Andes, Laura  

Why the school hasnt kicked her loud mouth out of the teachign world is beyond me. Gives the teaching name a bad face, and doesnt deserve a place on this campus.

Laura Andes. Where to start? Laura often pretends to be chill during class, but she is actually constantly brewing ways to fuck you over. Trust me, the whole class bombed the first mid-term (25% of grade). Not until the night before the mid-term did we know how difficult the test would be. None finished the test before time was up and she even extended the time because it was so damn hard. She is really strict on attendence so you always have to be there for her confusing lectures. She was once a kindergarten teacher and she teaches the class like one. There are also essays which aren't too bad. Make sure to prepare for the inclass essay cuz she screws most kids over on it. Overall, never take this class. EVER! It's horrible. No way to earn an A unless you devote ur life to this pointless material. No way to earn a B unless you do realllyyyy well on the papers and somehow not bomb the tests. Goodluck you lucky bastards and NEVER TAKE THIS CLASS!

My God this class was hard. By FAR the hardest class I've ever had at Cal Poly. I spent more time for this class than any other, and was happy... no ESTATIC to come out with a C+. To be fair, the teacher's a cool chick, and never misses a chance to relate the class material to a sexual example (she can actually be pretty funny). But the material is hard to understand, and the tests are difficult even when you think you've got it down. Be wary of this teacher, this isn't your average philosophy class in any way.... even from someone who loves philosophy classes, this was a tough one to get through.

instead of presenting any of the information in a clear manner, she simply rambles through pages of information with no regard to any of the students understanding. Im not stupid, and this 100 level class is the hardest, most pointless class I have ever taken. Also, instead of being out to help and promote learning, she designs her test to be AS TRICKY as possible, and she includes no curve. The shame is she is a really nice, outgoing lady, but her understanding of the material is so vast, it is far too easy to become overwhelmed, especially with the fast pace. I would really say, from student to fellow student, do not, under any circumstances take this class unless it is your last viable alternative.

This class was confusing, pointless, boring, and involved way too much time. The mid term and final were ridiculously impossible and the whole class did pretty bad. She also doesn't allow you to take home any of your work or look at it while she's lecturing so you get absolutely no feedback, especially on essays. She is also very crazy and sometimes scary.

she is a nice lady, unless you have a cellphone. but then she'll fuck you over on the test. her whole goal is to get the students to fail her test, or devote their life to her GE class. really a difficult class for a GE, maybe if you were a philosophy major it would be worth it. Also, take this class like a math class it will kill you if your not on top of it. The thing I don't get about her is that she seems to want to trick the students on the test and not see them excel...weird. she needs to get laid.

Ms. Andes is an awesome teacher, and you will do well in her class if you put effort into it. The homework load is moderate and if you do all of it you will do well on her tests. Ms. Andes tests are really fair, she tells you exactly what will be on them (but you still have to study because they are demanding). Be prepared to do all the work assigned and work hard.

I don't know what everyone else is bitching about, Andes was a great teacher. I never fell asleep in her class because she was so into the course material and managed to rub some enthusiasm onto me. The essays were a bit tough, but the midterm and final were absolute cake, basically simple math-based logic problems. She kind of breezed over all the fallacies of logic, which I was really looking forward to, but everything else she covered in depth. Laura is funny and energy-instilling, and she's HOT! I'd lay her any day if it weren't illegal (what with student-teacher relationship laws and all).

This was the most frustrating class that I have ever taken at Cal Poly. I have not received a grade as low as a C+ since I can remember--not even in high school. In this class I failed the midterm because I did not finish the exam (the majority of the class could not finish as well). A few students who were exceptional finished, but not the majority of us. I studied for hours and hours before the final and managed to get an 84% on the final and save my grade in the class. Beware because the midterm is worth about 25% of your grade--so if you fail it your grade for the class is ruined. I got B's on the essays--that's the only reason I managed to get a C+ in the class after failing the midterm. Many other students got D's and C's on their essays. I took this class almost a year ago but it was SO bad that I'm putting in the effort to warn others.

DO NOT FUCKING TAKE ANY CLASS WITH THIS WHORE! The bitch needs to get laid. She is the worst instructor I've ever had. I fucking hope this crazy bitch gets laid or fired, whatever comes first. BTW, you will not pass this class unless you devote your life to it.

