Clay Clemens - College of William and Mary

Professor: Clay Clemens
Department: Government
College: College of William and Mary
Rating # 1
Overview:
  • Course: GOVT204
  • Grade Received: A
  • Overall Rating: 5.0
  • Course Difficulty: 4.0
  • For Credit: Yes
  • Textbook Used: Yes
  • Would Take Again: Yes
  • Attendance: Mandatory
Comment:
Like any college course, you have to really work for a good grade, and Professor Clemens' class is no exception. He's a rigorous grader, his tests are really tricky, but taking his class just makes you a much better writer and student by the end. I would highly recommend taking a class taught by him, but just be prepared to work your tail off.
Rating # 2
Overview:
  • Course: GOVT100
  • Grade Received: B
  • Overall Rating: 2.0
  • Course Difficulty: 4.0
  • For Credit: Yes
  • Textbook Used: No
  • Would Take Again: No
  • Attendance: Mandatory
Comment:
Prof. Clemens is a harsh grader, & has his own (confusing & unpopular) grading scale. Lectures are incredibly dry, & more like droning/rambling discussions than anything else. Quizzes are very hard, & often don't pertain to the reading. Very nitpicky when it comes to writing. Inept on Zoom. Avoid COLL100 with Clemens - maybe another GOVT class.
Rating # 3
Overview:
  • Course: GOVT100
  • Grade Received: A
  • Overall Rating: 4.0
  • Course Difficulty: 4.0
  • For Credit: Yes
  • Textbook Used: No
  • Would Take Again: Yes
  • Attendance: Mandatory
Comment:
I took Revolution with him and this class was definitely a lot of work: we had quizzes before almost every class, multiple papers, group projects, presentations, and more. He is also a tough paper grader- be as concise as possible and pay attention to grammar. However, he curves and it isn't that bad. Discussion classes, but overall comprehensive.
Rating # 4
Overview:
  • Course: GOV311
  • Grade Received: Not sure yet
  • Overall Rating: 2.0
  • Course Difficulty: 5.0
  • For Credit: Yes
  • Textbook Used: Yes
  • Would Take Again: No
  • Attendance: Mandatory
Comment:
Clemens is super hard, not really in a good way either. It is like he goes out of his way to make his class extremely difficult. His tests are impossible and you are given no time plus he grades your papers expecting you to be the best writer in the country. Avoid him if you can.
Rating # 5
Overview:
  • Course: GOVT311
  • Grade Received: N/A
  • Overall Rating: 1.0
  • Course Difficulty: 5.0
  • For Credit: Yes
  • Textbook Used: Yes
  • Would Take Again: No
  • Attendance: Mandatory
Comment:
Incredibly boring, has little to no knowledge of Zoom, assigns more content than appropriate for a student with even one other class, tests are overly long for the short time period he gives and all multiple choice questions have at least 6 choices. He personally is rather off-putting. If you can avoid him, do.
Rating # 6
Overview:
  • Course: GOV203
  • Grade Received: Audit/No Grade
  • Overall Rating: 2.0
  • Course Difficulty: 5.0
  • For Credit: Yes
  • Textbook Used: Yes
  • Would Take Again: No
  • Attendance: Mandatory
Comment:
While this platform may have not been ideal for a class like this, taking comparative politics online must have been the hardest thing I endured in my academic career. It focuses less on understanding material and more on how it affects current events. You know those "which are true i, ii, iii, iv?" questions, his exams consisted of ONLY that.
Rating # 7
Overview:
  • Course: GOV150
  • Grade Received: B+
  • Overall Rating: 2.0
  • Course Difficulty: 5.0
  • For Credit: Yes
  • Textbook Used: Yes
  • Would Take Again: No
  • Attendance: Mandatory
Comment:
this man is so ridiculously harsh when it comes to papers it's unreal. i've literally never seen him give an A out. you could iron out as many mistakes in an essay and put your heart and soul into it and he'll give you an A- at best. he's utterly obsessed with "conciseness" but poorly defines what that means and often prefers dumbed down sentences.
Rating # 8
Overview:
  • Course: GOVT203
  • Grade Received: A
  • Overall Rating: 4.0
  • Course Difficulty: 3.0
  • For Credit: Yes
  • Textbook Used: Yes
  • Would Take Again: Yes
  • Attendance: N/A
Comment:
Clemens is certainly a difficult prof.- there's no mistaking that. His reading quizzes and exams can be tricky, and he's a tough paper grader (LOVES concision). BUT he's very knowledgable, accessible, & a great professor. He has an adjusted grading scale because HE KNOWS his classes are hard. Put in some work and you'll do fine- and learn a lot.
Rating # 9
Overview:
  • Course: GOVT311
  • Grade Received: A-
  • Overall Rating: 4.0
  • Course Difficulty: 4.0
  • For Credit: Yes
  • Textbook Used: Yes
  • Would Take Again: Yes
  • Attendance: Mandatory
Comment:
Clemens is a tough grader, thats not really up for debate. Dont attempt to fluff up your papers with him because he will find it and mark it down. (Just for context, he was the only professor who gave me less than a B+ on a paper in all of 2019-20.) I thought class was good and he knows his stuff.
Rating # 10
Overview:
  • Course: GOV203
  • Grade Received: N/A
  • Overall Rating: 2.0
  • Course Difficulty: 5.0
  • For Credit: Yes
  • Textbook Used: Yes
  • Would Take Again: Yes
  • Attendance: Not Mandatory
Comment:
a good professor I am sure, but GOVT 203 is not it. This class will require the most effort out of any of your other classes and for little reward. Weekly reading quizzes are impossible, and professor combs through any written work hardcore. He is an interesting fellow though, and very approachable/willing to help, so I'd recommend another class.
