Jose Vadi

School: Cal Poly Pomona
Department: Political Science
Location:Pomona, CA
Overall Rating
rated by 20 students
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 DO NOT TAKE HIM IF YOU ARE AN ATHLETE... seriously.. he is hard and he expects a lot. He knows alot and you can learn alot,, but he is challenging. I didnt do well at all in his class. The reason why I said dont take him if your an athlete is because one he doesnt want you to miss class, when you really cant get around that... 2. i talked to him after class and i mentioned i was an athlete and he said the last athlete did very well. he got a c... idk i work really hard not to recieve c's. and i def wanted to prove him wrong. but i did worse.. i failed. :/ . maybe it was due to the fact that i was exhausted from running from conditioning straight to his class, idk. but your def looked down upon for being an athlete, sad cuz athletes probably consist of the hardest working students on campus with everything they have to balance. but some teachers dont understand that. avoid vadi if you can... or take on the challenge and post ur results :) Grade Received: F
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 He's an old school teacher who is very passionate about teaching (ask a question and he'll go on forever). This term he gave two tests and a final which are extremely hard (read the chapters and his class notes and study ALOT). There's no homework or busywork but showing up to his class is super important. This was his last quarter at CPP and he'll be part-time only now which is a bummer because he's a great guy that loves what he does. Though he is hard, he values the whole learning experience and makes you think alot about your opinions and politics.. you should take him, especially if you're a PLS major!! Grade Received: C
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 For 201 Vadi has you write two papers and take 3 exams. The exams cover about 4 chapters each. The papers are on prompts he gives you on the first day on his syllabus. Fortunately for you, I was literally his LAST 201 class ever. Unfortunately for us, he is obviously very bitter about having to teach lower division classes and therefore took it out on us in his grading. The papers are extremely difficult to get a good grade on. If your paper disagrees with his views, you automatically receive a poor grade. Also, he actually had to decipher his own prompts for his students because everyone did so poorly on the first essay because they didn't include a specific phrase. (Literally, a friend of mine and I wrote papers about the same level and she received a D and I received a B because I included one specific sentence. When she visited his office hours he told her she would have gotten an A if she had included the sentence I had included). The exams are extremely difficult. If you do not read or go over the online information, you will receive a C or lower, guaranteed. His lectures are simply a long rant where he mentions that this won't be a "K through 12" class about 100 times. Avoid this teacher at all costs! Grade Received: B+
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 i hate this class to the max. all you do is essays. he takes roll everyday but as long as you have a friend who can sign you up, you dont need to go. he acts like we allll know everything about government and expects us to understand everything hes saying. for the essays you get to choose what to write from 4 or 5 choices but if you write something thats different from his opinion, he disagrees with everything and gives you a bad grade. there was no hw but midterm and final and those were the hardest tests i have ever took in my whole life. you would have to know everyyy littlee detail about the book to ace them. i think only the government majors got a good grade and everyone else got D's and F's. i know i didnt do well on the essays (one C and one D) but i studied like i never studied for the tests and both still fails. I HATE THIS CLASS Grade Received: F
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 The man know his stuff. He is extremely passionate about his work and latin america inparticular. he has tremendous insite and is always more than willing to help students. very nice and does not belittle students with his knowledge, but does grade a bit easier in classes that are highly participative. there is A LOT of reading that is required, but no HW or quizzes, just a 10 page paper w/ at least 8 sources, midterm and final. Take detailed notes on policies and particular case studies and show up b/c he notices. it is hard work, but you will learn a lot. if your looking to breeze by, probably not the professor for you.
