Eric Oifer - Santa Monica College

Professor: Eric Oifer

Department: TBD

College: Santa Monica College

Rating # 1

Overview:

• Course: POL51
• Grade Received: WD
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

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

Comment:

I have never had a professor who seems to hate their job so much. Unclear directions, which, when misunderstood, result in snippy responses from the professor. Grades everything with 1pt or 0.5 of a point - not sure what the deal is with that. I couldn't endure waking up at 6am, getting to class, and dealing with him. Had to drop.

Rating # 2

Overview:

• Course: POLSCI51
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Not a bad teacher, just VERY specific what he wants to hear. For a philosophy class, his classes don't really allow room for free thinking. Once you figure out what he wants to hear, the class becomes an easy A but honestly, I didn't get any depth of knowledge out of this class. Waste of time for me.

Rating # 3

Overview:

• Course: PHILOS51
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Eric Oifer is an amazing professor. There are readings but you are tested on them with one-point reading evidence logs, and most students just skimmed around to find good quotes. His lectures explain everything really well, and his class is a good balance of discussion and lecture. You do have to go to at least 90% of classes to do well.

Rating # 4

Overview:

• Course: PHIL51
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

write a topic sentence every class for .5 points ( if you miss class you can't make up the .5 ), easy hw worth 1 point, two essays worth 8 points each, need 31.5 points for an A, he round up the half points!! only thing that prevents you from an a is the essays bc its hard to get more than a 5 or 6 on the essays. Write 3rd essay for a higher grade.

Rating # 5

Overview:

• Course: POLSC51
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

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

Comment:

2 mandatory papers (1 optional), NO EXAMS OR QUIZZES, very easy homework, and daily in-class assignments. his class is very easy and his grading scale allows you lots of leeway. straight to the point, no bullsh!tt!ng, but also very nice and approachable. I highly recommend taking political philosophy w/ him.

Rating # 6

Overview:

• Course: POLSCI51
• Grade Received: Not sure yet
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Dr. Oifer is a qualified professor. His Pol Sc 51 Scholars class for the Fall 2019 semester involves daily topic sentences, reading evidence logs, PMIQs, and papers. For topic sentences, he gives you the answers during lecture and you can lose up to 10 points total to still get an A. He is a bit scattered when he talks but never hard to understand.

Rating # 7

Overview:

• Course: PHILO51
• Grade Received: Not sure yet
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Very difficult to understand. He doesn't really teach, you have to teach yourself and the textbook is also difficult to read. Everything was so redundant ... didn't learn much in this class.

Rating # 8

Overview:

• Course: POLSCI51
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Oifer receives far too much criticism. It's a challenging yet rewarding class. He does have a unique grading system that demands attendance in order to achieve an "A." It is a lecture heavy class, so I would instruct future students to listen, follow his guidelines and remain impartial to the material rather than trying to assert your own views.

Rating # 9

Overview:

• Course: PHIL51
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Show up to class, pay attention, try to do the readings, actually FOLLOW his essay guidelines, and you will receive an A. He has a really odd point system which basically requires you to come to class. He's compassionate and smart, truly a regal man. Wish he taught more poli sci classes because the rest at SMC are pretty bad or mediocre.

Rating # 10

Overview:

• Course: PHIL51
• 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:

The most extraordinary professor I've ever seen. He engages students in critical thinking and genuinely cares about his students. He has a deep background on political theory and he is an environmentalist and cares about students at SMC. He is such a clear thinking intellectual and accomplished scholar who is humble and inspirational

Rating # 11

Overview:

• Course: POLSCI51
• 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:

Professor Oifer doesnt like to be disrespected & he is a young teacher, that will not put up with constant interruptions in his classroom. It makes sense bc if you pay attention there is a lot of cool material. I think the fact that he is young gives students the wrong impression, as if its okay to show up late every day & verbally disrespect him

Rating # 12

Overview:

• Course: POLISCI51SCHOLA
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Difficult class, but interesting. If you don't show up you won't understand the material and you will lose points on assignments. He doesn't tell you or show you how to write the papers, you are expected to mostly learn for yourself. The textbook is very difficult to understand, so it's even more important to show up to class.

Rating # 13

Overview:

• Course: PHIL51
• Grade Received: B
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

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

Comment:

one of the best teachers i've taken. you earn points by completing a topic sentence which is based on the lecture at the end of class. do good on those bc it gives you credit. assignments aren't hard so do them too to earn points to get to 32 which is an A and 23 is a B. not a class that needs too much work. I liked him so much

Rating # 14

Overview:

• Course: PHILOS51
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

Tough Grader. Made me a better student and more prepared for upper division work. If you want an easy A for your g.p.a., this isn't the class, but then again you probably aren't transferring to a top school anyway. If you're at all serious about your studies or have an interest in political philosophy Dr. Oifer is one of the best in his field.

Rating # 15

Overview:

• Course: PHILO51
• Grade Received: B
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

Very difficult class. Although it is a philosophy class do not think you have freedom to think, you must follow his specific train of thought in order to do well. Pay close attention to the structure guidelines he provides in the syllabus. Show up to every class, and take all of the daily assignments and reading logs seriously as they will help.

Rating # 16

Overview:

• Course: PHILO51
• Grade Received: WD
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

he gave me 1 out of 8 on a 1200+ words debate paper.

Rating # 17

Overview:

• Course: POL51
• Grade Received: B
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Professor Oifer's very precise. He gives a breakdown of exactly what you need to do for your papers and spends a lot of time helping you get there. This is really handy and makes it easy to know where you went wrong. Your grade's built on a points system which helps get a good grade but having to write in a specific way felt constraining to me.

Rating # 18

Overview:

• Course: POLI52
• 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:

The guy is a master in his field and really explains the material well. If you are a philosophy or political science major you will like the class.

Rating # 19

Overview:

• Course: SCHOLARSPOSCI51
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Dr. Oifer does a really good job of explaining the material in class which helps so you don't have to rely on the reading which is difficult. The class has 2 papers and an optional 3rd one and smaller assignments (you need to get 30 points to get an A which is doable.) I got a 6/8 on both. Make sure you do all the smaller assignments for points.

Rating # 20

Overview:

• Course: POLISCI51
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Professor Oifer wants you to do well. He grades you on context. This is NOT an easy class. A topic sentence every day of class worth .5 point. You must understand the material in order to write two papers. I got a 5/8 on the first paper, but busted my butt off to write a better second paper and got an 8/8. Again, not an easy grader.