Horrible teacher, and is rude to students. She acts totally bothered when you email her to ask her a basic question, and is not helpful at all. She also scheduled a midterm during dead week, and only gave her students 4 days to study for the final exam. HORRIBLE. take another philosophy professor. The class could have been interesting if the material was presented in a better way, and the professor actually cared about helping her students.

She grows on you!! At first you hate the class especially after seeing everything on this site but then you read the material and follow along with her and she is hilarious!! loved it

She was very nice, very clear, and made everything straight forward. Too clear and too straight forward for philosophy though...I wish my teacher would have been a an old lady who looked like a wish and made us do profound mental exercises about Socrates or something. I wish I would have actually had to think deeply or face a challenge once in a while. Instead I showed up for lectures, took notes, didn't do much outside of class, and got an A or a B

Laura really is a pretty good professor. The ratings on here really don't do her justice. The class was really manageable as long as you showed up. I wouldn't believe what you read on here about her being really hot though either. I mean shes definitely not ugly, and wasn't a bad lady to look at for two hours, but don't take her just cause you think shes gonna be hot. As someone else said yes there is a midterm during dead week, but as long as you have above a 77 half-way through the class the final is OPTIONAL. Thats right, get a C+ or above and you can choose whether or not you take the final. All in all shes a good instructor who makes the class as interesting as possible and really tries to keep the students engaged.

Laura Andes is a very excited, loud, and sometimes crazy, but that makes the class interesting. She is very knowledgeable about the material she teaches. I do not agree with the people who think she is just into screwing you over, but I'll hand it to her, she is a HARD grader. Basically it comes down to this: If you're good at essays, take it. If you aren't good at essays, it's a tossup. Both midterms are essay exams, where you choose two of four prompts to write on. There is also a persuasive paper which is worth a lot of points. The only other points in this class come from attendance and an optional final. I did great in this class, but only because essays are my strong point. If that's not yours, you'll still survive, but it may be a bit more difficult.

She's loud (warns you the first day) and kinda crazy but LOOOVED her! Take it pass/fail and you'll like it a lot more :) She easily grows on you though and if you can adapt to her sense of humor you'll like her faster. Her overall rating is completely underrated...I've told other people to take her and they've loved her too. yay

She is loud so you can at least stay awake. I never even read the books because basically everything she said in lecture is what she wanted written on the essay exams. Also, if you are bad or even mediocre at writing essays I would NOT take this class. If you can right essays then it is a really easy class.

As a person, Andes is great. She's hilarious and very entertaining. However, as a professor, she needs some work. Her problem is that she treats her students as if we should already know all the course material even though this is the first philosophy class that most have taken. We were given only a short time to write the in-class essays, yet she graded them as if we were given 2 weeks out of class to write them. I am an English major and I pride myself on my writing skills, but she somehow found my essays to be horribly filled with grammatical errors; she marked me off on "mistakes" that were in fact correct. She was a very hard and unfair grader. AND the worst part has yet to come--she told our class that her curriculum is going to become even more difficult for upcoming quarters. If you care about your GPA, DO NOT TAKE HER.

Dr. Andes is very loud but makes the material very approachable. The only caveat is that she is an extremely hard grader. If you have a credit/no-credit option to use this is a great class to do so because you will learn ten times more than in any other class without the pressure of her essays.

To start off, she is freaking crazy. She will tell you that the f word is one of her favorite words on the first day of class. She has the most random examples in class, which mostly have to do with sex or something that has little to do with what we were discussing. Memorize your lecture notes for quizzes, she is very specific and requires all "relevant" terminology to be defined. She is very vague when it comes to the writing assignments and then expects you to write a "superior" paper, and then gets frustrated that no one did the assignment as she wanted. Try to avoid her class, its a small lecture, she takes attendance every day, and you will have a lot of writing assignments and quizzes.

This course seems more like a History class then a Philosophy class. You learn about 3 philosophers:Descartes, Hume and Sextes. You are taught on how they used deductive reasoning to come to their conclusions. The thing is, you can poke holes in anyone's philosophy; she doesn't use the same 'ruler' to test all the philosophers. My biggest problem with this class is that if you ever have thought about life and how you think, this class will seem boring and useless, which will lead to little motivation in trying to get a good grade in this class. Looking at my papers and others, she grades extremely hard (harder then all the english classes I have taken). She was also incorrect in some of the corrections she made on my papers. Above everything I have just said, the reason to not take her for this class is that she gives 2 midterms during dead week and then the final during finals week. This was a bit extreme since I had finals during those midterms (finals for 1/week lectures and labs).

