Katherine Chan is a Music professor at Northeastern University rated 2.81/5 by 482 students, with 3.63/5 difficulty and 25.0% who would take them again (TRACE + RateMyProfessors + Reddit, updated July 2026).
Katherine Chan professor reviews and ratings: 2.81/5 from 482 student reviews at Northeastern (25.0% would take again). TRACE + RateMyProfessor + Reddit.
She is most chill in Mosaic, most stressed in chorus, and most critical in chamber. The attendance policy is strict. She has fantastic music selection and is great at shaping. If you get to know her, she is quite nice. She fits the stereotype of hardcore choir teachers, so if you are fine with that, you'll have a great time.MUSC1904 2025-12-08 22:12:00 +0000 UTC
Dr. Chan is knowledgeable and showed passion for the material taught in the course. She was great at explaining the concepts in a clear and understandable way, and connected several of topics to genres outside of classical music. Overall, she is good but sometimes she can be harsh or direct.MUSC1119 2025-12-08 19:20:54 +0000 UTC
i hate this teacher with a burning passionMUSC2209 2025-05-29 17:51:49 +0000 UTC
Genuinely the worst professor I've ever had. Whoever gave her a 5 was lying. She put on a front of being understanding and supportive, but when it came down to it she would be incredibly unkind, unsupportive, judgmental, and high-tempered. All of this made it incredibly difficult to learn uninterrupted.MUS1119 2024-08-26 18:45:34 +0000 UTC
She was nice to the new students and graded them gently, but she put pressure on those who had a foundation. I think she is biased against students from mainland China (not Taiwan) and it's easy to feel it. On the final exam, Ms. Chen kept telling me that another student came so I speeded up and she said why don't you play slower to avoid mistakes.musc1205 2023-04-19 16:04:59 +0000 UTC
Dr. Chan seems scarier than she actually is, but be prepared to practice your part. Chorus is a lifestyle for her, not just a club. She is intense.MUSC1904 2023-11-20 19:05:42 +0000 UTC
If I could give this woman a zero, I would. She's rude to students, critical of failure, and constantly bragging about her own musical abilities. I feel like she only comes to class to show off and has no interest in teaching her students anything. And if you go to her for help? Don't bother. Just go on youtube.MUSC1119 2021-02-23 18:23:26 +0000 UTC
I've never experienced an instructor who seemed to have as hard of a time offering positive feedback as her. Berates her students and is scary to work with. Raised her voice at students and humiliated them in front of the full class many times, claiming “that's how it works in a masterclass setting”. This class hurt my passion for music.MUSC2209 2025-04-27 00:49:33 +0000 UTC
I have mixed feelings about Dr. Chan. At the beginning of the year, she was rude and abrasive and graded very harshly. Towards the very end of the semester, she suddenly became nicer and worked with us more. However, this didn't erase the unnecessarily harsh grading and rudeness at the start of the semester.MUS1119 2022-12-07 16:06:18 +0000 UTC
I took chorus this year with Professor Chan, and I don't plan to do it again in the future. Chorus was much better in high school, and Professor Chan single-handedly destroyed my enjoyment of singing. She can be rude and often singles out students in front of the whole ensemble, and chorus just doesn't feel like a worthwhile experience.MUSC1904 2022-12-15 15:58:15 +0000 UTC
Cannot stress how much I disliked having Professor Chan as a teacher. I was required to take her music theory course and it was awful. She has no skills in teaching. Sure, she's knowledgeable, but she is awful at teaching that information. She is unforgiving whenever someone doesn't understand, rude, and disrespectful. Also a super harsh grader.MUSC1119 2021-02-23 18:13:08 +0000 UTC
nope. just dont.MUSC2209 2025-04-26 02:26:05 +0000 UTC
I hate this prof with a burning passion. She killed all enjoyment I previously had for music. I would recommend taking this class if you do not have enough drama in your life and are looking for some (she loves to yell at students). She constantly would remind us that mistakes were permitted, but would literally yell at students who made mistakes.MUS1119 2022-04-27 16:04:35 +0000 UTC
I think Dr. Chan does a fantastic job with the 3 ensembles (at least of what I've experienced thus far in Fall 2022), given the limited resources the University has given the choral program (and CAMD in general) to work with. If you go to Northeastern expecting a well-funded and robust music program, you're going to the wrong school.MUSC1904 2022-10-26 14:48:00 +0000 UTC
Overall, Dr. Chan was well suited for teaching conducting. She comes in every day ready to go and help the students improve in their skills. She is very knowledgable in this field and will do whatever she can to help. However, she can be very direct, rude, and condescending when you ask her questions.MUSC2209 2025-04-10 17:32:26 +0000 UTC
Katherine Chan has an average rating of 2.81/5 from 482 student reviews. 25.0% of students said they would take them again.
Katherine Chan's classes have a difficulty rating of 3.63/5 based on student reviews.
Katherine Chan has taught MUSC1119, MUSC1205, MUSC1904, MUSC1915, MUSC2209 at Northeastern.
Data updated July 2026.