This class is overall pretty easy given that you receive an extra credit opportunity for every paper you turn in. Ex: the first exam may involve 3 mini-essays with 50 points each, and there's an extra credit question worth 50 points. So. you can see how just doing the extra credit can put you way ahead of the curve. I only went to 2 lectures in person, but Professor Macias records his lectures. But to be honest, you only really need to look at his slides then read to get an A on an essay. Your TA grades your papers and they were all pretty accommodating. The class gets easier as time goes by: the first exam had 3 mandatory questions, the second one had 2, and the third had 1 (all still having the 50-point extra credit question).

I have taken several Chicana/o classes in the past as a requirement for GE's and the minor and this class by far was the worst. The class had a crazy amount of readings. I think if I had actually done all the readings it would've been maybe 9-10 hours of reading per week. The exams were not too bad, being that I never read or attended lecture. However I think they weren't that bad solely because our class spoke up on the amount of work. Professor is very old schooled. Grading system was a mess. I did not know my grade at any point of the quarter. Class is feasible. Class is not enjoyable. Professor spoke down on us claiming we had no reason to complain over the work given because "our lives are so much easier then back in the day". Overall, feasible class, but not enjoyable.

I took this class as a requirement for the Chicano Studies minor, and it almost made me reconsider the whole program. You know a class is bad when there are 300 students enrolled and by week 5 only a tiny fraction (like 30 people) are still attending in person. For this class, there are 3 midterms (one due finals week) that rely on the assigned readings each week. The easiness of this course depends on your TA. My TA was extremely helpful, but I heard horror stories about the other TAs. The exams would be one or two essay questions, plus an extra credit essay. However, towards the end of the quarter, the professor announced that extra credit would not be cumulative, and only applied to the assignment. Many students thought this was unfair, including the TAs, and they were overwhelmed by how difficult the professor made the grading system work. If this class is taught by another professor in the future, rejoice because no one is as bad as Professor Macias.

Gives a ridiculous amount of readings and does not care for students' well-being. He preaches about social change however he shuts down students that spoke up when they shared their concerns that they thought he was being unfair to the class. Also tells you your opinions are wrong. I will say he is very passionate about the topic

He gives you an overload of reading and not considerate of his students be patient and you can pass. He also gaslights his students on any opinion and ideas.

I chose this class with Professor Macias because I needed Chicano 101 for the Chican@ Minor. I was scared of him in the beginning but I guess he has a resting serious face. Disadvantages of Macias: He is very vocal (So he rarely uses Slides and lots of us had to bring laptops to type everything he says), expensive textbooks (But I learned sooo much from the readings), The TA's were confused by his instructions, he assigns lots of readings and even wanted us to do "Matrices" for them but the TA's stopped assigning them cause they were a waste of time. I'm a first year and I got an A! I honestly think it was because my TA graded our assignments nicely lol. In the first week of Discussion, my TA said "Professor Abrego is teaching this class in the Fall so maybe drop this class now if you don't like it because Macias asks for a lot." That made me regret taking the class but honestly the readings were the only hardest part of the class. He gives 2 midterms and a final (But Macias calls them all midterms) and a Book Review. They were take-home and a bit hard cause you have the find the info from the readings. I took advantage of AAP's PLFs. That really helped me get an A. If you have to take this class with Macias because of your schedule then just take it because it is a nice experience.