Jan Balakian - Kean University (all campuses),Union, NJ

Professor: Jan Balakian

Department: English

College: Kean University (all campuses), Union, NJ

Rating # 1

Overview:

• Course: ENGLISH2000
• Grade Received: B+
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

The worst professor I have ever had at Kean. UNORGANIZED. Be prepared to visit her office all the time to receive grades and negative feedback. Balakian is not approachable. She is VERY unclear on every assignment. She will be late to class and will try to make you stay late because she has poor time management skills. You've been warned.

Rating # 2

Overview:

• Course: ENG3514
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

I loved taking American Drama with Dr. Balakian. Not only is she enthused about the material and ready to engage with students, she also works with students to submit to graduate-level publications if they want to. We saw a Broadway play (The Price, starring Mark Ruffalo and Danny Devito BTW), and I was actually able to get my review published!

Rating # 3

Overview:

• Course: ENG4000
• Grade Received: A+
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

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

Comment:

Shes AWESOME AND VERY KIND! Cares deeply about her students and I highly recommend her especially for Senior Sem! Shes giving and really cares about students success! Any negatives about her is most likely said by lazy students. If you show up and do the work you will do great! Shes always there to HELP! Love her! If your a lazy dont complain.

Rating # 4

Overview:

• Course: ENG2000
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Professor Balakian is passionate about both the course's subject matter and the success of her students. She is receptive to student responses and is accessible to those who need extra help. All in all, Professor Balakian is an insightful and nurturing educator.

Rating # 5

Overview:

• Course: ENG1030
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Very friendly and very passionate about the literature as well as the success of her students. However the course can get overwhelming if you dont put in the effort. Our class was once a week so we were given a lot of reading assignments as well as questions. But thats it. If you keep up with the readings & discussions in class, easy A. Loved her

Rating # 6

Overview:

• Course: ENG2403
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Im taking her this semester for world literature and like all the other reviews say, shes very unorganized. Shell keep you for the whole time, 3 hours! She hands out so many work sheets but overall, shes very sweet and always offers help after class. She does care about everyone grades and offers to write letters of recommendation.

Rating # 7

Overview:

• Course: ENG2100
• Grade Received: A-
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

She is all over the place when it comes to lectures. She is very sweet but gives little explanation of her grading even when you go see her for extra help. also going for extra help is a DISASTER. She will keep you for two hours if you don't get up and leave. Overall easy grade just super frustrating professor when it comes to organizational skills

Rating # 8

Overview:

• Course: ENG3514
• Grade Received: WD
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

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

Comment:

Very sweet and insightful professor, however, her unorganized manor is very distracting and confusing at times. If you MUST take her I highly recommend keeping extra copies of EVERYTHING, maintain a friendship with her because she IS a big softy, ask questions and make note of every assignment because she doesn't keep track of her own instructions.

Rating # 9

Overview:

• Course: ENG3010
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Dr. Balankian is a pretty good professor but she is very unorganized. She is not specific on what she really wants more than half the times and forgets many things. She doesn't do to well with email but she is helpful during her office hours. Make sure you show up to class consistently otherwise you miss a lot. She is a hard grader so watch out.

Rating # 10

Overview:

• Course: ENGL2000
• 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:

She's definitely chaotic and spacey, but she's sweet and noticeably cares about the progress of her students. She's very interested in your opinions and enthusiastic about the material. Only negative is that assignments aren't very clear, but that's just a minor inconvenience that can be fixed by asking questions in class.

Rating # 11

Overview:

• Course: ENG1000
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Professor Balakian was seriously by far the most helpful professor I have ever had at Kean. She worked with me until the very end to make sure I got the work I needed in. She went above and beyond so I could succeed. She gives a lot of work but it's in your best interest to do it. Go to class and participate!!!

Rating # 12

Overview:

• Course: ENG2403
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Dr. Balakian is one of the most caring and inspiring professors Kean has to offer. She does give a lot of reading but you will enjoy them because she's very thorough while reading them in class. I totally recommend her, if I was able to I would take her course again!

Rating # 13

Overview:

• Course: ENG2100
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Professor Balakian is by far one of the most supportive and encouraging professors at Kean! As long as you apply yourself you will do will in her course. There will be a lot of reading in in depth writing but you will learn a lot. I would take a course with her again without hesitation.

Rating # 14

Overview:

• Course: ENG2403
• Grade Received: B
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

One of the best professors I've had at Kean so far. Would take another one of her courses if I could. She's extremely helpful and reasonable. You'll learn a lot about yourself too if you really get into the course. She sincerely wants all of her students to succeed and is extremely passionate about what she teaches. I think that's very important.

Rating # 15

Overview:

• Course: ENG2403
• Grade Received: B+
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Professor Balakian is incredibly knowledgeable in her field. She can be rather patient, a bit of a softie, and brings enthusiasm into the class. However, she tends to go about in circles when providing instructions. I also think that the workload is excessive. My class received nearly 10-15 pages of related material on the first day!

Rating # 16

Overview:

• Course: ENG3010
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

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

Comment:

I love Professor Balakian! I've had her twice Spring 16 and did not regret it! I look forward to taking her again! She is an inspiring educator and she comes to class with a huge smile always! I personally did not find her work difficult... I truly learned from her lectures.

Rating # 17

Overview:

• Course: ENG3514
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

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

Comment:

Balakian is an awesome professor. I took her two semesters and got an A both times. She does hand out a lot of material but it is all helpful. She inspires you to learn and you will learn more than you think. You also get to see a play in New York. Take Professor Balakian if you have the chance!

Rating # 18

Overview:

• Course: ENG3010
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Outstanding professor who is dedicated to seeing her students succeed! Willing to work with her students to improve their English skills. Highly recommend taking her for any English course as she cares for all of her students!

Rating # 19

Overview:

• Course: ENG2403
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

There are not many profs. who care so much about what they teach & who work so hard. For Prof. B., literature teaches you about how to live your life, and she asks us to write about cool topics. She's really creative in the way she uses music and movies to teach ideas. I now dig Homer, Dante, Ibsen, & Miller & NYC theater! Very compassionate!

Rating # 20

Overview:

• Course: ENG2000
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Very unorganized. When I went to her office to meet with her she wanted to change the grade of my paper to a lower grade because "she was not thinking when she graded my paper the first time". I have never heard something so unprofessional. I feel like I gained more stress than I did an education. Avoid her class if you can.