Comments:FIN 4340 - The class is very challenging. Do not go into it expecting it to be an easy course considering that it is real estate finance. However, if you genuinely care to learn and gain insight into real estate markets and financing, this is the class to take. People hate on the class because it is difficult. If you’re afraid of a challenge, don’t do finance. Professor Fletcher may be a stickler, but he is here to make you a better finance student. Do yourself a favor and take the class. Just make sure to work hard.  - Grade In Class:B+

Comments:FIN 3310 - This man is incredible. I took him as a sophomore for 3310 (does not teach anymore) and am now in his banking course. I have NEVER enjoyed another finance professor. Ernest Fletcher has engaging stories and a hilariously dry sense of humor. I laugh and smile through every class, genuinely enjoy being there, and find myself connecting with the most stereotypically boring material because of his plethora of life experience. His classes are hard. He was removed from teaching 3310 due to his syllabus being too hard. I think he is the only capable 3310 professor — I remember FAR more than my peers do even with the class being shifted online at the beginning of COVID. This man is why I kept my finance major. He has connections to the real world and if you get in good with him you WILL secure a job from him. He cares for his students. He loves finance and is so knowledgeable. If you want to graduate with a finance degree worth anything at all, it is IMPERATIVE to take a class with Fletcher.  - Grade In Class:B

Comments:FIN 4370 - I was simply going to leave a few comments for potential students about what to expect from this class and the type of work you will be doing, but after reading the most recent review below, I thought it necessary to provide my perspective (without the profanity). First, based off many other reviews you will read that Fletcher is a tough cookie and his goal is to challenge his students and prepare them for the real world. The only students in my section who had negative things to say, were the ones who rarely showed up for class. Fletcher has been the most beneficial professor I had ever had at Baylor University. He is strict but kind and expects the best out of his students because he holds Baylor Students on a high pedestal compared to any other university. The main thing about this course if you want to succeed, learn, and not be the one writing a bad review, is to ask questions and ask for help when you need it. I can admit, Fletcher can come off as rough, but he is very helpful and willing to repeat topics in class “if asked.” All though he says “you should already know this” if you admit you don’t, he will help you and, you can always simply google it (because that what you do in the workforce anyway if your co-workers don’t know either). If you do not ask questions you will suffer. There is nothing more beneficial to you in the workforce than the ability to ask questions and admit when you do not understand, no matter how embarrassing you may feel at the moment, it will help you in the long run. If you expect everything to be handed to you and expect to be given everything you need to know and step by step instructions on how to do things, then this is not the class for you nor is a job in Banking. The real world is challenging, and you will have bosses and senior managers that expect you to know everything, and they will also make you cry and call you stupid if you mess up because you never stopped to ask for help (trust me I experienced it while working at a Big 4). Fletcher is so willing to help you if you make the effort to schedule office hours and ask questions. Assignments: The only time we had homework was for reading our assigned chapters in our FSA book, answer the questions per chapter, and to finish things that we didn’t finish in class. He gave us one pop quiz in the beginning of the year, which was scary, but instead of a quiz grade he put it with our Participation Grade so it wouldn’t hurt our grade. The first quiz is about the UCA statement which he used the same type of company as we practiced in class. You use the balance sheet and income statement to fill in the UCA which he gives you the line items and does not take off points for the cumulative totals. In class when calculating a UCA he will move on if you do not ask questions, so be honest and ask “how did you get that total” and ask “why would this be a use of cash” and ask questions like “how would this look if they did have Goodwill etc.” because it could be on the Quiz. Every line item on a balance sheet and income statement will be used in the UCA statement so if in class you notice a zero on an item on the UCA statement ask Fletcher “what if it is not zero” and he will help you. Our last 2 quizzes were over the FSA book, and he warns everyone in class this is a quiz testing memorization. I promise you that every question on the quizzes are VERBATIM to the questions you do for homework (which you can find all on quizlet!). If you study hard on the questions for each chapter you will do well on the quizzes. Case Study: My group and I took advantage of his office hours for our Case Study project and barely anyone stated until after thanksgiving. I told him we have no idea on how to do the borrowing base and the next day he sent everyone an email on how to do it. The only thing that will take most of your time is analyzing the financials with the ratios and “thinking”. Everything you need to really know for the project are in the blue spirals you study in class. He also goes over a different company for the last unit of class, and he walks you step by step on how to analyze ratios and leverage. You come to class with it calculated (which he provides a whole word document on how to do) and thoughts on the results. If you follow the same steps for the case study, it will be more understandable. I asked very many stupid questions about the project during our office hours, and he answered all of them. He knows we have never had a project like this before and is willing to guide you through your thinking if you ask for help. If you think that this project is a lot of work and that you have no guidance what-so-ever, then clearly you have not taken Macias Financial Modeling Course which in my opinion is a lot stricter and mind numbing. Also, for the case study most of part one is answered for you. Part 2 is the analysis of the financials, and part 3 is the summary of your findings and if you believe the company should be offered the loan or not. Simple enough the only hard part is connecting the results and trends of ratios to what you see on the financial statements and the UCA statement (which is all helped in the blue spirals taught in class). One of the most important things: Fletcher really prepares you for the workforce, especially for Commercial Banking. On the first day of class, he will ask what your graduation plans are, I did not have a job lined up and was very stressed on what to do. With Fletchers help I had 4 offers for Commercial Banking and a job lined up before November started. I can promise you, if you want to go into banking (especially Commercial banking) this is the class for you. Many of the interviewers knew Fletcher and knows how well he prepares his students. Also, even if they do not know fletcher, they were very impressed when I mentioned how we learned the UCA statement and the FSA book we have read in class. The UCA statement is a very important tool used in this field and many of the fellow interviewees I met never even heard of it. Fletcher helped me with interview questions, connections, job openings, salary and sign on bonus negotiating, and great feedback. Fletcher will do anything in his ability to secure you a job after graduation because he cares about his students, otherwise he still would not be teaching because according to his Aston Martin he does not need this job. Fletcher teaches you how to challenge your mind and think analytically, he also teaches you to have tough skin and if you mess up, try again. Furthermore, if you are sensitive to strict professors, don’t like to speak up in class with questions, are afraid of sounding dumb, hate challenges, nor want a career in Commercial Banking, then do not take this class. However, if you want the challenge, want to learn, have the capability to think, and want to network as well, then take this class.  - Grade In Class:B+

