Professor
Thomas Sherrer
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Most Helpful Review
Fall 2021 - This is by far the most engaging, interesting, and pertinent political science class I've taken at UCLA. "Professor" Sherrer is exceptionally talented and gives engaging and clear lectures (it's amazing to have a professor that actually speaks like a normal human being and not a robot programmed to spew out overcomplicated academic jargon, as do 90% of the tenured faculty here). The readings for this class are fairly light and the vast majority of them were actually very interesting. I think there may have been only two or three that were boring (the majority were Washington Post or NYT articles, excerpts from a very recent/engaging book, and super cool voter psychology studies). None of the readings felt like filler or irrelevant to the course (again, credit to Sherrer for planning the class so well). Grading is fair and is based on a midterm (30% of grade, was super easy), a short writing assignment (20%), an infographic (10%), and a final (40% of grade, very fair but marginally harder than the midterm). Sherrer is very organized and uses very clear slides. He also recorded lecture and did not require attendance. I highly, highly recommend this class and Prof. Sherrer in general. I wish UCLA's political science department offered more classes related to this topic.
Fall 2021 - This is by far the most engaging, interesting, and pertinent political science class I've taken at UCLA. "Professor" Sherrer is exceptionally talented and gives engaging and clear lectures (it's amazing to have a professor that actually speaks like a normal human being and not a robot programmed to spew out overcomplicated academic jargon, as do 90% of the tenured faculty here). The readings for this class are fairly light and the vast majority of them were actually very interesting. I think there may have been only two or three that were boring (the majority were Washington Post or NYT articles, excerpts from a very recent/engaging book, and super cool voter psychology studies). None of the readings felt like filler or irrelevant to the course (again, credit to Sherrer for planning the class so well). Grading is fair and is based on a midterm (30% of grade, was super easy), a short writing assignment (20%), an infographic (10%), and a final (40% of grade, very fair but marginally harder than the midterm). Sherrer is very organized and uses very clear slides. He also recorded lecture and did not require attendance. I highly, highly recommend this class and Prof. Sherrer in general. I wish UCLA's political science department offered more classes related to this topic.
Most Helpful Review
Fall 2023 - By far the easiest yet most valuable class I've taken at UCLA. Each week consists of a guest speaker and Q&A session from a different career within political science. There's only a few assignments that make up your entire grade (no tests or quizzes) and all of them are super easy. Sherrer also gives really good advice on financial and educational planning that will help you make good decisions to guide your future. If you need a bump in your GPA and want some life skills along the way, this is the class you need to take.
Fall 2023 - By far the easiest yet most valuable class I've taken at UCLA. Each week consists of a guest speaker and Q&A session from a different career within political science. There's only a few assignments that make up your entire grade (no tests or quizzes) and all of them are super easy. Sherrer also gives really good advice on financial and educational planning that will help you make good decisions to guide your future. If you need a bump in your GPA and want some life skills along the way, this is the class you need to take.
Most Helpful Review
Fall 2020 - Professor Sherrer is such a cool dude and a great teacher. He is engaging and so passionate about American politics. He had great lecture slides and encouraged us to engage in breakout room discussions with our peers every class. This helped us feel a bit more connected to each other during online school. The class was made up of two homework assignments that were full credit if submitted on time, attendance and multiple choice and short answer midterm and final. There was no textbook required and instead, he provided really interesting chapters from books he enjoyed. I would highly recommend taking this class and any class he teaches at UCLA.
Fall 2020 - Professor Sherrer is such a cool dude and a great teacher. He is engaging and so passionate about American politics. He had great lecture slides and encouraged us to engage in breakout room discussions with our peers every class. This helped us feel a bit more connected to each other during online school. The class was made up of two homework assignments that were full credit if submitted on time, attendance and multiple choice and short answer midterm and final. There was no textbook required and instead, he provided really interesting chapters from books he enjoyed. I would highly recommend taking this class and any class he teaches at UCLA.
