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This class is extremely straight forward. Most lectures are fine to skip, but make sure you go to the guest lectures and can get the take-aways somehow. Looking back on this course, I wish I had taken Kemp's advice and actually watched the online videos and done the additional readings. On the first two exams, I didn't do any extra readings and got a B+ on both, for the final I watched the videos, did the extra readings, studied my notes from the guest lectures, and got an A+ on the exam. 75% of exam questions are taken word-for-word from the practice quizzes online so memorize those, and watch the videos/do the readings the night before and you'll be fine. Also, don't skip any problem sets or discussions. There are 6 problem sets which are worth 2% each and 19 discussions which are all worth .1%. The TA's, at least this semester, graded everything extremely easily, and everyone got a 100 on every problem set/discussion just for answering all of the questions. Problem sets took about an hour and discussions took about 10 minutes. I skipped 1 problem set, so my grade could've been 2% higher, which would've gotten me an A in the class. Definitely do the extra credit because the 2% boost at the end is extremely helpful, especially because he doesn't round grades. It's annoying, but do exactly what he says to do.
I felt like this class was taught about all common knowledge topics. While I do see the point of having an introductory commerce class for pre-Comm students, I feel as though this class only deterred interest in the Comm school. There was really no incentive to go to class as all the information was in the book, and Professor Kemp's takeaways were all very vague and hard to decipher.
I honestly don't wanna waste another second of my life with this course so I'll just copy and paste what I put on my course review on collab:
This is what I put in the comment section of my course evaluation for Comm: Professor Kemp is an absolutely awful professor. This is not a difficult class in any way and I currently have an A, but this class is terrible. It is unfortunate that a class in which 600 students take every year, many of which are future McIntire applicants, is instructed so poorly. Professor Kemp's tests are essentially 100 question vocab quizzes, meaning for each test students must memorize hundreds of vocab words. Some of the things we're forced to memorize would take dozens of hours to do so. For example, we were forced to memorize the members of about a dozen different trade agreements each of which has dozens of members because on the test there were questions like, "Which of these nations is not part of ASEAN." Almost none of the test questions actually tested our ability to apply what we learned, only how well we could memorize it. And for some of the questions, the answers are direct quotes from class so even if you learned the information, you might get the question wrong if you didn't remember how it was phrased. Going to lectures is useless because Professor Kemp spends about half the class telling completely unrelated stories bragging about how successful he was and the other half teaching directly from the text. Additionally, students are required to purchase the textbook, which professor Kemp happened to write, which costs over $150. I hope professor Kemp retires soon and this class can be taught by a professor that actually wishes to teach students how business works, and not just waste their time by forcing them to memorize vocab words.
This class is not hard by any means as long as you're willing to put in the work. The lectures are dry, but as long as you read the book and do the practice quizzes, you should be golden. I will say this, however, it is easy to get an A-, but quite difficult to get an A, partially because Kemp doesn't round. About 90% of the tests are very reasonable, but the last 10% are very specific and tricky. He does give 2% extra credit towards your overall average though!
How to ace the exams:
1. Read the chapter before class or else you will have no idea what he's talking about.
2. Do the practice exams thoroughly on the text website until you can get a 100% on all of them. 70% of the exam questions come from this. Also, all exams are 100 multiple choice questions, no curve.
3. Thoroughly watch every single video on the text website. This includes videos from discussions, additional readings, and out of class lectures. Random, pointless details will show up on the exam.
Ohhhhh man, nothing gets me excited like a lecture from Bobby "Off of this thing" Kemp. The passion that he exudes as he reads powerpoint slides and offers insight into his unparalleled level of business acumen makes this not only "the most comprehensive introductory business course in the country," but the most fun introductory business course in Wilson Hall. The end result of his dynamic teaching style is an absolutely packed, 300 person lecture hall of some of the brightest kids at UVA frantically taking notes, trying to absorb all of the knowledge that he has to offer. While you might get away with online shopping in your organic chemistry lecture, that simply won't cut it in Comm 1800. All in all, this course provides a riveting look into the world of business, emphasizing critical thinking and creativity rather than rote memorization to address the problems faced in making business work.