Comments:4370 - I created an accounted on here just to warn everybody considering taking this class to pick another elective. In my honest and non biased opinion, this was the worst classroom instruction I have received in my 22 years on earth. And before writing this review, I spoke with 6 other people in my class who all shared the same feelings, so this review is really coming from 7 people total. Teaching ability: Fletcher's teaching ability was highly disappointing. He would regularly read straight off his slides and not explain anything at all. At the beginning of the semester, you go over the UCA Cash Flow Statement for a couple weeks where you will teach yourself basically everything since during class he just puts the cash flow statement on the overhead with a bunch of different numbers with different calculations and you just copy it down. He does not explain how to calculate anything he just puts it up there and stays quiet for 5 minutes while you copy it down, absolute bs. This would continue to be the norm throughout all other topics for the entire semester. I think what pissed me off most about Fletcher was how he recalled arbitrary material and rules that we learned in passed classes that we should have remembered instead of him taking 5 minutes out of his day and actually teaching it. It was things like, "We wont go over that because you should have learned that in finance 3310", or "You should recall this from managerial accounting......" The reason why this was so frustrating is because literally nobody remembers what they learn in previous classes which makes it asinine to expect from a student. I think the reason he did this is because he's just an arrogant person and it made him feel some sort of power by doing so. Hardness of Course: The only reason why this class is hard is because Fletcher is a piss poor teacher which leaves you teaching yourself everything. You will have one UCA cash flow quiz as I mentioned above as well as 3 quizzes from a book called financial statement analysis. The reading in the book isn't bad, its the amount of material that you have to know for each quiz which is hard. These quizzes were very very tough and I think I only passed 1 of them. Fletcher makes the quiz as hard as he possibly can by giving 3 normal answer choices and then 3 more answer choices that are things like "all of the above, a & c, none of the above, answer not provided." This makes you second guess every question as it seems like all of the answer choices could be right. The workload is not bad for this class, its just that the material is challenging and Fletcher's lazy arrogant ass is less than helpful with any questions. Commercial Credit Case Study: At the end of the semester, instead of taking a final exam, you and a couple others will do a commercial credit case study which counts 40% of your grade and it will ruin your life. This will involve evaluating 2 loan requests and basically conducting a full financial analysis of the company and putting together a loan package for "loan committee." While this could be an excellent hands on experience, Fletcher provides hardly any instructions about what you are supposed to do and how to structure your project. In fact, I don't remember him at all going over the project in detail and explaining what we needed to do. All the others in the class felt the same way. Everybody was lost on this case study because no explaining was done by the teacher on what was expected. I can proudly say that my group and I did this entire project by ourselves with absolutely no help from fletcher. We figured literally everything out on our own and none of his instruction through the entire semester or anything he had ever said in class contributed to us completing this project. I give Fletcher no credit for anything as he is the biggest embarrassment of a college professor I have ever met. What is even worse is that probably 4 days into working on the case study, a student notified fletcher that he had given us two different sets of financial statements which made him have to send the whole class new financials after everyone had been working on it for almost a week. At that point, I had to restart the entire project after spending about 20 hours on it. This would not be the only mistake that Fletcher made in the case study due to his laziness and lack of attention to detail. Two more times, he had to send out emails correcting the "instructions" and changing numbers that everybody had already used and had to redo their work just because he was lazy and didn't do it right the first time. These constant modifications to the instructions had you wondering the entire time if the information you were using was reliable and had you anticipating the next email he would have to send out correcting himself. Conclusion: I am being completely honest when I say that Ernest Fletcher is the worst teacher I have ever had, which is saying a lot. Back in the day, he used to be a loan officer and bank examiner before coming to teach at Baylor. After taking his course, I understand why Ernest Fletcher likely didn't make it in the real world of banking. He regularly showed his laziness by his half ass lectures and lack of attention to detail and mistakes in his course material. These toxic traits don't go over well in the real world which probably got his ass canned. He had to correct himself more than any other teacher I have had which was straight up embarrassing. After not making it in the real world of banking, I have come to to conclusion that Fletcher resides to teaching and publishing his own course material to still feel a sense of power and express his dominance over young adults by making them feel dumb for not knowing everything there is to know about commercial lending. In the nicest way possible, he is a pathetic person and the last guy you want teaching you about commercial banking. Do yourself a favor and do not take this class because you will regret it, just like me and my whole class did.  - Grade In Class:B+

