Mila Zlatic | PlanetTerp

Information	Review
Mila Zlatic Anonymous 04/27/2015	Don't take this class. Ever. She is completely unclear about deadlines and details concerning projects. That is, if you can stay awake long enough to listen to them. Her course is scattered and everything she teaches can easily be found by typing it into a google search box. The information was mostly common knowledge. If you misunderstood her confusing deadlines and schedules or project details, her response emails were rude and uncalled for.
Mila Zlatic Expecting an A Anonymous 02/12/2013	Some of these reviews are outrageous. Her classes are certainly hard. However, she made herself available for any help I needed and her stories are relevant when you consider the concept she is discussing. If you want an easy A, don't take her class. I'm sure she'll be thankful for it. If you want to put in work similar to what you'll deal with outside of the hand-holding of college, take her class. You'll be thankful for it. She is an "old-school" professor. Sure, she uses Powerpoints, but she expects you to work for the grade you want and a Powerpoint is one of the many tools you'll need.
Mila Zlatic Expecting a W cubswin 12/14/2012	She may be one of the worst organized individuals I've met. She is never able to stay on topic and rarely finishes a powerpoint. Since English is not her first language, her tests and assignments are poorly written. Unfortunately, this causes students great confusion and makes it nearly impossible to complete an assignment to her liking. If you enjoy hearing about how great Yugoslavia was then I highly suggest Zlatic.
Mila Zlatic Expecting a B mherbert 05/17/2012	I had Zlatic for Populations Geography, and while the material is very interesting, the professor will put you right to sleep. She goes on quite a bit of random tangents. It is amazing how much international experience she has had, but none of the personal stories she tells go along with any class material. I sometimes had trouble understanding her because she is Croatian, but the language barrier isn't too bad. What was very hard for me is every assignment she gives has countless grammatical/spelling/content errors. For one of my assignments, she had made the assignment completely wrong, and didn't even make an attempt to correct it even though it was addressed in class. So, as a result because I had already done the project, I had to completely redo it based on her mistake. Her emails are impossible to understand because she misses words and spells words wrong all the time. One other thing that was an issue for me was her exams. She told our class constantly that there would be NO exact numbers or questions about specific population trends for a nation, but the questions would be about concepts and applying them to a general population trend. That was a lie, and she has several questions on the test that she says will not be tested. Overall, she isn't the worst I've had, but if you have the option to, I'd say don't take her.
Mila Zlatic Expecting an A Anonymous 07/07/2011	Professor Zlatic is good at giving you the international perspective on whatever she lectures about. She worked for the World Bank and has much experience overseas. However, her interpersonal skills are a bit lacking, so you have to be forgiving and have a thick skin when in her class. She has the ability to single out a student and make him or her feel awkward and embarrassed. I don't think she intends to do that. She wasn't born here, so her social skills are not geared for here. GEOG435 has three papers that make you scour the internet for random data (birthrate for Hispanics in Montana in 1970). However, it's not difficult to get an A and you will walk away with some useful factoids. When I mention it is not difficult to get an A, that is assuming you care to write a good research paper. Even at the senior level, too many UMD students are lazy and don't care about learning. I did the research, read the articles, and spent time thinking before I wrote. I am fully convinced that lazy or cowardly students are the ones doing poorly in Zlatic's classes. I didn't lose one point on any of my papers, and another student had the same experience. The reason why the GPA for her class is a 2.9 is because she doesn't give anything to you. You have to take the initiative if you don't understand what is required of you. If you want to be spoon-fed information, don't go to this class. Otherwise, stay and get an A+.
Mila Zlatic Expecting an A Siema101 05/17/2011	She is really not as bad as people say. There are some cultural differences that people need to factor in. Yes, the lectures will go off in tangents, but I found most of them interesting. You can access powerpoints online so class isn't stressful. Although the papers are pretty time consuming, if you follow directions you should be getting near perfect grades on them. The tests are very challenging, but the final is easiest one in my opinion. A lot of people do not go to class, they definitely pay for it because attendance and participation are 10%. If she doesn't recognize your face when she is putting grades in then you lazy people will get one letter grade lower :D. About the confrontations, there has been some tension between several students and teacher, however these were backed-up with research on her end. She was definitely not discriminating against people as some previous reviews have stated. Overall, not an easy class, but you can do well if you try your best. You'll learn some good information. I plan to take another class with this professor in the future.
Mila Zlatic Expecting a B Anonymous 05/15/2011	She is the worst professor I have ever had. If you don't have to do not take this class. There are 3 assignments that are not clearly described in the syllabus or on blackboard. She tries to act helpful by letting you email her with questions but she sends back completely irrelevant information that has nothing to do with what you needed help with. If you don't agree with her in class she yells at you and just ignores your comments. Do not take this professor, she is awful.
