Mastin, Tom  

Mr. Mastin was great overall because he knows his stuff and is always willing to explain things to you if you dont understand. The only problems were: he gave daily quizzes which I and most of the class never had time to finish, and hes real picky about your field books and homework (getting them in on time and having everything set up right) His voice also tends to put me to sleep during lectures but hes informative, seems to understand the subject very well, and doesnt mind answering questions.

If you are going to take intro to engineering surveying TAKE IT WITH MASTIN. Please avoid Dr. Gill at all costs if you can. Comparing the two is like night and day. I took the class with Gill and was totally lost to the point of almost being in tears. I got an F in that class. I took Dr. Mastin's version of the same exact class and got a B+. He Teaches. Lectures are presented in powerpoints. Yes, it's kind of boring, but trust me, at least he actually explains what you are going to do. He is extremely helpful in office hours if you mess up the math in your field book and can't figure out what is going wrong. I went in and he explained where my math was wrong in a kind manner that did not make me feel stupid. Labs are not bad at all. Everything is laid out clearly and he goes out in the field with you and answers questions. The only annoyance is that he does not come back to the classroom until the last group is off the field, so that they can get help from him. If you finish early you end up waiting outside with nothing to do. But that's pretty minor. The quizzes are super easy. He puts practice ones on blackboard. Homeworks are not accepted late ever. those are put on blackboard as well as the answers. The final was totally not bad at all. Just make sure you do the practice finals and you will be fine.

it's a 7 AM on a Friday morning, so it sucked. He's a pretty good professor, considering he wrote the textbook. I would recommend him, but a four hour lab on a friday morning really sucks. We had 5 homework assignments (usually out of 30 points). In the beginning of class he puts you into groups of 3 to 4 depending on alphabetical surname. If you have a good group, then you'll be chillin the entire quarter. Sucks if you don't. We had weekly quizzes (timed 10-15 minutes first thing in the morning), 10 MC Q's, which are fairly easy. His polylearn is super helpful! For the final, he gave out final practice tests and some were on the actual final. His final (lab practical (Easy) + written final(meh) ) is more difficult than the other section; my friends in the other section said they had a crossword puzzle on theirs lol. He curves the lab grades and always updates his grades every week. He also shows class ranking to see how you're doing in the class. Pulled off an A cuz of the extra credit quiz/hw he offers at the end and I studied enough for the final. he's kinda a smartass who looks at our field labs like child's play, so try not to ask dumb questions out in the field. u could probably go out on thurs night and still put off an A cuz he kinda holds your hand through all the work we do.

A true creep.

Definitely pros and cons when taking 237 with Tom. I'll list the cons first: Tom can be an asshole pretty much every class, but that's just who he is. He'll embarrass you if you say the wrong answer or need help for something that in hindsight was maybe a little stupid. He blows through the lecture slides at like a bazillion miles an hour for the first part of class, and then lets us loose to do the lab outside, many of us unclear and confused as to how to do it. He grades our labs mercilessly and will take off points for even the slightest error and mis-calculation, and even if you think you are turning in the most perfect lab ever, chances are he will find something wrong with it. In terms of pros, Tom is a damn pro at surveying. If you look under the "instructor info" on PolyLearn, you'll see that this guy has practically dedicated his life to surveying. Next, the weekly quizzes in the class are extremely easy since they're exactly the same as the Practice ones he puts online. He also gives plenty of extra credit opportunities at the end of the quarter - which if you are like me and had a high B bumped me up to an A at the end. Tom also allowed us to practice with all of the surveying equipment the day before the final which was very cash money of him. Overall, I'd say 237 is not the most exciting class for the average student. The math isn't hard at all, just a lot of tedious work that takes a good amount of focus and precision. Take it with Tom if you can, since the other teacher seems to be way worse.

I never took the time to get to know Prof. Mastin. Well, who would, at 7:00 in the morning???!!!?? The class pretty much breaks down like this: one midterm and final. There are quizzes every day class meets for the first two weeks or so but then it drops off. Your lab books are due 24 hours after your lab at precisely 11:00 am. Seriously, a SECOND late and you might as well turn it in the next day. The guy's kinda weird and he's a total dick about the equipment you check out like every single lab day. He could really care less about your wellfare as a student. I would definately NOT recommend this guy. But, you really don't have much of a choice do you?