Comments:FIN 3310 - Fletcher is tough, no doubt about it. With that being said you should now be a Junior or excelling Sophomore, and its time to start getting real about your career. If you aren't a lazy student looking for the easy way out of Baylor with a finance degree, TAKE FLETCHER!!! He challenged me to be a great student and it was honestly the most rewarding class. I didn't think I would ever score an A on an exam, but on the last one I was really starting to get into a groove with the material and felt like it was actually really interesting and helpful and I ended up getting the TOP SCORE! His grading system is VERY fair and you can 100% do ok in this class. BOTTOM LINE IS: IF YOU ARE SERIOUS ABOUT FINANCE TAKE FLETCHER AND YOU WILL LEARN SO SO SO MUCH MORE THAN OTHER PROFESSORS! and you might save yourself some time if you can't handle the rigor because 4370 is just as hard but for every single section. Oh and also, Fletcher helped me get my summer internship in corporate/investment banking.  - Grade In Class:A

Comments:4370/3310 - I've taken both 3310 and 4370 from Fletcher. I'll give a review for each class here. 3310: Look, I'll be honest. He is the hardest teacher. It's unlikely you will get an A unless you kill yourself studying so much- that's just the reality of it. Your workload will undoubtedly be a lot. If you're looking for a teacher to get you into the finance major easily, then maybe Fletcher isn't your guy. HOWEVER, if you're looking for a teacher who is going to force you to excel in the finance major, Fletcher is what you want. You can't go into his class expecting to only play at 80% every day. To perform well, you need to be playing at your highest level every single class period; if you do this, you'll be rewarded handsomly. In 3310 Fletcher taught us concepts no other teacher covered that applied to so many classes outside of 3310. Going into intermediate accounting I and II was a breeze after Fletcher's class. Honestly, I wouldn't have landed a high-paying job at a large bank if it wasn't for him. If you go into his office, he WILL help you. The key to getting an A is making yourself available to talk to him once a week. 4370: Now for 4370... This class's workload is significantly less than 3310. His teaching style is more personal, and quite honestly it was so much nicer than 3310. It's still hard and no breeze by any means, but it's manageable. By this point, I had gone through his commercial banking program (which I highly recommend). If you want to go into banking, you must take this class. I got a B+ with normal effort. You can excel in this class if you're an average student. I would honestly recommend Fletcher to any student who is really looking to take an extra step towards securing a good job out of college. Fletcher doesn't focus entirely on research. His main goal is to help his students secure good jobs, and he excels at that.  - Grade In Class:A

Comments:FIN 3310 - Professor Fletcher is extremely knowledgeable about finance. His teaching style is a bit different from most of the other professors I've taken so far in that he promotes the concept of critical thinking at a much greater level. He has always been helpful during office hours and following lectures. This course is rather difficult, partly due to the topics discussed and partly due to the depth of discussion required. Reading the textbook is absolutely necessary. Overall, Professor Fletcher prepares students well for advanced finance courses. Studying at great length for this course has deepened my ability to focus and has broadened my analytical skills. Be ready to work hard and give this class your absolute best effort. It will definitely pay off.  - Grade In Class:A

Comments:3310 - Professor Fletcher is definitely the hardest 3310 professor. He is extremely sarcastic and it can be hard to deal with. I consider myself a sarcastic person and there were definitely times where he crossed the line between sarcasm and genuinely degrading students. He asks questions in class that are obscenely difficult to answer, and counts them as part of your participation grade. He does teach you a lot about finance but a lot of it is self taught based on you reading the textbook chapters on your own time. The tests are very difficult and your grade basically just depends on how everyone else does. Theres a reason almost half my class dropped.  - Grade In Class:B

Comments:4370 - Not a super interesting class, but helpful if you plan on going into banking. Talking about cash flow statements and interest rates for over half of the course can get boring, but it is not too difficult to understand. This class has like3 sections, all having nothing to do with the other. The first part is over a book about financial statement analysis, the second over cash flow statements, and the last over bank management. Make sure to study well for the quizzes over the book. I didn't studying, thinking they'd be easy and made a D on them. Made A's on everything else in the class but the quizzes brought my grade down a lot. Overall not a bad class, and not very much work at all, other than studying for tests and 1 cash flow case study.  - Grade In Class:B

Comments:3310 - Professor Fletcher is an amazing finance professor. He has a background in banking instead of academia, meaning that he focuses more on practical applications as opposed to research: great if you're going into banking. He also grades you against the other people in the class, so you can do well even though the class is hard. Overall, Fletcher is the BEST 3310, so take him if you can!  - Grade In Class:A

Comments:FIN 3310 - Mr. Fletcher is an interesting character. He's got a dry sense of humor and he'll definitely keep you laughing. His homework load is manageable (typically due once every two weeks); sometimes he'll collect, sometimes he won't. He grades based on accuracy so you're better off doing it early and seeing him in office hours the day before its due. His lectures are somewhat helpful, but you'll definitely be doing some self-teaching. His tests were obscenely difficult, but he does something called "cluster grading" which essentially means if you perform better than everyone else, you'll get a good grade. Tests were mostly multiple choice with some free response (Around 60:40). About half technical, half conceptual. If you want to perform well on the tests, know the vocab, review your homework problems, answer the discussion questions in the back of each chapter, and review over chapter outlines with your peers (ask each other questions).  - Grade In Class:A

Comments:FIN 3310 - Fletcher is a horrible professor on almost every front. Typically, his class consists of him asking students to solve arbitrarily assigned problems and then admonishing them for answering incorrectly. His tests were unpredictable, and they often covered inexplicably large amounts of information. Personally, Fletcher is extremely rude and backhanded towards his students. I would avoid this guy at all costs.  - Grade In Class:DROP