Kemp is actually pretty solid as a professor. He pretty much repeats what is in the textbook during his lectures but they are important to go to if only for the takeaways. These takeaways are often not real facts but just sentences that sound sort of redundant, "The takeaway is that you should appreciate how important *insert business term* is to creating value." The problem sets are pretty easy but if you have a bad GA, they can take off points for pretty stupid things. The discussions are pretty much just graded for completion but make sure you do them because it is very easy to completely forget they exist.
Not a hard class at all, you just have to commit to studying for a few days before the exams. There are 3 exams, each worth a significant amount of your grade, making it difficult/basically impossible to get an A if you get a B+ or lower on any of them. Exams are very straightforward if you go to class, do the additional readings, read the text book, and do the practice quizzes. Each are 100 MC questions with about 80 from the practice quizzes on Cognella and/or directly from the textbook, and the remaining 20 from Additional Readings and take-aways from current events. Some of the reviews claim it's not worth it to watch all the Additional Readings (they're all videos), but I would say it absolutely is! It is impossible to get the last 20 questions right unless you've watched them (ignoring the possibility of randomly guessing correctly). In addition to the 3 exams, there are "Discussions" for each chapter (19) and 6 "Problem Sets." The discussions are essentially completion grades and take maybe 15 minutes max, but watch out because it's really easy to forget to do one. Those were worth 1.9% of the grade. The problem sets are a bit lengthier. They took me around 3-4 hours, mostly because I had a problem with staying within page limits. Those were also very easy to get a 100 on. In fact, I don't even think they were graded on accuracy, only that you answered all the questions. Usually they were around 5 pages total in writing. Overall, I enjoyed the class for the most part. I learned that I want to go into the Marketing concentration (and that I really don't want to do Accounting). I would recommend going to class, but don't sweat it if you can't make it. Have a friend write down the take away of the day for you. Also, DO THE EXTRA CREDIT SURVEYS!!! You will be VERY thankful at the end of the semester. I ended up with an A. His quote before every exam is "if you do what I say, when I say, and how I say, then you will do fine in this class." That is absolutely correct. Just study what he gives you. Also it's not impossible at all to get an A like commenters before had mentioned, but an A- is much easier. There's no reason to get anywhere below a B+. It's entirely your fault if somehow you manage to do that.
Kemp is actually a really nice professor who genuinely wants to ensure that the students understand the material. Going to class is not necessarily at all, you can get the takeaways from your friends. The 3 tests in this class are incredibly easy, you just have to memorize the textbook/current events/additional readings - basically this class is complete recall of information and not actual analysis or application. I feel that it gives you a good introduction to business topics and although it isn't the most interesting material it is still useful to know. I would take it even if you're not sure you will be applying to the Comm school, because it's very straightforward and not challenging at all. You just have to be willing to put in the minimum amount of work to do well on the tests and you will be completely fine.
Very easy class if you actually do the work thoroughly. For the Additional Readings and Discussion Videos, if they're under 10 minutes, they're worth watching and taking some notes. The readings take about 30 minutes to an hour, and the Problem Sets take around 2-3 hrs. if you want to get an A. Also, write down and memorize Kemp's Takeaways on current events. This class is an easy A- but can be an A with a little extra work.
The class itself is occasionally interesting but is mostly pretty mundane. Kemp is very organized and knows what he's talking. After a couple lectures, you'll get used to his mannerisms and sayings.
LET ME BE REAL WITH YOU ABOUT THIS CLASS. I know a lot of you are probably taking this class because you are pre-comm. Well here is the low down. The class really is not THAT difficult. It will definitely be TOUGH, and if you don't like the material, it will suck a lot more than it has to, but if you do like the material you will find the class takes more persistence than anything. The tests come straight from the textbook, lecture, and practice problems. HOWEVER, THIS CLASS REWARDS YOU PUTTING YOUR BUTT DOWN AND STUDYING FOR THE TEST. This means actually taking notes on all the online material, and reading the textbook. The A is a 95, which is high, but if you put your butt down the weekend before a test, you will get it! It is possible. The people who struggled were the ones who just did not know how to study for extended periods of time. The class isn't too hard, but here is a lot of content. I personally loved Professor Kemp and wish I could take more classes with him in a smaller class setting. Not everyone does like him, but he really is a nice class. He covers a lot of material, but don't be super discouraged because business in practice is very different than business in a textbook. You just have to stay on top of the class. I believe in you!
