Raka Ray - University of California Berkeley

Professor: Raka Ray

Department: TBD

College: University of California Berkeley

Rating # 1

Overview:

• Course: SOC1
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Listening to Professor Ray's lecture is always a joy. She knows how to catch students' attention and engage them in conversation; her lecture is clear and straight-to-the point--even if you did not do the reading sometime, you can easily catch up just by listening to the lecture. Definitely will take her class again!

Rating # 2

Overview:

• Course: SOCIOL1
• Grade Received: A-
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Professor Ray was fantastic; she really cares about her students and the subject. I would definitely recommend taking her classes. She's witty and kind.

Rating # 3

Overview:

• Course: SOC1
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

I absolutely loved Professor Ray. Her lectures were incredibly engaging, and the hour always flew by. The few written assignments in the class had intriguing prompts, and I actually enjoyed writing. This class changed how I see the world, and I feel like the things I learned will stay with me forever.

Rating # 4

Overview:

• Course: SOC1
• Grade Received: Not sure yet
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Ray is obviously very passionate about what she teachers and is able to engage people through her presentation style. Class has no homework, just read and you'll be fine for in section quizzes. Grade does completely depend on who your GSI is (and that would be a whole other rating than Ray's) so definitely go to your GSI's office hours.

Rating # 5

Overview:

• Course: SOC1
• 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:

Prof. Ray is so organized with her class and very inspiring. A pretty chill class if you do all of the readings and was a great class to be in during the election time. She responds well to her students and is very accessible outside of class. I thoroughly enjoyed going to her class every day! Also, she made lectures only M/W not Friday!

Rating # 6

Overview:

• Course: SOC1
• Grade Received: B+
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Prof Ray was amazing! She always had a clear lecture plan and made lessons extremely interesting. The readings can be long at times but awesome! She also got several great guest lecturers. My GSI Seth was good, and discussion was mostly clarification of readings. The grade was based on one 5 page paper, midterm, take home final, section work.

Rating # 7

Overview:

• Course: SOC1
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

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

Comment:

Raka was amazing, good lecturer, and interesting. She opened my eyes to new ideas and was a great teacher. I would recommend her class.

Rating # 8

Overview:

• Course: SOC1
• 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:

The discussion is much more helpful than lecture. Grade depends on discussion. Lots of time in discussion was spent clarifying what Ray had presented in Lecture-her notes are unclear and often lack a unifying focus. I found that attending lecture was only important because my GSI made everyone contribute to discussion;otherwise lecture is useless.

Rating # 9

Overview:

• Course: SOC1
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.5
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

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

Comment:

Lecture is extremely useful, learned everything there and very little in discussion...but your grade relies primarily on your GSI. Prof Ray knows her stuff and lectures on pretty much everything you need to know for tests. Reading is also big in this class.

Rating # 10

Overview:

• Course: SOC1
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

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

Comment:

Professor is very nice. It is difficult to pay attention in class. The midterm questions were given out a week before the midterm, and the final was take-home. All grading is done by the GSIs. The movies were helpful to refer to in the midterm and final.

Rating # 11

Overview:

• Course: SOC1
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

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

Comment:

Grade mostly relies on your discussions. Papers/tests are graded by GSIs so difficulty depends on your GSI. Raka herself is an engaging lecturer whose lectures are mainly to get you thinking about sociology and delve into readings. She's very helpful in office hours, approachable, professional, and overall a great professor.

Rating # 12

Overview:

• Course: SOC1
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

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

Comment:

I agree with the comment below. Sociology is an extremely interesting subject to begin with. It's not that Raka is able to teach well. The class overall had no real focus. Not much is ever learned in lecture. Everything is in the readings and discussions.

Rating # 13

Overview:

• Course: SOC1
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

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

Comment:

Ray leaves a lot to be desired. For such a fascinating subject, she's pretty mild. I'd still recommend the class though- for one thing, you don't have to show up to lecture, so it doesn't matter that Ray is meh. For another, the reading is really interesting (though yes, you do kinda have to do it). An easy class if you can write.

Rating # 14

Overview:

• Course: SOC133
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

LOVE the class, the material, the readings, the lecture, her! MUST TAKE HER. Only class all semester I didn't ditch. Kind, funny, relevant. Papers, no final exam. Fair.

Rating # 15

Overview:

• Course: SOC1
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.5
• Course Difficulty: 1.0

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

Comment:

This is a great & easy class. She explains the material very well & is understanding of students (i.e. she scheduled the class so that there was no reading after the midterm because she wanted to give us a break). I had a bad GSI, but still loved this course. I read only 1/3 of the material & was still able to get a B+. Definately reccomended

Rating # 16

Overview:

• Course: SOC1
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

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

Comment:

the class is pretty interesting and not too difficult. The readings are also intersting which makes it easier. The final exam is take home essay; their is an in class mt and you are given the prompt ahead of time, and two easy take home essays.

Rating # 17

Overview:

• Course: SOC1
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.5
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

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

Comment:

Very good class! I learned so much, and the readings were just as fun and interesting. Professor Raka is a pretty good lecturer (hard to get bored in that class) and very clear. Highly recommend it for anyone. You get the Q's before the exams beforehand to prepare for, so it's not as hard. Just make sure you follow your GSI's criteria as well.

Rating # 18

Overview:

• Course: SOC1
• 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:

Professor Ray is a good professor and is very interactive with the students. However, make sure you get a good GSI orelse the class might be harder than you expect since the GSIs are the ones that do all the grading.

Rating # 19

Overview:

• Course: SOC1
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 1.0

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

Comment:

Not a good lecturer by any means. Lectures contained some valuable material, but it could always have been presented in about 10 minutes. Half the time Prof. Ray just admonished the class for talking rather than actually teaching. Late for/absent for several lectures. Easy grade, but not interesting at all and I would never recommend this class

Rating # 20

Overview:

• Course: SOC1
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

She's a great lecturer, but knows exactly what she wants and there are stringent guidelines on how to achieve that. I'd recommend the class, but make sure to meet with your GSI before essays and tests so you don't get docked points for no reason.