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Costanzo, Philip

Cumulative GPA: 3.45/4.00 with 20 evaluations
Presents Material Clearly: 3.45
Recognizes Student Difficulties: 3.40

Chemistry and Biochemistry Department, Cal Poly, SLO
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CHEM 517 Graduate Student Grade Earned: A Required (Support) 1:12 am, Mar 23, 2013 Report Evaluation		The guy is awesome but I think everyone knows that he sleeps with one it two students a year. None of us know who gets picked but it definitely happens. I personally have zero problem with this but other students might be concerned

CHEM 316 Sophomore Grade Earned: C Required (Support) 3:21 pm, Dec 18, 2012 Report Evaluation		Dr Costanzo is a great guy and one of my favorite teachers i have ever taken, but requires a lot of work. He is very helpful in office hours and lab but it is important not to miss class because he goes very quickly over the material. I found myself studying a lot more than other people with different teachers and getting worse grades because of his difficult spectroscopy problems and other random questions. I would definitely recommend him but make sure to go to every class and office hours!

CHEM 312 5th Year Senior Grade Earned: A General Ed 9:21 pm, Dec 17, 2012 Report Evaluation		So much attitude for a very meh teacher

CHEM 316 Junior Grade Earned: A Required (Support) 11:17 am, Nov 30, 2012 Report Evaluation		Firstly, I wish he wasn't married. But Other than his looks, and charisma, he is great. A very straightforward, energetic, and organized Professor. He does throw hard Spectroscopy and cis/trans and ring expansion problems on tests that slaughter everyone, but a lot of extra credit is available during the second half of the quarter- take advantage of this and an A will be in your reach. There are five 25 point quizzes, two 100 point midterms and a 200 point final. The lowest quiz score is dropped. I HIGHLY recommend taking the workshop along with it. And the key to this class is memorization and a little creativity. When in doubt, slow down, keep it simple, and remember what you learned. Goodluck

CHEM 316 Sophomore Grade Earned: D Required (Support) 9:57 am, Nov 26, 2012 Report Evaluation		Prof Constanzo is a great guy! He is approachable and funny, however he moves VERY quickly during lecture so make sure you don't miss a single lecture or you will fall far behind. Compared to other Ochem teachers, I also know he requires us to memorize everything (no period table is even given on the tests) whereas many of the other classes don't have to. Theres 5 quizzes, 2 midterms and the final and he drops your lowest quiz score. I would recommend Costanzo, but make sure to take the SWS class because the practice quizzes in that class are pretty much identical to his actual quiz.

CHEM 312 Junior Grade Earned: C Elective 9:31 pm, Feb 29, 2012 Moderated Comment		He has a great guy image and I used to really like him... . Sucks, he was awesome.

CHEM 316 Sophomore Grade Earned: N/A Required (Major) 10:12 pm, Dec 6, 2011 Report Evaluation		He is the best teacher EVER!!! Take him if you can. O chem is very difficult but he helps you understand.



CHEM 318 Sophomore Grade Earned: B Required (Major) 11:52 pm, Nov 16, 2011 Report Evaluation		One of the best teachers I have ever had. He presents the material very clearly and will give you all the credit that you deserve. He is difficult, but O chem is difficult. You will learn so much. Do anything to take Costanzo!

CHEM 316 Junior Grade Earned: C Elective 11:09 pm, Mar 13, 2011 Report Evaluation		There's a reason why Costanzo got teacher of the year and was recognized at the homecoming game this past year. He is EXTREMELY helpful in office hours and he is completely aware of the difficulties students encounter when studying organic chemistry. His quizzes and tests are extremely fair and if you go to office hours regularly AND put at least 20 min a day into the class.

CHEM 316 Sophomore Grade Earned: C Required (Major) 10:13 pm, Feb 15, 2011 Report Evaluation		Costanzo is one of those teachers who teaches well, the only problem is the class is hard. If you were to show up to his lectures and take another teacher's test you would get an A easy.

CHEM 316 Sophomore Grade Earned: F Required (Major) 7:11 pm, Jan 25, 2011 Report Evaluation		Hes young, funny, and a genuinely cool guy. He is passionate about the subject and he seems to really care for his students. He also expects a hell of a lot from his students...Ochem is tough but he makes it tougher...He moves through the material lightning fast and isn't as clear as he should be. I put 10x as much work in for his class to get an F as my friends did in other 316 classes to get Bs and Cs. I wouldnt say he is impossible but for students that dont get Ochem intrinsically Costanzo is a lot harder than he needs to be.

CHEM 316 Sophomore Grade Earned: A Required (Support) 1:20 am, Dec 1, 2010 Report Evaluation		Costanzo is a badass. You take Costanzo if you want to learn. Not an easy class but comparing my level of understanding to students with other ochem professors, I seem to know so much more. Probably the hardest of the ochem professors but I don\'t regret taking him for an istant.

CHEM 545 Graduate Student Grade Earned: A Required (Major) 1:56 pm, Nov 17, 2010 Report Evaluation		This guy is a freaking BALLER! Take him if you can. OCHEM is difficult, polymers chem is awesome! Either way you get a great lesson. Be prepared to put forth the time needed, and you will be rewarded. He will fail you if you do not try.



CHEM 312 Junior Grade Earned: A Required (Support) 5:15 pm, Jun 10, 2010 Report Evaluation		Costanzo is possibly my favorite teacher I\'ve had at Cal Poly. He understands that the students taking 312 are there to fulfill a requirement and aren\'t necessarily chem or biochem majors, so while the material can be hard, he finds ways to make it more interesting and applicable to other disciplines. He has a tendency to go over things quickly in lecture, but is more than happy to answer questions or give help in office hours. The exams are tough but fair - he tells you exactly what will be on them and they\'re usually very similar to the worksheets he provides. Given the opportunity, I would take another class with Costanzo in an instant.