Comments:3310 - This class is hard. Its just the nature of the course, no matter who you take. Fletcher is alright though. He means well and is always able to help if you go to his office. He'll work with you until you understand which is nice. Really he just wants you know the concepts behind all the equations and have a real understanding of the material. Each chapter has a set of homework assignments that he may or may not take up. DO THE HOMEWORK! It will help you that much more. There are three tests and and final. He used to have a project but he took it off because classes were getting too big. He replaces your lowest test with the final. The best part about his class is that he uses cluster grading. I would take him agian  - Grade In Class:B

Comments:3310 - It is definitely a hard class but that is just the nature of the course. Professor Fletcher really cares. He will call on you multiple times because he wants to make sure you get it right if you didn't the first time. He makes the class enjoyable and tells stories from time to time if he feels the class zoning out. His office ours are always there and he will explain things a hundred times if you need him to. Along with being a great professor, he is also a really nice guy, he often remembers the small things about you. After having him, he still asks me how my PreMed classes are going and you can tell he actually cares. I recommend him highly as one of the best professors Baylor has to offer.  - Grade In Class:B

Comments:3310 - Professor Fletcher is one of my favorite professors I've ever had at Baylor. He is hilarious and always makes the material interesting/easy to learn because he truly cares about his students. The tests are difficult but reasonable and as long as you keep up with the homework/class discussions you will be fine. I don't know where the last review came from because i thought Professor Fletcher was AMAZING  - Grade In Class:B+

Comments:FIN3310 - Do not take Fletcher!!! I took him because he had the best rating on BU books, but most of those ratings are very old and from higher level courses. If you ask anyone who took him, they all say that they absolutely dreaded going to class every day. Before he walked into class, classmates talked about how scared they were to get called on. He wrote the textbook, so he knows every little detail in it and expected students to know them too. He would start class by asking questions about the little details that he knew no one could answer, and go from person to person until some one got it right. And usually no one ever got it right and he would just give up. It took about 20 minutes and was the biggest waste of time. He made you answer other questions in class, most of the time about information that he had not even talked about yet. He assigned a lot of homework and only took up the homework at random. There were no quizzes. There were 3 exams that he schedules in the evening because they're too long to take in class. I read, went to class, did the homework, and studied a lot. I left the 1st test after the 2 hours were up thinking that I could have worked for another hour on it, and that it was the hardest test I had ever taken in my life. He gives you a raw score then ranks you in comparison to the rest of the class. The next tests were just as hard, but we knew what we were getting in to, so they did not seem as bad. There is a huge group project that was due on the same day as an exam. He makes the "team president" meet with him for one hour a week on the project. He did not show up to 2 of my group's meetings and multiple other groups in my class. This class was much harder than it needed to be!! Take some one else!  - Grade In Class:B

Comments:FIN 3310 - Mr. Fletcher's class is difficult, there is no doubt about that. I failed this class with a different teacher one semester earlier, but I did very well when Fletcher taught it. Though it is difficult, if you keep up with the class preparation and study well for the tests, you WILL make a good grade. I personally struggled at first, but learned how to study well as the class went on. When it comes to hw, he usually has a small class prep to finish each day. DO THEM. If you complete these, you will be prepared and ready for class, and will be way ahead of 90% of the other kids in the class. We only had 2 quizzes, which took part at the beginning of the semester. There were 3 tests throughout the semester, and his tests are hard but doable. He does not put gigantic problems worth 40 points on his tests, and he will give you partial credit on multi-step problems. Another positive note is that his grading is peer-based, meaning your grade is scaled against everyone else in the class. Basically, your grade isn't pegged to concrete numbers: instead it is way more fair by comparing your test grade to the grades of the rest of the students, which is hugely helpful to your overall grade. I enjoyed Mr. Fletcher's class, just make sure you print off the materials prior to class each day, and don't use your phone in class.  - Grade In Class:A

Comments:Finance 3310 - I read each assigned textbook chapter 2 times before each test, worked through the homework 3 times, studied class notes, completed supplemental problems, departmental final practice problems, regularly went to SI, and never missed class. And yet I barely passed the class. The problem is the tests are just too hard. Work out problems are 20-40 points on each test, and usually no partial credit is given. So if you make one small mistake, you lose a good portion of points. The conceptual questions always seemed to come from nowhere. He isn't always available during his office hours but never warns us of that. The only substantial portion of your grade is 3 exams, 2 quizzes, and the final so there's no room for error. Make sure to read the syllabus thoroughly because he doesn't go over everything that turns out to be important later, but he'll say it's in the syllabus. I took him because I heard Coldwell makes people cry, so if you can avoid both of them you should.  - Grade In Class:C+

Comments:FIN 3310 - Fletcher is not an 'easy' professor by any means. You will have to study. You will probably have to read the book. You will have to do the homework. He wants you to really understand the concepts. With that being said, his tests are fair. You will not see something you didn't see in the homework or go over in class. His tests are also graded on a pretty nice curve so all you have to do is beat your classmates. If you want a good grade GO TO HIS OFFICE HOURS. He will drop you hints about the tests and if he likes you it's pretty smooth sailing. If finance is not your thing, I would not recommend taking him.  - Grade In Class:A

