PLAP 3270

This class has a midterm, a final, participation and a massive project that make up your grade. The project entails either interviewing or polling people or doing analysis of media to get your results. You get to pick the topics. It takes the entire semester and is pretty spread out so it is manageable, but it turned out really stressful for those who procrastinate a lot. The professor is funny and is good at interspersing lecture with video clips and songs and different types of media and graphics. You need to go to lecture and take notes to do well on the exams, because although he puts the PowerPoints up online, they're no good without context. The tests were weirdly hard even though they were multiple choice, but he curved them a lot so it was fine.

If you are a politics major, then this is a great way to get your second writing requirement. There is a midterm (15%), a final (20%) both of which are multiple-choice, and the research paper (50%). Although the research paper is a lot, there are several check-in points that contribute to a part of the grade. You don't have to do all the reading to do well in the class, but going to class is a must as the slides are useless without context. You can also get extra credit by participating in other people's research projects which I highly recommend. Overall, a very easy second writing requirement if you go to class and have a general understanding of the topics (many of which quizlets online cover). Having a good TA is also essential. I had Lollis and he summarized the readings every week and also provided great feedback on the research paper checkpoints.

I initially thought after this course was over that I was going to come to course forum and rip this class to shreds. While I have my fair share of complaints, Professor Winter really pulled through for me at the end. The exams are extremely hard for no reason and the research paper was graded harshly at times (not necessarily unfairly, but if you make small mistakes, they will not go unnoticed). Due to this, I was on track to get a B for this course. After the final exam, it seemed obvious that I would receive a B. Surprisingly, though, I somehow got a A-. I can only imagine it’s because Professor Winter gave huge curves on everyone’s grade at the end of the semester.
While I would advise against this course for any non politics majors, I will give credit where it’s due. Professor Winter is very funny and he is very generous with his curves.
DO NOT take this course if you’re looking for an easy A, believe me. This course caused me immense stress the entire semester. There was a lot of readings, a lot of stress with the research project (although it’s done in chunks so it’s manageable), and the exams were so challenging that studying almost seemed futile.
If you are very passionate about public opinion, this course is for you. The research project was cool at times. Overall, I would probably not recommend this course, but I did not want anyone to have a bad impression of Professor Winter because he is genuinely kind and generous with his curves. Although I don’t understand why he wouldn’t just make the course easier to avoid these curves…

Honestly the reviews are a bit harsh but are not inaccurate. Professor Winters is a nice guy and has a good personality but it seems like his tests are intended to be overly difficult for no reason. There are two take-home exams which require very meticulous (like down to the paragraph) recall of readings. The lectures are fine and engaging but tend to just be obvious information that most people learn in HS. There's a research paper aspect to the class which is easy and is broken up into a couple segments throughout the semester. I'd find another PLAP class if you want that surefire A. Low week to week workload though <40 pages of reading/week.