GVPT201 | PlanetTerp

Information	Review
Sarah Croco GVPT201 Expecting an A- Anonymous 11/02/2024	Annoying class to have to take, but manageable. Croco is fine, not bad or great. I recommend taking STAT100 before GVPT201, that way you are already familiar with R.
Sarah Croco GVPT201 Expecting a B+ Anonymous 08/17/2024	The Professor herself is very nice, she talks with a mask on so sit in front during lectures to hear her. The lectures are also all recorded so technically you don't need to go. This class used R and several different textbooks and books to read from which were not helpful at all. As a gov major, I do not understand why coding needs to be included in everything because I suck at it and did not get any better at using R than when I had to use it for STAT100. My TAs were chill but this class never made sense to me one bit as someone who is not math or science or data-oriented so good luck.
Ojashwi Pathak GVPT201 Expecting an A- Anonymous 07/21/2024	201 is difficult but she makes it relatively painless - lectures are informative and make sense, she goes over the code, and she was always super available to help. Also never got frustrated or made me feel stupid when I needed a concept explained in 10 different ways before understanding it which I really appreciated. I took this class as a summer session and the workload wasn't bad at all - work was due twice a week and the assignments never took more than an hour or two.
Sarah Croco GVPT201 Expecting an A- Anonymous 05/24/2024	If you have to take this class, good luck. She is a terrible professor who doesn't teach anything. Clearly, she does not care about her students at all.
Sarah Croco GVPT201 Expecting an A- Anonymous 05/24/2024	Literally the worst. Doesn't realize that if everyone is having an issue with something it is her fault not ours.
Sarah Croco GVPT201 Expecting an A- Anonymous 05/12/2024	Why does this woman have such high reviews?????? She is awful and cannot teach R.
Sarah Croco GVPT201 Expecting a B+ Anonymous 05/12/2024	She is a nice person outside of class but that is the only good thing I am saying about her. I took this class because I am in HGLO, let me tell you, worst class I will ever take in my life. If you don't know R, don't expect to do anything well in this class. Majority of our grade is based on coding assignments, but she NEVER goes over coding in lectures, you are expected to teach it to yourself completely. When you ask her or the TAs for help, they completely write you off like you are dumb for not being born with the knowledge to code. Her assignments and rubrics are SO unclear and constantly tell you 2 things that contradict each other. Then, when you email her about it, she doesn't email you back but instead emails THE ENTIRE CLASS telling us that we need to read directions more carefully (despite very unclear instructions.) She is SO passive aggressive and clearly does not care about her students. If I could give her 0 stars I would because this class is STUPID. If this class isn't required for your program/major, save your sanity and don't take it and if you are considering Croco for another class, choose a different professor.
Sarah Croco GVPT201 Expecting an A- Anonymous 05/12/2024	I was required to take this class for my honors college and let me say it did not teach me much. If you are not a government and politics major then I wouldn't recommend taking this class. This stat class is more coding than math focused which was very annoying. If you don't have previous R knowledge then you will struggle A LOT. She does a really bad job of helping with R and you don't learn much about it in class. The only reason I passed with a good grade was by working with other people on the assignments. She is a very kind and sweet person during class but elsewhere she is EXTREMELY passive-aggressive. She is always posting announcements complaining about the questions she's receiving, but the reason for these questions is from how vague and complicated the assignments are explained. Overall the class wasn't horrible since all the work was online (including exams) but I don't think I gained much from this source. If you aren't taking this class with a friend or aren't utilizing a groupme than it will be very difficult.
Sarah Croco GVPT201 Expecting an A Anonymous 05/06/2024	RAGHHHHHHHHHH First of all, this is a statistics and R class more than it is a government class so just understand what you're signing up for. If you want to learn how to use R and some statistical concepts, go for it. Professor Croco is passionate but this makes her lectures disorganized and overstimulating and some of her assignments unclear. She gets very loud during lectures and bangs the desk which stresses me out and impedes my learning. Her lectures also tend to jump around a bit which can make note taking confusing. Her slides are not very detailed or organized which does not help with note taking or following along with lectures. This makes the urge to skip lectures and not pay attention extremely powerful. No joke. I really did not enjoy the lectures. The assignment requirements are often not very clearly stated in the rubrics but offhandedly mentioned during lectures which can make it difficult if you happen to zone out during her hectic tangents. The assignments themselves (often online quizzes) are poorly made and don't always have clear directions. So completing work for the class is a real headache. There is a lot of reading, not all of it helpful, interesting, or easy to understand. She does record all of her lectures, which is a big plus.
