Randolph Siverson - University of California Davis, Davis, CA

Professor: Randolph Siverson

Department: Political Science

College: University of California Davis, Davis, CA

Rating # 1

Overview:

• Course: POL121
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

Perhaps the best political science course I've taken at UCD. Siverson is incredibly intelligent and expects the student to apply the knowledge he/she has gained from POL51 to the area of international war. Watch out: the grade is curved (only top 5% of students get an A). Come to class, read, and participate, and you'll do fine. Take this class.

Rating # 2

Overview:

• Course: POL121
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.5
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

Pol 121 is an incredible class and Siverson is an incredible teacher. He is incredibly knowledgable about the material and keeps class interesting as well. As others have mentioned though his grading style can be tough. The class is graded on a bell curve and only the top 5% get As. Regardless, I highly recommend this class. Worth the GPA hit.

Rating # 3

Overview:

• Course: POL121
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

The curve in this class will hurt you! I ended with an 83% and got a C+ in the class! Very insightful teacher although the grading scale in his class is very harsh. My advice stay away if you don't want to mess up your GPA. only 5% of the students will get an A, next 5% an A- ... so on and so forth.

Rating # 4

Overview:

• Course: POL3
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.5
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

Pretty tough professor. I got an A- and felt like I deserved better based on the work that I put in. The essay was a killer, the TA was a kiss-up and the tests were hard, multiple choice is okay once you get the hang of it. also you can't miss lecture and it's a good idea to memorize the book.

Rating # 5

Overview:

• Course: POL3
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.5
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

9AM Class. Lectures but provides no notes or powerpoints so it is extremely hard to follow. Curves the class. People with 81% ended up with C+'s. Paper is graded extremely harsh. Do-able if you're really on top of it, but pretty hard for a lower division class.

Rating # 6

Overview:

• Course: POL3
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

Brilliant professor and interesting lectures, but class was extremely difficult. Be sure to attend every class. Also, read the book carefully (there are a LOT of chapters to read and material will be on the exams) and go to office hours. Tests are difficult and paper is graded harshly. The curve is not there to help - be warned!

Rating # 7

Overview:

• Course: POL003
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.5
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

If you want an elitist and unfair prof then take this class. Though his lectures are interesting and the material is great the its not worth it. He is a strong believer that world is divided into people who fail and people who pass. Due to this the curve is set so that a lot more than half the class will get below a B-. The curve will hurt you!

Rating # 8

Overview:

• Course: POL003
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

My absolute favorite class this quarter. He doesn't use ppt but is a great lecturer so GO TO CLASS. Also keep up with the readings get heavy after the 2nd midterm and are on the tests. Take good notes, stay attentive and you'll be fine. He's a strong believer in grading on a curve so keep that in mind.

Rating # 9

Overview:

• Course: POL3
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.5
• Course Difficulty: 1.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

He's a good professor who makes sure his lectures are both informative and interesting.

Rating # 10

Overview:

• Course: POL003
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.5
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

He is an amazing lecturer and kept me interested every morning. However, there is way too much emphasis on the book in the midterms which would be fine if there wasn't so much reading. And believe me, THERE'S A LOT! You HAVE to go to class.

Rating # 11

Overview:

• Course: POL003
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

He is very intelligent and knows a lot about the subject. He tends to get sidetracked and talk about unnecessary things. The last half of the quarter he doubles the reading and the TAs arent all on the same page and they are the ones who grade everything. The TAs aren't helpful with giving back midterms or giving comments on papers.

Rating # 12

Overview:

• Course: POL03
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

His lectures are interesting though sometimes disorganized. Not a fan of the textbook (so dry even though I like the topics). The number of assigned readings are RIDICULOUS and we barely go over them in sections (but they're on the midterm). DO NOT take this class if you have no interest in politics or IR. A LOT of work for a lower div class.

Rating # 13

Overview:

• Course: POL003
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.5
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

Gotta keep up a lot on reading and notes, but good lecturer overall

Rating # 14

Overview:

• Course: POL03
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: No
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

He is absolutely rude and inefficient. His lectures are so disorganized. Don't take this class unless you have to.

Rating # 15

Overview:

• Course: POL3
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: No
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

Avoid. Lectures are confusing and disorganized. He starts talking without even addressing what topic he is covering. You just have no idea what he is talking about and it is so disjointed it seems impossible to take coherent notes. The way he presents the material makes no sense and students do poorly on tests because of it. Avoid.

Rating # 16

Overview:

• Course: POL121
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: No
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

arrogant and unorganized. His grading system makes no sense -- I think he is the only POL professor at UCD who uses a curve. many of the articles in the reader are written by him, and he is very proud/defensive of them

Rating # 17

Overview:

• Course: POL3
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.5
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

Not consistent with the textbook. Must read weekly to keep up with the material, since material on the mt and final are divided equally between lecture and textbook. Told some funny jokes. Sometimes let us leave 5 min early. Not an impossible class, but you end up teaching yourself most of the material.

Rating # 18

Overview:

• Course: POL120
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

By far the worst professor I have ever had-his lectures were not clear, the assignments would have been interesting if the software worked, and he belittled students who actually stayed awake to ask questions. Towards the end of the quarter the software stopped working and we still had to do the papers. The TA I had was horrible-avoid Sarah.

Rating # 19

Overview:

• Course: POL120
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: No
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

This was one of the worst classes I have ever taken at UCD. Siverson's lectures are completely disorganized, and he doesn't cover any one topic in depth.

Rating # 20

Overview:

• Course: POL120
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

His lectures aren't exactly well-organized, but he's always interesting and sometimes amusing, and he's clearly a skilled political scientist. The amount of reading is reasonable, and the three papers required for the course weren't too difficult if you planned well and worked hard.