I had Prof. Mastin for Surveying and the class seemed pretty easy. I have prior knowledge of surveying though, so I knew most of the material. He is anal about checking out materials, however you are working with $10,000 equipment....I would be anal also. The quizes are easy if you were in class the day before and understodd what was going on. But SOMETIMES when you don't get something he doesn't really seem to want to lower himself to your level and really help, not always. He is super detail oriented. Make sure to put everything you can imajine in your lab book. YOU WILL GET DOCKED FOR MISSING ANYTHING!!! Overall I thought it wasn't a bad class, just above average / average.

Prof. Mastin is an excellent prof. He is a licensed land surveyor and really knows what he is talking about. His class was very straight forward. Quiz every other day or so, one mid-term and the final. This is the only class that I had no problem waking up at 7:00am for because it was something that I looked forward to. He only spends an hour or less lecturing and the rest of the time you are out in the field. Great class.

This class is simple. Absoutly everything that you have tp do in the labs is either in the lab notebook or he spells it out for you before you do it. And for those of you that complain about getting docked for missing the slightest thing, welcome to the real world. If you pat attention and put effort into your labs/lab notebook you should do fine. I bombed most of the quizzes and still pulled an A.

Tom Mastin is one of the greatest prof's I've had at Poly. He knows his stuff, and really loves the material. That always makes it a better learning environment. He's very helpful in class and out, in the classroom or in the field doing surveying labs. If you pay attention and do exactly what his instructions spell out, you'll do fine. The class itself is cool too. You get to learn to use impressive surveying equipment, and you learn some useful things for daily use as well. Take Mastin for sure.

I won't lie, Mastin is a good teacher. It was new material to most people in the class, but he managed to teach it well. Being a 7 o'clock class, I slept through most lectures, and even missed a few quizzes. Still I managed a B. Good luck

Tom is nice guy that wants you to succed. He seems very difficult and confusing in the beginning. The classes are very straight forward. The lecture is the most boring thing in the entire world. The class is a 7 in the morning and he gives the most monotone speech about what where going to do for the lab. He knows that half the class is falling asleep but doesn't really care. He will drop little jokes and make fun us falling asleep. The labs are long and can be very tedious. i hated this class in the beginning but once i get the hang of it, it was my best class of the quarter. He tells yo exactly what he wants for labs. You must be extremly detail oriented!

Great teacher. Finished the lab writeup almost every time during class. Don't show up late because he gives like 5 minutes total for the quizzes and starts them right at the beginning of class. very helpful and a nice person overall. take him if you can.

Mastin is a really straight forward professor. His lectures are probably the most boring ever, but if you pay even a little bit of attention you will notice that he tells you EXACTLY what you need to know. His quizzes and tests are pretty much exactly the same as the ones that he posts on blackboard for you to study with. The labs are really long and usually take the whole class, and i recommmend staying and finishing the lab so that if you are confused Mastin can help you. He is great about helping students, and if you talk to him you will get 100% on every lab. Other than studying for the one midterm and doing the lab there was NO outside work for this class. Overall Mastin is a great Prof, I definitely recommmend taking him.

Mastin is a really straight forward professor. His lectures are probably the most boring ever, but if you pay even a little bit of attention you will notice that he tells you EXACTLY what you need to know. His quizzes and tests are pretty much exactly the same as the ones that he posts on blackboard for you to study with. The labs are really long and usually take the whole class, and i recommmend staying and finishing the lab so that if you are confused Mastin can help you. He is great about helping students, and if you talk to him you will get 100% on every lab. Other than studying for the one midterm and doing the lab there was NO outside work for this class. Overall Mastin is a great Prof, I definitely recommmend taking him.

Mr. Mastin is probably one of the most intelligent guys you'll ever meet on campus and THE most intelligent guy whose name isn't preceded with Dr. (though it may as well be). This guy knows his stuff and is so proficient at what he does. Come to every class and every lab (it sucks because it's 8 hours worth a week), but if you come you'll benefit for sure. Except for a few touch ups to your field book (which you better do because believe it or not he looks through EVERY person's field book in detail, no joke), you should be able to get just about everything done during lab so there's no homework. The only thing outside of class is studying for the quizzes. Now Mastin barely gives you enough time to finish the quiz, so you gotta know what you're doing going into it. If you try and figure it out as you're doing the math, it's too late because he's already collecting the paper. So study up before the quiz and go into his office hours for help. He's very helpful when you go in or ask individual questions in class... the only thing is that he is a very sarcastic guy. So just ignore his sarcasm and let him get his laugh in, but listen up to what he says because he knows his shit. Overall, the guy is pretty on top of things and if you take the class seriously, I'm sure you'll do fine.

