Rosemary Avery - Cornell University

Professor: Rosemary Avery

Department: Political Science

College: Cornell University

Rating # 1

Overview:

• Course: PAM2300
• 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 Avery is approachable and knowledgable! The class is a lot of work, but manageable. Prelims are memorization and she does look for specific wording in the answers. Lectures are interesting and make you think. She tests readings heavily and they've been cut down, so take notes while you read! GPP groups are hit or miss. TAs are amazing!

Rating # 2

Overview:

• Course: PAM2300
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

She loves what she does, is a strong lecturer, and obviously cares about her students. The course itself has a LOT of information (most of it in lecture) but as long as you go to class and pay attention/take notes, you'll be fine for the tests. Grading is also fair/easy.

Rating # 3

Overview:

• Course: PAM2300
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

There is a difference between hard & unfair. Avery's class is hard- intense, but rewarding. Prelims and papers require devoted studying but concepts are crucial for future coursework. She provides multiple office hours and extra credit. She cares so much for her class and students- she memorizes every students' name. 2300 affirmed why I chose PAM.

Rating # 4

Overview:

• Course: PAM2300
• Grade Received: A-
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Prof Avery is fantastic! She really cares about her students and is a good lecturer. Her course does involve a lot of studying and essay writing, but it is 4 credits and most people end up with an A or B. TAs are very involved, the class is interesting and focuses on current events, and is overall a great intro to the PAM major.

Rating # 5

Overview:

• Course: PAM2300
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

gpa is based on socializing skills. tons of hw.

Rating # 6

Overview:

• Course: PAM2300
• 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:

All of the comments below are true.

Rating # 7

Overview:

• Course: PAM2300
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

The prelims for PAM 2300 or pure memorization and the class is simply a ton of work. Prelims combined with the policy papers take up an enormous amount of time.

Rating # 8

Overview:

• Course: PAM2300
• 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:

Professor Avery goes too fast through the slides, doesn't leave time for questions, gives Herculean projects, the tests are memorization of material you'll never use again or could look up easily, and the TA's form a cult of personality around her. Avoid this class if you can.

Rating # 9

Overview:

• Course: PAM2300
• 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:

This class was not fun. I am definitely switching majors next semester. I don't like the way this class is run, really encourages students to kiss up to her to try to be come a ta or research assistant. Feels more connection based than merit. Most of the content from lectures was useless. she made a point to take attendance after a break or project

Rating # 10

Overview:

• Course: PAM2300
• Grade Received: A-
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

She's nice, but her class is the worst I've ever taken. Material isn't difficult at all, but there's an obscene amount of memorization. Prelims are killerher questions are poorly worded & ambiguous and you get points off for not phrasing things exactly how she wants, and for not including things she didn't even ask for. 0/10 wouldn't recommend.

Rating # 11

Overview:

• Course: PAM2300
• Grade Received: A-
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

The GPP was the worst assignment I've ever done, especially since a member of my 3-person group did nothing. Prof. Avery should have mid-semester group evals to weed out free riders. Lectures were dry and hard to follow, prelims were absurdly difficult and she took off points for not mentioning things that were not asked as part of the question.

Rating # 12

Overview:

• Course: PAM2300
• Grade Received: A-
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Hated this class. Interesting material, but her teaching was terrible. Obscene amount of work outside the actual class. Not accommodating & expects u to prioritize her class over others. Narrow-minded in that she can't see how less-privileged ppl might b affected by policies. 2 other PAM majors I know switched out of the entire major b/c of her.

Rating # 13

Overview:

• Course: PAM2300
• Grade Received: A-
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

The actual material for this class isn't particularly difficult, but the way that it is presented in lecture is confusing and hard to follow. The group project took up a ridiculous amount of my time (easily 80+ hours over the course of 2 months) and the prelims were hard- average raw score was a D for both of them, but they're scaled to a B.

Rating # 14

Overview:

• Course: PAM2300
• Grade Received: B+
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Useless readings. Killer prelims, b/c there's so much material & b/c the way she words questions makes it hard to know what she wants. No final, but a group project. Thinks her class is the most important & schedules mandatory events over ur other classes. Hardest class I've taken in two years. Lectures are 60+ slides long & convoluted. Great TAs.

Rating # 15

Overview:

• Course: PAM2300
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

This class has so much potential but Prof Avery makes it the worst course at Cornell. Her slides are poorly executed--each powerpoint is between 60 and 70 slides, lacks structure, full of text, and she flies through them. Her class is scattered with no focus, and there is endless useless and over-tested dense reading (lack focus/meaningfulness)

Rating # 16

Overview:

• Course: PAM2300
• Grade Received: A-
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

She's a wonderful person, but she flies through hr lecture slides that no student can actually catch up with what she's trying to teach. This class is a LOT of work. I feel like I did learn a lot, but because of the fast pace of the class, I don't think I have retained much. If you want to learn about policy (and turn cynical), I recommend taking.

Rating # 17

Overview:

• Course: PAM2300
• Grade Received: A-
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

I always got the sense Prof. Avery was talking down to us while it is a freshman-heavy course, it isn't the first exposure to college work for a lot of us. Her lectures contain a lot of material. The group paper was absolutely awful and allowed for a ton of free riding, which was ironic since she taught about the negatives of that in lectures.

Rating # 18

Overview:

• Course: PAM2300
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Best class I've taken so far at Cornell. Material was interesting and Prof. Avery was engaging. Prelims/final were tough to study for (lots of memorization) but if you put in the work and studied a few days in advance they were fine. TAs are incredibly helpful. Do the extra credit. I think class average was around A-/B+ range.

Rating # 19

Overview:

• Course: PAM330
• 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:

Incredible educator concerned about the practical application of her teaching and well being of her students. There's quite a bit of group work and assignments, but it's manageable if you pace yourself.

Rating # 20

Overview:

• Course: PAM2300
• 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:

Her lectures are pretty fast-paced. Her powerpoints are quite dense, but she flies through them. Fortunately, she does upload all of her powerpoints online. Very helpful, but the material is quite difficult and heavy.