Johanna Birnir GVPT201 Expecting a B- Anonymous 02/13/2024	as a teacher 6/10, as a person 10/10. I passed with a B-, for the hw honestly work as groups. codes are very unqiue and you will get stressed.
Johanna Birnir GVPT201 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/19/2023	Super clutch. One extra credit assignment, drops lowest HW if 80% of class does course review. Exams are online, open book. You can zoom into your lecture and discussion live. Lots of practice assignments, etc. Final project is a big chunk of your grade. The whole concept of the course is really cool, learning to improve data analytics skills, creating and sending out a massive survey, then conducting a project based on the data of that survey.
Johanna Birnir GVPT201 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/19/2023	GVPT201 has very similar concepts to that of a statistics class but with different coding in R. During the lectures Prof. Birnir is hard to pay attention to but she posts the slides and there is a textbook with the concepts she goes over in class to help explain what is going on. The coding isn't too bad, they typically provide samples that are really helpful for all the homework. The coding definitely doesn't always relate to what she is talking about in class, but her tests are fair. There are also a lot of resources including sample quizzes, and online videos explaining the concepts again that can be really helpful.
Johanna Birnir GVPT201 Expecting an A- Anonymous 12/11/2023	I had Dr. Johanna Birnir in Spring 2023. Dr. Birnir is an average professor however, her research in the field has made her respected. GVPT201 was not easy and there were hard quizzes every week on the content of the class. The class is extremely challenging, especially if you do it on your own so make friends in the class! Dr. Birnir is okay.
Johanna Birnir GVPT201 Expecting a B Anonymous 05/28/2023	I had heard some negative things about Professor Birnir, but i had a great experience with her. The class was hybrid so i didn’t have to physically go to class, but you could if you wanted to and sections were over zoom/in person. I like the flexibility of having options on whether you wanna attend in person or over zoom. The coding is pretty hard, but as long as you do every assignment you’ll pass. The final memo was a bit difficult for me since coding and statistics wasn’t my strong suit, but I got an 100% on it surprisingly. If you do all the work and at least try you’ll pass with at least a B. I would recommend this professor!
Johanna Birnir GVPT201 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 05/12/2023	Do not fall for how this course is listed under 'GVPT'; it is not a government course. There are no prerequisites to this class, but you should have a background in statistics and coding if you are considering applying. Dr. Birnir flies through material in lectures so your best bet is reading the textbook to understand what's going on. The TA's are usually pretty helpful with the coding homeworks, though. Some people complain that the midterm exams and final project don't relate to what goes on in class, but they actually test directly on what is talked about in class and on homeworks. I wouldn't recommend this class if it's not required for you to take, or if you're not really interested in data/information science.
Sarah Croco GVPT201 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 05/10/2023	overall: so this class was definitely difficult at first, but after some time you start to get used to it. you learn how to use r-studio which isn't easy but as long as you go to discussion and use the textbook you'll be fine. the midterm was a lot of material, but the project she has you do at the end really boosts your grade and is pretty easy. the final was a bit easier than the midterm and there was a big curve at the end. she also gave my class extra credit opportunities. her lectures are pretty interesting and I would definitely recommend going in person instead of watching her online. discussion sections are boring but do go because they take attendance and my TA would work through our homework problems to give us answers which helped my grade a lot recommendations/heads up go to discussion, go to lectures in person, give yourself time to do the homework assignments (your TA will be your best friend for the homework assignments), take time to study the midterm and you'll be good
