2.9
Quality2.6
DifficultyN/A
Would Retake114
ReviewsN/A
Would Retake
114
Reviews
Rating DistributionOfficial
5
19
4
27
3
30
2
28
1
10
What Students Say
“Course is not a reflection of your knowledge”
SOC370 - 1.0 rating“DO NOT TAKE A CLASS WITH HIM UNLESS IT IS ABSOLUTELY NECESSARY”
SOC101 - 1.0 ratingClass Info
Online Classes
100%
Attendance Mandatory
43%
Textbook Required
100%
Grade Predictor
Your expected effort level
Predicted Grade
A-
Grade Distribution
Rating Trend
Declining
-0.90 avg changeRatings by Course
SOC322
4.6
(5)SOC201
4.5
(2)SOC207
4.1
(14)SOC3710
3.0
(1)SOC370
3.0
(10)Difficulty by Course
SOC307
4.0
101
3.0
SOC3710
3.0
SOC101DE
3.0
SOC101
2.7
Reviews (114)
A nice guy, but ridiculously detailed, unfair questions on tests and very dry lectures.
I'm surprised I was able to stay awake in half of his classes. Warning... you must drink atleast 5 cups of coffee to survive each lecture!!! Many questions on tests were unclear and there was just way too much material to cover!!!
This guy is stupider with computers than my mom. He seriously need to learn to put his lectures on the web. Way too much to copy down and half of them are useless. For mid terms, just memorize the terms and definitions and you will pass. As for the
Very, very interesting. Makes you think. (3-hour lecture format in windowless room in PAS makes you sleep - bring coffee!) Not an easy marker.
Boring monotonous voice plus late night lectures makes it hard to stay awake in class. Just study the definitions from the text and you'll ace his course.
very clear, vry helpful, witty sense of humour...just listen to him, + he will slowly become interesting
i don't know why most ppl think he's boring. most of the stuff he said in lectures were quite interesting.
I love his sense of humour and his tests are very easy! He's a good teacher and gives lots of chances for class discussions about assignments if you don't understand.
most monotoned person i have ever listened to. dry jokes, he doesnt even laugh when he tells them, just looks around with a complete blank stare. boring
A good teacher. starts off boring, but gets better thruout the year. liked the class a lot.
I have taken this course in Victimology and I must say that, it's good mainly because he is very organized with his material. He taught me a lot and was always around to give help if you need it. He always has office hours so don't hesitate to e-mail.
This man could make the play-by-play of the Stanley Cup boring! Do the online quizzes from the text, and the tests are easy!
No Comments
Tried to make the best of extremely dry course material. No surprises on tests and assignments were surprisingly quite simple. Subtle sense of humour, lectures tended to drag on at times, however, an easy class to get marks in if you just stick it out
Honestly at first I thought this was the worst class,but as I got use to his teaching(monotone),it was awesome - he makes jokes.He really cares for the students, and wants to make sure everyone has an opp. 2get a good grade.I would take his classes again.
tells u to email him whenever u have ne questions or comments, but RARELY responds to them when u do email him. ez course: simple assignments & exams. make sure u attend his lectures for this course!
Assignments and expectations are straightforward. Lectures were about 50% boring and 50% engaging.
Should be a Soc. major or the class will be very difficult
Lectures through powerpoints the whole class and will not provide powerpoint slides on web/coure notes. Monotone and admits it as he lectures. The test is obviously from the textbook bank, and the lectures do not help with the test, you must read the textbook specifically in order to do well.
there is a lot of material to go through but overall he is a pretty good teacher and well organized, he makes sure to point out examples which help a person to understand each concept that is being taught
Boring and makes the stupidist jokes in the world. The class is easy though
One of the most boring teachers @ Waterloo. He talks in a dull, unexpressive and throaty voice and has a grumpy old man type sense of humour. Bring something to classes to keep you entertained because he'll put you to sleep.
Not a bad prof, knows a lot and has a lot of great examples, however somewhat vague on assignment instructions and marks harder. Tests (MC) easy, essay ones a little harder. Overall a good prof. Can be boring...and does make awful jokes.
