The worst class I have ever take at UC Berkeley. Professor is so boring and GSIs act like they know everything. They are unwilling to compromise with you and they are honestly sort of jerks. Definitely would not recommend taking a course on the political science department at least if this is an accurate representation.

Horrible class, lectures don't match up to the questions, quizzes are extremely specific, meaning you wont even find them in lectures, it could be the smallest thing he mentioned, and you'll have to remember that for the test, so studying with just the slides is not possible.

Dont take this professor!! His lectures are dry and hard to listen to, he makes quizzes incredibly hard to do well on and you dont get partial credit for multiple answer questions and you get 2 attempts at each quiz but dont get to see your previous attempt. You have a better chance doing bad in this course than doing well

1. weekly quizzes based on very niche offhanded things he states in passing (not in slides) 2. said quizzes are multiple selection yet does not give partial credit 3. Two chances to attempt quizzes yet you are not allowed to see what you did wrong 4. reads off slides verbatim in a monotoned voice 5. 200+ pages of reading a week

Quizzes are incredibly unfair and based on minor details found either in the 80+ pages he assigns weekly or from something he said offhandedly. Lectures are bland, and he makes interesting info boring. Quizzes are also currently one of the only ways to determine your grade, since both the in-class essay and exam (worth 50% total) happen later.

horrible professor - he gives extremely unfair quizzes every week about some offhand thing in the 200 page readings or a one second comment he made in a lecture that we're supposed to remember. not only is there synchronous lectures but you have to watch asynchronous videos and do knowledge checks as well. insane amount of reading. love my gsi tho

the quizzes are the worst, they seem more focused on testing if students are doing all the reading and listening to every word of lecture rather than if we're understanding concepts. excessive amount of reading, 100+ pages even AFTER he cut down on the reading. too much content to digest, he doesn't seem to care about if students are succeeding.

just, sigh.

One advice: don't take this class..

This professor is actively trying to make students fail. I have never learned so little about a subject. He even gets his own knowledge checks wrong. He will give you them to study then during lecture say that he got it wrong and still mark you wrong on the test after memorizing answers that he couldn't fix ahead of time. Does not care if you learn

consistently makes errors on his quizzes, doesn't care if his students succeed. said in one of the first lectures of the class that he does not want his students to get A's.

Deadlines and expectations are never consistent and changed every week.Class randomly switched to sync/async lectures in the mid of the sem and the combined time of both exceeded way past the 1.5 hr alloted for this class. I was intended polisci but I switched this class to pass/fail because I hate it so much and am now no longer doing polisci.

Final is so unrealistic, expects us to memorize 50 different readings with author names, ideas, and title of the articles. Absolutely insane expectations I dont even know if I will pass this class. nobody is learning from memorizing every author's name and viewpoints do not take this class i regret it everyday. does not care about students passing

200+ pages a week, additional lectures to watch outside of class, we don't even have our "midterm" (a paper) grades back to review, we get that back the day of the final. Quizzes on the most random facts to have a "gotcha" on students who don't finish reading. Said he doesn't wanna give A's to students. He is the reason I'm no longer doing polsci

genuinely the worst professor i've ever had he literally wants his students to fail. hundreds of pages of reading a week, . expects us to not only memorize IN CONTEXT a 10 page list of key terms but also the authors, titles, and main points of 50 course readings that are all 20+ pages. don't take this class with him i guarantee you will regret it

Awful course. Only redeemable thing was my amazing gsi, truly saving me at this moment. He does nothing to help prepare for the final except give a list of 200 terms to look over. Expects us to know every reading AND author for the final with no other information given on what to do. Lectures are boring and just repeat the slides.

Awful. Do not take his class. I have never felt so confused before in a class, and POLISCI 1 is supposed to be a easy intro class.

Never take this class, even if you think you can do well in American Politics. This professor expects lots of memorization, assigns hundreds of pages of readings every week and barely unpacks any of them in lecture. You are still expected to do them however as the weekly quizzes often test about them in the most niche ways possible.

