Comments:3309 - FIN 3309 was honestly one of the more disappointing classes I’ve taken at Baylor. I expected finance to be difficult, but I didn’t expect to spend so much time trying to learn the material on my own outside of class. Lectures often felt disorganized, and there were multiple occasions where mistakes during examples or confusing explanations made topics harder to understand instead of clearer. One of the biggest frustrations was how inefficient class time could feel. Review sessions especially were rough. I remember one example problem before an exam taking nearly an entire class period, even though we were expected to complete multiple similar questions during the actual test under time pressure. Situations like that made the pacing and expectations feel unrealistic. It also became pretty common for students to rely on YouTube, tutors, group chats, and outside resources just to feel confident enough for exams. A lot of people I talked to felt more confused leaving lecture than when they walked in, which is not something I’ve experienced often at Baylor. I understand every professor has a different teaching style, but this class left me genuinely surprised Baylor would consider this an effective way to teach such an important finance course.  - Grade In Class:B

Comments:3309 - FIN 3309 ended up being one of the most disappointing classes I’ve taken at Baylor. I came into it expecting a difficult course, which is completely fair for finance, but I did not expect to feel this lost for almost the entire semester. A lot of the lectures felt confusing and unorganized, and there were many times where mistakes during examples just made things harder to follow instead of clearer. I tried really hard in this class. I went to lectures, studied outside of class, worked through practice problems, and still constantly felt behind. It honestly seemed like most students were teaching themselves through outside resources because class explanations often raised more questions than answers. I remember one review session before an exam where a single problem took nearly the whole class period, even though we were told we would have multiple similar questions on the actual test. That was kind of the moment where I realized how unrealistic the expectations in this course were. What frustrated me most was that I never really felt confident going into exams because there was such little clarity throughout the semester. Questions from students usually turned into long explanations that somehow left everyone more confused. By the end of the class, I felt more exhausted than anything else. I hope to finish with a C, and while I’ll take responsibility for my grade, I genuinely do not feel like this course set students up to succeed. I’ve had challenging professors before, but this class just felt unnecessarily difficult in a way that didn’t help people learn the material better. If you have another option for FIN 3309, I would seriously consider taking it.  - Grade In Class:C

Comments:3309 - Well well well... I dont even know what to say... just dont do it to yourself... I'd rather have taken Handy  - Grade In Class:C+

Comments:3309 - I usually never leave reviews for professors, but this class deserves one. FIN 3309 was honestly one of the most exhausting and poorly run courses I’ve taken so far. The material itself is already difficult, but the way it was taught made it 10x worse. Lectures constantly felt all over the place, and it became normal for students to rely on YouTube, Chegg, old notes, or each other just to figure out what was going on. The biggest problem was that class time rarely felt productive. There were multiple occasions where simple mistakes on problems turned into long confusing detours instead of clear explanations. Review days were especially rough. Before one exam, we were told to expect several large calculation problems, but then one example question during review took basically the entire class period to complete. Everyone just sat there wondering how we were supposed to finish multiple questions like that during an actual timed exam. Another frustrating part was how hard it was to get straightforward answers. A student could ask a direct question and somehow leave more confused than before. A lot of explanations felt overly complicated for no reason, and confidence in the material started disappearing because nobody knew whether the setup being shown was even correct half the time. What makes this worse is that most people in the class were clearly struggling together, so it wasn’t just a “students not studying” issue. The general feeling from almost everyone I talked to was that the course lacked structure, clarity, and organization. I ended up doing well grade-wise, but it definitely wasn’t because of the lectures. Almost all of my learning came from teaching myself outside of class. If you can take another professor, do yourself a favor and do it.  - Grade In Class:B

Comments:3309 - FIN 3309 was genuinely one of the most frustrating classes I’ve taken at Baylor. I’ve never experienced a course where students were expected to completely teach themselves the material to this extent. Lectures were often disorganized, problems were worked incorrectly in class, and instead of simply acknowledging mistakes, there was usually an excuse or confusing justification that made things even harder to follow. The biggest issue was how disconnected the pacing was from reality. Before one of our exams, we were told there would be multiple long-form problems on the test. During the review, a single example problem ended up taking essentially the entire class period to finish. It honestly left most of us wondering how we were expected to complete several of those on an exam alongside dozens of other questions under time pressure. A lot of students would ask questions hoping for clarification and somehow leave even more confused afterward. There were multiple times where explanations became so long and convoluted that even the professor admitted they probably made things more confusing. Review sessions also felt incredibly inefficient. I remember spending a huge portion of one review class going over a problem that we were later told would not even appear on the exam. Overall, the class environment felt unnecessarily stressful and poorly structured, especially for a finance course where clarity and organization are extremely important. If you are someone who learns best through strong instruction and clear explanations, this class will probably be a rough experience. I managed to get an A, but it came almost entirely from self-studying outside of class rather than learning during lectures themselves.  - Grade In Class:A