A harder class than I anticipated. I found he was a good speaker and a nice person. He also answered all my questions that I emailed to him. The text was an important part of this course, but it is not interesting reading...
I've never had a prof that was so bitter and offensive. The text was dry and repetitive. I wouldn't recommend this professor or class.
Was very disappointed in this class! relies too much on powerpoint (which have MANY typos), drags on for the less important stuff and flies through or doesn't even address important info. His tests are RIDICULOUS - you have to read the small print to do well. His TA is ****y and unapproachable
His lectures were boring, he didnt focus to greatly about the important concepts and the midterms were difficult and greatly detailed. I would not take SOC101 with this prof, there are many better classes out there. Study the textbook intensely for both midterms, especially the second one.
This is an awesome prof! He is funny and has a lot of interesting stories. Take this class.
great course, great prof. you have to read the textbook, but the tests are not too bad. he is SO funny and has really cool anecdotes to share. also super nice to talk to if you get chatting with him. i will definitely take more classes with Dr. McClinchey. A+ prof.
This was the most boring class ever!!! Half way through you were checking your pulse to make sure you were not dead!!
Very very dry style of teaching, very monotonic, dull and well a terrible prof. I'm sure he knows his material.. but can't relay it well at all.
If you have absolutely no knowledge of the topic you may learn something. Prof is boring, occasionally innacurate, and vague. I'm sure he means well though, and he is helpful outside of class when he occasionally knows what he is talking about.
broing to listen to. material is straight forward --jsut a lot of it
Wasn't helpful with questions. Course is all about memorizing definitions and sections of the text. If you take this course, print the tests because several questions are reused on the final exam.
He is the best prof i have ever had. He is straight forward no surprised with him. His lectures follow the book and he adds in examples. EASY class and EASY prof....I LOVE HIM!
i love dr. mcclinchey, but this class sucked. he either read to us from the course notes, which i could have done at home, or we had to try and copy off his impossibly complicated and error-filled ppt slides. easy to get a good mark on the essays though.
Barry is an amazing prof. After taking 321 Boyer, I did not want to take 322, but Barry made it enjoyable. He is filled with knowledge, and wants to see his students do well. Great TA as well. I would definately take another class with him
very nice prof, entertaining and loves what he is doing. put students' interests and success first. recommended
I did this class distance ed, and it was so difficult for the OMS there were questions that aren't in the text or modules, are we supposed to go out and find them in the library or on line? Sheesh! Team work assignment was pointless.
He is one of the best Soc profs at Waterloo. If you want to do well, you MUST attend class. He wants his students to do well, and when he says read a certain chapter, know it in great detail. I wish he taught more classes
You can tell that he is very passionate about teaching and that he really wants the students to understand the material. He does not post course slides on ACE so you must go to class. He gives great little hints during the lectures as to what to expect on the midterm and the exam. You must do the readings + understand the main points in them.
Such a friendly and genuinely nice guy and Prof. Doesn't treat students like they're 2nd rate and is open for a wide range of conversation. The course material is interesting and thought provoking, and isn't a repeat from all those other 1st and 2nd year Psych courses, which is refreshing! Grades fairly, if you know your material, you will do well!
Very boring, only took it as a prerequisite for 207. I agree with the monotoned voice and the dry jokes. Lectures always dragged, but he usually let us out 30min early. Tests were very hard if you didn't read the material so read ALL of the chapters and attend ALL of the lectures. That's a warning!!!
doesn't put anything on ace which can be very annoying. have to attend letures or you'll get lost. lectures are boring, and is very monotone. speaks really quickly and its hard to keep up in his lectures. but course inst too difficult
This course was good.. i hated how he didn't put anything online..the assignments were easy but the TA whose a B**CH marked them hard .. she's unavailable for help she's rude and arrogant...i suggest u go to the prof for help .. he's awesome and really friendly and always there to make u feel good about everything.. take this class its great!
This class was awesome I loved it .i know most research classes are dull and whatever but McClinchey makes it fun and he actually lets you have hands on experience on doing research (the assignments are extremely easy and lots of FUN!)I learned alot..therez two tests 3 assignments and final all VERY Easy ..take this class! u'll get a 85+ for sure
Took this course through distance ed, which proved to be very annoying because of all the electronic glitches. He was pretty useless in helping me when one of the glitches disabled me from completing an online assignment. He kept referring me to the course outline, suggesting that I was stupid and couldnt read times. He ended up being wrong. Ass.
