Theobald, Nick  

I am honestly surprised this guy is a professor at Cal Poly. Very unorganized and unprepared. Every lecture is just a random open discussion about material that isn't even in the book. He's also a big democrat, which explains a lot..

I usually am lenient about judging teachers and professors. Usually they get bad ratings when they're not so bad in my opinion--BUT THIS GUY IS ABSOLUTELY HORRIBLE. His lectures, if you even want to call them that, are very irratic and unorganized. He always starts one thing and never ends it but instead starts a whole other tangent. I always leave the lecture more confused than had I never even showed up. His lecture notes are as VAGUE as can be and in order to try and get a passing grade you have to read the 2 books which os more than 500 pages, so good luck on that. Not to mention, he has a bit of a speech problem in which his words become slurred so it'seven HARDER to get what he's saying. I cannot even describe how horrible his lectures are. It's just an open discussion on something nobody knows what he's talking about--hence why there's only 1 or 2 people who give feedback in class. Please, for the love of GOD, DO NOT TAKE THIS MAN IF YOU WANT TO UNDERSTAND POLITICAL SCIENCE OR IF YOU WANT TO GET A GOOD GRADE. Ive NEVER considered myself having a bad teacher/professor until THIS GUY!

He is a terrible teacher, not that bad of a guy. Online quizzes and 1 midterm and 1 final that make zero sense and aren't based on anything in the book or anything he says in class. His final and midterm review sheets are bullshit, they don't help at all so don't bother doing them.

Professor Theobald is a nice guy however he is extremely disorganized and it almost seems somedays that he bullshits his lectures and goes off on unrelated tangents. His tests shouldn't be hard but the wording of his questions and answers are very confusing. I read the required books and went to nearly every lecture and still got a C... Take someone else if you have any interest in Politics and American government because I thought I did but he bored the hell out of me most days... haha he loves southpark though we watched an episode in class... whatever

honestly, stay away from this professor at all costs. his lectures make no sense, as he tends to mutter to himself about god knows what. his lectures never correlate with what's actually on the the midterm and final. this guy is absolutely horrible! i learned absolutely nothing and i'm a good student and this is the first time i've ever gotten a grade below a C my whole life. AVOID AT ALL COSTS!

I'm a Political Science major and honestly, Nick is a horrible teacher. Absolutely horrible. All my other Cal Poly professors, POLS or not, were SO much better than him. He would ramble about South Park, his time at Texas A&M, and worst of all, himself. I love Politics and the subject material is like second nature to me which is the only reason why I got an A in the class. He is incredibly unorganized and ranted about his personal political views. He is unprofessional and needs to understand how to be an apropriate teacher. On the first day of class he proudly mentioned that Poly Ratings said he was "chill." FUCK THAT. Also, if anyone asked a question or voiced their own opinion, he would quickly shoot them down, acting like he was 100% right, 100% of the time. The material in the class is not hard for a one hundred level class, but honestly, don't take this teacher!!!

Please, Nick. Never teach again. PLEASE!

Possibly one of the more boring classes I have ever taken. He admits the first day he really doesn't know what the class is supposed to be about and begins to ramble on about the most random stuff ever, he won't stop for 10 weeks. The class has one written essay exam, not hard as no one is prepared and he grades it very easily, some online quizzes, they don't really matter much either, an in class debate, full credit for even showing up, very minimal research needed, and a final 10 page paper, can be mostly BS. Overall, wouldn't go through that again. That being said, he is a good guy who could be incredibly interesting in a class he has goals for, but this class was all over the map, had nothing to do with everyday issues in politics, and the debates were very out of touch and boring. Easy, but hard to attend.

He is a good professor who cares about teaching, not screwing you on tests/exams/papers. Lets you prepare well for all papers and tests and is willing to always help. I recommend taking him, he is chill.

I still don't know what this class was about. But I can tell you about his alma matter (Texas A&M), political party (Democrat), his favorite channel is Comedy Central (South Park and the Daily Show) with a bit of Top Chef in the mix. Other than that ...?

Dr. Nick is a great instructor and grades reasonably. One paper a midterm and final

Dr. Theobald is definitely on of my favorite political science professors here at Poly. While I dreaded writing the term paper in the beginning of the quarter, he helped me pick a topic that I really enjoyed, and it's even helped me to develop with my senior project. He is also readily available by email or office hours and willing to help with assignments answer any questions. The midterms and final are not bad at all, as long as you do all of the readings and go over your lecture notes. I enjoyed his lectures, as he made class at 8am actually enjoyable to attend. I would definitely take another class with him.

The class load is easy- one midterm, final, and a group project. Lectures are hard to follow and extremely boring. Nice guy, willing to help you with questions you have but he makes it clear that he wants to be teaching this class about as much as you want to be taking it- which is not all that much. One thing that I liked about his class: he doesn't give A- grades, so if you get 90% or greater you get the A. I would recommend his class to anyone who just wants to get this class out of the way.

I put off taking 360 out of the typical fear people associate with this class. Theobald made it so much easier than I thought it would be, though. He can be a little dry when lecturing, but he's down to earth and will definitely try to help you out with a topic that is sometimes hard to grasp. The lab was a whole new experience for me, full of loads of information that I had no clue about, but he was super chill and didn't let me freak out. He's the most relaxed yet knowledgeable professor I've had at Poly. Do yourself a favor and take 360 with Theobald.

Theobald... Well, the class overall i think just sucks, filled with stats that everyone has already forgotten, but no worries, he gives you a break. The lectures are hard to understand but dont sweat it, just make sure you read (or skim) the assigned chapters. Its the two midterms (one of them during week 10) that were not very pleasant because most of its from the book which i dont think half the class bought anyway, so if you dont buy one, i suggest studying with someone who did. NO homework, only read a few articles that are actually somewhat interesting and a literature review which is cake. Group project, which is presented during finals week. Good luck with Theobald.