Mila Zlatic Expecting a B Anonymous 04/26/2011	Terrible professor. Exams are impossible to understand grammatically. If students disagree with her, she becomes defensive and argumentative. Offensive to some students, and directly confrontational, when discussing tangentially related topics, like Mormonism and Islam. Doesn't even seem to realize it when she does so, yet will criticize students if they make equally ignorant comments.
Mila Zlatic Expecting an A Anonymous 01/07/2011	I really did not like this seminar. there are MUCH easier seminars. just avoid this one. She took on a lot of responsibilities this semester, so she took out a lot of things from this seminar like the debates and papers (easy points). This meant that your grade was based only on 1 research paper (and outline), the two exams (kinda hard because you don't know what to remember from her 600 slides), and a presentation. She expects a lot from her students, yet gives us so little. Her presentations are so dry that even with a computer you still fall asleep. She grades things very harshly for no reason. Her grading is SUPER subjective..even though she says otherwise...you never know with her... Shes not helpful during office hours either. I didn't learn anything particularly new. This class was a waste of time.
Mila Zlatic Expecting a B Anonymous 01/05/2010	I have very mixed opinions about this class, so I'll try to be objective as possible. Most of the lectures consisted of Professor Zlatic presenting material from her powerpoint slides. A lot of times, she would get distracted and not end up finishing her discussions of them though. Most of the time in fact, she would end up telling a lot of her own personal experiences and/or sharing her opinions about certain topics. The class itself wasn't too challenging-I struggled a bit at first and started off not doing too well, but I recovered by the end of the end of the semester and pulled through with a high B (I also went from disliking the class a lot to not minding it too much in the end). The grading in this class consisted of two examinations, participation, research presentation (powerpoint), research paper, research progress report, and research outline. One criticism I have of the class is that the class itself felt very disorganized and Prof. Zlatic also sometimes seemed disorganized and vague-the syllabus wasn't always accurate and it changed throughout the semester. For example, it didn't say we were ALL going to present our powerpoints the last few weeks of class-until she made it that way. In addition, I wasn't 100% sure what chapters we had covered until the week before the final. The exams weren't too bad, and the lecture powerpoints were posted online-for a while anyway-which was helpful. Most of the material for exams comes from her slides but also from the textbook, so make sure you do READ. The biggest part of the class was the research paper, which was a semester long project on a political geography issue in your country of choice-which we later presented to the class via powerpoint. My advice would be to pick a country and a topic that interests you and is manageable so that you remain enthusiastic about it throughout the semester. Also, don't fall behind and be sure take advantage of the chance to submit drafts and meet with Dr. Zlatic. Although the class can be a bit frustrating and although Prof. Zlatic isn't really the best lecturer, she's very knowledgable and is willing to help you if you ask. If you participate/show up to class/show enthusiasm, she's more willing to help you out (plus, your participation grade-10%-will be higher). If you stay on top of this class, you should be able to do okay-just beware, there isn't a curve-so your grades on exam stand as is so make sure you get it right (as much as possible) the first time (there are a few SMALL chances for some rewrites on some of the written assignments-but don't depend on them). Finally, make sure you follow the assignment requirements. Good luck!
Mila Zlatic Expecting a B Anonymous 12/24/2009	Boring.LOTS OF WRITING.DO NOT BUY THE BOOKS. You will never read them. She Will put you to sleep, bring your laptop to class. Won't let you sleep, but will let you use laptop. I am not quite sure how to study for exams, as the questions asked were a bit random. Also, while she may say that she grades based on quality and not on whether or not she agrees with you, this is not true. If she does not agree with you, then you will get points docked off. If you write a bad paper and she agrees with you and you still get points docked off, that's your fault. However, if you get a really bad grade on a paper, she may allow you to re- do it. Easy grader overall.
Mila Zlatic Expecting a B scfrench 12/18/2009	I have her for GEOG437 and GEOG456. GEOG437 was not a bad class. It contains a semester long project on an issue within a country of your choice. It seems all of her classes are based on the same system. Unless its a special occasion, every lecture is just slides... most however gets off-topic. When she gets off topic however, she talks about her own experiences, which I found pretty interesting. This class is good for stories, but kinda hard to learn the facts you need to learn. She does learn everyone's names and faces. So it is a good idea to show up to class, especially when other classmates have a project they are displaying.
Mila Zlatic Expecting an A tulch 04/10/2009	This isn't an easy Honors seminar, but it was well worth all the work. I really loved the debates the class held, plus I thought every lecture was really interesting. Professor Zlatic is very knowledgeable, but she's not there to pump up your interest for the topic, so take this class only if you're actually interested in globalization and urbanization issues.
Mila Zlatic Expecting an A anthazar 03/31/2009	I took this class, Urbanization and Globalization wanting to learn about how modern cities grow, or urbanization, however the vast majority of the class was about globalization. I don't think anyone in my class is very excited about class. Professor Zlatic has prepared power-points that are very dry, but has very interesting stories from her own experiences. However everything you will learn from the class will be through the research you will have to do for 3 papers, Economic, Political, and Cultural globalization. There is also a team debate on each paper. There have to be easier ways to fulfill an SB req as well as easier Honors Seminars.