Kemp is only here because teaching the class and collecting royalties from the textbook (that he wrote and makes you buy) creates more value for him than being in the business world. He uses this class to do nothing more than stroke his ego in front of college kids and probably make over $1M a year to do so. He makes it unnecessarily hard by having take aways from current events that require you to remember his exact wording. Reading the textbook makes me feel like I am getting dumber as it has statements like "An entrepreneur is someone who takes part in entrepreneurship." and actually teaches you nothing. It is a pain and I suggest if you don't want to do comm be sure not to take it. It is not the "easy A" it used to be there are other more interesting and easy classes here. I never planned to do comm only took it for a background in business, and I can say I left with just as good of an understanding of it before as I did after. It was a waste of my tuition especially knowing the other phenomenal classes I could have taken here.
This class is an awful prerequisite for an amazing program here at UVA. Bob Kemp changed the course dramatically sometime in the last two years to the point where the grade distribution you see above is not to be taken seriously to any degree whatsoever. Taking great notes from the textbook and doing the practices quizzes will get you a B on the exams. What gets you the A is memorizing the most minute details from lectures and from watching pointless videos and reading lengthy articles that he links on the class website. Overall, do not take this class unless you are dead set on McIntire.
I just want to let incoming first years know that the grade distribution does not at all accurately reflect how difficult the course is now. The grade distribution is from before Bob Kemp tried to make the class stupidly hard. It is a terrible class, do not take it unless you know you want to go to the comm school. It is so irrelevant that it is no longer included in the mini GPA for the comm school. I also did decently in the class, but did not learn a single thing. The grading is based on how much you pay attention to discreet details mentioned in the additional videos and readings.
I took this my first year because I didn't know what else to take and figured I should learn something useful like commerce. BIG MISTAKE! I literally learned zero commerce in this class. You HAVE TO buy the textbook - maybe not this edition but all of his editions are basically the same anyway, just a different color. No need to go to lectures unless there's a guest lecture. Everything else comes straight out of his textbook, including his test questions. Tests aren't hard but unless you read the textbook and remember all his examples and everything you won't get an A - especially because an A is a 95. So basically, don't take this class unless you're pre-comm and you have to.
I don't want to write a long review because I don't want to give this man anymore of my time. Worst class I have taken in my academic career. Hard to study for the exams when you don't learn anything except for arbitrary information from random youtube videos. Class consistently made me want to cry, would only recommend to people I don't like. Robert Kemp is actually a pretty nice human being but his class made me stupider.
The grade distribution above does not reflect the averages on the tests which constitute around 80% of your grade. Test averages are generally a b depending on the test. The class is not very difficult, but some questions are ridiculously detailed. A b+ or a- is doable. He does not round grades. Read the book, watch the videos, do the practice tests like he says and you'll be fine.
I'll preface this by saying that I did relatively well in the class (solid A-), I'm not writing this to brag, but to emphasize that many students who do well (by current standards) also notice significant problems with the course.
By talking to older students and reading older reviews it's pretty evident that this class has changed substantially in the last couple of years. If you added the mean test scores and project averages you ended up with a B, not an A- as the distribution above would have it.
Why? I believe that there are two reasons, the first is straightforward, I read below that the grade requirements have simply gone up for each letter grade. The second has to do with the course design. Our TA told us that Professor Kemp has redesigned the course so that it does not align as much with the textbook anymore. I think this is the key to explaining the lower averages. From what I've heard (and Professor Kemp essentially said as much) in the past it was sufficient to simply read the textbook and you would essentially be guaranteed an A/A- if you could retain the material, lectures were optional but not necessary to perform well. In an effort to drive up lecture attendance Professor Kemp now discusses current event "take-aways" (basically how a current event relates to something we have talked about in class) that will be on the exam. I personally felt that these were relatively straightforward on the exams, but if you don't go to lecture, you won't get those points , so it's an important change. The second and more irritating change to the course is the "additional readings", basically various videos posted on the class website that range from a few minutes to up to an hour long. Several times professor Kemp said "This is the only take-away from this reading" or "Nothing in the additional readings this week will be on the exam", only to put a really arcane aspect of the additional readings on the exam. This is the part that I believe has driven down grades the most, in that it's not enough to have watched the videos and understood them, you have to retain EVERYTHING in order to do well, given the volume of videos, this is difficult to do even if you watch them all just a few days before each exam. The take-aways combined with the additional reading questions make up about 20% of each exam, add in a few misses on standard textbook stuff (they're bound to happen for essentially everyone) and it's easy to see how the average grade for the class is now in the B range.