This is my first polyrating ever but I think Professor Andes deserves it. Very possibly one of the best professors I've had at Poly. She is loud, funny, and very engaging. The class itself is a little tricky, as I imagine most Phil classes for non Phil majors are. She lectures each class session and there is a short answer (usually 2 question) in class quiz once a week (the following week you can make up half the points lost on the previous quiz by taking it home and writing the right answers). Andes is a brilliant lady and her enthusiasm for her teaching and the curriculum is very apparent. I went into her office hours once a week (sometimes just to talk) and they were extremely helpful. In her OH she goes over each student's individual questions one by one; very helpful in a philosophy course. Some possible downsides to Andes 230 class is that some material is presented quickly which makes it hard to take notes, but usually she is great at writing on the board the important information. She reviews the previous lecture's notes before each quiz, and also has great review sessions before the in class essays and final. I walked into the first day planning on dropping the course and walked out stoked for the next lecture. If you have the opportunity, I'd strongly recommend Laura Andes for Phil 230

Andes is one of those teachers that expects every person to spend an incredible amount of time on her class. I think she is very friendly, hilarious and very lively in class but I worked way to hard in this class to just get a C plus. Her final is pretty tough too, 20 quotes from 3 separate books. You have to identify the book AND the chapter number that the quotes are from. I did all the readings and still missed a lot on this portion which is half the final(1/6 of your grade overall). If you're looking for an easy GE DONT take andes. Many of my friends had much easier teachers.

Way too much work for a GE. I am taking this class credit/ no credit because i have a heavy class schedule this quarter... Yet i am still struggling to pass. The weekly quizzes consist of extremely detailed questions that although i study for, cannot seem to do well on. She is very exact and harsh with her grading. Do not take if you are expecting an easy work load. She is also extremely rude in addressing students at times.

Terrible teacher. Avoid taking her at all costs. I thought it wouldn't be that bad, but after 2 weeks I realized I had made a huge mistake. She is not clear on what is going to be on the weekly quizzes, is an extremely harsh grader, and is an overall rude person. One example of her being extremely rude is when she impersonated mentally challenged people during one of her lectures. I cant remember the exact context, but it was uncalled for and left me in shock that a teacher would act this way. I am amazed that she is still a teacher at Poly. She is the worst professor I have ever taken. The one positive review a few down from here is clearly written by her. She is a joke.

Wow. I read the review that said dont take this class. But I was that dipshit that said, "hey maybe they are wrong and Laura is a nice lady thats just misunderstood" DO NOT TAKE THIS CLASS! Im suprised they havnt fired her yet. Shes soooooo awful. She grades as if we are philosophy veterans, this is our first time in philosophy give us a fucking break. FUCK HER, dont take it. Period. Laura if youre ever reading this.... FUCK YOU. Grade easier you cunt

AVOID THIS CLASS AT ALL COSTS. But if you have to take it, use CR/NC! Andes grades EXTREMELY hard. She kept telling the class how disappointed she was at our quiz grades, essay scores, etc etc because they were so low. Well.....WHOSE FAULT IS THAT. She expects you to become an amazing philosopher over a course of a quarter and grades like that too. Prepare to study HARD for this class. She really knows her stuff. But she is the most horrible teacher I have had at Cal Poly. In my opinion, she needs to stop piling on so much work and cater the class towards students expectations/needs and most importantly, UNDERSTAND THAT THIS IS A GE FOR MOST STUDENTS AND WE DO NOT WANNA GROW UP TO BE PHILOSOPHERS THANK YOU.

This lady is a complete joke. She is rude, unprofessional, full of herself, and bad at teaching. She even mentions how she reads these reviews and that she is a "cunt". Well, if you know that everyone hates your teaching style don't you think you should change it? I'm strongly considering asking Administration how this lady is still a teacher at Cal Poly, its obvious that she is a horrible teacher.

Honestly, reading all of these reviews about Andes makes me wonder about how smart some of the people at this school are. There is clearly an intelligence gap haha... All of you whiny people need to suck it up, learn how to do school properly, and not call women bitches just because you don't like it that you actually have to participate (OMG) and learn things (wtf?! learning things... in a CLASS?!?) to do well in a GE. She's an incredible teacher, and if you pay attention her class is not hard whatsoever, you do have to keep up with the reading but by the time you're a freshman in college you should be able to easily read books without complaint. The essays are really easy if you take good notes, and same with the quizzes (although I do wish that she was more clear about what to study for with each quiz).