Mila Zlatic

Anonymous
04/27/2015

Don't take this class. Ever. She is completely unclear about deadlines and details concerning projects. That is, if you can stay awake long enough to listen to them. Her course is scattered and everything she teaches can easily be found by typing it into a google search box. The information was mostly common knowledge. If you misunderstood her confusing deadlines and schedules or project details, her response emails were rude and uncalled for.

Mila Zlatic

Expecting an A
Anonymous
02/12/2013

Some of these reviews are outrageous. Her classes are certainly hard. However, she made herself available for any help I needed and her stories are relevant when you consider the concept she is discussing. If you want an easy A, don't take her class. I'm sure she'll be thankful for it. If you want to put in work similar to what you'll deal with outside of the hand-holding of college, take her class. You'll be thankful for it. She is an "old-school" professor. Sure, she uses Powerpoints, but she expects you to work for the grade you want and a Powerpoint is one of the many tools you'll need.

Mila Zlatic

Expecting a W
cubswin
12/14/2012

She may be one of the worst organized individuals I've met. She is never able to stay on topic and rarely finishes a powerpoint. Since English is not her first language, her tests and assignments are poorly written. Unfortunately, this causes students great confusion and makes it nearly impossible to complete an assignment to her liking. If you enjoy hearing about how great Yugoslavia was then I highly suggest Zlatic.

Mila Zlatic

Expecting a B
mherbert
05/17/2012

I had Zlatic for Populations Geography, and while the material is very interesting, the professor will put you right to sleep. She goes on quite a bit of random tangents. It is amazing how much international experience she has had, but none of the personal stories she tells go along with any class material. I sometimes had trouble understanding her because she is Croatian, but the language barrier isn't too bad. What was very hard for me is every assignment she gives has countless grammatical/spelling/content errors. For one of my assignments, she had made the assignment completely wrong, and didn't even make an attempt to correct it even though it was addressed in class. So, as a result because I had already done the project, I had to completely redo it based on her mistake. Her emails are impossible to understand because she misses words and spells words wrong all the time. One other thing that was an issue for me was her exams. She told our class constantly that there would be NO exact numbers or questions about specific population trends for a nation, but the questions would be about concepts and applying them to a general population trend. That was a lie, and she has several questions on the test that she says will not be tested. Overall, she isn't the worst I've had, but if you have the option to, I'd say don't take her.