Awful Professor! He may be a good professor for grad students but not to undergrad. Tricky and stupid quiz weekly. The weekly readings are heavy too. The final is 17th but we have not received our grade or the physical paper of our midterm that we done before thxgiving. The final exam has no instructions at all but a list of 200 words to remember.

genuinely the worst professor ive ever had. the final is the most illogical thing ever and even my gsi thinks its stupid and not doable. no partial credit. weekly quizzes about an offhand word he said in a lecture. went way over time limit with async AND sync lectures. hundreds of pages of reading every wekk. horrible and doesn't teach anything.

The midterm essay was just not it. Spent two weeks memorizing a 8 page paper. TRAGIC. & more than 200 pages of reading every week and quizzes every friday on niche stuff barely talked about. I have a 99/100 but this is only bc i spend 8 hours+reviewing for this damn subject. Fr econ and math 53 I spend max 3 hours per week, but NOT for this class.

DO NOT TAKE THIS CLASS. I understand college is suppose to be hard but this is an intro class. 200+ pages of reading weekly + 3 hrs of lecture videos. Weekly quizzes that are on very specific niche irrelevant part. He told us he wouldn't want to teach if every student got an "A" in his class. Have no idea what our grades are going into final.

we have no idea what our grade is going into the final. He hasn't even put in our participation/attendance grade, midterm that was taken before thanksgiving break has not be graded yet. All we have for our 3 hour final, is a list of 200+ terms that we have to memorize, expecting a paragraph with quotes from authors including there names.

literally said in lecture that he wouldn't want to teach a class where many students get an 'A". This is an intro class, yet there's 200+ pages of readings each week. and nothing is graded yet with our final in 3 days. including our midterm which we took before thanksgiving break and our attendance and participation. Horrible class, GSI was nice.

please do not take this class it is made to make student fail. As stated by the professor himself, who doesn't want students to get an 'A'. Avoid it at all costs, the GSI's are really nice and only reason you don't just drop the class. Professor knows his stuff, but teaches it horribly for a literal INTRO class.

One of the hardest classes I've had with one of the worst professors, and it's supposed to be an intro class!! Avoid at all costs, take at CC if you have to. Near the end of the semester and I still have not a clue where I stand in this class, nothing is graded and the final is insane, expects us to memorize like 200 terms and all readings.

didn't realize how awful he was until he provided almost no information about the final. quizzes are more based on semantics than actual content. also has an allegation revolving around SH from a while back that resurfaced this year. my GSI does a great job of simplifying the concepts, which i appreciate since this professor does the exact opposite

The class is one of the hardest Ive taken at Cal. The final is ridiculous/there is little guidance on how to do well on them. Im convinced that the professor wants to fail some of the students. Horrible class, needs to be designed way better. It is supposed to be an INTRO CLASS and there is no need for it to be ridiculously hard to do well in

The GSI was very helpful, but the professor himself had convoluted quizzes that didn't really make that much sense. There is a lot of reading, and the final is primarily on the authors of the readings, which are barely talked about in lecture.

i am literally reporting him to the department. this professor was unorgranized, unhelpful, and should not be a teacher. he literally wants his students to fail, he expects us to know ALL the readings and the authors of the readings in DEPTH. the readings are 30-40 pages. this isnt law school. bababOOOOOOO THIS CLASS

Focuses on irrelevant things, boring classes, harsh grading on quizzes. A class on memorization.

i feel like if this many students are leaving comments before the final exam is even given, it says something about the professor. i have fallen into deep depression because of him.

If you value your mental health at all, do not take this class. This man is such a bad professor that I literally created an RMP account to warn others about this class. I agree with everything everyone else has written about him + I genuinely don't know anyone who thinks they they are going to get an A in this class.

YOOO don't take this class. It's an intro class but he acts as if we're supposed to know everything beforehand. The lectures don't match up with the discussions so we end up discussing something completely different than what was taught in the lecture. No shade to my GSI, she was lit and goated. He also said that he doesn't give out A's like ok...

Honestly just-everything everyone else said. Dude is ridiculous. I have no clue how I'll pass the final.

The king defied both divine will and popular consent. Ministers were angry but silent; none dared to risk death by honest remonstrance. The prime minister stood with the king, sharing his interests. Ordinary people suffered deeply, yet the king held absolute power over life and death, leaving no one willing to rise in open revolt.