Johanna Birnir GVPT201 Anonymous 05/08/2023	Dr. Birnir is a lovely woman, and she really does her best with this class, and conveys the necessary info. She gives plenty of resources and is always nice when you ask her questions. This being said, this was one of the worst classes I’ve ever taken. I’m not a statistically inclined person, so this class was my own personal hell. The weekly coding homeworks were long, confusing, and frankly not very useful. Your TAs really make it break this class, and unfortunately mine weren’t the best. If you’re a gvpt major, you need to take this class, but if it is not required for your major do NOT take it. I can understand why some people liked it, but a vast majority end up really disliking this class.
Johanna Birnir GVPT201 Expecting an A Anonymous 05/02/2023	Very good professor. She provided so many videos and chapter notes for all the course materials, was available during office hours, explained things very well in lecture and made sure to answer all questions, and was a knowledgable resource in this course. I was very nervous going into this course with all the negative reviews. However, I learned that the class is a lot of work. The class has a workload of a true 3 credit course, not a traditional GVPT course. If you enjoy data analysis, and you are willing to put in the work, Prof. Birnir will provide you with MORE than enough resources to succeed. Don't be scared by the negativity surrounding this course-I really enjoyed it and I'm glad I took it. Data analysis is the future, and is necessary for jobs in government. If this is not your thing, don't blame the class/professor, and they did a phenomenal job.
Ojashwi Pathak GVPT201 Expecting a B- Anonymous 04/26/2023	Very helpful and accommodating with R, which is a difficult software to use even for students who may have used it in STAT100. She takes time in discussion sections to answer any questions about concepts and codes, and has helpful office hours as well.
Johanna Birnir GVPT201 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 04/26/2023	Come into this class with a stat background. Can not stress enough. You can expect to spend multiple hours on the weekly homework assignments and being familiar with R coding language and the concepts will cut down that time significantly. Getting the R Companion to Political Analysis is a MUST but the other textbook you don't need. However, she does pull her midterm questions straight out of the textbook and the midterms are open notes so it can help. You will never have to read it though. While Dr. Birnir's in-class lectures are lacking, her pre-recorded videos of all of her lessons are infinitely better. This is not a class that takes attendance even for the "mandatory" speaker. Your TAs in this class will be your lifeline. That being said if you do the work and go to discussion you should be able to easily succeed.
Johanna Birnir GVPT201 Expecting a C- Anonymous 04/07/2023	This is probably the worst class I have ever taken at UMD. The lectures and the homework are two totally different things that are technically related so they get away with lumping these two topics into one course. The lectures are fine they are just incredibly boring and dull. The homework however is a complete nightmare. If you have never taken Statistics or any type of coding, then you will be in a world of hurt. The homework has nothing to do with research methods but is all about statistics and data analytics using R. The workbook assigned for R is an incredibly poor resource for learning how to use the software and half expects you to understand the software beforehand. The Professor never teaches you how to use R, this is up to the TA and they dont teach, it's just a quick rundown on the assignment for that week. If you dont like data analytics and dont want to have to teach yourself how to code then avoid this class at all costs.
Sarah Croco GVPT201 Expecting an A Anonymous 01/09/2023	This class is mostly about stats and that jazz and basically serves as an intro to political research. It's boring, but she tries her best to make it interesting. R is used in this class like a calculator and you have coding assignments every week. Go to discussion for participation points. Other than that, the exams scores weren't the greatest and even though she said that she wouldn't give extra credit, she had like two extra credit opportunities.
Sarah Croco GVPT201 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 12/22/2022	When I initially signed up for this course, all I had heard was how much of a nightmare it could be. However, Dr. Croco was AMAZING. Her lectures are great and I highly recommend listening to them a few times to comprehend the material. The coding seems intimidating at first, but as long as you attend discussion and read the workbook, you will be fine. Also, do not be afraid to reach out to Dr. Croco, she is always happy to answer questions and will respond very quickly. If you are interested in political science research, then take this class!!!