Comments:Employee Benefit Planning - Honestly, I really tried to like this class and Mr. Fletcher, but I failed miserably. He may be a nice enough guy, but his teaching style was abysmal. I thought the material rather dull anyway, but he managed to make it worse. He has printed-out powerpoints, which he puts on a projector and proceeds to read to the students. The powerpoints are basically a condensed form of the chapters from the textbook. He also tended to get very off-topic in class…telling us about his health issues and other things which really felt like a waste of time. For the exams, which are MC and a few short answer or work-out problems, you basically need to know the powerpoints cold. There are 3 exams and the final, which has only a very small cumulative section (he lets you know in advance which chapters to study from past units). The one point in his favor was that he let out early quite often, but that was also frustrating sometimes, because it felt like he was dawdling around and wasting time. I hate to be so negative, but I would strongly advise against taking this class, at least as long as Mr. Fletcher is teaching it. And I'd steer clear of him if you can.  - Grade In Class:B+

Comments:4332 - Great guy! Let's face it, employee benefit and retirement planning isn't the most exciting thing to learn, but Fletcher does a pretty good job at teaching it. He manages to stay on topic, while still keeping it interesting by connecting to other students in the class and telling stories. I really liked the class because it was very well organized and had no surprises. You print out the chapter powerpoints, fill out the blanks and read, come to class and add his notes, and repeat. His tests are VERY specific and difficult. Memorizing is a must and there are a lot of tax implication rules that you have to remember. However, he does have an extremely fair way of grading which takes the edge off. For anyone wanting to go into financial planning/wealth management, this is a great course for you. I'm taking his internship class too! Take it!!  - Grade In Class:A

Comments:FIN 4370 - I took this class last semester and personally, I really found it helpful. Mr. Fletcher is very interested in banking and finance in general. My rec..Take this class if you want to learn a lot. The difference between this class and the norm is that the subject material is not theory heavy, but provides you with the technical skills applicable to a possible future finance career.  - Grade In Class:A

Comments:FIN 4370 - I was disappointed in the class as a whole and with Mr. Fletcher's teaching ability and motivation. Everyone in our class dreaded walking in every day to sit there and watch him read powerpoint slides that contain too much information to possibly copy by hand in the brief time he spends on each and refuses to make available on Blackboard. He isn't ever in a good mood, and grades extremely tough- forget partial or workthrough credit, and be prepared to work extremely fast on all of his tests as they are long and taxing, and do not reflect the book hardly at all. As part of the class, you work on a credit case study that he does not prepare you for in the slightest- and only allows you to ask questions over during two obscure times during his office hours. The project took our team 40+ hours as we basically had to teach it to ourselves. He is incredibly caught up in the fact that his course used to be "the capstone course for all Finance majors," so he expects you to retain all information, no matter how obscure or insignificant, from any other Finance class in the business school. He is always bitter about some part of the business school administration that failed to give him tenure or funding for his Commercial Banking Program. He failed to let me make up a quiz that I missed for a job interview for a position that he referred me to. On top of it all, he often brings up him and his buddies' divorces, his dating life, and fraternity pledging stories that everyone uncomfortably laughs at because they are inappropriate. Glad to be done with this class.  - Grade In Class:B

Comments:FIN 4370 - Ok, initially reading all these posts I was nervous to take Fletcher's class, but I will say I learned more in his class than I did in any other class at Baylor. Mr. Fletcher is direct, but very much prepares you. If you learn the material you will do fine. I can honestly admit that I would not have a job if it weren't for Fletcher. He did what no other professor had done for me and got high positioned people from big banks to casually meet me during a banking dinner. From this dinner I received two job offers and now am working for one of the top 20 biggest banks in America. Even if you don't want to go into banking, but want to learn financial statement analysis TAKE THIS CLASS. I never had homework, came prepared to class, and studied in advance for his tests and was fine. TAKE FLETCHER IF YOU WANT TO GRADUATE WITH A JOB!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  - Grade In Class:B+

Comments:4370 - Best Finance professor I have had. Honestly, I have to agree with the previous post. Fletcher actively assisted his students, me included, in obtaining jobs in the financial arena. He recently founded the commercial banking tract and even raised ~$60K from commercial banks in order for them to come actively recruit his students in this class. He invites all of his students to have a one-on-one sit down dinner with the best banks and get face time. Awesome class, awesome prof., highly recommend!  - Grade In Class:A

Comments:FIN 4370 - ***Must Read*** Mr. Fletcher’s class is an absolute much. Today, I could not honesty say that I obtained a high paying job within a prestigious financial institution without the biweekly classes/mentoring that Mr. Fletcher provides to ALL of his students. With 20+ years of experience, he provides insightful industry knowledge to his students. Classes are comprised of practical examples and a case study that resembles exactly what you will do on the job as a banker. The most active recruiters of Baylor finance students are commercial banks. Mr. Fletcher’s commercial banking class prepared me to be confident when interviewing and gave me a one up in comparison to UT, A&M, and SMU students battling for the same highly competitive positions. Even if you are not a looking to go into commercial banking, you will benefit from the class immensely. Learning Financial Statement Analysis is essential to any finance/accounting job that one might want to pursue. Take Mr. Fletcher’s class and I promise you will not regret it. Reach out to me at tyler_tribble@baylor.edu if you have any inquiries.  - Grade In Class:B+

Comments:3310 - He is a great professor to take for the intro to finance. I learned a lot in his class and he is very helpful. You do have to stay on top of things and do the homework, that will prepare you for the tests. His theory questions are hard but most of them come from his notes and read the book carefully to understand the material bc the theory questions also come from the book.  - Grade In Class:A

