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Goel, Rakesh

Cumulative GPA: 2.76/4.00 with 18 evaluations
Presents Material Clearly: 3.29
Recognizes Student Difficulties: 2.65

Civil and Environmental Engineering Department, Cal Poly, SLO
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CE 456 Senior Grade Earned: A Elective 2:33 pm, Mar 19, 2011 Report Evaluation		Dr. Goel's intro to Seismic Engineering is... easy. In fact, the material on the final was nearly an insult to our intelligence because the problems were almost word-for-word from his powerpoint examples and it was open-note. The class was mildly interesting at first, but by week 5 I wanted to shoot myself. Overall, I guess it was an ok course.. got an A out of it at least!

CE 351 Senior Grade Earned: A Required (Major) 4:46 pm, Jan 6, 2010 Report Evaluation		Goel is super straight forward. He goes through the material very slowly and may even spend an entire class going over just 1 or 2 examples. This can sometimes be boring but he makes sure you see every step taken to solve a problem. He makes the class very easy, but you still come out of it feeling like you\'ve learned something. All you do in lab is do the homework. The tests are very easy, especially since he will tell you exactly what problems will be on there, there\'s no guessing what you need to study. However, you do need to study.

CE 456 Senior Grade Earned: A Elective 11:24 am, Dec 14, 2008 Report Evaluation		Course is on the easy side. If you want a more difficult seismic class take the 500 level equivalent for CE majors. However, Dr. Goel presents the material in a clear manner and gives you solid introduction to earthquake engineering. I would recommend this class and the instructor.

CE 207 Junior Grade Earned: N/A Required (Support) 8:48 am, Mar 20, 2008 Report Evaluation		Prof. Goel is a good lecturer. Clear notes and examples, puts them online too so you can review later or bring to class. Homework due every week, but it's never very hard, just simple applications of the material. Solutions are posted the day after homework is turned in. Midterms were much like homework, never seemed unreasonable. Grades a little on the strict side, and doesn't curve, but it wasn't too bad. Final was a bit much, but since it was common that really had nothing to do with Prof. Goel. Luckily, he did ask for a practice final from the person who made the final, so we had an idea of what it would look like. Overall, clear presentation of material, and easy to understand expectations. Definitely better than Elghandour from what I hear.

CE 207 Sophomore Grade Earned: B Required (Major) 7:00 pm, Mar 18, 2008 Report Evaluation		Rakesh gets a 'D' for douche

CE 351 Junior Grade Earned: B Required (Major) 3:52 pm, Jan 16, 2008 Report Evaluation		Very clear methodical lectures. Good guy. If you ask a dumb question, he might seem like an ass when answering it. But he means well. Do the homework problems and the tests should be about the same or easier. The final wasn't exactly easy, so study for that. One of the better professors I have had so far. Never went to his office hours so I can't comment on that Great instructor.

CE 351 Senior Grade Earned: A Required (Major) 2:38 pm, Jan 1, 2008 Report Evaluation		Goel knows his stuff, but he also expects you to know yours as well. His labs problems are sometimes on the long side, but they'll save you when it comes time to study for the tests. Basically, look over your labs and your golden. Oh, and his notes are the shit. Only problem, his office hours are a complete waste of time. Gonna be honest, hes not a real friendly guy in office hours, so I'd advise looking to your classmates before going, and go only if you are completely lost. Tests weren't hard or tricky, but they'll deffinately test you on whats been taught.



CE 557 5th Year Senior Grade Earned: A Elective 4:34 pm, Jun 14, 2007 Report Evaluation		Dr. Goel makes this class impossible to fail, and you will learn everything you will need to know about Seismic Design for the P.E. Exam. The class layout is as follows: - 30% Bi-weekly Quizzes - 20% Bi-weekly Homework Assignments - 20% Weekly Lab Assignments - 20% Attendance (He takes role frequently) - 10% Group Presentation on a Seismic Topic Enjoy!

CE 407 Senior Grade Earned: B Required (Major) 8:18 pm, Mar 22, 2006 Report Evaluation		I'll put it this way: Goel really enjoys teaching, but he's not that great at it. He treats you like you're in high school. He lectured us for at least 20 minutes on the importance of coming to class. That aside, I just don't like his teaching style. Get ready for power point slides or just straight up reading from his notes. I don't learn very well that way. I would learn better by actually taking notes. Anyways, overall, he's mediocre, but tires pretty hard. His tests are straightforward. oh yeah, and he doesn't get the difference between 'will' and 'would.' It gets really annoying in his MANY emails.