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 DO NOT TAKE HIM... he expects everyone to know all about goverment going into the class and if you don't write what he wants to here on the essay questions on the exam don't expect to pass i took good notes and went to every class and got a F and i knew something about goverment going in. He really never even teaches you he always expects that you read and just gives a little overview if he gets around to it after he talks about his boring life for half the class. DO NOT TAKE HIM unless you plan to go to every class,take good notes,and read everything he gives you even though there are only 3 tests if you get a bad grade on one you are done for don't expect to pass :X Grade Received: F
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 He has plenty of bear hugs to go around for students that he kicks out of his class simply for smiling and laughing from time to time. I did pretty good in the class cuz of the essays, which I still don't think are graded fairly, but his exams are kinda hard, and he doesnt curve. That's what sucks. He looks down on people just because they are taking other classes and having other responsibilities (he trashed a girl in front of the entire class on the first day, just for asking how she could get an excuse for being in athletics to miss one or two class meetings). But like I said, plenty of hugs to go around, If you enjoy touchy/feely and intimate moments with your professor, he's the man. Vadiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Goodbye and thanks for reading
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 Dr. Vadi gets a bad rap where it isn't always deserved. A lot of these comments you see below are from disgruntled freshmen who most likely had him for PLS 201, and either couldn't handle his class, or just weren't interested enough to care. He is tough, and he asks for a lot, but when you take him for an upper division course (especially the classes pertaining to Latin America), one will find that because of his extensive knowledge, you will probably learn more about that class than from any other polysci prof. at this school. All you need to do is study, read, and write an amazing paper. Oh, and it doesn't hurt to raise your hand every once and awhile to show him you care about the topic. Grade Received: B
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 Why is this guy teaching at Cal Poly Pomona? Someone should fire him, he said on the first day of class that he will NOT make this class hard since its a GE, oh boy he didn't keep his word. He seriously expects us to read the textbook and know every damn detail in it. He must be mad crazy, because its too much work to remember everything that we read. Please don't take this guy, you will regret it. I am a B+ average student in college and this dude messed up my GPA. DO NOT TAKE THIS GUY. He will not cut you some slack and he will give you a D or F. Grade Received: D
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 The class consists of two midterms and one final. THATS IT. For the final, we only had three class sessions to learn about two countries, and that made the final very difficult. You MUST read the book and know every word in it. You MUST write notes and study them. For the first test, I didn't study, and I got a D. The second test, I did study slightly, but I still got a D. I didn't really care on the final because I thought it was unfair. He is very difficult and you really have to pay attention in class and know what the heck is going on or else you will fail miserably. Grade Received: D
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 I read all these comments before I took his class (fall 2005), and they did make me want to drop his class. Despite the comments that "he's a hard teacher" and "he's an arrogant man" I still took his class and did well in it. Most of the people in my class were not political science majors so he decided to "go easy" on us. I do agree that he is challenging, he likes to talk about his involvement in the civil rights movement, his children and all the political figures that he's shook hands with... He is a nice man that loves what he does and can't help but be excited about teaching his material. I think that you have to know a decent amount of american government before you take the class. We had three tests. The class's average on the first test was in the 50s and only increase by 1% on the second. The third test was also the final and it was NOT cumulative. Vadi even said that he would lower his grading standards. I did study VERY HARD and read HOURS OF READING. He is difficult, but worth it if you want to learn something even when it is a GE class.
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 Although I did perform relatively well in his class, it goes without saying that I didn't do so without having to put up with a bloody battle. An "A" grade is within reach; but take my word for it: getting an "A" does exact a very heavy toll on the rest of your academic schedule, as well as on your personal schedule. Unless you have some kind of photographic or rote memory, read each chapter not once, nor even twice,but maybe three times at least. Know the material backwards and forwards,inside and out, because he will, on occasion, indiscriminately select ,from among an endless list of topics covered in a score of chapters,one and only one small area on which to base his entire exam essay prompt.
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 Stay away from this arrogant man at all costs! He lectures the entire hour and fifty minutes...no joke...not to mention that he lectures about his life for an hour and 50 minutes. then when the tests come he really doesn't even review AT all...the class averages went from a 59% on the first test to a 56% on the second test!! He even told us that if our second tests didn't improve he would make the final cumulative...then after the scores fell he realized that if we didn't know it for those tests we wouldn't know it for the final. He seems like he could be a decent man on a one to one basis...but not a good instructor..he's always right and if you challenge his opinion he will find any way to make yours incorrect...i was too afraid to say voice my opinion the entire quarter...last words....don't take this man if you want some form of a life!