Comments:Bank Management - Mr. Fletcher... Wow. This man picks clear favorites. If you are not one of his favorites then he will poke fun of you in class and sometimes will be less helpful. He appears to decide his favorites by whether or not you are going into banking after you graduate, so I only recommend this course for finance majors who are sincerely interested in banking. His grade scale is very confusing and not objective at all. I would have guessed that he would use it to give the students he wants good grades but I got a good score while clearly being one of his least favorite students. He just teaches off powerpoint slides that came with the book and he gives very poor directions / guidance on the major project. Positives: He has a lot of bank experience and a host of interesting stories related to banking. There is no homework in the class, only a project, 2 tests and the final.  - Grade In Class:A

Comments:FIN 4370 - Mr. Fletcher was a great professor. I took him for banking, and I learned a great deal in his course. Banking with Fletcher is one of only a couple classes that I really feel have benefitted me in my career after Baylor. You'll study a decent amount for his tests, but you learn very applicable concepts for your future beyond Baylor. If you are planning on a career in investment banking or commercial banking, this is a great course to take and a great professor for the course.  - Grade In Class:A

Comments:FIN 4370 - All in all Mr. Fletcher is not very effective as an instructor. I was extremely disappointed with this class. Mr. Fletcher is extremely disorganized, and simply reads from the slides that came with the book. He has no clue how to work problems, and when a student has a question he claims that he is an expert in money management and demands payment for help. Fletcher yells at his students for not knowing complex problems before class, when he himself can not work the problems. Yes it’s sad. Concerning the lectures, Mr. Fletcher needs to be more prepared and organized for class and actually understand just what he is teaching his students. Many times when the students had questions he can not answer them and then proceeds to reverse the responsibility of knowledge to the student and says "you tell me." This is a childish attempt to display power over students. He should go back to teaching intro to finance where he belongs. He is simply not equipped to teach a senior level class. Concerning the project and test, Earnest does not help student’s at all with studying materials and gives zero direction. Mr. Fletcher is flippant and arrogant. He needs to be reminded that students pay his salary and he works for students. Whoever reads this needs to take action and correct this unbelievable behavior. I would also like to note that his behavior significantly changes when he is in front of faculty.   - Grade In Class:A

Comments:FIN 3310 - Most of the comments on Fletch have it right. He REALLY knows his stuff, but also has an ego, can be smug/rude at times, has favorites, and seems to enjoy talking in a jargon that is over most of our heads. That being said, you will be much more prepared for future courses after having his. He and I had problems at times because I get severely annoyed, not embarrassed, when he tries to make people feel stupid (which he will do). Bottom line-- if you are a Finance major, it will be a great course for you. If not, it is unnecessarily difficult and you should avoid at all costs!!  - Grade In Class:C

Comments:3310 - If you're a finance major I definitely recommend mr. fletcher. This is not an easy class but he prepares you the best for the final and future finance classes.  - Grade In Class:B

Comments:3310 - Fletch has a sense of humor that most dont appreciate, I thought it was great. Hes a good professor, but he likes to throw curveballs. If you dont know the formulas by heart, you wont do well. He's big on challenging your thinking, so he'll put some new information on the exams to see what you do with it. And be sure to mind those red herrings!!!  - Grade In Class:C+

Comments:3310 - Wow. This class was really hard. I worked really hard, did all of the homework, and studied for days for the test and I still made a C. Fletcher does a decent job teaching. He does move very fast in the class and he expects you to have read the textbook before. There were two two-part tests and one one-part test. On the two part tests, the first day is all written calculations and the second day is multiple choice theory and calculations. The theory questions are pretty hard and you have to really read the textbook closely to understand those. He is pretty helpful, but sometimes I was so lost I didn't even know what to ask. Go to SI. That helps a lot. It's like what the person said below. Passing is possible, it's just hard.   - Grade In Class:C

Comments:FIN 3310 - If you are a serious finance student then don't pay any attention to these negative reviews about Mr. Fletcher. He teaches the introduction to finance course better than anyone else in the finance department and is extremely helpful if you are finding certain material difficult. He will push you and challenge you along the way, but this is without doubt the best preparation you can have for the later classes you will take as a finance major. If you are disciplined and stay on top of your work, then there is absolutely no reason that you cannot excel in this class. Go to his office and ask for his help if you are struggling, he is always happy to give you his time if needed. If you do the homeworks and keep up with the material in class, then studying for the tests should not be anything harder than you have encountered previously. I found his classes to be very interesting on the whole. He is a fun guy and has a great sense of humour so pay no attention to the stiffs who are calling him rude. Once again, if you are considering majoring in finance then I could not recommend Mr. Fletcher more. He is one of the best teachers in the business school!  - Grade In Class:A

Comments:3310 - Horrible teacher! He knows everything about finance but doesn't teach it very well. Read the long chapters he assigns carefully. I found class to be more tolerable at least when he wasn't being sarcastic and rude to students, which was only about 30 seconds of each class. God bless your soul if you have this guy. Study hard, ask questions, GO TO SI sessions!!! Passing is possible...just hard.  - Grade In Class:C

Comments:FIN3310 - Don't ever take this guy in your life! He is super rude and not helpful at all. He favors certain students. DO NOT TAKE HIM.  - Grade In Class:DROP