Sarah Croco GVPT201 Expecting an A edenw29 12/17/2022	I really liked professor croco. Her lectures can be kinda boring but she makes it as engaging and fun as possible. Honestly, her assignments are super cool if you let them be. The final memo was super fun to do, which I know sounds crazy to say about a 4 page regression analysis. GVPT201 has a bad reputation but croco will make sure you are taken care of
Sarah Croco GVPT201 Expecting a B+ Anonymous 12/13/2022	I agree with the other reviews - avoid this class at all costs, but if you MUST take it, then you want this professor. She records each lecture and uploads them so attendance is not necessary. I did not go to class and it made our two exams very difficult, but I would rather cram the week of if it meant my weekly schedule was lighter. They are online and the second is worth much more points. The HW consists of a coding assignment each week due Wed night at 11:59 (based on accuracy). Our class did so bad as a whole, she curved the final 19 points- the mean was a 71, so basically a D. She is generous when she needs to be and is very good at addressing issues, answering questions, and being clear about what is to be expected. TA's go over homework code in sections so attendance for those are required and HELPFUL. She seems intimidating on day one, don't let that scare you off. It is not her fault this class sucks, she even said she is required to teach some things even if she doesn't think we will ever use it.
Sarah Croco GVPT201 Expecting an A Anonymous 08/05/2022	While she is a nice teacher, she barely discussed coding which is a vital CRUCIAL part of this course. I'm not sure why she didn't discuss coding more. However, if you asked her about it outside of class she was helpful. Be aware, however, that this class is very boring and requires persistence to get an A especially if you have no coding experience like I did.
Johanna Birnir GVPT201 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 12/20/2021	The TA's basically teach instead of her. She relies on previously recorded lectures and her in person stuff is boring. 201 is a coding class disguised as a gov class, wouldnt reccomend.
Johanna Birnir GVPT201 Anonymous 05/14/2021	Not the hardest class in the world but it's certainly challenging especially if you don't know coding. I had to go to office hours every week to get help on the weekly coding assignments. I could not have gotten through this class without my TA. They're also time consuming so manage your time. If you do that, you can make the class less overwhelming. Unless you're a GVPT major or are good at coding, I wouldn't recommend this class just because of how time consuming and complicated it can be.
Sarah Croco GVPT201 Expecting an A- Anonymous 11/24/2020	This class is not fun but Professor Croco is so entertaining. It's essentially a statistics and coding class. Not sure why it's labeled a gov class. Glad I'm done with it.
Rithvik Yarlagadda GVPT201 Expecting an A Anonymous 07/21/2020	Rithvik was an amazing professor this summer. I took the course online from june to july. He was super easy to reach, was extremely helpful when answering questions, and just made the course a lot less scary. This course was super intimidating for me as a gov major who knows nothing about coding/programming. But, I completed all of my assignments and asked Rithvik for help whenever I needed it, and I was able to receive the grade I wanted. Would definitely recommend him!
Sarah Croco GVPT201 Expecting a B- Anonymous 06/13/2020	Words cannot express how much this course ruined my semester. BUT Croco is awesome and keeps the lectures very entertaining. She is a great prof, but your TA's run the show. They're the ones grading your assignments and teaching you the detailed stuff. Exams are no joke.
Johanna Birnir GVPT201 Expecting an A- Anonymous 05/16/2020	Johanna is a wonderful lady and knows her stuff, but the course really sucked. It's half statistics half coding in R. You have to really enjoy that type of thing to enjoy the class. I figure taking it at the undergrad level also helps gov majors figure out if they'd wanna go into political science
Sarah Croco GVPT201 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 12/18/2019	Dr. Croco helped enliven an otherwise (kinda) boring stats class. It was a requirement for me (GVPT major). I had never taken a stats nor programming course before, so I knew it was going to be interesting. There are several (~11) coding HW assignments throughout the semester, but the coding wkbk kind of gives you the code to rework. Yes, it’s time-consuming, but it’s a lot easier once you get into a habit. Make sure to read the chapter in the textbook before lecture, otherwise you’ll fall behind quickly. I also found it easy to schedule office hrs with my TA to discuss some minor coding stuff, and stop by Dr. Croco’s during open office hrs to ask questions.
Sarah Croco GVPT201 Anonymous 05/01/2019	A loud and fun personality in the classroom. GVPT 201 is a dreadful course but if you need to take it, she's the professor you want.