Don't drop the total station or gps system. LOL. Okay, this guy was cool with labs and tests. Easy stuff, just study the lecture notes and go over the practice tests.

Excellent teacher! I know people like to knock Mastin for his harsh grading, but for a field of study that requires measurements accurate to a 1/100 of a foot over great distances, it makes sense to me that he grades so hard. He expects you to EARN your grade. Everyone screws up their field books the first couple of times, but then you find yourself keeping perfect notes, gee what a surprise. Lectures can be rough if you take the class in the morning, but should you fall asleep, everything is posted to blackboard for you, including reviews for every test and quiz (some of the questions are even identical). Mastin cares more for the students than most teachers. If you want help, JUST ASK, and he will help you. Oh, and don’t drop any of the equipment!

Mr. Mastin was a good professor and he has a good sense of humor. His class is not really that difficult for the most part. His exams are the hardest part of the whole course but they are definitely passable if you study. He doesn't allow you to use any notes and doesn't give you much time which makes it difficult. The other professor lets his students use notes and equation sheets and doesn't give super harsh time constraints so if you have the option I would take the other guy.

Mastin is an okay teacher, he goes pretty quick through his lectures, and he doesn't put all his slides up on blackboard i would say about 80% of them so it is important to pay attention in the lecture. There was a quiz almost every monday morning at 7am. The lab books seem really hard at first, but once you get it down you'll get really good grades on them. The midterm and finals are the hardest part about this class by far...even though i studied for them for hours my grade still dropped down to a B, but if i had done the quiz make up i would have probably gotten an A haha so make sure you do that.

Mastin is a cool professor. He presented the information very well and would address any questions that arose. He always had this smirk on his face like he was making fun of us and would never believe us when we said our equipment malfunctioned though.

Mastin was an awesome professor! He is extremely competent at surveying, but is not intimidating, and very good at sharing his knowledge with the class. There is a quiz every week, but if you can do the online practice quiz, you should be good for at least 9/10. Both the final and midterm are fairly long and involve quite a bit of trig and geometric reasoning, but just take your time. The final is easier than the midterm. As far as the labs go (one every day), he scrutinizes every page, every number. If you mess up, he will find it guaranteed. Just follow the instructions in the book carefully, and you should be good. Most people mess up 3 to 5 points out of 30 on the labs, so make sure it's not for stupid things like the page number, names, date, weather, or equipment. If you have any questions in the field, he is more than happy to reexplain the procedure. The new thing about this class is the participation grade, where you have to raise your hand and correctly answer a question 5 times during the quarter. It may not seem like much, but with 35 people in the class and Mastin only calling on 2 or 3 people a day, it can be hard to accumulate this amount. I'm not sure if anyone actually did, save one or two eager faces in front.

This class lasted the whole 4 hours almost every time. He is a hard grader as well. This class was the hardest out of the four I was taking. After every lab, expect to spend another 3 hours working to finish each lab as well as meeting with your lab group. The labs were long but easy to do but having them due at noon the next day made them difficult since you might need to meet with your team to make sure everyone gets the same notes and information. The final covered material that was all done the last 2 weeks of class making it even more difficult when the final was friday at 7 am. he saying goes if you want an A take Crowe, if you want to spend the time and learn something take Mastin. I feel like I learned to much about outdated equipment and not enough about the equipment and methods used today.

as a first quarter student at cal poly this class scared me a little. two 7 am lectures and two three hour labs but it has been my favorite class yet. the lectures were boring and you didn\'t need any of the info for the labs. the labs on the other hand were awesome. i developed two great friends in my lab partners cuz you spend probably ten hours with them a week. its also a very practical class and i\'m using it this summer for a job. overall it was an awesome class with mr. mastin.