Comments:FIN 3309 - This was the by far the WORST class I have taken at Baylor. I’ve never had a class where I had to teach myself all of the material. Professor Woolsey gets at least one problem wrong each class and then finds some reason to justify why it’s wrong, other than admitting she put the wrong numbers in the calculator. On our review day before one test she said we would have 3 of one question and so she would do an example. That example problem took almost the WHOLE CLASS and when asked about how we were supposed to have 3 of these in addition to 37 other questions. I often left her class feeling more confused than when I went in. One day when a student asked for clarification on a topic, she gave a long winded explanation and ended it by saying that was probably more confusing and then moved on. One time she wasted 30 minutes of our review day going over a problem from the test review that she said would no be on our exam, and she proceeded to get it wrong 3 times before finally getting the right answer. When asked to make a test review, she would just say they are posted but they were often harder than the actual exam. If you can, avoid this class. If you have to take this class, I’m sorry and best of luck.  - Grade In Class:B

Comments:3309 - This was the worst professor I have ever had, do not trust the last post. This was actually horrible, she has no clue what she is doing  - Grade In Class:B+

Comments:4V98 - Professor Woolsey is one of the few finance professors I've had who brings real, extensive experience across both private equity and credit. That background shows up constantly in how she teaches. She also brings in guest speakers who are senior in the industry, which gives you exposure you won't get in most classrooms. The most common complaint is that the class feels ambiguous. Assignments aren't always perfectly spelled out and you're sometimes working without a clean roadmap. But that's the point. Private markets don't hand you a rubric. The ambiguity is intentional and honestly one of the most valuable parts of the course if you lean into it. If you want something that actually mirrors what the job looks like, this is as close as you'll get in a classroom. She's also genuinely one of the most approachable professors I've had. Always available to walk through concepts and make sure you actually understand the material. Highly recommend for anyone serious about private markets.  - Grade In Class:A

Comments:3309 - This was by far the worst experience I have ever had a Baylor in regards to any class. Please for the love of God do not take this women's class. She is by far the least helpful and least connected to reality "professor" (if you can even call her that because she doesn't have the credentials/PHD). This class was literal Hell for anyone you ask, she doesn't even know how to do her own problems and it's honestly embarrassing. Just to add and example, 1 day before our test she told us we had 3 of a certain type of question and then she proceeded to give us an example which took her the entire class. MIND YOU, this is an hour an 15min course and it took 1 HOUR AND 15 MINUTES TO FINISH 1 QUESTION AND WE HAD 3 ON OUR TEST!!!! (not counting the other 37 questions). Overall, this has been a ridiculous class, if you have to take it, I am praying for you. Goodnight and c'ya never Cheri...  - Grade In Class:A

Comments:4398 - DO NOT TAKE HER. FIN 4398 – Private Capital Markets. Truthfully, one of the worst professors I have ever had. I have never met someone less capable of teaching a course than Professor Woolsey. She did not receive a PHD, but she has vast experience in the private equity field. However, I learned that experience alone does not translate into effective teaching, and there is a level of training that comes with earning a PhD that helps professors teach well. It regularly takes her several minutes to log into the computer, and the projector frequently goes up due to her inability to press a button. More importantly, she cannot clearly explain assignments, and grading feels inconsistent and unpredictable. Students are penalized for her lack of instructions, and when we ask for clarification, the responses lack depth. Her so-called “experience” would be more helpful if anyone in the class understood what was happening. Instead, her stories create more confusion about the course. I would never recommend this class to another student, and I genuinely feel for those taking her for FIN 3309 or future semesters of Private Capital Markets. My only advice to Baylor is to provide her with teaching training and basic instruction on how to use classroom technology.  - Grade In Class:B