Professor Kemp is a a nice enough guy and the class does provide a limited and basic understanding of business, but I believe that the exams ought to be redesigned and either completely cut out the additional readings or reform those questions to reflect main themes rather than minute details.
Workload isn't too bad, usually 1-2 chapters of reading a week (at 1 hour/per chapter) with 1-2 hours of homework on average (more when you have assignments due a lot less when you don't).
Unless you're pre-comm, don't take this class. Professor Kemp is a nice guy, but this is not the easy A/A- advertised in the distribution, so don't come here looking for a grade boost.
Some advice if you do take the class: Go to lectures, you need those take-aways to do well. Also, do the online practice quizzes, Kemp pulls questions from them verbatim and puts them on the exams. Don't go overboard with the discussion blog posts, you can do one in 10-20 minutes, just make sure you fulfill each requirement, but don't go overboard, you'll still get points. Apply the same policy for the bigger assignments, do what's required but don't turn it into a research project (real footnotes etc.) it's not necessary and won't get you extra points. Finally, do the official course evaluation on Collab, it should get you a couple of extra points on the final exam.
As a pre-determined non-pre-comm student, I really regretted taking this class at the beginning of the semester due to the dry material, repetitive lectures, and various assignments that seemed to be busywork. Although none of those things changed, I found myself enjoying the class more when I realized I was in fact gaining a foundation in business, and I am now able to understand more about business than I have in the past. The biggest piece of advice I would give is to not take this class as a joke/easy A. A 95 is an A, which means you cannot get lower than a B+ on any of the exams in order to get an A in the class. This is attainable as long as you study and do the practice quizzes, but will not be handed to you. Professor Kemp is a nice guy, but will not adjust his grading for you whatsoever.
This was by far my least favorite class. My upperclassmen friends told me that the takeaway/additional readings were only 5% of the test, but ended up being 20% of each test. Unless you spend HOURS and HOURS reading those stupid current events, videos, and additional readings, you won't get an A/A-. Also for problem sets, the average for each was around 92% but as long as you BS your way through it, you should be able to get at least 96% on them. For TA's, pick Melissa Sauders, I personally thought she was generous when it came to grading the problem sets.
Do not this class unless you absolutely have to. It is not an easy A at all. You learn absolutely nothing and cram study for tests just to forget the content the day after. Class is pointless and Kemp is very boring. If you do practice quizzes and read the book it is easy to get a B-B+ on the tests. With that being said obtaining higher than that can be very difficult even if you watch videos and get takeaways because the questions are so random. Class is not an easy A, but an attainable B+ or A-. Ended up with an 89.7 in the class which did not get rounded up which is another thing that sucks about Kemp.
I agree with many of the other reviewers that this class is pretty useless. I came into this class with a decent amount of business knowledge unlike many of the other people who jump on the pre-comm bandwagon. Because of this I assumed it would be an easy A. The material is very easy and not hard to understand, so Kemp puts silly questions on his tests to make sure everyone doesn't do too well. The tests are ridiculous, with 80 questions from the textbook and 20 highly specific questions from a bunch of videos and articles. Don't let the grade distribution at the top fool you either, the class must have been much easier in previous years as the averages on the three tests that make up almost all of your grade were 87, 82, and 85. Even if everyone got 100s on all of the homework that's a B average and there is no curving or rounding. Ended up with a B+ in the class. If you need to do well some things I wish I had done were watch all the videos twice, and take notes on each one, take the practice quizzes until you get them all correct, know all the material from the slides of guest lectures, and listen for his take-aways for current events. It's highly unfortunate that this is most people's first exposure to business as nothing truly meaningful was learned through this course and I hope something is done about it in the future.