Most Helpful Review
Summer 2024 - Course Title: PS 149 - Careers in Political Science This was easily the most laid-back class I’ve taken at UCLA. Nothing about this class was stressful, and it was overall a super easy class. All this class is about is preparing you for jobs and internships and finding a career path that interests you. There’s a guest lecture once a week from people who graduated from UCLA (whether a recent graduate or someone who graduated 20 years ago), many of whom are in law school or current lawyers. Professor Sherrer is simply amazing. He is so chill, kind, helpful, and insightful. It’s obvious that he wants all his students to succeed and even cracks a joke or two during lectures. I have nothing negative to say about him. I plan on taking a class with him again in the future! Here’s a grading breakdown: ATTENDANCE/PARTICIPATION: 20% of your grade. Professor Sherrer usually has two check-ins per class, one at the beginning and one at the end. The answer for the check-in question at the beginning of class was given to us, and the second check-in question was usually something like “What did you learn today?” Sometimes, Sherrer had one check-in or none. The check-in points were usually just one or two, so if you miss a few, it won’t affect your grade too badly, but it does stack up over time. So make sure you attend class and pay attention! CAREER JOURNEY JOURNAL: 30% of your grade. There are three journals, so each is worth 10% of your grade. This assignment is super easy, as there’s no wrong answer to the questions asked since it’s YOUR journey. RESUME AND COVER LETTER: 20% of your grade. For this assignment, Professor Sherrer asked us to find a job or internship posting that interests us and tailor our resume and cover letter to that position. CREATE/UPDATE LINKEDIN, HANDSHAKE, AND UCLAONE PROFILES: 10% of your grade. This is pretty self-explanatory. CAREER RESEARCH PAPER: 20% of your grade. This isn’t actually a paper; it’s a Google Slides presentation. That being said, we don’t actually present our slides; we just turn them in. For this assignment, we research a career path that interests us. We have to answer six questions, and there’s a 700-900 word limit for our answers. We have to interview one person with this career path and ask them a few questions, and we must include some part of the interview in our assignment. We had one assignment per week, which is so nice, especially during a summer class! There were no tests or quizzes, just quick assignments that took less than an hour to complete. Additionally, we are allowed one absence as long as we notify him ahead of time, and the participation points for that day you miss won't be counted against you. Overall, I highly recommend this class. I was never stressed or worried about this class, and as long as you do the assignments and show up to class, you are guaranteed to get an A. Plus, it's nice that this class is trying to set you up for the future! The point is, there's no downside to this course. Take it!!!
Summer 2024 - Course Title: PS 149 - Careers in Political Science This was easily the most laid-back class I’ve taken at UCLA. Nothing about this class was stressful, and it was overall a super easy class. All this class is about is preparing you for jobs and internships and finding a career path that interests you. There’s a guest lecture once a week from people who graduated from UCLA (whether a recent graduate or someone who graduated 20 years ago), many of whom are in law school or current lawyers. Professor Sherrer is simply amazing. He is so chill, kind, helpful, and insightful. It’s obvious that he wants all his students to succeed and even cracks a joke or two during lectures. I have nothing negative to say about him. I plan on taking a class with him again in the future! Here’s a grading breakdown: ATTENDANCE/PARTICIPATION: 20% of your grade. Professor Sherrer usually has two check-ins per class, one at the beginning and one at the end. The answer for the check-in question at the beginning of class was given to us, and the second check-in question was usually something like “What did you learn today?” Sometimes, Sherrer had one check-in or none. The check-in points were usually just one or two, so if you miss a few, it won’t affect your grade too badly, but it does stack up over time. So make sure you attend class and pay attention! CAREER JOURNEY JOURNAL: 30% of your grade. There are three journals, so each is worth 10% of your grade. This assignment is super easy, as there’s no wrong answer to the questions asked since it’s YOUR journey. RESUME AND COVER LETTER: 20% of your grade. For this assignment, Professor Sherrer asked us to find a job or internship posting that interests us and tailor our resume and cover letter to that position. CREATE/UPDATE LINKEDIN, HANDSHAKE, AND UCLAONE PROFILES: 10% of your grade. This is pretty self-explanatory. CAREER RESEARCH PAPER: 20% of your grade. This isn’t actually a paper; it’s a Google Slides presentation. That being said, we don’t actually present our slides; we just turn them in. For this assignment, we research a career path that interests us. We have to answer six questions, and there’s a 700-900 word limit for our answers. We have to interview one person with this career path and ask them a few questions, and we must include some part of the interview in our assignment. We had one assignment per week, which is so nice, especially during a summer class! There were no tests or quizzes, just quick assignments that took less than an hour to complete. Additionally, we are allowed one absence as long as we notify him ahead of time, and the participation points for that day you miss won't be counted against you. Overall, I highly recommend this class. I was never stressed or worried about this class, and as long as you do the assignments and show up to class, you are guaranteed to get an A. Plus, it's nice that this class is trying to set you up for the future! The point is, there's no downside to this course. Take it!!!
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