This professor is incredibly rude and bossy. Whenever students asked questions she answered with a very condescending tone.

Take this class! Professor Illes is an absolutely amazing woman who is extremely passionate about the environment. She has an incredible life story. I'm taking her again next quarter for Geography 122.

This class is a pre req for my major, so obviously I enjoy the topic, but I think most people will get value out of it. It's not a difficult GE for those needing to fulfill science requirements. The labs are very simple, the midterm was 70 questions and the final was 75 (all multiple choice). Most people finished in under an hour for both.

This class fills up so fast, so if you really want to take it sign up for it on your first pass. I have a few friends that wanted to take it and it filled up before they even had their first pass.

Nice lady. Her class is relatively easy compared to other GE classes. She doesn't like to give much assignments but just the weekly projects (and the TAs grade them).
Well, you can still bomb the midterm and the final though since both of them count as 35% each and they are not that easy!

Professor Illes is my favorite professor at UCLA. She is very knowledgable, and more than willing to help you. Ive taken 5 of her classes and they never disappoint. Her readings are not a waste of time, her teaching style is entertaining, and her tests are fair. There are never any trick questions or anything like that.

Advice: Go to office hours! Not only is she hilarious, but she's great at reteaching for you if you don't quite understand the material.

HIGHLY RECOMMEND

Definitely my favorite professor at UCLA. I take as many classes offered with Professor Illes as I can. I was worried about taking a GIS class because I had horrible experiences with other GIS professors at UCLA. Professor Illes was extremely helpful and made sure everyone understood the material. Not only that, she taught material that employers look for. Unlike other professors at UCLA, she wanted to prepare us for a career and not just go through useless material. ONLY TAKE 168 WITH ILLES!

Don't take her class if you are not a fan of assignments and science readings. She has no tolerance for late assignments. She might be a great professor, but she is not a very nice person. She is very tough on assignments and grades. I took this class for winter quarter looking forward to it, but then I forgot about the lab assignment that was due on the first day of school because I didn't get the email about it during winter break. She accepts absolutely no late assignments and you have to read chapters of the book and ask yourself questions and answer them. Though I missed my first lab assignment(30 people also did), I tried to send her an email to make for it hoping she'd understand, but instead I got a very offensive email about how she questions my ability to understand what she says and whether I left early during lecture(which I did not). I admit I should have paid more attention to the class website, but seriously who gives a due on the first day of school? I also feel like she is kind of racist toward international students since she questioned my English skills and suggested I change a class. I didn't hesitate to drop the class because I just didn't want to learn from her. She could be really tough. I'm only taking it as a GE and with lab assignments and lecture assignments, its just not worth putting so much time into it.

Dr. Illes has hands down been my favorite professor at UCLA. I am so excited to take another class with her next quarter. This class was 3 hours long, but she made the time pass quickly. She is a great speaker with a good sense of humor - always a plus. I learned so much in this class about invasive plant and animal species and found the topic quite interesting. She has very strict rules and a very clear set of expectations; however, as long as you follow them, you'll have no trouble in her class. I received an A in her class, but it is vital that you show up to every single class so you don't miss any information.

I'm not going to lie, Dr. Illes is abrasive and sarcastic; which many people seem to have a problem with. Dr. Illes is not willing to baby her students and she makes it very clear during the first week that her students need to be proficient with what was taught in geog 7 in regards to ArcGIS. She is always helpful during class and during office hours; her advice might be slightly sarcastic but that is just her. As college students that will be entering the workforce we need to be able to work with people who rub us the wrong way. I will admit that the midterm and final (which are both practicals) are very hard relative to the assignments. However, Illes does hint to her students what will be on them. Moreover, they are worth very little of your overall grade. I got a b on both and still managed an a+ in the class. Dr. Illes gets a bad wrap because she rubs people the wrong way, but she is a very good professor. And really, if you have a basic knowledge of ArcGIS, the class will be easy. I would take Illes again, even outside of the GIS courses.

I definitely agree with the two evaluations below me. Taking Geog 168 with Illes was just the worst nightmare.
1) In her lecture, she often says things like "you guys should have learned this in Geog 7, and so you should know how to do this". Are you kidding me? You are here to help your students learn regardless if it is something new or from geog 7.
2) Whenever someone asks her a question in class 9 out 10 times that person gets made fun of by her sarcasm which some find it humorous.
3) She offers no tangible guide lines on the group project which happens to be the assignment that weighs the most in your final grade. Her excuse is that when you are working with professionals you are often not given any clear instructions and still expected to solve problems. Hello? This is our second GIS class, and we are not your graduate students. Her expectations of the class is unrealistic.
4)She is so difficult to communicate with. She has refused to help me with my questions twice through email and just told me that it is my own responsibility to find the answer. I've never missed a class or an assignment. There is no reason for a professor to not help a student
5) She does leave early in every lecture while the TA runs around trying to help everyone. Seriously, if she stays with the TA and treats her students more respectfully and acts more approachable I think this class would have been 100 times better and people would have been able to learn 100 times more.

This is my first bruinwalk review and will be my last one.
I am currently taking geography 168 with Prof. Illes. Please do not take her classes. AVOID AT ALL COST.
I had to miss the first lecture to attend preview days for the grad school programs I got in. This class is only once a week. So I emailed Prof. Illes to politely let her know that I will be missing the first class because of grad school matters. She replied "As a student planning to pursue a graduate degree, I am surprised by your choice to miss the entire first week of classes in a 10 week quarter. You may find it worth noting that in graduate school, such a choice may have far broader consequences than just your ability to complete one week's assignments. " How condescending.

Then we all had to join a group online to submit our homework assignments. She told the class about this online group thing in the first lecture but since I had missed it I emailed her and asked her if she can let me know how to join this group to submit my assignment. She replied "You were made aware that it is your responsibility to obtain all information provided in the first class from a classmate."

I can tell you that Illes does not care about her students at all. She also likes to make sarcastic comments in class towards people who ask her questions. Her instructions on how to do the weekly assignment are extremely vague sometimes you spend more time on figuring out what her instruction means than doing the assignment itself.

The midterm is the same way. You are asked to make 4 maps which must contain specific information. There is no instruction at all and the TA was told not to help us with any questions we have during the midterm. I have always enjoyed geography courses and liked our geography professors, but Illes is just unbearable. My stomach cringes every Thursday when I have to go to her class.