Mila Zlatic

Expecting an A
Anonymous
07/07/2011

Professor Zlatic is good at giving you the international perspective on whatever she lectures about. She worked for the World Bank and has much experience overseas. However, her interpersonal skills are a bit lacking, so you have to be forgiving and have a thick skin when in her class. She has the ability to single out a student and make him or her feel awkward and embarrassed. I don't think she intends to do that. She wasn't born here, so her social skills are not geared for here. GEOG435 has three papers that make you scour the internet for random data (birthrate for Hispanics in Montana in 1970). However, it's not difficult to get an A and you will walk away with some useful factoids. When I mention it is not difficult to get an A, that is assuming you care to write a good research paper. Even at the senior level, too many UMD students are lazy and don't care about learning. I did the research, read the articles, and spent time thinking before I wrote. I am fully convinced that lazy or cowardly students are the ones doing poorly in Zlatic's classes. I didn't lose one point on any of my papers, and another student had the same experience. The reason why the GPA for her class is a 2.9 is because she doesn't give anything to you. You have to take the initiative if you don't understand what is required of you. If you want to be spoon-fed information, don't go to this class. Otherwise, stay and get an A+.

Mila Zlatic

Expecting an A
Siema101
05/17/2011

She is really not as bad as people say. There are some cultural differences that people need to factor in. Yes, the lectures will go off in tangents, but I found most of them interesting. You can access powerpoints online so class isn't stressful. Although the papers are pretty time consuming, if you follow directions you should be getting near perfect grades on them. The tests are very challenging, but the final is easiest one in my opinion. A lot of people do not go to class, they definitely pay for it because attendance and participation are 10%. If she doesn't recognize your face when she is putting grades in then you lazy people will get one letter grade lower :D. About the confrontations, there has been some tension between several students and teacher, however these were backed-up with research on her end. She was definitely not discriminating against people as some previous reviews have stated. Overall, not an easy class, but you can do well if you try your best. You'll learn some good information. I plan to take another class with this professor in the future.

Mila Zlatic

Expecting a B
Anonymous
05/15/2011

She is the worst professor I have ever had. If you don't have to do not take this class. There are 3 assignments that are not clearly described in the syllabus or on blackboard. She tries to act helpful by letting you email her with questions but she sends back completely irrelevant information that has nothing to do with what you needed help with. If you don't agree with her in class she yells at you and just ignores your comments. Do not take this professor, she is awful.

Mila Zlatic

Expecting a B
Anonymous
04/26/2011

Terrible professor. Exams are impossible to understand grammatically. If students disagree with her, she becomes defensive and argumentative. Offensive to some students, and directly confrontational, when discussing tangentially related topics, like Mormonism and Islam. Doesn't even seem to realize it when she does so, yet will criticize students if they make equally ignorant comments.

Mila Zlatic

Expecting an A
Anonymous
01/07/2011

I really did not like this seminar. there are MUCH easier seminars. just avoid this one. She took on a lot of responsibilities this semester, so she took out a lot of things from this seminar like the debates and papers (easy points). This meant that your grade was based only on 1 research paper (and outline), the two exams (kinda hard because you don't know what to remember from her 600 slides), and a presentation. She expects a lot from her students, yet gives us so little. Her presentations are so dry that even with a computer you still fall asleep. She grades things very harshly for no reason. Her grading is SUPER subjective..even though she says otherwise...you never know with her... Shes not helpful during office hours either. I didn't learn anything particularly new. This class was a waste of time.