I'm sorry, MY WRITING IS INELOQUENT? When she's the one going on and on about the size of your ass and other completely inappropriate examples? She's not a bad teacher exactly, she's just completely lacking a filter. Which isn't too bad, until she decides to unleash that unfiltered plethora of obnoxiously loud words on you. Basically I'm writing this instead of editing the ridiculously harshly graded first essay that we had to write. I take pride in my writing, I always have. But when Andes decides to go about crossing off my words and replacing them with mere SYNONYMS, I may get a little feisty. So overall, I will not say anything about Laura Andes' character, but that her teaching style makes me want to throw my laptop into a wall so I don't have to do any more work for this class.

She harshly grades midterm essays, worried more about grammar than the material. She takes off points for "vagueness" even if you use all of the information she and the book provides. She clearly holds an bias for Philosophy majors. She is a nice woman, entertaining, though her voice can be a bit shrill at times like nails running down a chalkboard... but she just has way too high of expectations and grades so harshly. She basically tells you that this class must be put on a pedestal in your life to receive an A. WE CANNOT DEVOTE OUR LIVES TO YOUR CLASS, LAURA! YOU TEACH A GE ELECTIVE! We have other difficult classes, our major classes, work, etc. The fact that she expects you to memorize the titles of every single chapter of the three books we read, know summaries of those chapters, and still write 1500 essay in class for the final is complete BS as well. This woman clearly has a high superiority complex to the extent where she believes her course must take priority above all else.

What the other two reviews from May 21st and June 5 2014 have said seem pretty accurate and I would concur with them. Her teaching is not bad, but not clearly organized either. I can never really tell what to study, which is something she should work on. It is a class where she expects you to study everything and then tests you on a small portion of those topics, which gets you to learn more of the material, but your grade has no reflection on your understanding of the topic. ADVICE- Team up with people in the class to study with and quiz each other on information. -Reorganize your notes so that they are clear. Her outline is just a bunch of questions, answer them in an organized fashion. -Take the class CR/NC. -Participate in class (she does have bias for students which is why she has you hide your name on the back of the Midterm Paper)

Laura is...an interesting person. She's extremely outgoing when it comes to her lectures, but not always the clearest when it comes to the material she's presenting. If you don't understand something, but you ask immediately, she'll clear it up for you no problem. However, if you wait a day or two, she's not as forgiving when asked questions. She uses unique examples that are often easy to remember and relate to the topics, but she also tends to go at breakneck speeds. Honestly, I would suggest taking the class CR/NC, as it makes it much more enjoyable and less stressful overall. Also, USE THE COURSE OUTLINE SHE GIVES YOU FOR YOUR NOTES. A lot of people didn't do this and had quite some issues organizing the information presented. I used the outline and was mostly able to keep up and follow along, which really helped organize the thoughts she spouted and separate all the different point.

Unbelievably bad at teaching and even worse then that she lacks any type of respect for others. A prime example is that during one of her lectures she decided to ridicule and disrespect mentally challenged people. She decided to ask the class, "We're not mentally retarded are we?" and then made a "duhh" sound and skewed her face. My jaw dropped when this happened. I couldn't believe it. Either she has no filter and doesn't think before she speaks, or she is just a very very rude person. I believe both is true.

The ratings for Ms. Andes should be wayyyy higher than what they are. She's a great professor and is passionate about her material (which is conveyed plainly in the most direct way possible). She's NOT boring and tells the off color joke so if you're easily offended, don't take this class. She's like a feminist but NOT a SJW... so take that as you will. Most importantly, she's also incredibly precise in grading so unless you're going to come to EVERY class (which is pretty much expected if you want to get a decent grade), and have passable on-the-fly essay writing skills, then you likely won't do well (these should be a given at this point, kids). She destroyed my first midterm with the word "vague" all over, so use a lot of phrase-mirroring from her lectures but also know how to expand on it. She's very loud and cold calls students so don't expect to sit in the back and not be engaged. Laura locks on to any and all. Avoiding a question is blood in the water. The people calling her a cunt or whatever are way out of line. Clearly they're idiots who went in wanting all GE teachers to s their d. She's not a bitch or a "bad" teacher by ANY stretch of the imagination. The course material sucks, but anyone who's blasting her character is off-base, so don't worry if you have to take her. Okay--so it still doesn't sound like a great class or professor. She's not for everyone. She was kind of a rude awakening for my babied little GE grades. If you're used to pulling your dick in class and then catching up on your own, DON'T take this class! On the real--you will fail. If you take good notes, then reading the assigned books and studying beyond notes will be minimal, and therefore have a small workload beyond class. There are 3 midterms requiring multiple short-essays, a paper which is like 8-pages (and slightly difficult tbh) and the final. No busy work. In summary: If you don't study or try (not hatin), you won't do well. This is a challenging GE. Abandon all hope, ye who want an easy A. For those go to class and take diligent notes and then actually study for the midterms, then she's a very attentive and entertaining professor. Laura keeps it real and made a shitty/confusing GE/material fairly easy to swallow. I learned a lot (and isn't that the goal~*~*~) which is more than I can say for most GEs I've taken. Would I take it again? Fuck no--Descartes is retarded. But Laura is a professor I would have again, no question.