Nice guy. Passionate about sociology. He is a bit technically challenged, so I can understand the Distance Ed comments, but he's more than happy to help you understand any concepts that you are struggling.
Worst professor ever! He was way too condescending and rude. The course was boring....
Took the distance course and enjoyed it a lot! He used some very interesting lecturers for the on-line lectures and the mc test were very fair! No trickery or confusing wording at all for his mc tests.
Good course. TA marks the assignments, so marks totally based on their discretion. Midterms were easy. Final was a lot of writing. Buy the book and read or, or come to class - your choice - same result.
Easy concepts to pick up, many of them are common sense. Lectures only 2 hrs per week, which is nice. I went to talk to him after class once and he seemed disinterested in what I had to say. Skipped at least 50% of lectures and still got an 82. After taking his course, decided to major in psychology.
He doesn't really care about his students, plain and simple. His lectures were interesting, but his snide remarks about conservative political leaders not only were unrelated to course material but alienated many students. Don't take his classes if you like feeling connected to your profs.
McClinchey is a fair prof but his lectures are dull. I found it difficult to stay awake in many of his lectures.
Lots of papers for this class, they're pretty easy but he's so biased. If you write about anything other than conflict perspective don't expect to do well. He presents all material in a conflict-biased way.
he is super boring
information is easy, esp if you're in legal studies. he's an ok professor. not boring and cracks some jokes so that helps. ta is an easy marker. marking is 2 assignments, midterm and final. assignments and midterm were EASY. if u need this book: Vago and Nelson, Law and society - 2nd edition, email me - [email protected] - $50.00 negotiable
Holy moly this guy is boring. I heard some girls I was sitting next to me say that they were convinced that he'd had a stroke and I agree a little bit
Fell Asleep every class...end of story
ridiculous prof. if you dont talk about his favourite theories in your assignments (conflict/marxist) dont expect a high mark. The final had nothing to do with sociology. it was like a PSCI exam. I heard someone ask him about a question. "how is that sociological?" he answered "everythings sociological". and walked away. such a terrible prof.
The course is Sociology of Law so some concepts encountered will not be strictly sociological. The course is focused on knowing certain sociological theories and applying them to legal issues. I found him to be a fair marker, although his lectures can be boring
This guy is probably an intelligent guy and all, but he is very boring. Never made it through a full hour of the two-hour class all year. Mind you, he teaches basically right out of the textbook, so you can still get a good mark as long as you read that. Just don't go to class expecting a stimulating discussion...
Wish I could post on here what I really think about him. He is one of the worst profs I have EVER had in my 4 years of university. Although, the class is super easy if you read the text book...as 99% of the test is directly from the text.
Absolutely boring but super easy because all his online midterms are straight from the textbook. everythign was multiple choice.
One of the nicest and most helpful professor I have ever had.
REALLY boring Prof. Reads all lecture material from the SOC textbook. I needed this course for a BA requirement, I found it actually difficult..got 70's on all assignments because I didn't write about conflict theory. English Lit Major here, and will never take another SOC class ever again. This class turned me off of the subject.
Dull and obviously biased. Tests are straight from the book, and it's a class about people interacting and you have no face-to-face discussion with your peers. Powerpoints often contain factual errors, and are poorly organized.
In my opinion he's a horrible professor, he is very biased towards the conflict theory. Tests are done on line and they are very easy as they are right from the book, you don't even have to attend his boring lectures; although i did.
All of the online tests and the exams are based on the textbook. Hardly any point in going to the lectures especially when soc 101 is usually one of the night classes. Also super biased, and a pretty big jerk.
While Prof McClinchey can be boring at times, I actually didn't mind his class's. The lectures were long but for the most part not to bad. Its obvious that the Prof isn't skilled in technological area, which makes me wonder why he was teaching a blended course. Also, there was a large inconsistency in teaching and test materials.
all tests were straight from text book. lectures are pointless, slide show info is all from the text book. lectures are very boring and he tries to make jokes that are not funny...