Kemp is a character and to be honest is kind of entertaining, however the course material he teaches is NOT. This is a COMM school pre-req, so take it if you have to, but if you don't, this class is NOT an easy A. That being said, it is a VERY Easy A- or B+, what distinguishes A's from the lot is their ability to memorize extremely arcane facts taken from online videos that seem incredibly arbitrary while watching the videos. Essentially, every question that is not inspired from the textbook is flawed. My tips for success would be: memorize every vocabulary word in the text and be able to recite every video he assigns to you verbatim.
Arbitrary class. Don't learn anything useful. Would not take unless you need to. Exam questions can be as unimportant as the 4th letter of an acronym from a 5 minute video or as broad as businesses need to bring value. I did not learn anything from the lectures and would have to teach myself the material. Only interesting part was some of the guest lectures. Everything is pure memorization, and if not that then it is taken from one of the 30 other videos, guest lectures, or articles that he requires you to remember for each exam. This class is out of date and a poor style of teaching. All around bad class.
Unfortunately, consistent with many of the recent reviews regarding this course, I would have to say they are right. Bob Kemp is probably one of the most deceivingly nice people I have ever met. Here's a quick tip for everyone: Unless you absolutely have to take the course, meaning if you don't get into the Comm School it would be the end of the world and you'd transfer or something, I would seriously reconsider before taking it. You can probably get the grading logistics from other reviews, so I'll be blunt. I changed from Pre-Comm to Econ major track in October, and I absolutely hated this class. The only reason anyone should take this class, in my opinion, is because it's a Comm pre-req. Going to lecture seemed more like a chore and it was ultimately worthless, and I'm a guy who loved going to Professor Elzinga's lectures. His "takeaways" stated in class that are on the tests can be different from what he actually puts on the test. The test structure seemed to differ test by test. It's simply just a horrible class, and I feel sorry for anyone who has to experience it. If you have to take the class, just read the textbook thoroughly, write down all the definitions, and try to get the takeaway notes from someone (not like it'll matter). Good luck.
I hope everyone who takes this course in the future will read this review. This course was NOT as easy as everyone makes it out to be. You need a 95 to get an A in the class, and Kemp makes it clear from day 1 that if you get a 94.99, he won't round up. All the tests are 100 questions, where many are very straight-forward (From practice quizzes) but some are just random things he or some guest lecturer said in class. Therefore, it is very easy to get an OK grade on each test - B+ is very doable by just doing practice quizzes and doing the study guide. But unless you pay attention in every single class (which gets boring after the 2nd or 3rd lecture), getting the takeaways that he puts on the tests are very difficult. I made a group with a few of my friends to designate one person to get each lecture's takeaways and compile them at the end. Lectures were literally an hour of kemp telling some life story, and 15 minutes of important stuff at the end. Not fun and mostly useless.
Homework is annoying. You do the discussion board topics which are a guaranteed 100 if you bullshit a paragraph - the graduate assistants have to go through hundreds of them every day. The problem sets are annoying because you will usually miss 1-5 on each one unless you spend a long time making them good. That's another thing that brings down your grade.
Overall didn't seem like a worthwhile course and I Feel like I know nothing about commerce. For pre-comm students I recommend doing some of your own work and applying to some finance/business related clubs - MII, AIF, GMG, VVF, etc. These clubs teach you way more than this class. After one semester in one of the aforementioned clubs, I learned so much about investing and finance. And yes, you can get into finance/Wall Street without getting a degree from the comm school.
Worst class ever. It's pretty easy, but you definitely have to pay attention and put effort into learning the material if you want an A. My TA (Melissa Saunders) was needlessly picky and the class overall was filled with unnecessary and tedious work. Half of the things that come out of Bob Kemp's mouth either don't make sense or have to do with some random anecdote. Moral of the story: don't take this class unless you are pre-comm. If you have to take it, put effort into the "problem sets" and read the chapters before class. Read all the random extra crap he gives you and you should be fine on the exams.
Unless you absolutely have to, don't do it. Please.
