Ron Rapoport - College of William and Mary, Williamsburg, VA

Professor: Ron Rapoport

Department: Political Science

College: College of William and Mary, Williamsburg, VA

Rating # 1

Overview:

• Course: GOVT301
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

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

Comment:

Ron is such a sweet guy. Seriously, I wish he was my grandfather. That being said, he is not the most organized professor on campus. If you are someone who really thrives on structure and needs clear guidelines for assignments, I wouldn't necessarily recommend him, but otherwise, he's great.

Rating # 2

Overview:

• Course: GOV301
• Grade Received: A+
• Overall Rating: 2.5
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: Not Mandatory

Comment:

Prof. Rapoport is a very nice man. He's funny and really passionate, but probably senile. He rambles on and on, doesn't explain anything, doesn't even know what he's doing most of the time, and doesn't explain any assignments. While he's a great man, I would recommend you getting to know him outside of class and spare yourself the boredom of GOV301

Rating # 3

Overview:

• Course: GOVT301
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

He is incredibly unclear in what he teaches. I ended up teaching all of the material to myself before the exams. Make sure to do readings because he has a tendency to test the concepts from them and you will not learn if you don't read since he does not teach the material well. The study guides he gave for the tests did not match what was on them

Rating # 4

Overview:

• Course: GOVT301
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: Not Mandatory

Comment:

such a nice man but a terrible professor. Instructions and expectations for assignments are not at all clear. helpful if you go to him outside of class, but pointless lectures. Second half of the semester had an unreasonable amount of assignments. Spent the whole semester confused about what I was supposed to be doing.

Rating # 5

Overview:

• Course: GOVT101
• 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:

I attended W&M from '83-'87. I started as an English major and added a Govt major solely because I adored this man. Hang in his office, go to his house. I remember his being a tough grader, like others have said, but he was hands-down my colleg favorite professor.

Rating # 6

Overview:

• Course: GOVT307
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.5
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Rapoport is one of the nicest professors I've had so far. He's VERY enthusiastic about polling, which is good because it keeps the lectures upbeat even though the topic is sort of dry. As everyone else has said, he's very disorganized. Not a terribly hard class if you follow his guidelines, but there is a substantial amount of work.

Rating # 7

Overview:

• Course: GOVT301
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Professor Rapoport is a very nice man, but a terrible professor. His class was terribly disorganized and random. The test was over materially we had barely covered in class and was extremely difficult. The requirements for assignments were never clearly stated nor was the basis of his evaluation standards. DO NOT take class with this man.

Rating # 8

Overview:

• Course: GOVT301
• 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 has good intentions and is very passionate about the subject matter, but he's completely incomprehensible and is just way too smart to be teaching research methods. he made the class harder and more confusing than necessary; class is also very backloaded. trust me and avoid him!

Rating # 9

Overview:

• Course: GOVT301
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.5
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

Avoid this professor! I wish I could recommend him because he has a great personality and is passionate about the subject matter, but his class is very disorganized and very confusing. I don't know how he is for polling, but take research methods with someone else. I don't think I learned anything from him at all.

Rating # 10

Overview:

• Course: GOV301
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Really, really boring. He is also useless at teaching SPSS and then bases most of your grade on it. Try to find anyone else to take research methods from than him.

Rating # 11

Overview:

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

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

Comment:

Polling was a nightmare. Extremely picky, disorganized, boring, and a tough grader at that. Nice guy outside the classroom, but even then his insanely slow manner of talking and explaining is irritating and frustrating. Don't take him!

Rating # 12

Overview:

• Course: POLLING
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.5
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

This professor is the most disorganized prof. I've ever met. He's rarely in his office, doesn't organize lectures, and never hands back grades. 65% of the grade is due during exams. He also misses meetings. The only point in going to class is quizzes and the hope that he'll elaborate on the current completely unclear assignment you're working on.

Rating # 13

Overview:

• Course: GOVT307
• 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:

If you have to choose b/w polling & res methods, choose polling. Rapoport is wonderful, but he is SO DISORGANIZED. Give him anything to look at again, he'll lose it. Make sure you give him a hard copy of you paper as well as an e-mail copy as well as a digital drop box copy. HE WILL LOSE SOMETHING AT SOME POINT. He's a hard grader on papers.

Rating # 14

Overview:

• Course: GOVT307
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.5
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

This guy is the absolute worst professor I have ever had at W&M. His class is horribly disorganized and the assignments are always ambiguous. He tells you at the beginning of the semester that the class is back-loaded...this is a serious understatement. We didn't even start the final project until after T-break! Avoid at any COST.

Rating # 15

Overview:

• Course: GOVT307
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Prof. Rapoport is the nicest man I have ever met! He's very funny, and genuinely excited about polling. The only problem is that sometimes this means that he assumes that everyone knows as much about it as he does, which can be a bit confusing. He is very helpful and understanding about the difficulties that may arise in his assignments, however.

Rating # 16

Overview:

• Course: GOVT307
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.5
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Very very funny, enjoyable person and interesting lecturer. Knows what he is talking about and can make some pretty funny jokes. Sweet and kind as could be, always willing to help students out. Go to his house if you ever get the chance, and tell him a joke too.

Rating # 17

Overview:

• Course: GOVT307
• 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:

Rapoport is the best professor you'll ever have in college and one of the nicest people you'll ever meet... wonderful, wonderful person. Take his classes.

Rating # 18

Overview:

• Course: GOVT307
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

I thought his class was awful. He was boring, never talked in any order that was easy to follow, and never gave clear directions on assignments. You shouldn't have to struggle through an assignment with no clue where you are going...it should be somewhat clear on how to write a paper after sitting in class. But, it never failed with him. Awful.

Rating # 19

Overview:

• Course: GOV307
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Sweetest man ever, and so willing to help or talk after class (about anything!). Super enthusiastic too, but his exams and papers don't really test what he lectures about, and it's really easy to get lost and behind. Visit his office hours! He's glad to help. The election party is awesome too.

Rating # 20

Overview:

• Course: POLLING
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.5
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

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

Comment:

Totally insane in a lovable sort of way and the nicest guy ever. Subject can be boring but his own enthusiasm rubs off. How much he cares for students is amazing too, even for W&M. Oh, and make him laugh. You'll never forget it.