His lectures are absolutely pointless, might as well stay home and read the textbook. Makes horribly dry jokes. Monotone, mostly reads off slides but leaves some gaps - comes out of book anyways. Only worthwhile lecture pertained to the assignment.
I was kind of interested in class, but the tests are stupid and straight from the textbook and it is way to easy to cheat and not know what your talking about because you do it with friends.
Such a boring prof. The TA's were hard markers for the assignments.
This class was extremely boring. Make sure you do all your readings as they are very helpful when it comes to the tests. I started off doing poorly, but ended up with an 83%, so all-in-all, its not too bad.
great teacher if you're okay with listening for three hours, test and midterms are easy if you payed attention in class and read the textbook. only one assignment and i got perfect so i dont think the TAs get very specific instuctions :)
his lectures are veryy interesting and the course load isnt so bad either! You can easily get a good mark!
Sometimes his lectures might seem boring & repetitive, but overall he's not as strict as he appears. If you go to class and take good notes you'll get a good mark in the course.
The T.A's were super hard markers and nit picked on all my assignments. I put a lot of effort in the class and it didn't reflect my grade. He is very intimidating and the only time i ever asked him for something he wasnt very helpful at all and laughed when i asked if i could get my assignments regraded. I had an interest in the course but now NO!
pretty monotone but he knows what hes talking about. he leaves out a lot of information from his lecture slides so its important to go to lectures. but they do get very very very boring.
This is a good, fair prof. The evaluations will reward those who study, and since the course material is interesting, it makes studying easier.
You actually do need to read the textbook for his exams. Some of his questions derive from it. Overall, an OK (but monotonous) professor. His lectures were fair, and so are his exams.
Super dry humor and very monotone. He taught us the test's content the day AFTER the test. Overall, my worst prof so far.
very boring, monotone, dry, do not enjoy class one bit
Easiest course I've taken. Exam was all multiple choice and based on textbook and lectures.
So boring! The lectures and textbook both boring. Multiple choice tests are tricky and it's very textbook heavy. The MySocLab component that comes with the textbook is very helpful, use it if you buy the textbook brand new!It's helpful.
Easy course with no midterm. Anyone who finds him boring has never sat through a Calculus lecture before. Interesting stories and good examples. Posts all his slides online. 10/10 would take again.
NO POINT going to class, seriously. All his powerpoints are online and it's all straight from the textbook. The midterms are pure memorization (online tests). The final was a lot of stuff to memorize. THe TA's mark the essays hard. Overall easy course.
Boring prof. Class probably would have been more interesting with a different professor. You can tell he really cares about the subject but he doesn't do much to stimulate class interest. If you want the slides, go to class but you get more out of the textbook then his lectures. Easy tests, easy final but long.
This is the most boring class i have ever been to
Very boring professor. It's obvious he knows his stuff but the delivery leaves much to be desired. He reads off slides and then goes on tangents for much of the class often repeating the same point many ways over the course of 5 minutes. His examples are up to date and effective but he wastes time with multiple on the same topic.
If you have this professor for SOC101, switch out or drop the class if you can't get an override. He covers 1/3 of a chapters worth of material and expects you to memorize the rest, same thing happened for 12 chapters all 12 weeks. Boring classes, notes all from the textbook (which you have to memorize for the finals anyway). Worst prof ever.
pointless classes, boring professor, overall i had to read the entire textbook for the final exam!
Only attended the first 3 weeks and then stopped attending as it was a very boring evening course. I still ended up with an A. The textbook was very useful. As long as you read the lecture slides and the textbook, you should be fine.
You do not have to attend this class. The prof literally makes his slides straight, word for word textbook. As long as you read the textbook, you'll be fine. Also, his midterms are all online. Very easy to do well on those without trying.
I really like the prof, funny guy. Keeps the lectures really interesting, which you have to attend since he doesn't post the slides on Learn. The online tests were pretty fair... if you read the textbook readings and lecture notes. Exam was also pretty fair, I mainly just read the textbook though.
terrible, just terrible. Text book is a must. Monotone.
