives you the notes and is ALWAYS willingly to help in anyway possible. Go to class it's fun and really interesting. I think I got an A- of B+ in the class. One caution: the lab on recognition of the orders is way more difficult that he made it out to be . . . study everything . . . there are more questions then just what order is this bug.

CRSC 431 Senior Grade Earned: B Required (Major) 11:16 am, Sep 29, 2003 Report Evaluation		I've had worse teachers, but not many. The class is definitely easy, but I can honestly say that I didn't learn much of anything. I'm sure Costello studied Entomology somewhere, but it's hard to tell. Costello is the kind of teacher that spent 2 whole lectures discussing the definition of IPM. He's like Bowker (BIO 325) that way. We spent a lot of time talking about the history of IPM, and the fact that insects can damage plants (I had no idea!) and economic injury level, which I still don't understand (neither does Costello). I know he and Headrick switch back and forth, so take Headrick, I wish I would have.

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