Sarah Croco
GVPT201

Expecting an A-
Anonymous
11/02/2024

Annoying class to have to take, but manageable. Croco is fine, not bad or great. I recommend taking STAT100 before GVPT201, that way you are already familiar with R.

Sarah Croco
GVPT201

Expecting a B+
Anonymous
08/17/2024

The Professor herself is very nice, she talks with a mask on so sit in front during lectures to hear her. The lectures are also all recorded so technically you don't need to go. This class used R and several different textbooks and books to read from which were not helpful at all. As a gov major, I do not understand why coding needs to be included in everything because I suck at it and did not get any better at using R than when I had to use it for STAT100. My TAs were chill but this class never made sense to me one bit as someone who is not math or science or data-oriented so good luck.

Ojashwi Pathak
GVPT201

Expecting an A-
Anonymous
07/21/2024

201 is difficult but she makes it relatively painless - lectures are informative and make sense, she goes over the code, and she was always super available to help. Also never got frustrated or made me feel stupid when I needed a concept explained in 10 different ways before understanding it which I really appreciated. I took this class as a summer session and the workload wasn't bad at all - work was due twice a week and the assignments never took more than an hour or two.

Sarah Croco
GVPT201

Expecting an A-
Anonymous
05/24/2024

If you have to take this class, good luck. She is a terrible professor who doesn't teach anything. Clearly, she does not care about her students at all.

Sarah Croco
GVPT201

Expecting an A-
Anonymous
05/24/2024

Literally the worst. Doesn't realize that if everyone is having an issue with something it is her fault not ours.

Sarah Croco
GVPT201

Expecting an A-
Anonymous
05/12/2024

Why does this woman have such high reviews?????? She is awful and cannot teach R.

Sarah Croco
GVPT201

Expecting a B+
Anonymous
05/12/2024

She is a nice person outside of class but that is the only good thing I am saying about her. I took this class because I am in HGLO, let me tell you, worst class I will ever take in my life. If you don't know R, don't expect to do anything well in this class. Majority of our grade is based on coding assignments, but she NEVER goes over coding in lectures, you are expected to teach it to yourself completely. When you ask her or the TAs for help, they completely write you off like you are dumb for not being born with the knowledge to code. Her assignments and rubrics are SO unclear and constantly tell you 2 things that contradict each other. Then, when you email her about it, she doesn't email you back but instead emails THE ENTIRE CLASS telling us that we need to read directions more carefully (despite very unclear instructions.) She is SO passive aggressive and clearly does not care about her students. If I could give her 0 stars I would because this class is STUPID. If this class isn't required for your program/major, save your sanity and don't take it and if you are considering Croco for another class, choose a different professor.

Sarah Croco
GVPT201

Expecting an A-
Anonymous
05/12/2024

I was required to take this class for my honors college and let me say it did not teach me much. If you are not a government and politics major then I wouldn't recommend taking this class. This stat class is more coding than math focused which was very annoying. If you don't have previous R knowledge then you will struggle A LOT. She does a really bad job of helping with R and you don't learn much about it in class. The only reason I passed with a good grade was by working with other people on the assignments. She is a very kind and sweet person during class but elsewhere she is EXTREMELY passive-aggressive. She is always posting announcements complaining about the questions she's receiving, but the reason for these questions is from how vague and complicated the assignments are explained. Overall the class wasn't horrible since all the work was online (including exams) but I don't think I gained much from this source. If you aren't taking this class with a friend or aren't utilizing a groupme than it will be very difficult.

Sarah Croco
GVPT201

Expecting an A
Anonymous
05/06/2024

RAGHHHHHHHHHH First of all, this is a statistics and R class more than it is a government class so just understand what you're signing up for. If you want to learn how to use R and some statistical concepts, go for it. Professor Croco is passionate but this makes her lectures disorganized and overstimulating and some of her assignments unclear. She gets very loud during lectures and bangs the desk which stresses me out and impedes my learning. Her lectures also tend to jump around a bit which can make note taking confusing. Her slides are not very detailed or organized which does not help with note taking or following along with lectures. This makes the urge to skip lectures and not pay attention extremely powerful. No joke. I really did not enjoy the lectures. The assignment requirements are often not very clearly stated in the rubrics but offhandedly mentioned during lectures which can make it difficult if you happen to zone out during her hectic tangents. The assignments themselves (often online quizzes) are poorly made and don't always have clear directions. So completing work for the class is a real headache. There is a lot of reading, not all of it helpful, interesting, or easy to understand. She does record all of her lectures, which is a big plus.