She completely lacks a filter, writes vague on every sentence of your paper, and replaces your own words with her synonyms. Avoid like the plague.

Laura Andes is actually a really great professor. She has really high expectations for students' writing abilities, so everyone thinks she's too harsh. If you seriously apply yourself and work to write well and at a high level then you'll be fine in this class. She keeps lectures interesting and is very open to helping students if they ask for it.

Horrible person to be around. Mean, cruel, rude... I think you get the point. Possibly the worst teacher at Cal Poly.

Reality and Knowledge has been one of the most interesting classes I've taken at Poly, mostly because Ms.Andes presented the material in an interesting way. She is crazy, loud, and really fun. While she does grade harshly, the feedback she gives is helpful. If you read the material, go to class, and make flashcards, the writing exams should be relatively easy to pass. Also, fuck all the haters.

Andes is absolutely one of the greatest professors that I have had! She talks loudly which keeps you awake and alert in class, and encourages students to participate in every lecture. She makes the class fun, and presents the material in a very clear way. I would highly suggest her!!

Too all the people that say she's such a great person because she cares about what she lectures about, I saw whooptie fucking doo. Yeah, she cares about it, because its the only thing she has in this life as a result of her close minded, bullshit attitude and arrogance. I wouldn't doubt that she believes she is this "omnipotent god" that continually appears in discussion of this class. She serves no purpose in this world. I have friends taking this philosophy GE online, which is clearly a better option because they aren't going to fail a GE class. A computer can do a better job at grading than her. Not only is her grading harsh, it is unreasonable and makes absolutely no sense. She grades severely for organization, grammar, and apparently she grades down when you don't use the same synonymous word she was thinking of. COOL MRS. ANDES, I really wanted to know what you would have wrote. Im not sure if she has a PHD, but if she does, she needs to be stripped of it because this lady is a definitive psychopath. She is the only teacher to ever make me write a review on. THAT is how bad she is. Do not take her. Do not like her. Do not accept her as a decent human being. She openly and happily tells us that she stole her parents car as a fifteen year old and crashed it into a forest going 65 miles and hour in an ice storm. Nice, I'm really glad these sort of people are who I have to learn from and look up to here at Cal Poly. I am ashamed to say I have her as a teacher, and I'm ashamed that Cal Poly believes this lady has any intelligence what so ever. Get a new pair of Uggs you dumb bitch.

She cried today. What a weirdo hahahah get a grip of your life. This lady is honestly so weird and the only reason she acts all fun and crazy is because she can't teach worth a damn. She should go back to teaching kindergarten. She reminds me of one of those psychotic cat ladies you see on TV with dead cats under her couch and no life except her 100 cats.

I was asked today who was the worst professor I had at Cal Poly so I decided to come back onto Poly Ratings to write this review. Laura Andes by far was the worst teacher I've had in my life. You will regret ever meeting this person. She is one of those people that you just shake your head at and ignore most of the time because it is not worth wasting your voice talking to this imbecile. I almost feel sorry for her. Almost. She was constantly rude and racist in discussions, would put students down for asking questions, and lacked any structure in her grading techniques. I didn't learn a single thing from her class. It was basically hell. I hope she gets fired very soon. Laura Andes has the potential to destroy the strong reputation that Cal Poly has. I know she reads these reviews........ So, I have a message for you Laura Andes. Quit your job! You are extremely incompetent and should not be employed! Find a new profession! You are embarrassing yourself, your family, your last name, and your heritage by trying to teach. Do you think students just come on this website to write negative reviews? I strongly suggest you take a look at other professor's pages and you will see that there are many positive reviews. The day you leave Cal Poly thousands of students will rejoice because the school will have gotten that much better. Please leave soon.