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 this guy is a total asshole.
for the first few weeks all he would blab about was his involvement in the civil rights movement and his political opinions. then before i knew it it was time to take the first midterm and he gave us one day of review for A LOT of material. AND when it comes to his exams that he gives, he pulls out a lot of bullshit details and after the first exam, the highest score was 87% and he did not curve it. PLUS he spent the day after he graded the exam basically telling all of us how bad our essays were on the exam and how if we even want to argue an opinion that goes against his, we need DETAILED evidence.
}jump to the 2nd midterm and the day of the review, he doesn't even show up to class, no note no nothing and half the class ended up leaving after 15 mins. after almost a hour someone called his office and there he was in his office and his excuse was that he forgot about it. and with no review or nothing he went ahead and gave the exam the next class session.
}DO NOT... I REPEAT DO NOT TAKE THIS PROFESSOR. HE'S A TOTAL ASSHOLE. UNLESS YOU WANT TO WORK YOUR ASS OFF FOR JUST A GE CLASS THEN AVOID HIM AT ALL COST.
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 I'm sorry, but Jose Vadi is a complete ass. He is so completely and thoroughly knowledgeable about world politics... so much so that when you try to write an essay ans sound somewhat intelligent, he knocks you down like you are the biggest idiot ever. He gives hardly any direction to the class and expects us to know every tiny last detail of information in the book. Also, there is no curve, even if the entire class gets an F. He expects us to take this GE class way too seriously. He is TOUGH. Stay far far away from this heartless man!!!
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 Professor Vadi is all about his lectures. If you are only taking this class because it is required then don't take this teacher. He is very serious about it. He likes to talk allot about his children and all of his accomplishments as well as his kids'. I did think he was a good teacher just because he got all into what he was teaching, but then again political science is my major. If you don't want an easy A and you want to work for it then take this class. You will have 3 tests that consist of multiple choice and 1 essay question. Write as much as you can on the essay.
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 Vadi is well educated in this subject, and he really likes to talk about himself and how he's been involved in politics. When you show up for class you can learn a lot, but nothing of what you learn in class will be on his tests. You have to read, read and read. He teaches 'old school' style, as he would say, and does not curve tests, even when the class average is at a 58% as mine was. So if you like difficult tests,love to read, and sit through two hour lectures, be sure to grab this professor before his classes fill up!
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 he's a very good instructor. he really loves students and wants his students to learn the most from him. he makes class lecture very interesting for you, BUT his class is very hard. not easy A, not even a easy B, and you still have to EARN your C. you really have to show your work to prove that you deserve a good grade. i got a D in his class (i hate PLS, and still do), but i still think he's an excellent instructor, you can really learn a lot from his class. oh, ya, btw, he loves to make you think and ask you to write essays on exams. there's no homework, but yes reading.
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 Vadi is a smart man. HOWEVER he also has a permanent chip on his shoulder, spends more time lecturing on a soap box than he lectures on the text and hates the fact that today's students aren't active like he was. He doesn't offer any help at all, and when he does offer and you do ask he gives you a general answer and lets you find out details on your own. The book, as always, is deathly boring and the chairs make your ass fall asleep, but then again i was on the brink of unconsciousness myself most of the time. I only took this class cause i needed it and was desperate. If you can, take Reese. He won't give you ulcers.
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 Take notes, BUT don't write everything he says. He's VERY opinionated. You can easily fill five pages in one class period, if you don't watch yourself. He doesn't write much on the board, and expects you to read before coming to class. He'll get aggitated, if you ask a question that shows that you did not read. Tests are multiple choice and essay. He has study guides online, which help to narrow down to what's important (vs. all the gibberish he talks about in class). Although I didn't get a good grade, I learned a lot. As a non-major, I can actually sound intelligent in talking about politics around the world. He takes roll, and you have three(?) 'free' absences before your grade lowers.

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