Picking classes to fulfill requirements can be tricky. But, it has been made easier with websites like “Rate My Professor” and “Mad Grades”.
“Rate My Professor” gives student feedback on professors and courses, while “Mad Grades” shows grade-distributions of courses taken at UW-Madison.
Feedback from these sites is why I decided to take Professor Brown’s course, African 201. “Rate My Professor” showcased that course grades were decided on three factors:
- Check-in Quizzes ( 2 multiple-choice questions at the beginning of each lecture that tested on readings for that day)
- Essays ( mid-term and final essay)
- Participation (and attendance in discussion section)
I found this all to be true and it was nice that there aren’t any exams. Also the quizzes only tested big ideas in the readings that you could honestly get from Spark Notes.
It is also important to note that this is a smaller lecture with about 200 people and an even smaller discussion section with 25 people. This is a smaller class for a 3-credit communication B requirement which was also really nice.
Then I checked “MadGrades” and it showed that the majority of people got an A in this course which was a good sign. I received an A in the course.
![](https://mediafluency.journalism.wisc.edu/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/Screen-Shot-2020-06-08-at-12.27.14-AM-1024x592.png)
Screen-shotted from: https://madgrades.com/courses/c222a490-cc7f-3e70-a2f1-c9a3fa3dbc42
Overall, this class was an “Easy A” with interesting lectures and a small course-load. I would suggest this to freshman or upperclassmen with heavy-course loads.