DO Not take this class, professor sucks and does not listen to feedback

I genuinely dont know what is going on in this class. Finals is literally tomorrow! Great! I warn u never take this class. It will save u stress and sleep. This ruined my perception of polisci classes at Berkeley as a whole. The only "information" we were provided with were 200 terms derived from random parts of the lecture. useless.

No final practice problems, no reference of study, basically just said studay all material and optional readings? 2 hour in person hand written 5 page essay on changing the constitution, and it was graded super harshly including spelling and grammer. Good luck getting an A for this "Intro" course.

My life has never been worse and I am a failure of a human being because of this course. I was going to try and become a lawyer but now have no interest and am going to work at Campus Burger. Going into the final with a prayer, nobody memorizing this, and nobody likes this class. GSI is a g she should run for president.

Full transparency I have a 100% in the class right now and the final is tomorrow so I'm not struggling or anything. I'd consider myself pretty good at polsci however this class is genuinely terrible, the GSI Michael Sun especially is so rude, and Prof did not give us anything to prepare except 200 random words for the final. Good luck getting an A.

We still have no idea of our grade in this class. Horrible class btw and horrible professor. Section grade is worth 25% of our grade but even if you attend 100% of sections GSI will remove points if you didnt "participate enough." I am reporting Prof. Houweling who claims to be a Member of the House of Representatives (lmfao) bc he should be fired.

HORRIBLE HOUWELING! NEVER TAKE THIS CLASS. EVER. EVEN IF SOMEONE PAYS YOU DO NOT EVER TAKE THIS CLASS. POLISCI MAJORS TAKE PS5 OR SMTH IM WARNING YOU.

Professor Houweling, GSI Michael Sun are both terrible people who want their students to fail their exams. Just because Michael Sun didn't go to Law School doesn't mean he should stop US from going. Do not recommended.

This class is not good for ur mental health. I am actually at the verge of failing this class. With so many people struggling for the final and with so much exam anxiety that the head gsi and professor have given us, I think the final should be curved or something, because there is no way it is designed to help students to do well.

This class is absolutely terrible. I'm sitting here crying and rocking back and forth at my desk because my final is less than 24 hours away, and I am severely screwed. We were given nothing but an absurd list of 207 terms to study and then told to "know all the authors and theories of all readings". Like what? NVR TAKE THIS CLASS. PROF SUCKS.

genuinely the worst professor i have ever had and ive taken cs courses, ts should not be harder than a cs class especially as an intro class. this class and this final has me more stressed than my actual major classes which is just insane. biggest regret is taking this class with this devil spawn of a professor and i feel bad for polisci majors lol

The final “review sheet” was an injustice - every word from the course with no priorities or guidance. With no rubric for the 70% writing-based exam even one day before, preparation is impossible. Communication is consistently unclear, leaving students unable to prepare in a focused or just way. Do not take this course for your mental health.

Awful and unrealistic professor that is fueling my desire to switch majors. Rolled his eyes at me when I asked if we could get a more helpful study guide that actually fit the parameters of the final when all he gave us was a 7 page document of 206 random terms WITHOUT DEFINITIONS to study. The final is based on the readings not terms...

Final for this class is tomorrow, this is the HARDEST class I have taken in my whole entire LIFE. It's a INTRO class, but feels more like PHD level class. I get it this is Berkeley, everyone is smart here, but this class taught by him can only be pass by super geniuses. I would take a gap semester rather than to take his class if I can go back.

Remember we are polsci students. We should jointly petitioned to file a complaint against him and subsequently canceled this final since it's ridiculous and anti-human. I know many friends in this class starts to have mental issues because of this class.

Even if the final exam was open notes, i dont think I could do well on it... How does the professor expect us to thoroughly know 200+ terms and all the readings in a detailed manner? Does he think we do not have any other things to study for? I have no idea how I would even prepare for the essay and short answer portion, the test is tomorrow.

he has the ability to diminish passions and turn fun materials into the deepest of horrors. I enjoyED political science, it is fun. How in the world was he able to make me hate this subject. I originally wanted to take polsci 5 next semester, but no thanks. He singlehandedly BURNED my interest.

I've just accepted my fate at this point. I'm screwed. The person next to me is screwed. We are all screwed. We're graded harshly, discussion is intimidating, and the final is extremely unrealistic. Prof and head GSI literally want us all do to bad. If you're planning on taking this class, might as well start praying now.

