AI Rate Professor

Political Science

MATTHEW BARCLAY

POL1 · POLSC1000 · 98 lifetime ratings

AI rating
91/100
RMP rating
4.8/5
Take again
92.08%
Difficulty
2.1

The decision

Highly recommended if you can stay and engaging Pol-1 experience.

Best fit · Effort For RewardLots of short video quizzesClear feedbackEasy if you keep upExtra credit and late flexibilityEngaging non-pushy politics
  • , and real learning in intro political science.
  • and quizzes each week, but each item is usually quick.
  • A vocal minority complains about overwhelming assignment counts or .

Key questions

Four answers before you build your schedule.

Is this an easy A?

EasyA

83/100

Students repeatedly call it an easy A if work is submitted on time, with and .

Both formats say easy A with effort; online adds more volume and occasional late-work penalties.

Is the course easy?

Beginner

71/100

Intro political science is taught in bite-size videos and , so content challenge stays moderate.

Online content is highly modular; and interesting.

Is attendance flexible?

Recommended

58/100

; online is often optional while in-person is frequently mandatory but flexible about misses.

Online ; in-person more often says show up.

Is this professor recommended?

MustTake

92/100

About 92% would take again and most call him great, chill, and one of the best Pol-1 options.

Recommendation is strong in both formats despite a .

Course guide

See how this professor fits your week.

Grading

Lenient

81/100

, and many points make grading feel student-supportive rather than harsh.

Format shift

; in-person also notes lenient extensions.

Workload

Heavy

34/100

Frequent short videos, quizzes, and tasks are easy.

Format shift

; in-person still reports 14-20 items some weeks.

Teaching experience

Excellent

91/100

, and strong subject command.

Format shift

; online still rates him highly for clarity and structure.

Assessment method

FocusOnAssignments

24/100

Grade is , and short written responses more than rare high-stakes exams.

Format shift

Online is almost entirely assignment and quiz driven; .

Luni fit check

Weigh these signals against your actual schedule.

Get help balancing workload, grading, and timing when no option is an obvious fit.

Course format

Compare the in-person and online experience.

Classroom format

In person

22 reviews

High confidence · Best fit for Effort For Reward

In-person students praise interesting lectures, flexibility, and an easy path if you show up and complete frequent but short tasks.

Main concern

Some recent reviews still warn about 14-20 assignments per week.

What students said

“Only thing is that he assigns 14-17 assignments per week! so be prepared to spend a lot of . Other than that it was an easy A.”
POLS-C1000
“He really knows his subject well.I appreciate that he doesn't shove his political opinions down our throats”
Pol-1
“There's so couple of quizzes won't hurt your grade one bit!”
Pol-1

Remote format

Online

28 reviews

High confidence · Best fit for Self Taught Pro

Online Pol-1 is assignment-dense with , and discussions, yet widely called easy and clear if you pace the week.

Main concern

and a few students allege AI grading or double-posted work.

What students said

“ ”
Pol-1
“This class was really easy, but it had a lot of homework.”
Pol-1
“The 28 assignments per week he assigns are graded by AI.”
Pol-1

Exam style

Know what to expect from exams and major assignments.

Assessment relies on many low-stakes quizzes and discussions; reviews do not clearly prove strict webcam proctoring.

Video quizzesWeekly discussionsMultiple-choice quizzesPop quizzes sometimesExtra credit

Assessment risk

Standard

62/100

Low score means less forgiving assessment conditions.

In person

class, and enough total points that a few misses will not sink the grade.

Frequent quizzesHomework review in classPop quizzesLots of total points
“The quizzes and .”
Pol-1
“failing a couple of !”
Pol-1
“it was an easy A.”
POLS-C1000

Online

Online evidence centers on short video quizzes, discussions, and manageable weekly .

Short video quizzesWeekly discussionsMultiple-choice questionsLate work sometimes accepted
“He assigns 30–40 short videos each week, about 5–15 minutes .”
Pol-1
“alot of 5-7 short question multiple choice questions.”
Pol-1
“He accepts late work with a weekly penalty of 10% I think.”
Pol-1

Student evidence

See what students actually said.

Top student voice

“Only thing is that he assigns 14-17 assignments per week! so be prepared to spend a lot of . Other than that it was an easy A.”

Voice snapshots generated from 50 , and grade accessibility. Credibility rating: High.

🎯 Teaching Quality

91/100

“Professor Barclay is one of the .”

👍 Recommendation Rate

92/100

“ .”

📦 Assignment Volume

34/100

“If you want to have 20 assignments a .”

⚖️ Easy Path to A

83/100

“ ”

Theme 1

👨‍🏫 About Teaching Style

  • His lectures and videos provided are very well put together and easy to understand.
  • he doesn't shove his political opinions down our throats
  • and makes the class interesting.

Theme 2

📈 About Difficulty & Grades

  • it was an easy A
  • The class was very easy
  • If you don't pass this class, you just didn't try or do the work.

Theme 3

📝 About Workload

  • he assigns 14-17 assignments per week
  • Does assign quite a bit every week but manageable
  • This class was really easy, but it had a lot of homework.

Data context

See exactly what the AI read.

Analysis sample

50

Recent reviews read by the AI

98

Lifetime ratings

93/100

Evidence confidence

Fifty recent reviews with high detail and strong consistency on teaching quality, ease with effort, and assignment volume.

Inside 50 stored ratings

Quality ratings

5 out of 584
4 out of 510
3 out of 52
2 out of 52
1 out of 53

Course coverage

Pol-147 reviews
30219842 reviews
POLS-C10001 review

Reported outcomes

A range results lead the reported letter grades.

50 reported outcomes

A range

30

A+ 3 · A 21 · A- 6

B range

13

B+ 3 · B 7 · B- 3

C range

5

C 4 · C- 1

D range

1

D+ 1

F

0

No reported values

No letter grade reported

1

Not sure yet 1