Rating # 11
Overview:
  • Course: GOVT203
  • Grade Received: B
  • Overall Rating: 3.0
  • Course Difficulty: 5.0
  • For Credit: Yes
  • Textbook Used: Yes
  • Would Take Again: No
  • Attendance: Not Mandatory
Comment:
I took Prof Clemens' Intro Comparative Politics and it was BY FAR my most difficult class. His lectures were very interesting despite being online at 9am and he is very knowledgeable. He gave "reading quizzes" twice a week which were IMPOSSIBLE. I did not do well on a single quiz even though they were open-note and I consistently emailed for help.
Rating # 12
Overview:
  • Course: GOVT203
  • Grade Received: A
  • Overall Rating: 3.0
  • Course Difficulty: 4.0
  • For Credit: Yes
  • Textbook Used: Yes
  • Would Take Again: No
  • Attendance: Mandatory
Comment:
Clemens is an amazing person who cares so much about his students and the course material. He is knowledgeable and can answer any question you throw at him. His lectures are strictly lectures; he essentially just repeats what you read in the textbook. But he does add onto it and reinforces the material well. Hard grader, though. Will learn a lot.
Rating # 13
Overview:
  • Course: GOVT100
  • Grade Received: A
  • Overall Rating: 5.0
  • Course Difficulty: 4.0
  • For Credit: Yes
  • Textbook Used: Yes
  • Would Take Again: Yes
  • Attendance: Mandatory
Comment:
I took professor Clemens for both semesters of my Freshman year and he was easily the hardest class I took. Despite the crazy reading and grading so harsh he requires his own scale, the classes are incredibly interesting and I always felt that I had learned something after. As long as you do the reading and proofread your essays, you will do well.
Rating # 14
Overview:
  • Course: GOV150
  • Grade Received: B
  • Overall Rating: 2.0
  • Course Difficulty: 5.0
  • For Credit: Yes
  • Textbook Used: Yes
  • Would Take Again: No
  • Attendance: Mandatory
Comment:
While I enjoyed his knowledge and ability to share his love for Canadian politics, his expectations were too high for a first semester freshman class. In all honesty, this class really stressed me out and had me up until 1 am working on assignments. I definitely learned a lot, but essays were graded too hard & so much reading.
Rating # 15
Overview:
  • Course: GOV100
  • Grade Received: B-
  • Overall Rating: 3.0
  • Course Difficulty: 4.0
  • For Credit: Yes
  • Textbook Used: Yes
  • Would Take Again: No
  • Attendance: Mandatory
Comment:
The lectures are interesting but they're reading summaries; the only reason to listen to the lectures is because he highlights the details that you'll need to know for two of the six projects he assigns. He's a super tough grader and a lot of his quiz questions don't make sense, but he's willing to help in office hours. He cares but he's too harsh.
Rating # 16
Overview:
  • Course: GOV100
  • Grade Received: A
  • Overall Rating: 5.0
  • Course Difficulty: 4.0
  • For Credit: Yes
  • Textbook Used: Yes
  • Would Take Again: Yes
  • Attendance: Mandatory
Comment:
I couldn't care less about history, but I really enjoyed the COLL 100 Revolution with Professor Clemens. He is engaging and passionate about the material. You have to apply yourself to do well in the class, but he makes doing so very rewarding. Highly recommend
Rating # 17
Overview:
  • Course: GOVT100
  • Grade Received: Not sure yet
  • Overall Rating: 1.0
  • Course Difficulty: 4.0
  • For Credit: Yes
  • Textbook Used: Yes
  • Would Take Again: No
  • Attendance: Mandatory
Comment:
weekly quizzes with poorly written questions and expects detailed short answers but only allows you one sentence to answer. does not respond to emails and when he does, he is very rude and short with you. boring lectures that are just summaries of readings so there is no need to show up to class but he requires it in participation grade.
Rating # 18
Overview:
  • Course: GOV311
  • Grade Received: N/A
  • Overall Rating: 3.0
  • Course Difficulty: 4.0
  • For Credit: Yes
  • Textbook Used: Yes
  • Would Take Again: No
  • Attendance: Mandatory
Comment:
Do NOT take this class, I did and I regret it. Weekly quizzes are ridiculously difficult. Lots of material to learn. Took it in my last semester at W&M and threw graduating with honors down the drain.
Rating # 19
Overview:
  • Course: GOV203
  • Grade Received: A
  • Overall Rating: 4.0
  • Course Difficulty: 3.0
  • For Credit: Yes
  • Textbook Used: Yes
  • Would Take Again: Yes
  • Attendance: Mandatory
Comment:
Professor Clemens definitely expects a lot out of you but is very fair. His lectures are very clear and engaging, but participation definitely matters. He is also pretty accessible outside of class and is very helpful if you go in to see him (plus, his dogs are in his office!). Get ready for tough reading quizzes for HW, but they are curved fairly.
Rating # 20
Overview:
  • Course: GOVT203
  • Grade Received: B
  • Overall Rating: 3.0
  • Course Difficulty: 5.0
  • For Credit: Yes
  • Textbook Used: Yes
  • Would Take Again: No
  • Attendance: Mandatory
Comment:
Professor Clemens is an extremely intelligent and well-respected man. He could answer any question and always was willing to help with any questions or problems one may have. This class however was extremely difficult, had lots of homework, and was very lecture heavy.
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