Comments:3310 - This guy really knows finance, but the thing is that he talks about stuff that will not show up on the test. This is because he tries to realte the material to the real world, but since it is not on the test it just confuses everybody! First of all finance in general is hard, but the fact that he adds more to it just makes it worse. Secondly, he does not realize that everyone does not know as much as he does about the world of finance. Then to top it all off he asks really hard questions to random people in class, which can really be humiliating. If he wants to realte all this stuff to the real world then he should get through all the material that will show up on the test first, then before the final he can go back and translate theory into real world terms once everybody actually has a foundation in finance and it will be easier to understand. Why should anyone waste time listening to stuff that will not be on the test, especially when most do not understand it to begin with? I am all for making the class interesting, but if there are extra articles about stuff not on the test I will not be able to read them because I have to read the book first. How am I supposed to get to the extra stuff if I cannot get through all the required readings? As far asassignments and notes go, everything is very disorganized! There are so many little articles and handouts that it is just a big mess. He grades on a point break system, which helps everyone except those who make As and Fs. It is ironic that those who need the most help gradewise do not benefit from this grading system. My advice is to take someone else like Ethridge, but unfortunately she was not putting the fear of finance into 3310 students and cannot teach intro anymore. The truth is that Baylor teachers have to fail a certain amount of students or they will get into trouble. It is sad that things have to be this way, but what is the point of having a teacher who passes everyone? That would just be terrible!  - Grade In Class:DROP

Comments:BL 3305 - I'm a bad person to write a review about this class; just take good notes, study terms and pay attention. I should have made an A-- dropped from a 95 to a B+ based of the final, but I got cocky. The final was a little over the top and extensive, but the other tests were very great. Really both of the BLaw profs (LeCrone & Abbe) are great, I just enjoyed LeCrone's sense of humors. GO TALK TO HER IF YOU'RE INTERESTED IN LAW SCHOOL.   - Grade In Class:B+

Comments:FIN 3310 - If you don't like sarcasm, whitty comments, veiled humor, or just simply don't know how to laugh, take someone else and stop writing bad reviews about Fletcher. He's the best teacher for the 3310 and will prepare you very well for FIN 4360 if you're a finance major, and allow you to handle any possible numbers thrown at you if you're not. Study hard; print all note early and keep together. Use the student tutors if needed--- break points are wonderful & if you make an A on the first test you're set. Fletcher is very open in his office hours, but excepts you to look at the material before coming to talk with him.  - Grade In Class:A

Comments:FIN3310 - Mr. Fletcher is an awesome professor. I've read reviews that say if you want to be a finance major take him if not don't. I think anyone entering the business world could add value for thier employer by taking him. If you are a finance major, rest assured that his class will build the foundation you will need throughout your upper level classes. When I took him, the homework, tests, and quizzes were only given to the extent that you need them. This class is not about busy work, it is about learning. Were the tests hard? Not if you studied and actually applied yourself in the class. If you are in class and listen, Mr. Fletcher is good about emphasizing anything important to know. What you need to do well in the class: good foundations in algebra, accounting, and a willingness to learn.   - Grade In Class:A

Comments:FIN 3310 - Fletcher's class is extremely difficult. I am a straight A student who studied hard for every test and still got terrible grades (only helped by a curve)... the class did not feel like an introduction to finance...probably a good teacher to get if you are majoring in it, but otherwise choose another! He assumes you already understand the material, and so class is him just going further in detail about vague theory that you never learned in the first place (you can only teach yourself so much from a book)...just be prepared to have a lower GPA when you take this class.  - Grade In Class:B

Comments:3310 - This class is perhaps the most difficult requirement in the business core if you take it with Fletcher. He's a smart man who knows what he's talking about. He assigns more homework and has more tests than any other teacher in the department. Also, the assignments themselves are harder than what you would get with another prof. However, this class does prepare you extremely well for Corporate Finance, so if you're a finance major ABSOLUTELY take Fletcher. You will probably hate the class while you're in it, but I gurantee you will be thankful later. If you can make it through this class, you are pretty much guranteed a 'B' in Corporate. Some important things to know about his class: If you don't check blackboard every day you should stay away from this class. He posts new notes and problems sometimes minutes before class time. He "randomly" chooses students to put homework on the board--if you haven't been doing well he will deffinetly call on you. It is almost impossible to meet with him during office hours unless you set an appointment, so your best bet is to use e-mail. Do all the supplemental problems he gives you; they are good prep for the tests and he sometimes picks them up. He gives pop quizes if he thinks the class isn't doing the work. Do NOT underestimate the importance of reading the textbook. First of all, he helped write it, and also there are important concepts that he may not go over in class that you will see on the test. The tests are mostly multiple choice with one or two work-out problems and there is usually a bonus taken from the lecture notes. If you don't like studying A LOT or hate finance and are not a finance major, stay away from this man. If you're a finance major you would be incredibly stupid not to take his class.  - Grade In Class:B

Comments:3310 - absolute worst teacher at baylor...i am a good student, sat on the front row, had a tutor the entire semester, and rarely missed class. he is a horrible teacher who is scarcastic and rude. he gives horrible examples and if you do not know how to do something BEFORE he teaches it in class he treats you like you are dumb. do yourself a huge favor and save your time and take a different teacher!!!!!!!!  - Grade In Class:D

Comments:FIN3310 - Mr. Fletcher was a wonderful teacher. People who don't do well in his class clearly aren't putting forth the effort. As long as you ask questions and show an interest in doing better, he is more than willing to help you. If you are a finance major, Fletcher is the one to take for 3310. Most people go down a letter grade between 3310 and 4360, but I actually went up a grade because Fletcher was better at preparing his students to be finance majors.  - Grade In Class:B