This will probably be the class that completely deters you from COMM. It's awful. Kemp is a nice guy and I really do like him, but this is the most disinteresting class I've ever taken. Other people are going to tell you that it's an "Easy A" which is a misleading at best and completely fictitious at worst. A 95% is an A. I went to a high school where 94% was an A and that was considered high. Trust me, that A is not easy to get. If you're smart, you can maybe pull an A- easily if you have a light course load. But if you have a decent course load like most people, you're going to be hurting in this class if you're not careful.
Just don't do it unless COMM is your absolute dream.
My friends all screwed me over by telling me this was an easy A class you could skip all the lectures for. Don't do it. Every test is comprised of 80 easy questions, 10 you have to think about and go to lecture for, and 10 STRAIGHT out of the guest lectures or weird supplements. An A is a 95 which is difficult to get unless you go to every lecture, and I was guilted into wasting hours upon hours on stupid discussion posts once or twice a week that have very little impact on your grade. If you want a B/B+, skip all the lectures, don't do any assignments besides the tests and the occasional homework, but if you want an A-/A be prepared to study and work much harder than you thought. Would not recommend, the A- I got was definitely not worth the time spent in this class.
Overall, this class was pretty easy. I rarely went to lecture, but I always made sure to keep up with the reading. The online discussion posts and assignments were annoying but not difficult. I got a B+ despite the fact that I skipped a lot of discussions.
There are two tests and a final which are purely memorization from the book. Kemp is a great guy and definitely knows his stuff, but his lectures are pretty boring and are a verbatim repetition of what's in the book (since he wrote it).
This class doesn't teach you that much about how businesses actually work. You mostly learn vocabulary and how to TALK about business. It's not a bad class though, I learned a decent amount and it's a great class if you need a GPA boost and don't mind reading.
This class is annoying and stupid. It is very easy to get an A- without going to a single lecture. I genuinely didn't even know what lecture hall the class was in until the first exam. However, it is certainly not an easy A and I'm not sure why people say that. Even if you go to class, it is a matter of doing absurdly well on a few exams to get an A. The material is very very easy and straight from the book, but only missing 3-4 questions on a 100 question test is still difficult. I didn't even go to guest lectures, which would probably have made the A more feasible. But, I also have a good 7-8 friends who got B+'s and A-'s even though they went to ever class. Makes sure you take all the practice quizzes.
Easy, if quite useless intro to business class. Lectures and Book are the same material and not too challenging so skipping either is an option. The class website has lots of busywork 10-20 minutes of writing for discussions once or twice a week, and then 6 problem sets throughout the semester, but as long as it is long enough you will get close to full credit. Tests are easy and there is no reason if you pay any attention you should get less than a B, but you MUST have a 95 to get an A which can be a challenge.
Class is very basic and introductory. I recommend going to the classes just to sort of listen and hear a good story every now and again. I did other homework and perked up for the current events/takeaways. Keep up with all the discussion posts (3.8% of grade), do well on the two midterms (20% each), and don't skimp on the problem sets.
This is by far the worst class I have ever taken. I love business, but I've barely learned anything in this class. I've learned more in just one econ lecture than I have learned throughout the entire Comm 1800 class. Lectures are useless, and the book throws so much information at you, without elaboration, that none of it seems relevant or is well explained. You have to do a ton of tedious busywork (written homework assignments and discussion posts). This class has just been a pain in the ass and a huge waste of time.
Also, this class isn't as easy of an A as rumored to be. You have to put a lot of work into memorizing a ton and put up with a ton of bs just to pull a decent grade.
Kemp is entertaining for some, not so much for others. Lectures are pretty optional, tests are completely vocab based and out of the book. He does have "takeaways" that are on the tests which can only be obtained by going to lecture but you can definitely do very well in this class without going to a single lecture. I personally went to most of them but they consist mostly of Kemp talking about his life and somehow weaving in business terms.
Professor Kemp has good intentions - however, with that being said, he is a very dry lecturer. His lectures are the exact same as the book (he wrote the book), so many students stop going to class after the first week. There is a decent amount of busywork: weekly assignments include discussion posts and "problem sets" - generally a 3-4 page paper about Disney. Kemp is a character, and since almost everyone takes this class it's almost worth taking just to understand Bob Kemp jokes.
