David Schmitt is a Political Science professor at Northeastern University rated 3.3/5 by 25 students, with 3.6/5 difficulty (TRACE + RateMyProfessors + Reddit, updated July 2026).
David Schmitt professor reviews and ratings: 3.3/5 from 25 student reviews at Northeastern. TRACE + RateMyProfessor + Reddit.
Very nice guy, interesting topics and very helpful. Can get boring at times but it doesn't matter, you will enjoy Schmitt. Go to his office hours, he would love to talk to you about your future plans and how he can helpPOLSPOLS 2012-03-28 07:56:24 +0000 UTC
Biggest downfall: slow talker, goes on tangents. I'm a liberal, and gave liberal views and still did very well! You do not have to regurgitate what he says, but give him damn good reasons. He respects it, seriously don't back down. Maybe helps that I'm very military oriented, and know a lot about military issues.POLS3420 2012-03-27 16:37:24 +0000 UTC
One of the best professor I have ever had. He is nice, caring, respectful and extremely helpful. Very interesting guy as well, go see him in office hours, he loves that!POLS1000 2011-12-07 11:40:41 +0000 UTC
Schmitt is a terribad professor. Just terribad. He's another one of those guys who grades you not on the insight of what you say but how effectively and completely you tell him what he wants to hear. You must hand his own opinions back to him if you want a good grade. I only accommodated this for so long, and my grade dropped at the end. Good.NATLSEC 2009-04-14 18:43:10 +0000 UTC
I have taken War&Pol Violence and ethnic conflict classes-I loved them. Yes, he talks about N. Ireland a lot. But he had some awesome experiences there. He has moderate/conservative views, but listens and evaluates everyone's views in class without letting that affect the class itself. Very fair, gives everyone a chance. Don't be lazy, read.POLU420 2008-01-07 15:25:19 +0000 UTC
i had him for ethnic conflict. do not expect to discuss Iraq or any real contemporary ethnic conflict. focus is on n. ireland. *yawn. midterm & final are stressful. still approachable, if you need help w. writing/comprehension he'll help. can get lost in class if u dont read, directly discusses the readingsPOL415 2007-11-14 01:53:34 +0000 UTC
I took Ethnic Conflict in Comparative Politics with Prof. Schmitt and he was wonderful. I agree with the other students that it was a hard class, but I was expecting it going in. He touched on a lot of cases I ahdn't discussed in other classes, which was great. He knows a lot about N. Ireland and brought about an interest in that conflict for me.POLU415 2007-01-10 21:17:17 +0000 UTC
Class could be interesting at times, but he had a habit of going off on tangents. Loved to name drop to make himself feel important, this got old after a while. Also seemed to favor those of the class who were in the army..... has a very demanding final and term paper, which were both VERY annoying.POL420 2006-12-11 12:48:52 +0000 UTC
Ethnic Conflict was THE HARDEST CLASS I'VE TAKEN AT NORTHEASTERN. Lowest grade I've gotten here.ETH1 2006-11-01 04:44:39 +0000 UTC
Took his class more than a decade ago. While I learned a good bit about the basics of political science, he sometimes had a tendency to go off on tangents on areas unrelated to poli-sci like "how great it was to be at a "University" like NU. While it was fine the first week, it got old pretty fast. Workload was not too bad, grading was lenient.INTROTOPOL 2006-02-03 01:03:54 +0000 UTC
Interesting class and great professor but lots of difficult reading made it a bit frustrating and overwhelming at times.ETHNICCONFLICT 2005-12-18 23:25:36 +0000 UTC
very smart and interesting teacher gives you a lot of reading and expects good discussions but is a very fair grader. enjoyable class, good teacherETHICALCONFLICT 2005-08-30 22:07:15 +0000 UTC
he's a tough but very fair grader, and a great teacher who takes the time if you need itMNAY 2005-06-15 12:28:55 +0000 UTC
I disagree - I learned a lot in this class and thought this professor was a great instructor.POL 2004-12-27 14:06:07 +0000 UTC
Did a decent job with the material, but International Relations is not my thing. Material on tests and quizzes is not in the lectures.POLU160 2004-12-19 22:25:28 +0000 UTC
David Schmitt has an average rating of 3.3/5 from 25 student reviews.
David Schmitt's classes have a difficulty rating of 3.6/5 based on student reviews.
David Schmitt has taught POLS3415 at Northeastern.
Data updated July 2026.