Melissa Wolter-Gustafson is a Writing professor at Northeastern University rated 3.7/5 by 15 students, with 3.5/5 difficulty and 82.0% who would take them again (TRACE + RateMyProfessors + Reddit, updated July 2026).
Melissa Wolter-Gustafson professor reviews and ratings: 3.7/5 from 15 student reviews at Northeastern (82.0% would take again). TRACE + RateMyProfessor + Reddit.
Melissa is a great first year professor. She doesn't grade you based on your writing but rather if you completed the assignment and actually put effort into it. There are a lot of papers but at max it was 4-5 hours worth of work per week. The one thing that's annoying is that extra credit is mandatory to get an A but they're pretty small.ENGW1111 2025-12-12 00:53:24 +0000 UTC
I'm genuinely surprised by the bad reviews here. I took AWD in the Tech Professions with Melissa and I was originally scared because I hate writing. She was a superb professor, and her course got me excited to write. She used Contract Grading, which means you just have to turn stuff in complete to get a good grade. Revision days were helpful.ENGW3302 2021-12-16 23:53:00 +0000 UTC
I saw the bad reviews so I was nervous about taking her class, but Melissa was an awesome prof. She was so helpful with questions on assignments and she gave feedback on every draft so you knew what you had to change for the final. Very accommodating and accessible outside of class. Yes, AWD is a lot of work, but I thought her grading was fair.ENGW3304 2020-06-10 21:31:17 +0000 UTC
Melissa cares for education & it comes through when teaching. She is a bit verbose but explains things really well. Her examples are specifically picked to cater to class needs. She made citations interesting (wild!) & I always got good feedback on my projects. Her grading is fair, if a bit tough. She's good if you want to learn & don't mind work.ENGW3315 2019-11-25 05:07:09 +0000 UTC
Easily one of the worst teachers I have had in college. She paces back and forth the entire class which so frustrating. She also gives so much busy work its ridiculous. Course description was for Business Writing and none of the writing assignments were beneficial to being a business major. She is an extremely harsh grader as well. AVOID HER!ENGW330416132 2013-11-25 11:47:11 +0000 UTC
attendance is mandatory, assignments are graded on completion. Good teacher, useful lectures.ENGW1111 2025-11-21 17:00:37 +0000 UTC
Great professor, quite a bit of work is assigned but the professor is determined to see you do well and will assist you if you reach out to her.ENGW3302 2021-04-20 16:17:29 +0000 UTC
At some point in the semester you may begin to wonder whether this is a class or a psychological experiment designed to make students off themselves. However, if you get through it and participate you will learn a lot. If you're looking to cruise through AWD, Melissa is not the instructor for you.ENGW3304 2013-12-17 01:04:59 +0000 UTC
This teacher is very good. While some lectures can be long and repetitive, most of the info given is beneficial. The class is contract grading which makes it easier and the instructor gives a good amount of feedback on all papers and really wants the students to improve their writing.ENGW1111 2023-12-25 05:19:34 +0000 UTC
No relation between effort put in and grade. The projects I spent no time on were the ones I got the best grade on. She did not know enough about engineering to adequately grade any paper. At the end I wished I had much spent less time on the class and more time on other classes where I could learn something.ENGW3302 2019-05-02 13:43:44 +0000 UTC
Extremely hard grader. She blabbles on and on about useless things. Most of her assignments were useless and I did not benefit from them in any way. The course description was also not accurate. She does not communicate clearly and grades too harshly.ENGW3304 2013-12-10 17:53:35 +0000 UTC
I honestly have no idea how there are any bad reviews. She was a great prof, used the grading contract so it's more about effort than subjective grading, and there's clear outlines on what needs to be accomplished for each assignment. Heavy on peer review. I really enjoyed it, would definitely take again.ENGW1111 2023-12-15 01:24:59 +0000 UTC
Amazing. She wants to see you succeed and her grading contract is easy to follow. She cares about her students deeply.ENGW1111 2022-12-06 14:08:58 +0000 UTC
This woman talks about absolutely nothing for the entire class and then threatens to lower your grade if you don't pay attention. DO NOT TAKE HER!!!!ENGW1111 2022-11-29 23:45:10 +0000 UTC
The teacher is very nice and know her stuff about writing. However, grading is very tough and it becomes frustrating half way throughout the semester.ENGW1111 2014-12-09 13:14:43 +0000 UTC
Melissa Wolter-Gustafson has an average rating of 3.7/5 from 15 student reviews. 82.0% of students said they would take them again.
Melissa Wolter-Gustafson's classes have a difficulty rating of 3.5/5 based on student reviews.
Data updated July 2026.