Class involves a ton of memorization. It's a lot of information to take it. All notes must be hand written. Material was interesting, it's just taught very fast and you never spend too long on a certain subject.

grade heavily depends on TA. don’t take this as a GE.

As the majority of these ratings suggest, this class is one of the most controversial intro classes you can take at UCLA. Based on the course content alone, Comm 10 was one of the most influential in helping me understand what I wanted out of my four years here. If you are less focused on getting the best grades and more focused on improving yourself as a person, this course will be incredibly engaging and stimulating, and you'll do well in the course as a result. It'll open your mind to basic aspects of life that are overlooked. There is so much content that you have to learn inside and out - enough to be able to teach your friends about - in order to receive good grades. But if you stay focused and interested in the material, it really is not that hard to do well on the exams. Suman's office hours and the TAs as well are essential to attend if you want to earn an A on your paper and the exams. Suman is a brilliant man that loves to share his knowledge with his students, so take advantage of this!

Just make sure you don't get behind in this class. Very hard to cram at last minute so if you want to succeed and not let this class mess up your GPA stay on top of the readings and attend every lecture!

Everyone talks about how daunting COMM 10 is for good reason. The class is based on three exams: the midterm, paper, and final. The midterm and final are subjectively graded and cover an extensive amount of material. However, this class has many more pros than cons. The content is extremely interesting and Professor Suman really knows his stuff. If you are interested in Comm this class is a great introduction to all that the major encompasses, but it is not a class to be taken if one is looking for an easy A. You get out of this class what you put into it.

I was really scared to take this class because of some of the reviews, but I actually really enjoyed it! I took it during A sesh so everything was sped up a bit, but it was totally manageable! Suman is great although it will take some time to get used to him. I didn't enjoy his teaching style at first but ended up loving it later and now I'm currently taking another one of his classes!

There are a lot of negative reviews for this class, and most of what others have said is true. You really have to work hard in this class to keep up with all of the material and get an A. Lectures and discussions are not mandatory but absolutely necessary in order to do well in the class. I did think that the material, especially in the first half of the class and the very end, was very interesting and easy to comprehend because it is so applicable to daily life.

Notes are key! Take good notes and make use of all 20 pages you are allowed to have for the midterm and final.

Start studying early! Can't emphasize this enough. A large portion of the midterm and final relies solely on your retention of material covered in lecture (which you aren't allowed to have notes on for the tests).

On tests, time management is very important. There are simply a lot of questions and essays that need to be written within the time frame, so make sure to budget your time wisely.

Dr. Suman is a very organized professor. He gives notes for each lecture at the start of the term. His lecture doesn't deviate from the notes. He continues to emphasize and give many examples of the various theories. This is a great class if you are going into marketing, business, or advertising. And, the paper was on something you can use in that field. He responds to emails quickly. He gives book questions and if you complete all those questions and go to lecture, you will do fine on the exams, as he lets you use your notes. The exams are tough, but very doable. He is probably has the most clear and organized lectures of any professor I have taken.

Dr. Suman is a very organized professor. He gives notes for each lecture at the start of the term. His lecture doesn't deviate from the notes. He continues to emphasize and give many examples of the various theories. This is a great class if you are going into marketing, business, or advertising. And, the paper was on something you can use in that field. He responds to emails quickly. He gives book questions and if you complete all those questions and go to lecture, you will do fine on the exams, as he lets you use your notes. The exams are tough, but very doable. He is probably has the most clear and organized lectures of any professor I have taken.

TL;DR: The content of this class is genuinely interesting but the grading was VERY tough. If you don't do the readings/book guides, you will not do well. Take all notes as word-for-word as possible!!

Professor Suman is old-school; you are not allowed an electronic device to take notes (without an accommodation from the CAE), he does not use slides, and no BruinCast. He writes down all the concepts we 100% need to know on the blackboard and in PDF lecture guides, which is definitely helpful.

There are two open-note exams, the midterm and the final (final is not cumulative, just longer). Both are a series of short answer questions from lecture and required readings, along with 1-2 essays on film screenings we have to watch on our own (the topic and film choice are a surprise...). He provides book guides for the readings which you 1000% should complete. What you can (and should) bring to exams:
- Printed out book guides with handwritten answers
- Handwritten class notes (I 100% recommend rewriting your notes to (1) study and (2) make them as easy to flip through as possible)
- Printed lecture guides (use them to organize your notes)

There's also one essay due Week 7 about applying theories learned in class to a piece of media. That on its own wouldn't be so bad, but because of how the class is structured, the ONLY grade you know before going into the final is your midterm grade. Our TA was an "incredibly meticulous" grader... like absolutely brutal. The one potentially saving grace is Suman determines the grading scale based on how students do on the midterm (my B became an A- with our scale), similar to how he does in COMM 10.

I did enjoy what I learned in class, but very few get an A even with the grading scale change. Lots of people dropped halfway through the quarter. DO NOT TAKE THIS WITHOUT COMPLETING COMM 10 FIRST. If you struggled in COMM 10, you'll experience at least the same thing.

Random side notes; If you miss class, your only option is getting notes from someone else. One of my classmates had to fight tooth and nail to turn in her essay electronically because she got COVID and he wanted her to turn it in in person. Best of luck y'all 😭