Herschel Stern - MiraCosta College (all), Oceanside, CA

Professor: Herschel Stern

Department: Geography

College: MiraCosta College (all), Oceanside, CA

Rating # 1

Overview:

• Course: GEO101
• Grade Received: B
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Avoid at all cost. Took him for a semester and regretted it every class. His lectures are long and boring, which is what every class consist off. The test are harder than they should be. The study guide is just key terms that dont help at all. He explains things awfully and is really rude when you dont understand. Again, AVOID!

Rating # 2

Overview:

• Course: GEOG101
• Grade Received: C
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: No
• Attendance: Mandatory

Comment:

If you want a good GPA do never take this course. Trust me.

Rating # 3

Overview:

• Course: GEOG101
• Grade Received: B
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: Yes
• Attendance: Mandatory

Comment:

He's a fine teacher and I can tell Geography is a passion to him just as it is a career. I had no book and just took notes off his lectures and landed a B. He's always available for office hours and takes time to make sure students understand the material. His class is all lecture and at times I did have trouble staying focused but not his fault.

Rating # 4

Overview:

• Course: GEOG101
• Grade Received: B+
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

I took physical geography over the summer and it being an expedited class there were a lot of chapters to cover. Overall I really enjoyed the lectures (though we got sidetracked quite a bit, mostly from other students asking random questions) and the tests were graded on a curve. I could have gotten an A had I done the extra credit. Learned a lot!

Rating # 5

Overview:

• Course: GEOG101LAB
• Grade Received: C+
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 1.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: Yes
• Attendance: Mandatory

Comment:

I took prof. stern for GEOG101 Lab. You get to leave class once your lab work was done, he graded it daily . Be prepared to work with a partner each wk. lab work must be completed w/ someone. You pass with at least a C as long as you go to class each week & get your lab graded. Passing the exams is what will determine if you get higher than a C.

Rating # 6

Overview:

• Course: GEOG104
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 1.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: No
• Attendance: Mandatory

Comment:

Prof. Stern is an intelligent man, however I find he spends the majority of class time babbling on about things that do not correlate with the actual material. He also does not have an engaging teaching style and seems irritated when you ask him questions. I would definitely not recommend.

Rating # 7

Overview:

• Course: GEOG201
• Grade Received: B
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: Yes
• Attendance: Mandatory

Comment:

Im terrible at geography so this was a challenge. He is REALLY big on writing assignments about the world and reading/writing about maps. He grades very tough on those if you aren't good at geography, it'll be tough but possible. Make sure you take notes they help with the test. No textbook but has you subscribed to the Economist. Do the homework

Rating # 8

Overview:

• Course: GEO201
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: No
• Attendance: Mandatory

Comment:

Stern is a very smart man but has a hard time relaying the information. 99% of the class was monotone lectures about dry material. The Economist magazine is a MUST. Sign up and read the articles, or the exams will be difficult. Constantly flipping through the atlas and magazines to find the answer during tests. NOT an easy A. Be ready to work.

Rating # 9

Overview:

• Course: GEOG201
• Grade Received: Not sure yet
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: No
• Attendance: Mandatory

Comment:

HARD HARD HARD! It seems like he gets bothered when you ask questions, and his quizzes are very complex they feel more like finals. That's how stressed out his class makes me. He rambles a lot and is hard to understand. I would not recommend if you aren't a natural geography person, personally it takes me more time to understand & he moves fast.

Rating # 10

Overview:

• Course: GEOG104
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

If you do not manage to stay awake for his lecture and take notes, you are 100% screwed. If you are a more interactive learner and do not enjoy long drawn out lectures filled with a million facts, 10 of which will actually be on the test, then do not take Stern. All he does is talk, I am not lying. You've been warned.

Rating # 11

Overview:

• Course: GEOG104
• Grade Received: B
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Take notes or you'll fail. I slacked off in this class thinking it was an easy A and I didn't take notes and sucked on all the test. TAKE NOTES. He tends to ramble the entire class time but all of his test have questions pertaining to what he talked about. So drink lots of coffee, stay awake and listen to him, TAKE NOTES and you will pass promise.

Rating # 12

Overview:

• Course: GEOG101
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.5
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

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

Comment:

Entire class is lectures. Take good notes and study and you should have no problems. Tests aren't extremely hard if you study! I have found myself dozing off, but not because of Dr. Stern. His lectures are clear and easy to take notes on. Asks for some reading, but usually goes over it in the lecture. Only used my book for studying.

Rating # 13

Overview:

• Course: GEOG101
• 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:

His tests are very difficult. His study guides were 6 pages long single spaced. He gives 6 possible essay choices (4 of which are on the test) you have no idea which ones will be on there. His lectures were boring, I would not take him again.

Rating # 14

Overview:

• Course: GEO101
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

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

Comment:

Really good teacher !!

Rating # 15

Overview:

• Course: GEO101
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Really good teacher! Excellent ! He has lot of knowledge compare to the other one i used to have.

Rating # 16

Overview:

• Course: GEOG101
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.5
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Professor Stern has been at this awhile. You cover a lot of material and he makes it crystal clear on what you need to know. In my opinion, he was an excellent professor.

Rating # 17

Overview:

• Course: GEOG104
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 1.0

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

Comment:

FAVORITE CLASS in my 6 years at miracosta and 100+ units! Lectures from the book so read the chapter before and go to class its FASCINATING!! The two map quizzes are easy points if you study, the tests are SO much easier than you expect & the in class exercises that are from videos and your textbook are just more easy points and STUDY GUIDE4test

Rating # 18

Overview:

• Course: GEOG101
• 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:

While I expected to be bored out of my mind through this whole class, the lectures are actually not that bad, he keeps things going and mixes it up a little with some videos. It's very necessary to read the book for the tests and attend class to do the essay questions. But overall not bad.

Rating # 19

Overview:

• Course: GEO101
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

When someone asks a question he seems annoyed. Has a bad attitude usually. If you study you'll be ok but definitely not the best classroom experience.

Rating # 20

Overview:

• Course: GEO100
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

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

Comment:

as a beginner to geography i took this class because i thought we'd be studying maps, cultures and countries. I wasn't expecting to learn about tsunamis earthquakes, and soil... it was interesting but sometimes i got a little bored. he is nice guy and he gave me a good grade. Some of the students seemed like total nature freaks, beware of them~