Anybody that complains about this class (especially if they are a freshman) is in for a big surprise when they get to their real major courses. Ya its a 7am lecture, suck it up and go. The quizes are easy as long as you pay attention and dont fall asleep during lab and you have the option to write a paper to replace your lowest one in the end. The lab does take the full 3 hours each, so dont expect to get out early, but this lab is by far one of the more interesting labs you will have at poly. Practical and pretty fun, plus you can work on your tan. The lab grade is 50% of your total grade so as long as you are clear on the labs and do well on the homeworks (total of 5 or so) this can easily buffer a less than desirable midterm/final score in the lecture. Mastin is a wealth of information and was always super prepared for lab, he must stay up all night because it takes a lot for a person to be that enthusiastic at 7am. No reason anybody cant get an A, just go to lecture and do the labs.

Pretty much, what everyone said here. He\'s helpful during office hours if you don\'t let yourself give into pessimism about waking up during 7am to 11am take this lecture and lab class. He\'s not also not as sarcastic.

Mastin is an excellent professor. He is an absolute master at surveying and presenting the material. He is always willing to help during office hours or whenever. The only negative about him is that he grades very strictly, everything has to be perfect on the lab write ups and homework. Labs are everything in the class. I did terrible on the final and some of the homework and still got a B+ because I had a high average on my labs. Take him if possible

Going into this class it was easy to see that Professor Mastin was extremely knowledgeable about everything that he teaches. I would definitely recommend this class as long as you know you can get up for the 7am lecture everyday. If you are someone who snoozes through their alarm i would suggest taking the later section. The EASIEST way to get an A in the class is to follow the lab instructions exactly. Make all of your work detailed and organized. He gives you a grading rubric for every lab and grades very strictly according to it. Double check everything that is required and you will get a solid grade since Labs are worth 40% of your overall. Also make SURE to to do a good job on the homework assignments(some of them are pretty hard), and review a little for the quizzes. He gives you practice exams for the midterm and final. DO THEM! Most of the questions are the same. I know you will have a great experience in this class. My only downfall was that I slept in a few times and the Homework and Quizzes were due and taken in the first 10 mins of class.

Tom Mastin is a crusty old fuck that does not explain material that is necessary to complete hw assignements and labs. It is great that you have been using the same books since 1974 and that you have tenure. Lecturing with a monotone voice about the exact same things that are in your useless textbooks in no way help us succeed as students. If I ever see you outside of class I am going to pelt you with a waterballoon.

This is not a hard class at all. If you have the 7 a.m. class the only hard part is waking up and going to class. Some of the work is tedious but the labs are easy and practical. If you have any ounce of common sense in you then you should understand the material. Besides that the math is basic and mainly trig. However, he is anal about homework and labs so everything needs to be precise. He puts up practice quizes, midterms, and a practice final and blackboard which are pretty much the same as the ones you take so as long as you do them you should get a good grade. If you do the work in this class, then you should get a good grade.

Mastin's class is the more difficult of the two BRAE 239 classes, but that's not to say that its very hard. The lab's are fairly straight forward, and if you screw something up, he'll tell you shortly after. The lecture sucks at 7am, just make sure you can stay awake and get some participation points for shouting out an answer in class. His quizzes and homework are difficult, but he puts up practice midterms and finals. It's not an easy class to get an A in, but its definitely manageable to get a B.

Mastin knows surveying so well, and it shows. The labs can be fun and the 4 hours goes by fast. The tests and quizzes are easy because he gives samples and they are exactly the same. The labs should be as close as possible to the example because he's a very strict grader. If you do things right and work hard in class, you should not have any outside work. The hardest part is doing a 4 hour class at 7am. Crowe is an easier grader but if you want to learn something valuable, take Mastin. I recommend him.

Mastin is a good teacher. You'll learn a lot in 10 weeks. He isn't as easy as some of the other professors and is a stickler on format, but overall he is a good teacher. Once you realize how he wants everything formatted, he's easy. Sample quizzes and exam problems are often repeated on the actual exam/quizzes, so make sure to complete before.

Professor Mastin was a great professor. He responded to his emails quickly and was always there to help us with the labs. It was not hard to get an A in the class. Just listen to his lectures and study the sample quizzes he posts online. In the beginning of the quarter, I got marked down a lot for the labs. As time went by, I started getting A's on the labs. You'll eventually be able to understand what he wants on his labs to avoid getting marked down too much. The class was very clear and scheduled. He posts the lectures online at least a day before and always keeps us updated on our grades. There were six quizzes and if we do bad on one of the quizzes, we could write a two page report to make it up. They weren't that bad. Some of the homework was a bit tricky, but you would be able to figure them out especially if you have his textbook.