There will be room in Andes' class. If you crash she will let you in. Please, for your own sake, don't take the class. If you really feel like you need to, take in CR/NC. She is incredibly difficult to please and she grades harshly. She expects students to memorize chapter titles and other pointless information to be regurgitated on exams.

Hard, but very interesting professors and class. Not for the faint of heart. Go to lecture, do the reading and you'll do fine.

Super neat lady. Incredibly interesting to listen to. But grading..... oh no. Impossible to fulfill this woman's requirements. IF you take her class, take it C/NC.

WARNING!! Avoid her class at all cost

Not going to lie, the class was somewhat difficult. The first midterm was hard, but only because it wasn't what I was expecting so I didn't study hard enough. After that, the second midterm and the final were much easier after I understood her testing format. You basically need to memorize all of the information she gives you, like word-for-word. It sounds tough, but it's honestly not that bad if you study enough. The reading can be dense, but you don't really need to read anything until the final comes around, for which there is a passage identification part. Make absolutely sure you attend every lecture, because all the information you need comes from those lectures. There are no PowerPoint slides or notes she uploads anywhere, so everything you learn is based on what she gives you. Overall, though, she was a genuinely nice teacher who tried her best to make the class interesting and keep students awake. Her teaching method is also very organized and makes the class easier to understand. Just don't underestimate the first midterm, memorize as much as you can, and it'll be easier. Go to her office hours and ask questions. I know it sounds tough now, but she's really not that bad and I also didn't take the class credit/no credit.

More infatuated with her own perceived knowledge rather than teaching students. Extremely rude when a student makes a wrong guess at an answer, and does not give the time of day to go over a confusing subject when it was not understood the first time. Only positive is her loud voice keeps you awake.

WARNING. WARNING. Mrs. Andes was probably the worst teacher I've ever had in my entire academic career. She warns you starting out the class that she will be loud and rude, but I did not know the extent of what she meant. I myself do not take offense to things often, but she offended me in the first three weeks of class. She would make strange comments, like when she talked about how "everyone has an uncle that touches them inappropriately," laughing it off, and calling it "drama". Her test styles are erratic, and her lectures match it. There is literally no organization at all with this woman, so beware when you take this class that you will not be able to follow the psychotic ramblings that she calls teaching. She gives 50 minutes for 3 to 4 essays where she expects each one to be three pages or longer for the midterm. This class is a GPA killer, for GE class she expects you to take way too much time at home and practically ruins philosophy for anyone who will ever take it. I should've read the reviews before taking this class.

This teacher is an absolute bitch. Will make a point to choose the most timid and shy kids in class and literally smiles as she drills them and makes them exceedingly embarrassed during class. A complete immoral and messed a person, even without regard to her incomprehensible and detestable "style" of teaching. Cal Poly truly puts itself upon a pedestal of shame for keeping such an immoral, unthoughtful, repugnant individual on their payroll.

I absolutely loved Laura Andes! She has got to be one of the best professors I have ever had. Every Tuesday and Thursday I looked forward to her class after my 8 consecutive hours of lab. She knows how to keep you engaged in the material, and make you laugh at the same time. Although Laura is a great professor, her class is inherently challenging. But, no one ever said college was easy. Especially when learning about the sources of knowledge. So, your final grade is not free. Laura does not assign homework except some reading, and a quarterly project. Her tests are only difficult if you didn't attend lecture, and gave no effort to learning and contemplating the material. The exams are daunting at first, but eventually you realize that 65 minutes is more than enough time. She only cares that you can prove you understand the material and can express it accurately in a essay. She doesn't care if you are a good writer. Personally I suck at timed writing, but I did well on all the exams. This is a class that requires you to seriously contemplate the material. And, most of the difficulty, in my opinion, comes from whether or not you are willing to digest and think critically about different ways of viewing reality and knowledge. Laura can't teach you your own views. However, she can help you along. Overall, she grades fairly, lectures engagingly, and makes herself available in office hours (EVERYDAY). If you are unwilling to attend lecture, take advantage of her help, or put effort into the class material, then take a different GE and go waste someone else's time. Laura Andes is great and I am grateful to have taken her course.

