Jay Varela - Ventura College, Ventura, CA

Professor: Jay Varela

Department: Theater

College: Ventura College, Ventura, CA

Rating # 1

Overview:

• Course: THAV29
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

He can make some mean comments, though he mean's them as jokes. Very lecture heavy with some handouts. Be incredibly thorough in answering any definition/essay questions (historical context, where/why/who/when). He can kinda ramble on and repeat himself, but the course is interesting.

Rating # 2

Overview:

• Course: THAV29
• Grade Received: B
• Overall Rating: 2.5
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Goes off topic frequently. Sometimes makes mean/uncomfortable jokes. Many of the movies were interesting, but his uncomfortable personality made the class hard to enjoy for me. Very nit-picky grader. The midterm didn't really reflect what we had been taught. Final is take-home, but tedious nonetheless.

Rating # 3

Overview:

• Course: V31A
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

Would NOT recommend this class, extremely easy to fail. If he doesn't like one thing you've done, he'll fail you. Quizzes are hard, the answers from the book are usually not what he's looking for, but maybe that's just me. He can talk for hours about anything. Like "Oh that reminds me! When I worked with *name drops* he would tell me..." etc.

Rating # 4

Overview:

• Course: THAV01
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 2.5
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

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

Comment:

Easiest Class I have ever taken. No hard exams. One take home quiz each week ("homework"). Graded it in class yourself. Boring lectures though. Also, had to attend mandatory school plays. Easy but you have too be there.

Rating # 5

Overview:

• Course: THAV29
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.5
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Personally I think he's a nice and funny guy but as an instructor he has issues. He is knowledgable but always goes on old man rants. He also puts people into awkward conversations which are historically offensive. My one major gripe is how unorganized he is. He forgets EVERYTHING! His quiz's are easy but so dull and vague.

Rating # 6

Overview:

• Course: THAV31A31465
• Grade Received: B+
• Overall Rating: 1.5
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

I would not recommend taking this class from this Professor. He puts down students at random and is very disorganized. He goes off topic so often that what he says does not make sense. Has a tendency to make women in class uncomfortable. I would not recommend this class from this Professor.

Rating # 7

Overview:

• Course: THAV29
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 1.0

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

Comment:

Jay is not the greatest teacher but certainly the worst. He does lecture for a large portion of class time but it is about films. In the class we watch several movies. Quizzes and final are take homes and are very easy. The midterm is in class but gives out study guide before hand. Dull class but manageable.

Rating # 8

Overview:

• Course: THAV01
• 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:

Jay tends to give out grades that are not based up points. He goes off on tangents and that don't relate to the class or the topic. He has also been reported for harassment, but nothings been done. I recommend taking this class with a different teacher.

Rating # 9

Overview:

• Course: 71313
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

I do not recommend taking history of motion pictures with this teacher.

Rating # 10

Overview:

• Course: V01THA
• 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:

Jay is a great teacher. A lot of the younger students will get bored with him because he has a myriad of life stories to talk about. But he knows his craft and he will always help. To pass any of his classes ALL YOU HAVE TO DO IS READ THE BOOK AND WRITE DOWN A PRECISE ANSWER TO HIS QUESTIONS. Please stop referring to him as a hard teacher!

Rating # 11

Overview:

• Course: THAV29
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

Mr. Varela has a lot of life experience but constantly goes off topic. He is not very clear on what he is looking for on his quizzes but grades harshly. I do not recommend taking this class unless necessary. The class started off full but by the end of the semester over half the class had dropped.

Rating # 12

Overview:

• Course: THAV29
• 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:

Worst ever. I had 4.0 the whole I was at VC until this class. I love movies and its why I took this course. Teacher went off topic constantly.

Rating # 13

Overview:

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

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

Comment:

Best Class ever! we watched Dumb and dumber it was awesome!

Rating # 14

Overview:

• Course: THAV29
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

He is very knowledgeable about the subject but goes off on tangents about unrelated topics too often. He does not seem to teach anything he expects you to know for the tests and is extremely harsh on his grading. not an easy class, you have to work extremely hard just to get a C grade. i do not recommend taking any classes from this instructor

Rating # 15

Overview:

• Course: THATHA
• 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:

Jay as a person is great, as an instructor I can't stand him. I have taken two classes with him. The last class I missed one assignment and received a low grade in the class. I don't mind his lectures because he has a lot of life experience and his stories are very interesting but when it come to the material its very hard to follow.

Rating # 16

Overview:

• Course: FILM110
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Varela has an amazing insight in the film industry having worked in movies since the 70's. His course was no easy A, but if you really want to learn all you can about film and theatre he is AWESOME!!!

Rating # 17

Overview:

• Course: THAV29
• 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:

He was very hard to understand most of the time and would never stay on task. He often would go off topic and start talking about something that had NOTHING to do with the class. I was so excited to take this course and he totally killed it for me :/ for sure not worth taking.

Rating # 18

Overview:

• Course: THAV29
• 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:

Mr. varela is hard to understand at time but I did enjoy his class. GET the book and do the quiz's right you will pass. good luck!

Rating # 19

Overview:

• Course: THAV31
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.5
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Jay can be confusing at first, especially with his quizzes. And yeah, he goes on rants sometimes. But I've taken 2 of his classes and learned a lot from both. He's more interested in helping you learn about yourself than grading your work by the book. Just show that you care and he'll like you.

Rating # 20

Overview:

• Course: FILMTV29
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

At first it was hard to tell what he wanted for the quizzes, but once you figure that out his class if pretty easy. A lot of people fail his class and feel like it was his fault when they should have been paying attention to what he actually wanted, not that hard to figure out. Just be write about every single detail.