Johanna Birnir
GVPT201

Expecting a B-
Anonymous
02/13/2024

as a teacher 6/10, as a person 10/10. I passed with a B-, for the hw honestly work as groups. codes are very unqiue and you will get stressed.

Johanna Birnir
GVPT201

Expecting an A
Anonymous
12/19/2023

Super clutch. One extra credit assignment, drops lowest HW if 80% of class does course review. Exams are online, open book. You can zoom into your lecture and discussion live. Lots of practice assignments, etc. Final project is a big chunk of your grade. The whole concept of the course is really cool, learning to improve data analytics skills, creating and sending out a massive survey, then conducting a project based on the data of that survey.

Johanna Birnir
GVPT201

Expecting an A
Anonymous
12/19/2023

GVPT201 has very similar concepts to that of a statistics class but with different coding in R. During the lectures Prof. Birnir is hard to pay attention to but she posts the slides and there is a textbook with the concepts she goes over in class to help explain what is going on. The coding isn't too bad, they typically provide samples that are really helpful for all the homework. The coding definitely doesn't always relate to what she is talking about in class, but her tests are fair. There are also a lot of resources including sample quizzes, and online videos explaining the concepts again that can be really helpful.

Johanna Birnir
GVPT201

Expecting an A-
Anonymous
12/11/2023

I had Dr. Johanna Birnir in Spring 2023. Dr. Birnir is an average professor however, her research in the field has made her respected. GVPT201 was not easy and there were hard quizzes every week on the content of the class. The class is extremely challenging, especially if you do it on your own so make friends in the class! Dr. Birnir is okay.

Johanna Birnir
GVPT201

Expecting a B
Anonymous
05/28/2023

I had heard some negative things about Professor Birnir, but i had a great experience with her. The class was hybrid so i didn’t have to physically go to class, but you could if you wanted to and sections were over zoom/in person. I like the flexibility of having options on whether you wanna attend in person or over zoom. The coding is pretty hard, but as long as you do every assignment you’ll pass. The final memo was a bit difficult for me since coding and statistics wasn’t my strong suit, but I got an 100% on it surprisingly. If you do all the work and at least try you’ll pass with at least a B. I would recommend this professor!

Johanna Birnir
GVPT201

Expecting an A+
Anonymous
05/12/2023

Do not fall for how this course is listed under 'GVPT'; it is not a government course. There are no prerequisites to this class, but you should have a background in statistics and coding if you are considering applying. Dr. Birnir flies through material in lectures so your best bet is reading the textbook to understand what's going on. The TA's are usually pretty helpful with the coding homeworks, though. Some people complain that the midterm exams and final project don't relate to what goes on in class, but they actually test directly on what is talked about in class and on homeworks. I wouldn't recommend this class if it's not required for you to take, or if you're not really interested in data/information science.

Sarah Croco
GVPT201

Expecting an A+
Anonymous
05/10/2023

overall: so this class was definitely difficult at first, but after some time you start to get used to it. you learn how to use r-studio which isn't easy but as long as you go to discussion and use the textbook you'll be fine. the midterm was a lot of material, but the project she has you do at the end really boosts your grade and is pretty easy. the final was a bit easier than the midterm and there was a big curve at the end. she also gave my class extra credit opportunities. her lectures are pretty interesting and I would definitely recommend going in person instead of watching her online. discussion sections are boring but do go because they take attendance and my TA would work through our homework problems to give us answers which helped my grade a lot recommendations/heads up go to discussion, go to lectures in person, give yourself time to do the homework assignments (your TA will be your best friend for the homework assignments), take time to study the midterm and you'll be good

Johanna Birnir
GVPT201

Anonymous
05/08/2023

Dr. Birnir is a lovely woman, and she really does her best with this class, and conveys the necessary info. She gives plenty of resources and is always nice when you ask her questions. This being said, this was one of the worst classes I’ve ever taken. I’m not a statistically inclined person, so this class was my own personal hell. The weekly coding homeworks were long, confusing, and frankly not very useful. Your TAs really make it break this class, and unfortunately mine weren’t the best. If you’re a gvpt major, you need to take this class, but if it is not required for your major do NOT take it. I can understand why some people liked it, but a vast majority end up really disliking this class.