Andes is literally so loud and crazy and says the wildest shit but its pretty entertaining and keeps you interested. I loved the lectures and they were pretty intriguing but given the subject it can be hard to follow. I took this class credit/no credit and i'd recommend it especially because if you do okay throughout the year the final is literally so easy. I had a b going into the final, answered the passage ID and one written question, left and hour and a half early and got credit. For sure take this class

She sucks and will tease you if you dont follow exact instruction. the worst teacher ive had at Cal poly and one of those ones who holds points over your head for stupid reason even if you complete assignments in a reasonable time

So this class was very different than what I was expecting from a philosophy class. I felt that it was more straight forward and memorization based than I expected. If you are an organised person I would definitely recommend taking Ms. Andes class. Ms. Andes has ridiculously clear expectations and she gives a thorough course outline of every lecture for the whole quarter. If you make good use of office hours and show that you are being thoughtful in writing your mock exams (worth 40% of your grade) Ms. Andes will give you more than enough help. There are no surprises in this class and if you take the time to deeply consider the material, which is not necessarily necessary to do well grade wise (in my opinion), you will probably have some fun and become a more interesting person. There were several weeks where I did not do any work outside of going to lecture and taking good notes; I did well by studying a lot for the exams. Don’t panic about the passage ID; Ms. Andes picks sections that are representative of the main concepts of the chapter they are from.

Laura Andes is enthusiastic, engaging, and gives you everything you need to succeed in this class. After getting feedback about the midterm being too difficult, she has made it easier and dialed back the scope of each test. I feel like this has to be the reason for her rating. She's a terrific teacher who personally engages every student. This class is not an easy A, but it is interesting as hell, and Laura is a fantastic person to teach the material. If you come to class and make an attempt to engage, she will respect you and you will enjoy this class. Honestly not that hard of a class either. Not the easiest, but really fairly chill overall.

I would suggest taking her class credit/no credit. I've gotten A's in all my english classes here and she repeatedly gave me C-'s on my essays and was very critical. She was an interesting lecturer but the class was too hard for a GE. Hardest GE i've taken so far. Find a philosophy professor who has multiple choice exams and not passage ID and essays like her class.

this bitch is brazy avoid

absolute wackjob

super hard midterms and mock exams. if you're not super into philosophy it will be very very dry. only interesting when she starts yelling about how everyone hates their ex for blowing their best friend in the driveway.... like what

I've gotten A's in every GE but this class has destroyed me. I consider myself a good writer and now I have lost confidence in my abilities. Avoid her unless you want to take a difficult class where you won't even learn anything useful.

PLEASE CURVE THE CLASS

hard ass class

I'm a philosophy major and this was ridiculously difficult.

I really hope people from whatever department over see's her actually looks at these Poly ratings. Yes, she's very enthusiastic in class and that's the sole positive thing I have to say about her. The amount of time someone would have to put in to her GENERAL ED class to get a good grade is absurd, let a lone a student with other college level courses to worry about. I have had to give her class higher priority than my major courses just because of the insane amount of time and work she demands. Her lectures are borderline nonsensical and don't help you with the tests at all. The degree of severity to which she grades her papers is absolutely unfair for students who might be taking a philosophy course for the first time. Worst of all she's biased in her grading. You can see a noticeable favoritism towards students that are more interactive with her during her lectures which hurts students like me who are frantically flipping through our notes just trying to figure out what she's talking about. I could not give her a lower recommendation or have had more disdain for a teacher/teaching style in my life. If you're reading this DO NOT sign up for her class maybe if her classes don't fill Cal Poly will get her out of here.

Whatever you do, do not take this class. I've never had a teacher as bad as Laura. I don't even have the respect to call her a professor. She's a loud mouth who grades tests like I'm trying to get my Phd. Why was this class one of the hardest classes I've taken at Cal Poly? Because she thinks this class is important to us. Fuck Andes. Just fuck Andes. Avoid this bitch at all costs. She is so arrogant and disrespectful to her students. Please, please don't take her. I'm begging you. Seeing you in the amount of pain I was in taking this class would hurt my soul. Go to your google and type in online philosophy classes. Please. You won't regret it. Hey Laura, I hope you read this: fuck off.

I'm giving here another bad review, someone please notice how she has way more bad reviews than almost anyone on the site.

One of the best teachers I've ever had. At being completely ass. Horrible teacher.

Atrocious.