CE 557 Graduate Student Grade Earned: N/A Elective 8:26 pm, May 24, 2005 Report Evaluation		Dr. Goel is a great guy who really loves teaching. Even though we are not done with the class yet, I thought it was fitting to write an evaluation which contradicts the previous. He expects a lot from his students, but he has a genuine enthusiasm about the material and it shows. He is very approachable about the subject matter and wants his students to suceed. To the previous posters who complained about him making them look stupid when they ask questions.... Well that is probably because you asked a stupid question and you deserved a smart ass response. Overall Great PROF

CE 407 Freshman Grade Earned: C Required (Major) 8:29 pm, Mar 27, 2005 Report Evaluation		Take Dr. Goel if you want to look at the engineering's dept. version of an ass clown then please take this class. It looks like he bought his dress clothes off the clearance rack at Ross Dress for Less.

CE 351 Senior Grade Earned: C Required (Major) 12:09 pm, Dec 27, 2004 Report Evaluation		Dr. Goel is the biggest asshole on campus. He does not want to help his students in any way, he is only teaching so he can keep doing his research. DO NOT ask any questions during class or he will make you feel like you are the biggest idiot for even asking him anything. Also, don't go see him in office hours. He is not helpful at all and makes it seem like you are bothering him for even trying to get help. The one office hour I went to, he didn't even lift up his head when I came into his office. Then when I asked him a question, he told me to read the book or ask a classmate because the question was too easy for him to answer, even thought I had already done both. The homework load is huge, but that is expected for a 5 unit class. His first 2 tests were fair, like homework problems. But, on our third test, he wrote a test that I could not have finished in four hours when we were only given 2. It was easily the hardest test I ever had during my time at Poly. If possible, avoid this ass monkey at all costs. If you do get him, be prepared to work your ass off with no help at all from the professor. Good luck.

CE 204 Sophomore Grade Earned: A Required (Support) 10:22 pm, Apr 7, 2004 Report Evaluation		He is a very good teacher. He has all his hand written notes on pdf so you can just sit in class and listen. His lectures are very clear with lots of examples and the homework problems are very simliar. We had one midterm and one final, both were very straight foward with questions similiar to the homework and examples. He is very helpful in office hours and will work out any problem in detail if you ask. He has a little bit of an accent, but he is much better than others. I have El Ghandour this quarter and you can barely understand what he says. Definitely take Goel, avoid El Ghandour!



CE 457 Senior Grade Earned: A Elective 11:35 pm, Nov 23, 2003 Report Evaluation		This class will be easy if you are one of two types of people: For those of you who rely on others to get by, the group projects allow you to do nothing and to learn nothing but to get a grade that your other partners earned. You don

CE 351 Junior Grade Earned: A Required (Major) 8:43 am, Feb 19, 2003 Report Evaluation		This was an extremely hard class, but Goel does present the info clearly. He is very intelligent and he knows it. DO NOT ask questions (unless you want to him to make you look stupid in front of the class) or go to office hours (unless you want him to make you feel stupid). If you're one of those types who doesn't need to ask questions or get help in office hours, then Goel is okay, otherwise take Kasper.

CE 351 5th Year Senior Grade Earned: A Required (Major) 4:38 pm, Jun 17, 2002 Report Evaluation		Dr. Goel knows structures- there's no doubt about that. He's a very competant lecturer, a fair grader, and although the HW load is pretty big, it's not too tough to get an A. If you want to mephasize in structures , however, you will not be challenged- take Kasper for 407 and other classes whenever possible. Also, be warned: avoid Goel's office hours at all costs. He's not here to be a teacher, he has to teach to keep is job. When I transfered here I received a letter telling me that he is my academic adviser and I should schedule a meeting with him to go over my schedule, so I did. He asked me, "why are you telling me this?" and told me that I need to go to engineering advising, but of course engineering advising told me that the CE department wants only CE faculty to advise their students. Needless to say I asked someone else to advise me.

CE 201 Junior Grade Earned: C Required (Major) 8:42 pm, Aug 1, 2001 Report Evaluation		This teacher is really good. he explains everything. He gives u step by step procedures. He listens to the class, and asks for feedback. He even makes handouts for everything he goes over. The only problem is .... THIS CLASS IS HHHHAAAARRRDDD!!!!...Just remember this will probably be your first 5 unit class, and the lectures get very long & the class zips by very fast. The rule is for every hour in class, u should study 2 hours at home...(That is crazy) If you attempt the homework, u should get atleast a B in the class. Homework is the only way u can really study for this class..This teacher is very good, I like his teaching style.. Even though I barely passed....

CE 351 Sophomore Grade Earned: A Required (Support) 1:34 pm, Jan 1, 2000 Report Evaluation		Dr. Goel is one of the better lecturers @ Calpoly. He is very organized and follows a precise lesson plan. He does assign a heavy load of homework but, it is not that bad for a 5 unit class. His exams are much easier than the homework that he assigns. If you do your homework yourself, this is a pretty easy class. The thing I like the most is that he does not entertain ??? from people that do not attend the previous lectures. He is in complete control of his classroom and lectures.

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