Comments:FIN 3310 - Yeah, I LOVED Fletcher. He is the reason I am a Finance major today. Yes, his class is difficult. Yes, the tests are hard. Yes, there is a lot of homework. However, you come out of the class with a good understanding of finance. He's a good professor and a good person, and also hilarious if you understand his weird sense of humor. I would definitely recommend him, but you need to go to class, and you need to read the book, and you need to do your homework.  - Grade In Class:A

Comments:3310 - Oh Ernie Fletch, how are you? Your class was a many wondrous things, well-taught and well-tested were not part of those things. I made a C in this class, and I haven't made a C since junior high. I wouldn't be upset, but the tests aren't a good judge of what you really know. Fletcher usually lets the class out about 15 minutes early, tells 10 minutes worth of "finance" stories from his illustrious banking career, which leaves only 25 minutes of actual "teaching". In a class this difficult, you need the full 50 minutes of intruction. His teaching style is very laissez faire. He expects you to figure out how to do the homework, and if you want any real help, you have to go to his office. I hear he's better than Rose, who's the ancient department chair. If etheridge is teaching, get her if at all possible. If you do end up with good ole Fletch, be sure and do all the HW, and study the old departmental final before tests. This class is difficult with a heavy workload, there is no getting around it. The finance dept. prides itself in being the gatekeepers for junior business majors. Sort of the "chonko" for juniors, a class that most people despise and sucks up a ton of your time.  - Grade In Class:C

Comments:FIN 3310 - Well, about all I can say is...interesting. Not in the way that it sparked my desire to EVER take another finance course - rather, Fletcher will leave you scratching your head thinking hmmmm? Tests are HARD! YOU HAVE TO STUDY. I took 18 hrs. this semester and my workload for this one course was more than all other courses combined. In the end, you ARE prepared for the departmental final. My rec, take Fletch - there is no "easy" prof for this course and atleast you will develop the holy "analytical portion of your brain".  - Grade In Class:C

Comments:FIN 3310 - Ah, Fletcher. You will be forced to work hard and work often. I had to put in the most effort into this class. The tests are considerably harder than other classes. It will pay off in the end though. His classes do much better on the departmental final. Study the sample departmental final before every test, and before the final. There are very similar questions on the tests. Study thoroughly. If you can take a later class if he offers two, that way the class before you will set a larger curve on the exams. In my case, the 8:00 class before mine weren't too bright, so my class got a big curve on all of our tests. The final replaces an exam too. I never got a B on anything the whole semester, did all the extra credit, and I studied hard for the final and got a big break and squeaked out with a B. -mep-  - Grade In Class:B

Comments:3310 - Like the other posts have stated, this guy knows his stuff. He kinda does favor FIN majors a wee bit more than others and he has a tendency to pick on the Accounting majors. But, he is very helpful and wants to make sure that you know your stuff. He's very friendly as well. Just make sure that you go to class and at least have read the chapter and TRIED the homework. His tests are hard, but come time for the final, and you will be glad that you had him.   - Grade In Class:B+

Comments:3310 - This class is not that bad! I made an A and I didn't use a tutor or anything. If you show up for class, participate in class, and do your homework, you'll do fine. All the exams are curved and if you bomb one- that's ok- he will replace it with the final. He also has a review session the night before a test.  - Grade In Class:A

Comments:FIN 3310 - For my second time around I couldn't have asked for a better teacher. People who post rude things about any teacher on this board need to get a life. The only reason I got a C is because I didn't study as much as I should have. If you make a poor grade it is your own fault. Mr. Fletcher is very helpful and explains the concepts of Finance much better than the other finance teachers. He is always willing to help you out. Great prof!  - Grade In Class:C

Comments:3310 - Fletcher was a great prof. None of the nightmares I'd heard about Finance came true in his class. He cares about the students, but you need to do the work to make a descent grade in the class. But that should be expected... no Finance prof. I've heard of is handing out grades anyway.  - Grade In Class:B

Comments:3310 - This was the second time for me to take this class and what a much better time I had the second time around. Mr. Fletcher is an easy going, laugh out-loud teacher who will help you understand finance much better than any of the other teachers. Make sure to ask him to tell stories!   - Grade In Class:C

Comments:3310 - This guy knows his crap, and it's really not his fault that this class sucks so bad. The concepts are easy, but the department must be trying to prove something because the tests are more than hopelessly hard. He's better than the department head, but still any prof you get for this class is gonna spank you and make you like it.  - Grade In Class:B

Comments:FIN 3310 - He knows the material backwards and forwards, which is why he gets so frustated and has little patience for the intro class. He just expects everyone to know what he is talking about and understand his bank jargon. He'll help you if you ask, but he is very smug. And sometimes enjoys embarassing students if he knows they don't know the answer. GET A TUTOR. It's the only way to make better than a D.  - Grade In Class:B

Comments:3310 - I would not recommend Fletcher. I'm a FIN major and have never made below a B+ on any FIN class other than his. I'm good at FIN, just not whatever it is he teaches. He has an ego problem and sometimes intentionally embarasses students in class.  - Grade In Class:C+

Comments:Worst business class ever, it made me change my major. He never helped and clearly had favorites. Made a C and it screwed my GPA. The only good thing was the project. Got an A and it saved my 60 test average.

Comments:I took Fletcher for FIN 3310. This was his first semester teaching at Baylor and his teaching skills were a little rusty, but he knows everything there is to know about finance. He's helpful in his office as well.