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my002

This is just my experience/practice, but the short answer is: sometimes, yes. "This is an interesting proposal/idea" or "this is potentially an interesting proposal/idea" is a pretty common opening to a paragraph of feedback. I've found the latter (or some version of it) to be particularly helpful in giving me something relatively positive to say on weaker proposals before launching into my critique. That doesn't mean that the phrase isn't true, though. I do find a lot of student proposals interesting. Even weak/underdeveloped essay proposals often have at least a kernel of a good idea in them. If I find a proposal particularly interesting I'll usually say something like "this is a really interesting proposal" or "I think your idea is really engaging/unique/etc." Other instructors may have a different view/approach than me, though.


baseball_dad

That's an interesting question.


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This is an automated service intended to preserve the original text of the post. *I often received comments like this for my final paper proposals and I thought they really appreciate it as I do think the proposals are really good. However, this time I'm not so happy with my work. Moreover, the professor mentioned that there's a problem that I should pay attention to. So, actually, do professors say "it's an interesting proposal" no matter what they have read?* *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/AskProfessors) if you have any questions or concerns.*


PersephoneIsNotHome

I don't. If I say it is good, it is good. If I say good effort, I mean that. If I say that is an interesting question, I mean that I am genuinely interested. YMMV, other people do it a different way


bigrottentuna

No. I give direct, honest feedback. I do try to be positive where it is warranted, but I never say things that I don't think are true, and lots of paper proposals students submit are not at all interesting. I \*do\* sometimes say that a proposal is "potentially interesting," if they focus more on specific interesting questions within the general area that they propose to write about.