Johanna Birnir
GVPT201

Expecting an A
Anonymous
05/02/2023

Very good professor. She provided so many videos and chapter notes for all the course materials, was available during office hours, explained things very well in lecture and made sure to answer all questions, and was a knowledgable resource in this course. I was very nervous going into this course with all the negative reviews. However, I learned that the class is a lot of work. The class has a workload of a true 3 credit course, not a traditional GVPT course. If you enjoy data analysis, and you are willing to put in the work, Prof. Birnir will provide you with MORE than enough resources to succeed. Don't be scared by the negativity surrounding this course-I really enjoyed it and I'm glad I took it. Data analysis is the future, and is necessary for jobs in government. If this is not your thing, don't blame the class/professor, and they did a phenomenal job.

Ojashwi Pathak
GVPT201

Expecting a B-
Anonymous
04/26/2023

Very helpful and accommodating with R, which is a difficult software to use even for students who may have used it in STAT100. She takes time in discussion sections to answer any questions about concepts and codes, and has helpful office hours as well.

Johanna Birnir
GVPT201

Expecting an A+
Anonymous
04/26/2023

Come into this class with a stat background. Can not stress enough. You can expect to spend multiple hours on the weekly homework assignments and being familiar with R coding language and the concepts will cut down that time significantly. Getting the R Companion to Political Analysis is a MUST but the other textbook you don't need. However, she does pull her midterm questions straight out of the textbook and the midterms are open notes so it can help. You will never have to read it though. While Dr. Birnir's in-class lectures are lacking, her pre-recorded videos of all of her lessons are infinitely better. This is not a class that takes attendance even for the "mandatory" speaker. Your TAs in this class will be your lifeline. That being said if you do the work and go to discussion you should be able to easily succeed.

Johanna Birnir
GVPT201

Expecting a C-
Anonymous
04/07/2023

This is probably the worst class I have ever taken at UMD. The lectures and the homework are two totally different things that are technically related so they get away with lumping these two topics into one course. The lectures are fine they are just incredibly boring and dull. The homework however is a complete nightmare. If you have never taken Statistics or any type of coding, then you will be in a world of hurt. The homework has nothing to do with research methods but is all about statistics and data analytics using R. The workbook assigned for R is an incredibly poor resource for learning how to use the software and half expects you to understand the software beforehand. The Professor never teaches you how to use R, this is up to the TA and they dont teach, it's just a quick rundown on the assignment for that week. If you dont like data analytics and dont want to have to teach yourself how to code then avoid this class at all costs.

Sarah Croco
GVPT201

Expecting an A
Anonymous
01/09/2023

This class is mostly about stats and that jazz and basically serves as an intro to political research. It's boring, but she tries her best to make it interesting. R is used in this class like a calculator and you have coding assignments every week. Go to discussion for participation points. Other than that, the exams scores weren't the greatest and even though she said that she wouldn't give extra credit, she had like two extra credit opportunities.

Sarah Croco
GVPT201

Expecting an A+
Anonymous
12/22/2022

When I initially signed up for this course, all I had heard was how much of a nightmare it could be. However, Dr. Croco was AMAZING. Her lectures are great and I highly recommend listening to them a few times to comprehend the material. The coding seems intimidating at first, but as long as you attend discussion and read the workbook, you will be fine. Also, do not be afraid to reach out to Dr. Croco, she is always happy to answer questions and will respond very quickly. If you are interested in political science research, then take this class!!!