Mastin is the man. He is fairly stern, but strictness is good in a class overrun by freshmen. He was willing to work with my scheduling issues, and always helpful in class or in the field. Hard to laugh at his jokes at 7am, but he is an all around solid teacher.

Mastin's an outstanding professor. Surveying's a very interesting subject matter, and Mastin 100% does it justice. He's very knowledgeable (has great stories) and could answer any question you could possibly have about the labs. He definitely makes the class a lot of work, but I enjoyed it enough that it took until very close to the end of the quarter for the 7 AM class to start getting old.

Tommy B is great. Sometimes the class can be boring, but like everyone says everything is pretty straightforward. Once you realize what you're doing it's like hey this is pretty cool.

Brae is a long class and youre outside alot I took it in the spring when its nice out and thats really the only quarter you should take it. Mastin knows his shit lab this class is easy as long as you pay attention in the lab and at least alittle in the lecture. He told us first day of class we could go on our phones while hes lecturing because he knows it can be tedious. Overall midterm and final were fare and other then the one hw assignment per week theres not that much work outside of the class would recommend taking him

Professor Mastin is one of the sassiest people I've ever met, but he is also one of the best professors I've encountered here at Cal Poly. He expects you to do the work and will know when you didn't, but he never sets you up for failure. He makes sure that you have all the resources to pass- it's up to you to put in the work to make sure you do. It is a time consuming class but totally doable, and definitely not difficult once it clicks. He really makes you think, but his grading is fair. However, if you mess up, even slightly, on a lab he will know. This man checks EVERYTHING. It's actually amazing how he does it so quickly. Go to his office hours if you don't understand something- he's super willing to help. He will probably seem like a dick in the beginning, but by the end of the quarter my whole class appreciated him. If you can take Mastin I highly recommend him.

Mastin is the man. This guy knows his surveying and aerial photogrammetry. He will help you any chance you get and his test are fair and they are not full of crap that other teachers put in just so they feel smarter on test when you miss them. Mastin is a little monotone, and I fell asleep in his class many times, but just ask him a question in office hours and you'll do fine.

Ok let

Mastin is a good lecture and profesor, he teaches well and efficiently with a little humor. 345 is boring with confusing labs, but that is the only bad thing. Mastin as a professor, is very good and dialed in, he really knows his work and like it too. I would choose him if I had a choice.

As the title of the class suggests, the work is ADVANCED. Its hard, but not time consuming. Almost everything can be done within the given time of the labs. Mastin is an excellent teacher, and you will not find anyone within 100 miles of SLO that knows more about surveying. The lectures can get tiresome but help a lot for the quizzes. GPS is used a lot, as well as AutoCAD and ArcGIS. Its worth it if you plan on working hard. YOU CANNOT SLACK AND PASS. However, an A grade is reasonable if you want to work enough to get one.

This was a great class that covered a wide variety of "advanced" survey topics, such as GPS planning and precision, RTK GPS vs. total station for topo surveys, generating parcels from surveys and pulling them into GIS. As a transportation guy with previous internship experience in highway design, I can say that 75-80% of this material is relevant for that. All the topics were interesting though, like why you need to plan for GPS surveying with respect to time of day and physical obstructions to get the highest accuracy. Overall, there were 10 labs that took either one or two class days to finish, a lot of it being computer work in Civil 3D or ArcGIS. The field procedures were simple enough, it was the report writing that took a bit of time- not more than a couple hours outside class per week, though. Grading with Mastin is the same as in 239- thorough, picky, and fair. Generally harder to get higher than an A- or lower than a B. The midterm and final were both significantly shorter and easier than those in 239, with easier computations and less questions. Similarly, there are weekly quizzes and practice quizzes and tests posted. Be warned though, on the first day of class he expects you to remember almost everything from 239, and to be able to do those procedures quickly. Review your notes on leveling and total stations, particularly...this caught everyone off guard! Overall, I highly recommend Mastin and this class, you will not regret taking it!

he sure does like his women, wet!!