Joe Woolcock - Foothill College, Los Altos Hills, CA

Professor: Joe Woolcock

Department: Political Science

College: Foothill College, Los Altos Hills, CA

Rating # 1

Overview:

• Course: POLI001
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

DO NOT TAKE HIS CLASS He takes forever to get back to messages and to grade. You'd better agree with the authors of the text or disagree because you agree with other "elites". For the midterm and final, he expects you to basically quote the text w/o actually quoting it because it's closed book lol Doesn't fully answer q's and gives vague feedback

Rating # 2

Overview:

• Course: POL1
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Dr. Woolcock is the worst. He doesn't grade any work until weeks too late, is unhelpful and uncooperative. I took his online class, and this having been the 4the online class I've taken at foothill it is by far the worst. His responses via email and to student submissions are rude and angry. Drop this class ASAP, not worth it

Rating # 3

Overview:

• Course: POL1
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

Dr. Woolcock is unclear with his instructions for assignments, lacks feedback, and is a tough grader. He also takes several weeks to update grades, so you won't know where you stand until it's time to drop. I truly had the most negative experience with him and don't recommend anyone to take him. Many students in my class were failing like I was.

Rating # 4

Overview:

• Course: POL1
• Grade Received: INC
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Holds students to unreasonable standards, makes offensive comments about ethnicity, religion, and gender. Falls asleep during class. Avoid at all costs, I'll be lucky to end with a B and I have all A's otherwise.

Rating # 5

Overview:

• Course: POL1
• Grade Received: C
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

I was in honor society my entire time in junior college and this was my only C grade. He told me I would need to rewrite my paper before he read it because he didnt like the subject even though it was on his list of topics. He really likes having the power to screw with you. I advise waiting to take whatever class with a different teacher.

Rating # 6

Overview:

• Course: POLI001ONLINE
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: No
• Would Take Again: No
• Attendance: Not Mandatory

Comment:

Unclear and not helpful

Rating # 7

Overview:

• Course: POL1
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Horrible professor. He is completely disorganized and confusing. It is very frustrating to be in his class because he is very unclear about what he wants . He responds to emails in a very unprofessional and unhelpful manner. I highly regret signing up for this class and would have dropped had I been able to get a refund. Do not take him.

Rating # 8

Overview:

• Course: POLI3H
• Grade Received: B+
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

This subject was a tough one for me. I had no (and still have no) interest in deep political theory and it was difficult to understand. The 20-page essay itself is not as bad as I thought it was going to be. I got an A- and the lowest grade in my class was a B.

Rating # 9

Overview:

• Course: POLI15H
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

Woolcock is very hit or miss. The reviews here look bad, but everyone in our class except for one student got an A. It is definitely a lot of work (15 page paper for regular, 20 page paper for honors and leading a lecture) and Woolcock is very eccentric and sometimes judgemental, but I did learn a lot. I feel much more prepared for the real world.

Rating # 10

Overview:

• Course: POL1
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Although his grades depend mostly on discussions and papers, if you show up and listen, you will get good grades. You must be good at writing though. Very stingy with his discussion points. Liked the format of the class though. If you do your work, you will pass with no issues.

Rating # 11

Overview:

• Course: POLIF001
• Grade Received: C
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Professor Woolcock does not care about any student who is not going to stanford, harvard, princeton and yale. Is assignments are unclear and have criteria that he doesn't tell you about and expects you to know. He grades you mostly on his invisible criteria and the way the stars might be aligned that day because of how random it is. Avoid this man.

Rating # 12

Overview:

• Course: POL1
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

I would strongly advise anyone to not take this class or any class that this professor teaches. He is very creepy (I actually had to file a complaint against him), frequently yells at the class for not meeting his standards when he gave us no indication of what his expectations were and is just generally a mean-spirited person.

Rating # 13

Overview:

• Course: POL2
• Grade Received: B-
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

His "seminar" approach lets him get away w/ napping in class, have students lecture instead, & have a few things in grade book (25% participation, 25% leading class for 2 wks, 50% 15-20 page research paper). You're pretty much screwed if you haven't written a big paper before. Didn't give me any constructive feedback, I don't feel I learned much.

Rating # 14

Overview:

• Course: POL1
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

His class is graded almost entirely on discussion assignments and papers with vague prompts. Tough grader (class average has been an F for every discussion so far). Textbook is hard to access. I took this class for transfer credit, but will be taking it class again at my four year university with a different professor.

Rating # 15

Overview:

• Course: POL1
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

His class is graded almost entirely on discussion assignments and papers with vague prompts. Tough grader (class average has been an F for every discussion so far). Textbook is hard to access. I took this class for transfer credit, but will be taking it class again at my four year university where I am confident any professor can do a better job.

Rating # 16

Overview:

• Course: POL1
• Grade Received: Not sure yet
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

He does not provide study material for midterms and finals, so you're on your own. He forgets POLI1 is an INTRODUCTORY class. His online class has a discussions forum; you submit your assignment there and he will publicly grade it in front of everybody. Not the best for those who aren't good with MLA and essay writing. Beware.

Rating # 17

Overview:

• Course: POLI1
• Grade Received: WD
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

If you ever wonder why we are so divided in this world, this professor is an example. I'm a liberal and all I wanted to do was learn about political system. Except I had to listen a 2 hour anti-trump tangent from this professor. I dropped the class. Not recommended for people with soft ears.

Rating # 18

Overview:

• Course: POL1
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Woolcock will challenge your ideals. He will make you think, he will insist that you have ten reasons to defend your position - he will challenge you on all ten- and if you can earn a B from him you will be thanking him for broadening your horizons.

Rating # 19

Overview:

• Course: POLI15
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: No
• Would Take Again: No
• Attendance: Not Mandatory

Comment:

man this class was a trip. Woolcock seems like a nice guy, but I found his class to be too disorganized. There was no listed requirements for the paper, which is half your grade. Only formatting was him drawing it on the board. He lets the students who need help fail and the spends his time with those who are ahead. Save yourself the stress.

Rating # 20

Overview:

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

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

Comment:

All you need for poli 15, 3, and 9 is to participate in discussion and write your paper. You need to make an impression and contribute. The class is literally just discussion run by students everyday, thats it. Start on the paper early and get your outline approved (it takes a while to get an approved topic). He's a wonderful professor!