CHEM 545 Graduate Student Grade Earned: A Required (Major) 9:09 pm, May 5, 2010 Report Evaluation		Dr. Costanzo is an extremely talented chemist and a superb instructor. I actually had him for my first Organic Chem Lab as well as for the second part of the Polymers and Coatings series. He knows polymer synthesis in and out and is very adept at transferring that knowledge to you. The take home exams were the some of the most challenging yet rewarding tasks I have been assigned while at Poly. He grades completely fair and is extremely helpful in his office hours. He is young and understands what it is to be a student. If you have an opportunity to take him in any class I would highly recommend doing so.

CHEM 317 Sophomore Grade Earned: A Elective 9:55 am, Mar 26, 2010 Report Evaluation		One phrase: Clutch money I have never had professor as helpful in office hours as this professor. Office hours are key! Studying outside for hours is obviously necessary for every o-chem class. If you make every office hour, than it is a great supplement to studying his practice problems. The tests are straight forward, which is different from other o-chem professors. He tells you exactly what will be on the test and then you study that inside and out, and you should be fine. Class is not curved because about five-ten kids will get A\'s on the tests, so they are obviously fair tests. STUDY THE MECHANISMS, if you know them forwards (and in some cases backwards) you will be fine. RING EXPANSIONS ARE ON EVERY TEST, so be sure to know what they are, and how they usually work. Aside from that, a very fair teacher that makes the tests challenging, but definitely ace-able which gets him the phrase clutch money.

CHEM 312 Senior Grade Earned: A Elective 8:59 am, May 12, 2008 Report Evaluation		Professor Costanzo was an exceptional teacher. The class is hard, any organic chemistry class is going to be hard. However, professor Costanzo really demonstrated a love for his subject and he conveyed that to our class by the way he taught. he is very open to questions, he will spend tons of extra time in office hours going over the work. he gives practice problems and review sheets for the tests. I also had him for lab and he was fun and fair. His tests are difficult but if you do the practice problems he gives you, you should be fine. he doesn't tolerate people who don't try, get a bad grade ,and then complain. Also, he doesn't curve. But, he is a great teacher! I would take his class again hands down!

CHEM 316 Senior Grade Earned: A Required (Support) 6:50 pm, Mar 16, 2008 Report Evaluation		Dr, Costanzo is very helpful. He will look over your lab report before you turn it in and tell you what you should fix on it--this basically guarantees you will get 100% on it. He taught the Chem 316 lab because there were no more teachers and there were about 14 of us trying to get into a lab section. He decided to teach it last minute but was completely prepared and willing to help each of us anyways. His labs were always really laid back, as well as his office hours. He helped the 316 students a lot, even though he wasn't teaching the 316 lecture he would go out of his way to help us on homework problems. Dr. Costanzo is a great teacher and if I could have taken another class with him again, I would in a heartbeat. Don't be fooled by how he looks--when he walked in, everyone thought he was a student because he's really young--but he really knows his stuff and won't put up with your crap!

CHEM 312 Senior Grade Earned: A Elective 10:09 pm, Jan 7, 2008 Report Evaluation		Dr. Costanzo is a very young professor but impressed me a lot. He is not an "easy" teacher but he is a very fair teacher. He doesn't curve but he is painfully clear as to what is going to be on the quizzes and tests. He has 5 quizzes and he drops your lowest score (very nice). He is a very nice and respectful teacher as long as you respect him. He gives many handouts with practice problems that are very helpful and he goes out of his way to help you if you are struggling. I missed a class period due to a surgery and he spent 2 hours explaining the information to me in his office hours. His labs are relatively easy but make sure you read it before hand and go to office hours if you need help with the write-ups. He is an extremely nice and extremely smart professor. he doesn't take bull shit from anybody so don't use that as a strategy to try to pass the course. This class is not by any means easy but it's organic chemistry - it will never be an easy class with any teacher. Bottom line: he is fair and kind and gives you more than enough opportunity to learn the material well and get a good grade. You have to put in effort!!



CHEM 312 Junior Grade Earned: N/A Required (Support) 8:17 pm, Dec 4, 2007 Report Evaluation		I swear this guy is bi-polar! At times he seems like a really nice guy, but then he can be a HUGE jerk. He goes WAY WAY too fast, scribbles on the bored, way unorganized....the class most often just sat in shock staring at the bored. The first midterm average was a 68 and he didn't curve it. If you'd ask questions, he'd ask questions back at you, making you feel stupid. In lab, he graded your participation grade on if you asked questions or not - if you asked him any, he gave you a lower score! He wast just overall horrible. Oh and another thing. Make sure you turn off your cell phone or he will definitely embarrass you about it!

CHEM 312 Junior Grade Earned: A Required (Support) 3:07 pm, Dec 3, 2007 Report Evaluation		Costanzo is a very young professor and remembers what it is like to be a student. He explains all of the material very clearly and lets you know EXACTLY what you need to know for the exams. There are five quizzes (the lowest one gets dropped) which are very straight forward and help boost your grade. This was my fourth quarter of chemistry, and it was the only one I actually enjoyed. I also had Costanzo for lab. Again, he made the labs very easy to understand and they were very painless. I would highly recommend taking him in any lab or lecture. Finally Cal Poly hired a new professor who is actually good.

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