Stephen Voss - University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY

Professor: Stephen Voss

Department: Political Science

College: University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY

Rating # 1

Overview:

• Course: PS101
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

He is a great lecturer and you can see how passionate he is about the subject and teaching it. However, it is entirely too hard to be a 101 level class. For someone who is not a PS major and just needed the credit, it will not be your favorite class. His readings are excruciatingly long and exams are so hard. The curve does help, though.

Rating # 2

Overview:

• Course: PS101
• Grade Received: A+
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

A lot of students complain about Dr. Voss, which I can understand from the point that you are uncertain what your grade is. However, grading aside, Dr. Voss is the best professor I have had at UK. This is one of the few courses I feel like I have actually learned a ton in. If you have the right mindset, you will enjoy and succeed in the course.

Rating # 3

Overview:

• Course: PS101
• Grade Received: A+
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Never have I been more entertained and engaged during lectures. This class rewards hard work and Dr. Voss is available outside of class. Please take ps101 with him if given the opportunity. Dont be intimidated hes fantastic. Really, this was a class Ill never forget.

Rating # 4

Overview:

• Course: PS101
• Grade Received: B
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

I took him my freshman year and I couldnt have had a better experience. If youre looking for a class to half ass this isnt the class for you. I left his class more knowledgeable and a overall better student.

Rating # 5

Overview:

• Course: PS101
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

Dr. Voss is one of the best professors I've had outside of my major at UK. His exams are really hard, but if you go to class and take notes (and then study them) you'll be fine. The curve is huge which helps. He's engaging in lectures and wrote his own textbook literally so his students don't have to buy one. He makes you work but is so great.

Rating # 6

Overview:

• Course: PS101
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Lectures are interesting and packed full of information. If you take notes on what he says (not what's on the slides) then you will do well on the exams. The class really isn't that hard when you consider the curve (a 70 on an exam is usually considered an A). Voss is fairly tough and sometimes rude, but he is an exceptional instructor.

Rating # 7

Overview:

• Course: PS101
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

This is a hard class and Voss is a tough professor. His exams are hard but there is a cushion and if you go to class and study, you'll do fine on them. His lectures are interesting. He takes attendance every class. You have to go to recitation. Voss is a great professor to have on your side. He gets a bad rap because he does make you work for an A.

Rating # 8

Overview:

• Course: PS101
• Grade Received: B-
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

He assigns several readings for each homework assignment. The tests cover so much material and you're expected to know specific details about everything. He told us that he makes the tests super hard on purpose. He does grade on a curve though, my 49 test average is a B. Expect to put in several hours of work outside of class.

Rating # 9

Overview:

• Course: POL101
• Grade Received: A+
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Professor Voss has a lot of bad ratings and it is probably due to people who didn't put much work into the class. When a 48%-60% on an exam gets curved to a B then the class isn't hard. Go to class, study, read the readings and you will easily get a B quite possibly an A. You literally have to do nothing in this class to fail it is curved so much

Rating # 10

Overview:

• Course: PS101
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Despite him being super intimidating at times, he's a great professor! Yes his class is hard, but you actually learn a lot from it. His lectures are very interesting, especially because he is very passionate in what he says. Go to class and read the required readings and you'll be fine.

Rating # 11

Overview:

• Course: PS101
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Professor Voss is unprofessional and rude. He interrogated a girl in my class because he heard a phone go off and thought it was hers when it actually wasn't. He then continued to belabor the point and tell her and her friends they wouldn't get jobs. This is not the first time he has taken his personal problems out on students.

Rating # 12

Overview:

• Course: PS101
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

very unreasonable, brags about his tests being hard, calls students out during class, and just threatened the whole class saying he would lower everybody's grade because one persons phone went off in class. He also said that people walking into class 2 or 3 minutes late were disrupting class and he would take points off if you were late at all.

Rating # 13

Overview:

• Course: PS101
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Voss is tough, but he definitely knows how to teach the content and make it stick. He is an amazing person overall and he easily earned my respect. I really want to keep in touch in the future for advice in the Political Science field and I absolutely would take his class again. He makes you work but it's worth it.

Rating # 14

Overview:

• Course: PS101
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

I'm a junior, and in all three years in college, I've never had a professor as bad as this one. Even my advisor acknowledged how disrespectful, condescending, and unreasonable he is. Unfortunately, he has tenure so the school cannot get rid of him. Students, boycott this man!

Rating # 15

Overview:

• Course: PS101
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

Griped and groaned about students walking into his class THREE minutes late saying it takes time out of his lecture. Three minutes. He wasted his lecture time talking about how students late three minutes interrupt his lecture.

Rating # 16

Overview:

• Course: PS101
• 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:

He's very insulting to students

Rating # 17

Overview:

• Course: PS101
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

Literally do not take this unless you are a PS major. His lectures are interesting but he prides himself on how difficult the tests are and doesn't give you a way to calculate your grader at all. At the end of the semester he didn't even show us our final exam grades which was a huge part of our grade. Seriously would not recommend taking.

Rating # 18

Overview:

• Course: PS101
• Grade Received: B
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

If you're not a political science major I wouldn't recommend taking. He was a very difficult grader. I had no idea what my grade was until the very last professors could put grades in. His lectures were interesting but not worth the all the work.

Rating # 19

Overview:

• Course: PS101
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

This class may not be for non-PS majors (!), so I understand some of the harsh comments, but it is AMAZING if you're a PS major. The tests VERY clearly reflect the material and the grading is extremely fair. Yes, a difficult class, but SO straightforward. Do the workyou'll get an A. Hides his political views soooo well. He knows what he's doing.

Rating # 20

Overview:

• Course: PS101
• Grade Received: B
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Prof. Voss is by far one of my favorite lecturers. He makes his lectures interesting and worth your time. Do your best to attend all your lectures and section meetings; if you don't it will be difficult for you. Also, I took his class because it fulfilled a UKCore requirement, but it was well worth it. The class makes you work for what you learn.