Professor
David Sears
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Most Helpful Review
Professor Sears is an expert in his field. He is also very eager to teach and help students with the material. Here are the facts: he uses 2 textbooks that you will have to be read during the 10 weeks of the course in addition to weekly online ‘articles’ which add up to 50-100 pages per week. On top of that, there are the PowerPoint slides and all the additional information that he goes over during lectures. Average midterm grade was a ‘D’ for the whole class and he flunked the whole class for the final paper. Midterm and final are short answer which is the most challenging thing to do when you are expected to memorize the smallest details from hundreds and hundreds of pages read before the exam. He has a curve that will make your F turn into a C, but how good is that when you really want to learn and the professor is unrealistic with his expectations – not to mention your GPA? If this course was taught by any other professor with hard work you could get an A, but that’s not the case with Sears. He is in his mid 70s and his class style reflects that. As many other reviews say, he is a nice guy and a Poli Sci expert but your GPA WILL suffer. Don’t believe me? Take the class then.
Professor Sears is an expert in his field. He is also very eager to teach and help students with the material. Here are the facts: he uses 2 textbooks that you will have to be read during the 10 weeks of the course in addition to weekly online ‘articles’ which add up to 50-100 pages per week. On top of that, there are the PowerPoint slides and all the additional information that he goes over during lectures. Average midterm grade was a ‘D’ for the whole class and he flunked the whole class for the final paper. Midterm and final are short answer which is the most challenging thing to do when you are expected to memorize the smallest details from hundreds and hundreds of pages read before the exam. He has a curve that will make your F turn into a C, but how good is that when you really want to learn and the professor is unrealistic with his expectations – not to mention your GPA? If this course was taught by any other professor with hard work you could get an A, but that’s not the case with Sears. He is in his mid 70s and his class style reflects that. As many other reviews say, he is a nice guy and a Poli Sci expert but your GPA WILL suffer. Don’t believe me? Take the class then.
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Most Helpful Review
Fall 2017 - I would never take a class with Sears again. He is extremely nice and offers help to anyone seeking it out, but the class is extremely difficult to the point that you lose motivation half-way through the quarter. Both his midterm and final have an insane curve, and thats because his exams are ridiculous. I feel like this professor has high expectations of his students, but these expectations are quite absurd. The only reason I chose this class was because it sounded interesting. Since this is my first quarter at UCLA, I had no idea about BruinWalk before choosing this class. Now I know to never let something like this happen again. This class has ruined my quarter and I feel like I am walking out of the class not learning anything.
Fall 2017 - I would never take a class with Sears again. He is extremely nice and offers help to anyone seeking it out, but the class is extremely difficult to the point that you lose motivation half-way through the quarter. Both his midterm and final have an insane curve, and thats because his exams are ridiculous. I feel like this professor has high expectations of his students, but these expectations are quite absurd. The only reason I chose this class was because it sounded interesting. Since this is my first quarter at UCLA, I had no idea about BruinWalk before choosing this class. Now I know to never let something like this happen again. This class has ruined my quarter and I feel like I am walking out of the class not learning anything.
Most Helpful Review
Fall 2015 - Do not take this class, it was really dumb how hard this class is. I am a poli sci major who rarely struggles in classes--and I actually studied hard. The midterm curve is insane because the test is too hard. He is very boring at lecture- so monotoned and so quiet. Not worth time, I don't know if he's a good researcher but definitely not meant to be a professor.
Fall 2015 - Do not take this class, it was really dumb how hard this class is. I am a poli sci major who rarely struggles in classes--and I actually studied hard. The midterm curve is insane because the test is too hard. He is very boring at lecture- so monotoned and so quiet. Not worth time, I don't know if he's a good researcher but definitely not meant to be a professor.
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