This is so sad. Everyone who knows me knows that political science is my true passion, it is my pride and joy and there is nothing I love more in the world. I had a dream of attending law school and becoming a politician. Professor Houweling has killed my love for the subject and I have become more depressed by the day.

Take if you're a masochist, otherwise run bbg. The final is tomorrow. Instead of studying, here I am because I don't even know where to begin studying! Anything I learnt, I taught myself. This class is so overcomplicated for no reason- we get tested on readings that nobody wants to do, and the tests have time limits! A prereq is never this deep.

He somehow made the drama between Bill Clinton and Monica Lewinsky boring. I'd rather jump off the campanile then sit through one more class from him.

I will be emailing the polisci department about the absurdity of this course. A lot of the concepts he goes through and the way it is explained goes far beyond intro level. As someone who has not taken any polisci classes before, i was utterly confused. To those students who are also affected, please take action with me

This professor didn't even allow me to move the date when I had a family emergency. Says they don't have a policy for that even with 50+ students taking the course. That's just being irresponsible. If anyone is serious about reporting him to the department, let me know. This man is ridiculous.

Not a good time.

i cried for three hours SOBBING yesterday bc i took this class as a first sem freshman thinking it would be an easy pre req and im genuinely going to fail this class is the worst thing ive ever experienced and the professor is horrible

gen the most ridiculously class ive ever taken my GSI gave me a low B just because they said i needed one more sentence of analysis after evidence but said that my concept was super strong my essay read very well and ideas flowed A LOW B because my analysis was cursory even though the paper was timed and six paragraphs long.

this is the worst class ive ever taken. the final is tomorrow and there's no way anyone is going to do well because we have to memorize TWO HUNDRED terms and FIFTY authors, readings, and key points when all the readings are over 20 pages. section participation is 25 and wont be posted until after the final. horrible class, horrible prof, don't take

This professor is genuinely out to get you. He explains concepts horribly and gives u a million pages of reading a week. So much content & quiz questions are so niche that u have to be an expert to get a good score. Don't take this class EVER if ur a pol sci major, if ur a media studies major I am so sorry. 200+ terms and 50+ readings in the final!

The king defied both divine will and popular consent. Ministers were angry but silent; none dared to risk death by honest remonstrance. The prime minister stood with the king, sharing his interests. Ordinary people suffered deeply, yet the king held absolute power over life and death, leaving no one willing to rise in open revolt

just save urself. the most useless class because ur too busy stressing to actually retain anything. interesting content but genuinely just ruined by this terrible unprofessional professor

Should be reported on purposely failing students last minute, hitting them with an impossible final.

the final is tomorrow. DREADING IT. No practice exam, NOTHING. 200 random terms. No clue what questions are like. Studied hella hard, not sure if it pays off. Grades are unfair. Its not just me, the rest 60 or so ppl here agrees with me. If you are a future student looking at this, RUNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN FARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR away

the fact that the professor is getting this much hate even before the final exam should be a wakeup call for him..... and the head gsi. I agree with what other people said. horrible class and professor. the final is daunting, and i never felt this much exam anxiety in my life ever. ill def be emailing the polisci dept about this class.

I'm planning to email the POLISCI department about this course, anyone else joining? (yes then like comment)

gsi JUNWOO SUH gave me a c on in-class essay and his comments seemed to be pasted straight from the rubic entailing what a "lacking essay" possesses, didn't apply them to my paper and show what i did wrong though??? had us pick up blue books to see comments, mine had total 5 over 7 pgs. how are u gonna give me such a low grade and not explain why?

this prof should be fired. he is horrible and doesn't give a yk what about his students and wants them to fail i've never hated a class more

for any of you poor unfortunate souls that have to take this class spring 2026 and want the $150 ("mandatory") TEXTBOOK FOR FREE: thank me later :)

bro doesn't know what optional means. We needed to know from a gsi's email that we needed to review a optional reading. He also only gave us a sole list of terms, when apparently readings were more important. Why is he trying to ruin everyones life

This professor constantly changed the criteria and structure of the class from completely synchronous to partially synchronous, and constantly changed the structure of weekly quizzes. He offered little responsiveness to critiques that were based in administrative errors, and is requiring an impossible level of retention for the final.