Sarah Croco
GVPT201

Expecting an A
edenw29
12/17/2022

I really liked professor croco. Her lectures can be kinda boring but she makes it as engaging and fun as possible. Honestly, her assignments are super cool if you let them be. The final memo was super fun to do, which I know sounds crazy to say about a 4 page regression analysis. GVPT201 has a bad reputation but croco will make sure you are taken care of

Sarah Croco
GVPT201

Expecting a B+
Anonymous
12/13/2022

I agree with the other reviews - avoid this class at all costs, but if you MUST take it, then you want this professor. She records each lecture and uploads them so attendance is not necessary. I did not go to class and it made our two exams very difficult, but I would rather cram the week of if it meant my weekly schedule was lighter. They are online and the second is worth much more points. The HW consists of a coding assignment each week due Wed night at 11:59 (based on accuracy). Our class did so bad as a whole, she curved the final 19 points- the mean was a 71, so basically a D. She is generous when she needs to be and is very good at addressing issues, answering questions, and being clear about what is to be expected. TA's go over homework code in sections so attendance for those are required and HELPFUL. She seems intimidating on day one, don't let that scare you off. It is not her fault this class sucks, she even said she is required to teach some things even if she doesn't think we will ever use it.

Sarah Croco
GVPT201

Expecting an A
Anonymous
08/05/2022

While she is a nice teacher, she barely discussed coding which is a vital CRUCIAL part of this course. I'm not sure why she didn't discuss coding more. However, if you asked her about it outside of class she was helpful. Be aware, however, that this class is very boring and requires persistence to get an A especially if you have no coding experience like I did.

Johanna Birnir
GVPT201

Expecting an A+
Anonymous
12/20/2021

The TA's basically teach instead of her. She relies on previously recorded lectures and her in person stuff is boring. 201 is a coding class disguised as a gov class, wouldnt reccomend.

Johanna Birnir
GVPT201

Anonymous
05/14/2021

Not the hardest class in the world but it's certainly challenging especially if you don't know coding. I had to go to office hours every week to get help on the weekly coding assignments. I could not have gotten through this class without my TA. They're also time consuming so manage your time. If you do that, you can make the class less overwhelming. Unless you're a GVPT major or are good at coding, I wouldn't recommend this class just because of how time consuming and complicated it can be.

Sarah Croco
GVPT201

Expecting an A-
Anonymous
11/24/2020

This class is not fun but Professor Croco is so entertaining. It's essentially a statistics and coding class. Not sure why it's labeled a gov class. Glad I'm done with it.

Rithvik Yarlagadda
GVPT201

Expecting an A
Anonymous
07/21/2020

Rithvik was an amazing professor this summer. I took the course online from june to july. He was super easy to reach, was extremely helpful when answering questions, and just made the course a lot less scary. This course was super intimidating for me as a gov major who knows nothing about coding/programming. But, I completed all of my assignments and asked Rithvik for help whenever I needed it, and I was able to receive the grade I wanted. Would definitely recommend him!

Sarah Croco
GVPT201

Expecting a B-
Anonymous
06/13/2020

Words cannot express how much this course ruined my semester. BUT Croco is awesome and keeps the lectures very entertaining. She is a great prof, but your TA's run the show. They're the ones grading your assignments and teaching you the detailed stuff. Exams are no joke.

Johanna Birnir
GVPT201

Expecting an A-
Anonymous
05/16/2020

Johanna is a wonderful lady and knows her stuff, but the course really sucked. It's half statistics half coding in R. You have to really enjoy that type of thing to enjoy the class. I figure taking it at the undergrad level also helps gov majors figure out if they'd wanna go into political science

Sarah Croco
GVPT201

Expecting an A+
Anonymous
12/18/2019

Dr. Croco helped enliven an otherwise (kinda) boring stats class. It was a requirement for me (GVPT major). I had never taken a stats nor programming course before, so I knew it was going to be interesting. There are several (~11) coding HW assignments throughout the semester, but the coding wkbk kind of *gives* you the code to rework. Yes, it’s time-consuming, but it’s a lot easier once you get into a habit. Make sure to read the chapter in the textbook *before* lecture, otherwise you’ll fall behind quickly. I also found it easy to schedule office hrs with my TA to discuss some minor coding stuff, and stop by Dr. Croco’s during open office hrs to ask questions.

Sarah Croco
GVPT201

Anonymous
05/01/2019

A loud and fun personality in the classroom. GVPT 201 is a dreadful course but if you need to take it, she's the professor you want.

Reviews for GVPT201