Love Ms. Andes! Breath of fresh air from my other classes, really enjoyed learning in this class - and no it wasn't even my top priority. Just respect the class like you would respect any other class and you will do fine. The problem is people want to take "an easy A" GE and not have to work for an A. We are in college everyone, take education seriously, why are you here if not to learn? If you've read the course description, and are curious - please take with Ms. Andes! I had a friend in the same PHIL 230 with another prof, and she was bored out of her mind for the 2 hours.I looked forward to lecture, I would have taken more courses with her if it wasn't my last quarter. Just be cool - she really does like everyone, gives people the benefit of the doubt, 2nd and 3rd chances, constantly gave out extra credit... so on. She is an all in teacher - we need more profs like her at Cal Poly, you can tell she gives 110%. When she graded my work, she went so in depth on how to improve my writing - a teacher who thoughtfully grades EVERYONES work on time, amazing, she is the coolest. I felt more way more prepared and had more confidence going into the final.

She had no consideration for student-professor privacy and often humiliated students in class. Her exams are unreasonable, made up of fill-in-the-blank based on the readings and several essay questions. Avoid this professor if you can.

Disclaimer: Have not taken the course, but unsuccessfully crashed. Immediately dropped. I emailed Professor Andes about the course, and my intent to take the course despite being waitlisted. I figured that I would be able to access the Zoom link or Canvas materials to participate in the course, but I couldn't access any of it. I email her my current situation, and she gave me a reply along the lines of you haven't opened Canvas and have been absent. Please drop so others can take the course. Pray tell me how I'm supposed to attend a course I can't access? She's clearly taking advantage of the reality that only two courses at Cal Poly fulfill C2. The course is online, so I wanted to believe that the polyratings here were exaggerated, but it seems you can't fix being unprofessional. Only professional bit about her is that despite sending the same email to six students, she had the courtesy of not disclosing who was on the waitlist. She may be the best at teaching the subject (which I can't speak for), but sadly, the negative reviews of her personality are the truth.

First things first, she is loud!!! she is not afraid to yell at the top of her lungs in class. her lecture style can be a bit scattered but she reviews in the first 15-30 min of class, that is probably the most crucial parts of class. the essays arent too hard if you study, but she is a super harsh grader on them. the grading system is what saves you in the class! there are 6 areas to receive a grade and she only takes the best 5! I think I also did so well in the class because I met with a private tutor once a week. But study hard and you can do well. Any Phil class sucks so maybe take the class as CR/NCR.

Although Laura Andes was a decent professor and had a good personality, she was completely insensitive to student issues. Her midterms and finals were ridiculously hard (asking the student to complete a 1500 word essay in 60 minutes). Laura thought she was all knowing in her area and thus very rarely allowed the student to have an opinion. She acted as if her class was the only class you were taking and takes pride in the fact that her average grade is a C-. The class was interesting but I would definitely take it credit/no credit to take the stress away from doing well on the impossible exams.

Fucking awful. Her voice is like a chainsaw to my ear canal. She tries to downplay the fact that she is a huge bitch by admitting she is a huge bitch, but the reality is, she is a fucking cunt who will go out of her way to fuck over her students

I should have listened to the polyratings. Even though I am taking this class CR/NC, I am actually still worried about receiving credit... which is ridiculous. I don't even know where to begin with her.... She expects you to memorize her lecture notes word for word, and if you try to say something in your own words on her quizzes, she takes off like 10 points. She reviews during the first 20 minutes or so during class but it's scary as hell because she just completely nails you if you don't say the right example that she wants. Um.. TAKES ATTENDANCE FOR NO FUCKING REASON. Really.. I thought it would count for part of our grade, but no.. On the syllabus it explicitly says she won't count participation.. the why the HELL do you take attendance?! Sorry if Phi 231 is a GE and no one gives a flying fuck about philosophy.. I was hoping to become enlightened after taking this class, but no, I'm stuck here trying to memorize chapter titles of a stupid book. Thanks for no teaching me jack shit and making me cram for a CR/NC class when I have way more important things to do.

All you have to do to succeed in this class is show up, take good notes and study for the midterms and final. You don't really have to do the readings or anything else as long as you pay attention in class. She gives you all the information you need to know before the tests so you basically just have to memorize, which is not that hard. People need to understand that Philosophy isn't for everyone, some people are interested in it, some aren't. Andes is a great professor, the people complaining on here most likely just don't find philosophy interesting. I took this as a GE and enjoyed it, god forbid I had to put in some effort.

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