Probably the slimiest course I have ever taken. The on line quizzes are straight from the textbook, however are worded in such a way that you are tricked into believing the wrong answer is correct. The lectures are beyond the definition of boring. The textbook is so rigid and does not capture the reader!Assignments are so useless and irrelevant!
You can tell that he tried to make the class interesting but he's very monotone and it was an extremely boring class. There's a lot of textbook reading that you have to do since the online tests are all textbook info. There's really no point in going to class since he makes his notes from the textbook and it's also a really long class
The worst!Quizzes are verbatim from the textbook however you are tricked into believing the wrong answer is correct. Definitely not a reflection of your knowledge more a course about figuring out where he will be sleazy next! The final exam was probably the most difficult that I have ever written.6 random quotes that you had to expand on :S
Course is not a reflection of your knowledge. Even if you memorize the entire textbook there's no way around the delusional proff that tests you on things that dont even make sense.The final exam was a bunch of quotes that youve never seen before that you need to correlate with theories. Also,he never answers emails in full, TA is even worse.AWFUL!
DO NOT TAKE A CLASS WITH HIM UNLESS IT IS ABSOLUTELY NECESSARY
Get ready to memorize every quote and caption from your textbook. If you have this guy for Soc 101, get out unless you love textbook readings
Took this class for SOC 101, most boring class I've ever taken. Prof is a funny guy but you have to read a lot (almost the entire textbook). The tests are based on very specific quotes and such from the textbook - it's very hard to remember everything you read from a 700 page textbook.
Slides were verbatim taken from the textbook. Everyone had a hard time staying awake during the lectures. Barely any information was addressed that wasn't in the textbook, so you honestly could read and skip the lectures. All of the exams were ridiculous. He would often test on something that was in the textbook for only one or two sentences.
Don't bother attending his class. All the tests and exam are taken straight from the textbook. Just read along every week and you'll actually be fine. His lectures are vague and not remotely descriptive enough to be useful for studying. NOT A FAN.
Lectures are very boring and long. He teaches right out of the textbook, literally taking exact definitions. Online tests were tricky, he asks for little details that don't really test your knowledge, same with the final. Probably one of the worst profs I have had, avoid taking this course with him if possible.
His victimology class was pretty interesting. The midterm was decently hard but he marks the papers fairly easy and there is leniency with which topics you choose. Definitely take this class!
Beats around the bush and is therefore hard to understand what point he is trying to make. The answers to questions in class were also vaguely responded to and thus not clarifying anything. Long lectures. Everything in class is the same as found in the textbook
He seems passionate, but just too rehearsed to be enjoyed.
He is passionate and I enjoy listening in on his lectures. His examples are interesting but I would enjoy this class more if it was split up into 2 lectures. The tests are hard, and require you to study from the textbook as well as the lecture slides. Assignments are easy and essentially boost your mark. You need to be in class to get full notes.
LIKE LIKE LIKE!!! AMAZING LECTURER AND TEACHER!! was very interesting to listen to him, even though the lectures were long. Very dedicated to his subject. Makes good jokes, I MEAN IT!!! WOULD DEF RECOMMEND HIM TO EVERYONE!! 1010
The teacher was interesting sometimes but he would go into rants about things that weren't really relevant. The tests were completely random too, most of the content was from the fine print of the textbook, not about major topics.
Online quizzes are ridiculously difficult, it really depends on your luck. The textbook is super dry, not helpful at all, and everything seems to be the same. The quizzes will bring your mark down but the assignment was pretty easy. Lectures are very dry and hard to follow. Lectures are repetitive about the same theories.
Class Info
Online Classes
100%
Attendance Mandatory
43%
Textbook Required
100%
Grade Predictor
Your expected effort level
Predicted Grade
A-
Grade Distribution
Rating Trend
Declining
-0.90 avg changeRatings by Course
SOC322
4.6
(5)SOC201
4.5
(2)SOC207
4.1
(14)SOC3710
3.0
(1)SOC370
3.0
(10)Difficulty by Course
SOC307
4.0
101
3.0
SOC3710
3.0
SOC101DE
3.0
SOC101
2.7