Current instructor

Gustavo Parra-Montesinos

Adjusted rating
RMP difficulty
captured reviews
About this rating

Raw average: 1.50/5 from 4 quality ratings. The adjusted rating blends this with the UW review average (3.66/5), weighted as 20 additional ratings. Smaller samples stay closer to that average. Each captured review is counted once in the prior; this does not correct who chooses to leave a review.

RMP profile ↗ · All captured review dates; profile matched by name.

What students say

Original student reviews · all captured dates

CEE440 · course not matched
Quality 1/5Difficulty 5/5
Prof Parra knows the topics but lacks in explaining on a more basic level. Lectures are just reading off sloppy pdfs and he expects you to do everything using his own specific methods. HW are very complicated compared to class examples (not to mention he barely covers mathcad which is expected to be used for some assignments).
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CEE649 · course not matched
Quality 3/5Difficulty 3/5
Professor Parra is an extremely intelligent person and it comes off as a bit overwhelming at times. He does lecture a bit robotically while he teaches off of his pre-scanned pdf documents, but he does intermittently stop to ask if there are any questions, which is extremely important to take advantage of because he will stop to re-explain items.
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CEE649 · course not matched
Quality 1/5Difficulty 5/5
Prof. Parra is exceptionally knowledgeable in Structural Engineering. However, he has lost touch with what it is like to be a student. He lectures monotonously off of pre-written scanned PDFs that are impossible to keep pace with and relies heavily on the program MathCAD for homework which he never teaches students to use.
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CEE440 · course not matched
Quality 1/5Difficulty 5/5
Professor Parra is clearly very intelligent. However, he struggles with teaching. There were many topics that were not simplified to the student level whatsoever. His lectures are just him reading off a pdf with very complicated examples. Homework's are just a test of your Mathcad coding ability.
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Personal experiences, not a representative survey. Profile matching and captured coverage are shown in the source details.

Classes with Gustavo Parra-Montesinos

Independent Study for civil or environmental engineering under faculty supervision, involving conducting and reporting on research.

Offering recorded · Spring 2027 · Sources

historical GPA · grades

Spring 2023–Spring 2026 · limited sample

Pre-dissertation research under faculty supervision where students integrate multidisciplinary knowledge to develop and test civil or environmental engineering research hypotheses.

Offering recorded · Spring 2027 · Sources

No recorded grade history

CIVENGR 990

Thesis

1–12 credits

Thesis work under faculty supervision where students integrate multidisciplinary knowledge to develop and test civil or environmental engineering research hypotheses.

Offering recorded · Spring 2027 · Sources

No recorded grade history

Advanced Independent Study allows students to conduct and report on independent civil or environmental engineering research under faculty supervision.

Offering recorded · Spring 2027 · Sources

historical GPA · grades

Fall 2022–Spring 2023 · limited sample

Recorded teaching history

Distinct courses recorded per term

Explore courses taught by this instructor →
Browse recorded courses
TermCourseTitle
Spring 2027CIVENGR 647Concrete Structures III
Spring 2027CIVENGR 699Independent Study
Spring 2027CIVENGR 790Master's Research or Thesis
Spring 2027CIVENGR 890Pre-dissertator's Research
Spring 2027CIVENGR 990Thesis
Spring 2027CIVENGR 999Advanced Independent Study
Fall 2026CIVENGR 440Structural Analysis II
Fall 2026CIVENGR 643Prestressed Concrete
Fall 2026CIVENGR 699Independent Study
Fall 2026CIVENGR 790Master's Research or Thesis
Fall 2026CIVENGR 890Pre-dissertator's Research
Fall 2026CIVENGR 990Thesis
Fall 2026CIVENGR 999Advanced Independent Study

Teaching history may be incomplete. Course pages contain course-specific feedback and citations.

Instructor identity & provenance
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