Professor
Gavin Lawrence
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Most Helpful Review
Overrated. His lectures are incredibly boring and disorganized. His handwriting is about as illegible as a five year old's. His handouts are just as incomprehensible as his lectures. Don't take this guy's class. The people who gave him high ratings are probably just really happy with the grades they received. The truth is that most of my classmates have no idea what he's talking about in lecture. But if you do end up taking his class, no need to go to lecture. You're better off just reading the book and attending section.
Overrated. His lectures are incredibly boring and disorganized. His handwriting is about as illegible as a five year old's. His handouts are just as incomprehensible as his lectures. Don't take this guy's class. The people who gave him high ratings are probably just really happy with the grades they received. The truth is that most of my classmates have no idea what he's talking about in lecture. But if you do end up taking his class, no need to go to lecture. You're better off just reading the book and attending section.
Most Helpful Review
I took 100A, C153B, and 151A with Lawrence. He's definitely bright, and it shows in his lectures. A lot of the information you learn in lecture is irrelevant to the midterm/final, but it is interesting nonetheless. I wouldn't say that his classes were easy, but they also weren't too demanding. Your entire grade consists of a take-home midterm and a take-home final, which are usually about 5 pgs each. Lawrence's classes don't require that much work in the grand scheme of things, but his prompts are fairly challenging. In terms of overall difficulty, I would say his classes are average among upper-division philosophy courses. I have no clue what his grade distributions look like, though. I also think that Lawrence is a really nice guy. In 151A, I had an issue with one of my TA's whom I felt gave me a much lower grade than I deserved. When I discussed the matter with Lawrence, I was impressed with his willingness to listen to my concern. He agreed to regrade my paper, and the new grade he gave me was definitely fair. He also let me switch TA's 7 weeks through the quarter to prevent awkwardness between my original TA and me.
I took 100A, C153B, and 151A with Lawrence. He's definitely bright, and it shows in his lectures. A lot of the information you learn in lecture is irrelevant to the midterm/final, but it is interesting nonetheless. I wouldn't say that his classes were easy, but they also weren't too demanding. Your entire grade consists of a take-home midterm and a take-home final, which are usually about 5 pgs each. Lawrence's classes don't require that much work in the grand scheme of things, but his prompts are fairly challenging. In terms of overall difficulty, I would say his classes are average among upper-division philosophy courses. I have no clue what his grade distributions look like, though. I also think that Lawrence is a really nice guy. In 151A, I had an issue with one of my TA's whom I felt gave me a much lower grade than I deserved. When I discussed the matter with Lawrence, I was impressed with his willingness to listen to my concern. He agreed to regrade my paper, and the new grade he gave me was definitely fair. He also let me switch TA's 7 weeks through the quarter to prevent awkwardness between my original TA and me.
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