Mila Zlatic

Expecting a B
Anonymous
01/05/2010

I have very mixed opinions about this class, so I'll try to be objective as possible. Most of the lectures consisted of Professor Zlatic presenting material from her powerpoint slides. A lot of times, she would get distracted and not end up finishing her discussions of them though. Most of the time in fact, she would end up telling a lot of her own personal experiences and/or sharing her opinions about certain topics. The class itself wasn't too challenging-I struggled a bit at first and started off not doing too well, but I recovered by the end of the end of the semester and pulled through with a high B (I also went from disliking the class a lot to not minding it too much in the end). The grading in this class consisted of two examinations, participation, research presentation (powerpoint), research paper, research progress report, and research outline. One criticism I have of the class is that the class itself felt very disorganized and Prof. Zlatic also sometimes seemed disorganized and vague-the syllabus wasn't always accurate and it changed throughout the semester. For example, it didn't say we were ALL going to present our powerpoints the last few weeks of class-until she made it that way. In addition, I wasn't 100% sure what chapters we had covered until the week before the final. The exams weren't too bad, and the lecture powerpoints were posted online-for a while anyway-which was helpful. Most of the material for exams comes from her slides but also from the textbook, so make sure you do READ. The biggest part of the class was the research paper, which was a semester long project on a political geography issue in your country of choice-which we later presented to the class via powerpoint. My advice would be to pick a country and a topic that interests you and is manageable so that you remain enthusiastic about it throughout the semester. Also, don't fall behind and be sure take advantage of the chance to submit drafts and meet with Dr. Zlatic. Although the class can be a bit frustrating and although Prof. Zlatic isn't really the best lecturer, she's very knowledgable and is willing to help you if you ask. If you participate/show up to class/show enthusiasm, she's more willing to help you out (plus, your participation grade-10%-will be higher). If you stay on top of this class, you should be able to do okay-just beware, there isn't a curve-so your grades on exam stand as is so make sure you get it right (as much as possible) the first time (there are a few SMALL chances for some rewrites on some of the written assignments-but don't depend on them). Finally, make sure you follow the assignment requirements. Good luck!

Mila Zlatic

Expecting a B
Anonymous
12/24/2009

Boring.LOTS OF WRITING.DO NOT BUY THE BOOKS. You will never read them. She Will put you to sleep, bring your laptop to class. Won't let you sleep, but will let you use laptop. I am not quite sure how to study for exams, as the questions asked were a bit random. Also, while she may say that she grades based on quality and not on whether or not she agrees with you, this is not true. If she does not agree with you, then you will get points docked off. If you write a bad paper and she agrees with you and you still get points docked off, that's your fault. However, if you get a really bad grade on a paper, she may allow you to re- do it. Easy grader overall.

Mila Zlatic

Expecting a B
scfrench
12/18/2009

I have her for GEOG437 and GEOG456. GEOG437 was not a bad class. It contains a semester long project on an issue within a country of your choice. It seems all of her classes are based on the same system. Unless its a special occasion, every lecture is just slides... most however gets off-topic. When she gets off topic however, she talks about her own experiences, which I found pretty interesting. This class is good for stories, but kinda hard to learn the facts you need to learn. She does learn everyone's names and faces. So it is a good idea to show up to class, especially when other classmates have a project they are displaying.

Mila Zlatic

Expecting an A
tulch
04/10/2009

This isn't an easy Honors seminar, but it was well worth all the work. I really loved the debates the class held, plus I thought every lecture was really interesting. Professor Zlatic is very knowledgeable, but she's not there to pump up your interest for the topic, so take this class only if you're actually interested in globalization and urbanization issues.

Mila Zlatic

Expecting an A
anthazar
03/31/2009

I took this class, Urbanization and Globalization wanting to learn about how modern cities grow, or urbanization, however the vast majority of the class was about globalization. I don't think anyone in my class is very excited about class. Professor Zlatic has prepared power-points that are very dry, but has very interesting stories from her own experiences. However everything you will learn from the class will be through the research you will have to do for 3 papers, Economic, Political, and Cultural globalization. There is also a team debate on each paper. There have to be easier ways to fulfill an SB req as well as easier Honors Seminars.