Atp, the least the prof could do is curve the final.. I am certainly not doing well on this (and seemingly many other students too). I did not even do well on the class term paper but that at least gave me more wiggle room to prepare. As for the final, I am absolutely NOT prepared. LIKE MY COMMENT IF U THINK THE FINAL/OVERALL GRADE SHUD BE CURVED.

cause why tf would you give us a list of 200 key terms when all we needed to know were the readings. not even all cause there's 50 of them but still.

lol. why am i just finding out that the OPTIONAL readings are going to be on the test(?) honestly, atp I could not care less lol. This class is and will be the worst class taken at Cal. an INTRO class shud not be this hard, I will be reporting the professor and the head GSI(who was never helpful)

who also thinks the 200+ terms list is so absurd? First of all where and when did we discuss all of these terms and how do the teaching team expect us to know them in detail ON TOP OF THE READINGS? Mind u they did not emphasize the importance of readings at all. I think this course is designed to fail the students.

the most irritating part is this class has historically been taught well. usually its taught by profs who actually want their students to do well and are aware of the fact that a 200 term 50 reading memorization final is bs. ITS NOT ALWAYS LIKE THIS PETITION TO CHANGE THIS PROF SO AT LEAST IN THE FUTURE PEOPLE R NOT DESIGNED TO FAIL

to all those taking this next semester: its taught by the same prof and IN PERSON. run while you can. i've never been more serious about anything.

DO NOT TAKE THIS CLASS IM SO SERIOUS LIKE DO NOT DO IT

DO NOT TAKE THIS CLASS! The professor genuinely doesn't care for his students + his system sets u up for failure. They released midterm scores TWO days before the final, leaving no time to prepare thoroughly. For the final, we need to memorize 200+ terms and 50+ authors. Class is solely based on memorization; you don't truly learn anything.

Rachel is a godsend of a GSI and the only reason I'm doing well in this class.

studying for the final rn and i literally dont know what to do except stare at this page. can everyone pls fail so theres a curve bcthats the only way anyone is going to do well in this class.

It is established that the professor is absolute buns, but i want to being attention to what a horrible person tue head gsi- Micheal Sun is. I weote a severely distressed email concerned about failing the class and seriously needing help, and bro said- please talk to your own gsi. I am truly disgusted by this course, i wanted to pursue polisci

DO NOT TAKE THIS CLASS it will tank your GPA. Why does this as an INTRO CLASS feel like I am taking a super hard upper div?! WAY too difficult and very reading heavy. Quizzes are impossible to get good grades on bc they are extremely specific. Extremely boring lectures that put you to sleep. Ridiculous final exam. Prof genuinely wants you to fail.

I'm gna kms

lets all ditch the final and get boba the curve will save us (hopefully there's even gonna be a curve because I asked and they said they "might" curve if people do too bad, so it's not even a guarantee) I give up, signing myself up for a mental hospital after this. Robert you won alright. Im done. :)

My GSI Rain is an absolute angel and should be promoted to head GSI instead of Michael Sun.

the rapture is here and i'm going to fail

One sentence review: Michael Sun PMO. (maybe even more than the professor lol)

The professor made a very easy (INTRO!!!!) course overly difficult for no apparent reason. Don't bother asking this guy questions, he doesn't really answer them whatsoever. The final review is a list of over 200 terms and he doesn't even give you the courtesy of giving you the definitions. The lectures are slide-heavy and there are many readings.

Ok Michael Sun you win. I hate my life and I don't wanna be a lawyer anymore. Michal single handedly ruined my love and passion. You win bro, go hang with your pal rob. My life is over.

