Maria Beltran-Vocal - DePaul University

Professor: Maria Beltran-Vocal

Department: Languages

College: DePaul University

Rating # 1

Overview:

• Course: SPN205
• Grade Received: B+
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Do yourself a favor and do not take her. She has a terrible superiority complex and believes she is above everyone else. I went to her office hours constantly, emailed, participated, did all my reading/assignments and she would not give me the grades I deserved. Decent person, bad bad professor.

Rating # 2

Overview:

• Course: SPN202
• Grade Received: B+
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

At first I didn't mind Beltran-Vocal, then she let her true colors show. She's extremely rude and aggressive. She is a very harsh grader, which is fine if you learn something but I didn't learn much. The things I did learn were from the movies we had to watch. I would rather take a quarter of Spanish off than have her again. (And I LOVE Spanish!)

Rating # 3

Overview:

• Course: SPN205
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 1.0

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

Comment:

This is the worst class I've ever taken at DePaul. This woman ruined spanish for me. She is so stubborn that she will never admit she's wrong, she grades things so absurdly I am considering going to the dean. My one regret in college is taking her class and I warn every person who considering- do not.

Rating # 4

Overview:

• Course: SPN205
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Very unclear about her expectations for assignments. You will learn in this class but very vague and will criticize you even though there is no guide for what to do in the class. Take her only if you have to.

Rating # 5

Overview:

• Course: SPN207
• 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:

Unprofessional. Unfair. Rude. She clearly had favorites in the class and projected her judgmental views on students who were least fluent. I was surprised by her demeaning attitude the entire quarter. Amount of coursework is unrealistic for a 200-level class. We were spread too thin and therefore had little opportunity to actually learn.

Rating # 6

Overview:

• Course: SPN207
• Grade Received: Not sure yet
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

Although professor Beltran is a tough grader, that is not the issue. She is very rude and at times can make you feel so little. She has a doctorate so she feels disrespected by unnecessary things. If you take the Conversation class everything is done in group and it can be challenging because everyone level of Spanish is different. DO NOT TAKE.

Rating # 7

Overview:

• Course: SPN322
• Grade Received: C-
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

Dr. Beltran-Vocal was horrible. I was belittled constantly. The last day of class she only knew about 4 of the 10 students' names. For the midterm, she gave two full essays in addition to 10 short answers to be completed during the standard 1.5hrs' class time. She brought me literally to tears in her office as a 28 year old. Final exam 6 essays!

Rating # 8

Overview:

• Course: SPN103
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

I am shocked to see such poor reviews for Dr. Beltran-Vocal. I have never learned more in such a short amount of time. Very difficult teacher but it is all because she really knows how to teach and make you understand the language quickly. Wish she taught more classes at my level because I loved having her as a professor.

Rating # 9

Overview:

• Course: SPN201
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

If any other professor is available take advantage of that. I dropped her class because I disliked her teaching method. She would get easily frustrated if a student did not know the answer. I went to her office hours for help but still failed to explain clearly. The amount of homework a day is extreme. ONLY PICK HER SHE IS YOUR LAST RESORT.

Rating # 10

Overview:

• Course: SPN206
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

Overall, I WOULD NOT RECOMMEND THIS PROFESSOR. She is knowledge and accomplished however, her grading criteria is very unclear. This was a heritage speakers class, I failed every single test however ended up with a B+ in this class.

Rating # 11

Overview:

• Course: SPN205
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

Dropped this class ASAP. Honestly, she makes the class more difficult than it should be; I was going for a Spanish minor but definitely reconsidered after this, the first day she lectured us on 4 cited papers and a 5-7 min presentation we'd have to do. I could go on, but for your own well being DO NOT take her.

Rating # 12

Overview:

• Course: SPN205
• Grade Received: C-
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

Never again. Worse class I have taken. Really hard greater and doesn't help much.

Rating # 13

Overview:

• Course: 206
• 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:

She is unorganized with her assignments, constantly changing the syllabus. The amount of homework she gives out is ridiculous and feels more time consuming than actual learning. The lectures can be very long, teachers should be motivating us but instead she always makes everyone feel so small. I would not take another class with her again.

Rating # 14

Overview:

• Course: SPN203
• 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: Mandatory

Comment:

She changes the syllabus almost every class to the point where no one knows whats going on and gets mad when you ask her about it. The workload is unnecessarily excessive for a nonnative speaker language course. The class itself is a very dry and uninteresting hour and a half which will make you regret taking Spanish altogether. Avoid this class.

Rating # 15

Overview:

• Course: SPN203
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

The workload is ridiculous. I am a Spanish minor, but felt like I was just bombarded with assignments. Definitely no walk in the park. Do I feel more competent with my Spanish? Maybe a little bit. Obviously, college shouldn't be easy, but when I have more homework in this class than all others combined, I start to wonder. Not recommended.

Rating # 16

Overview:

• Course: SPN206
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

She is a very hard professor but only because she wants you to learn. She literally gives you no choice but to learn. If you don't work hard and make an effort you won't do good. If you actually want to improve your spanish definitely take this class. She grades on improvement and effort not on test scores!

Rating # 17

Overview:

• Course: SPN312
• 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:

She is one of the hardest professors ever! Several students dropped, one right before the midterm. She relies heavily on text but is so unclear during her explanation of its history and there are 4 essays, 3 due the last few weeks of class. DO NOT TAKE HER if you can help it. She's also a hard grader but says she goes easy. Yeah right!

Rating # 18

Overview:

• Course: SPN305
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

She is definitely not an easy grader. But she is an excellent professor! If you take her class, you will gain so much knowledge. She pushes you to become a better writer, but is always there to help. Additionally, she is very understanding. She takes everything into consideration, so things like consistent attendance and participation really helps

Rating # 19

Overview:

• Course: 201
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

She is Strict. Don't stereotype. She doesn't like it- At all...

Rating # 20

Overview:

• Course: SPN201
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

She was very unclear on assignment expectations and there was a lot of miscommunication between here and her students. But she was also always willing to help students outside of class and she is incredibly knowledgeable about the Spanish speaking world.