Nathaniel Farrell
1 course · 26 reviews
All Reviews
Very bad rubric and prompt is never clear. Skips me during office hours, letting other students who arrived after get help first. Also hurried me along one time to get to another student.
12/17/2025
One of the worst professors I've had. His grading is unclear and subjective. He favors certain students, checking up w/ them after class. A classmate and I made similar mistakes on essays, but I was graded much more harshly. His office hours are unhelpful and vague. Lots of readings and a few papers, but appropriate for a 3-credit class.
12/8/2025
Dr Farrell was a pretty great college writing teacher. He's a fairly lenient grader, classes are active and engaging, and his feedback and expectations are clear. I was surprised to see all the 1 star ratings.
5/14/2025
Farrell is very passionate and engages in class discussions. He gives vague instructions and has extremely high expectations that are poorly communicated. He is extremely nitpicky and sometimes straight-up condescending. If you want a chill College Writing, steer clear.
5/12/2025
The instructions for assignments are vague and confusing, but if you ask him he will clarify. He is very nice and understanding. Pop quizzes on readings.
1/23/2025
2-4 hrs/week
If you work to get to know Farrell it will go A LONG WAY. He doesn't randomly assign favorites, but appreciates students who early-on participate in discussion and GO TO OFFICE HOURS!!! He loves when students do and will help you a lot with structuring your assignments. Humorous, nice Prof- just a bit subjective in the sense you could tell where his passion for a topic ran wide and topics where it ran thin (don't write about AI or ChatGPT, he doesn't like that topic)
5/22/2024
2-4 hrs/week
Is a pretty subjective grader. Okay class. Some of the topics are interesting.
5/21/2024
Really sweet guy. Tough grader on essays but accessible for feedback. Pop quizzes on readings
5/6/2024
Nathaniel is a very polarizing professor. The class focuses heavily on the readings, which there are a lot of, and not as much on writing. He often wants your papers to have a specific argument and it is very difficult to go against his view for paper. Some times class discussions great sometimes they are terrible. Only take this class if you care.
5/5/2024
Dr. Farrell is fantastic. Just get prepared for the class discussion and work hard on the revision.
1/21/2024
Nathaniel was the best introduction I could've had to WashU. He has a genuine interest in course topics, making class discussions insightful and engaging. Through Nathaniel's thoughtful feedback and guidance, my writing skills significantly improved. Nathaniel is very understanding and it is clear he only has the students' best interest in mind.
12/17/2023
Professor Farrell is an excellent teacher. He is caring, understanding, and is genuinely passionate about the course material. If you contribute meaningfully to class discussions and take the time to write solid essays you will get strong marks.
6/2/2023
I could not recommend a more dedicated and thoughtful professor! After having Dr. Farrell for 2 semesters, I have walked away with an incredible improvement in my ability to write and think critically. He has a great way of pulling unique ideas and genuine intellectual curiosity out of all his students. He's also very understanding with due dates.
5/30/2023
Professor Farrell was very accommodating with personal issues and extensions and gave good feedback on the essays. He clearly cares about his students and is passionate about the class's topics. He puts a lot of thought into the material and grading. However, it's a hard class that requires reading that may be boring if you're not intersted.
5/26/2023
Good person, cares about students, passionate about course. By no means an easy class; you need to do 15-40 pg readings before almost every class and be prepared to discuss (or take a pop quiz) on them. Three essays that need (!) to be high-quality. Course certainly improved my writing, he gives really thoughtful/insightful comments on drafts.
4/20/2023
Farrell made citizen scientist really interesting and thought provoking. Although this will not be a walk in the park, I think my writing skills improved greatly, don't shy away from Farrell!
3/31/2023
Nathaniel is a quirky and kind guy. He is incredibly knowledgeable about literally everything and is good at leading discussions, although he can be a bit pretentious about his own interpretations of readings. The class isn't very structured, but when it comes to developing paper writing skills he gives thoughtful and helpful feedback.
12/23/2022
Nathaniel is a great professor. He is caring and cordial when it comes to his relationships with students, and meeting with him for help outside of class is greatly useful. That said, CWP112 is a lot of work, so stay on top of it. I didn't rate him a 5 because I found his lectures and instructions somewhat convoluted sometimes, but this was minor.
12/7/2022
Nathaniel is a great professor. He is caring and cordial when it comes to his relationships with students, and meeting with him for help outside of class is greatly useful. That said, CWP112 is a lot of work, so stay on top of it.nnI didn't rate him a 5 because I found his lectures and instructions somewhat convoluted sometimes, but this was minor.
12/7/2022
The course requires time set aside for some content-heavy but very interesting readings, but it isn't much work if you just participate and do the readings. Farrell is very understanding overall, cares about your growth as a writer, gives good feedback, and clearly states what he expects in drafts and revisions.
12/6/2022
Professor was nice, go to his office hours, very helpful. There's a lot of tough articles we had to read, so set time aside for them. A lot of short essays and long essays throughout the semester. Overall, I learned a lot from this professor.
8/30/2022
Farrell gets hate because CW is a required class&no one wants to take it, but the hate is kinda undeserved. He's not the easiest grader, but if you put effort into your essays you'll do well. Participation in class matters, so make sure to do the readings. Overall, content was genuinely interesting; you can tell he tries&cares! Very understanding!
7/29/2022
The class is a decent amount of reading, but the readings are normally interesting and are applied in class discussions. Grading was fair - the average on most papers was around 90%. Farrell was understanding of extenuating circumstances and was available outside of class regularly.
6/2/2022
A lot of students complain about Farrel, but if you get to know him, he's actually a very caring professor. You have to talk during office hour to get an A. Very interesting lectures and engaging reading materials, which separates him from the mediocre writing professors.
5/4/2022
You can't just skate by and expect and A, but you probably won't get a C or D either. Grade is very based off of essays. If you at least skim the readings most of the time, try to participate in the class (usually very interesting), and put effort into your final essay drafts (only 3 essays), you should do very well. Very nice/smart prof.
1/16/2022