The only good part about this class was my gsi Elizabeth. She is a goat and queen and actually care. But head gsi michael sun. I have never met someone more passive aggressive, rude, and demeaning. He has single handedly deterred so many students from pursuing PS. RPVH doesn't care about his students or how his head gsi treats them. Elizabeth GOAT

it's an online intro class it'll be fine right? wrong. CONS: - quizzes are unreasonably hard - final is unreasonably hard - grade distribution is unreasonable - head gsi is unreasonable - professor is unreasonable

I was going to write a FULL review on why this class was outrageous, but Professor Van Houweling didn't even show up to our final today, and I feel like that is very telling of the type of educator he is. Not supportive and cares very little about his students' success. My GSI, Elizabeth, was amazing, though.

made us memorize a paragraph response for 200 terms just to test us on none of them. Final was all based on 50+ readings, that they didn't even emphasis the importance of as much as the terms. They refuse to put any of our participation grades into bcourse until the 26th, and we got our midterm grade back 2 day before final. AVIOD

Head GSI Micheal and the professor are bad people. Micheal is extremely passive and rude. And the professor didn't belive in giving students As or even multiple choice quizzes that allow students to make a best guess, or due process of elimination. Only take this class with Rachel she's an angel and actually cares.

Yo genuinely what was that final. It was barely related to that 200+ terms doc we were provided with. Do they even know what they are doing? I had always questioned the coherence of lectures but I did not know the exam was gna be this disorganized as well. Even the essays did not focus on the main themes of class, like polarization, federalism etc.

i am SUH cooked by this final. I have a WOO-und from this class and will be thinking about in JUNe. the SUN never shines and it only RAINs on PS1. i am not a FREEMAN unlike john locke proclaims. i have been HOWLING as i have been ROBbed of my A. MI CHAELd (cold)heart has been exacerbated and i would rather be kidnapped in a VAN than take PS1 again

Was mean to my girlfriend and is a major chud! made me switch majors

the way he got ~80 1/5 ratings in the past two days and gaslit us into memorizing 200 terms when all the questions were on the 50 readings instead LMAOOO

Michael son congrats on being one of the worst people to ever be around. He sleeps better knowing he's smarter than 18 year olds. Wont get hired anywhere for being the worst person of all time .

Junwoo actually makes me upset, grades unnecessary harsh and the professor and head GSI are unfair in their grading. I wanted to go to law school but now this class has completely tanked my GPA

I am like actually genuinely curious as to why they had to bombard us w that 200+ terms doc? The final literally was mainly about readings.... which first of all THEY DID NOT MENTION AT ALL, me personally i had to find out THROUGH THE RMP's comments a day before the class. This is the most ridiculous class ive taken, especially for an "Intro" class

robby rob rob couldn't even face us in person by going to the final exam. at least own up to what ur doing to us.

Heart been broke so many times iiiiiii dont know what to believeeeeee rob said its my fault, its my fault, i dont do the reeeeadingssssssss think its best to take my lexapro, lexapro, cause i cant breatheeee

I have my first therapy session scheduled for next week. The exam anxiety and the trauma that this class and the final has given me is not okay. I hope the professor and head gsi face consequences for designing the class horribly. Michael Sun, you rlly dont deserve to be head gsi. Dont show attitude to students just trying to recieve help from u.

I came into this class wanting to go to law school. I'm leaving it updating my resume for McDonald's. Somehow flipping burgers feels more intellectually honest than whatever this grading scheme is. At least the training materials there make sense. I'm begging you for your own sanity take another polsci class.

how is participation not even in for this class. It's on sight with Robert children toucher howeling. This guy has made me consider dropping out

not my best experience here

I literally couldn't breathe for days I never failed a class in my life and now my GPA will be TANKED. I'm already packing to live on the streets and if I ever get asked about my grades/transcript, i will paste his face on it and say "here:)" SO HOW BOUT THEM APPLES CAUSE I WILL NOT GET PLAYED IN THE FACE LIKE THATTTTTTTT

As a freshman, I don't enjoy Cal just because of him. Guys, go google his name with lawsuit and it will surprise u.

chat, if you love your life, pick a different class, I genuinely felt unsupported all 15 weeks.

ALEX IS THE GOAT! I really appreciate him as my gsi that is the best part of my course. This class made me depressed I thought I was doing great but NO WRONG BEEP BOP BEE BOO next thing u know ur failing. If everyone talk bad about it then it bad if only one does then it might be that one person fault. I really hate this class it really mess me up.

Guys where are our grades???

i will be going to a hospital over the break and billing my receipt to both robert and michael sun

yo the people taking ps1 in spring are ac so cooked i ac feel bad

Where our grades Robby? 12123 release em.

This class is ruining my college life