Only take this class if you absolutely have to. Kemp is the worst teacher ever and extremely boring. I literally never went to class and still did well in it. His class is extremely useless- the test questions come directly from the HW problems (they're literally word-for-word). Don't take it if you don't need to
Kemp's the man; great guy with good intentions. With that said, this class is pretty boring - not going to lie. I attended (almost) all the lectures, but I'm not sure that really helped my grade at all, besides the guest lectures. My best advice would be to read the textbook, a chapter a week if you can and take detailed notes while reading (key words, concepts, etc). This is what the tests are going to be on, and basically what the majority of the grade is weighed on.
For the problem sets, it would be a good idea to see your TAs about it before submission just so they don't dock off random points. Generally, it's a simple class with a light workload. Just put in some effort and you should be fine.
Kemp is that type of professor who likes to crack odd jokes and tell irrelevant stories and because you're in a room full of Pre-comm kids, naturally they all laugh. If you think this is a weed out course then I'm not how you got into UVA because this was the most high-school like course I have taken while in my time here. Half your assignment are simply completion grades and the exams are simply testing your memorization skills of vocab. Study from the weekly quizzes you have to do and the vocab and there's no reason why this shouldn't be a GPA boosting class.
Comm1800 was an overall easy class. Its material was basic as you'd expect from an introductory class and exams are based 96% from the book. The other 4% is usually current event "takeaways" or guest lecturer material. Good class to gain a literacy in the language of business and Kemp is an entertaining lecturer. You really can't not enjoy his stories and mannerisms.
Oh Bobby Kemp, he is a character! Great guy, passionate about business and cares about his students very deeply. This class is an easy A- (what I got) but a difficult A. About half of the test questions are straight from practice quizzes- memorize them! Read the book, take the quizzes, and you'll end up with a good grade.
Oh Bob Kemp...you will quickly learn there are many phrases he tends to repeat, but he is a super entertaining lecturer, in a way that makes you laugh like "what did he just say?". Lectures were optional, but he had takeaways that he would only mention in class that could appear on tests, so a good amount of people showed up anyways. I honestly surfed the web, checked my email, or played 2048 while waiting for a takeaway. He basically regurgitates the textbook (since he wrote it) in class, so going to lecture isn't super useful. He has several guest lectures during the semester, and those were somewhat interesting and material does appear on the exams, so you should go to them. While many people will tell you the class is easy, which it is, it can be deceptively hard to earn an A in the class. I found that most people were able to get an A- easily if they tried. The day-to-day workload was pretty easy - read the textbook (although this is optional I guess), online discussions, and online quizzes. Basically to get a good grade - read the textbook, study the vocab, and study the online quizzes. The group project was boring, but if you fulfill the requirements, it looked like everyone got a 100. The problem sets are also pretty easy, but be sure to follow the directions! Overall, the class was an easy pre-comm prereq, and that was the only reason I took it.
Bob Kemp outlined this course perfectly when he says, "You won't be good at business, but you'll be literate at it." This course is a pre-requisite for the Comm School and, quite frankly, is very useful. My major complaint deals with the lectures. Kemp is a very nice guy and loves what he does, but he did not at all take advantage of class time. He motivates students to attend lectures with current event take-aways, but all of the course content is learned through reading the textbook. Since Bob wrote the text, lecture was essentially a boring and useless regurgitation of everything in the book. There was a lot of potential wasted with the lectures. I did, however, enjoy his use of guest speakers. It was very fitting, in an "Intro to Commerce" course, that students are introduced to the Comm School with lectures by the various department heads within the school. It definitely shed a lot of light on the different paths and opportunities within the Comm School. Aside from lectures, this class involved a lot of busy work, including discussions and quizzes for every chapter, several problem sets, and a two-part group project. This work was all more tedious than helpful. As far as difficulty, the course was pretty easy. Aside from the busy work, there were three exams- none of which were difficult. It was especially nice that the final exam was not cumulative; rather, it was simply a test on the last third of the semester. It was not difficult to do well in this class, though it was not especially easy to get an A. This is because Kemp raised the bar this semester to a 95% for an A. Given that the class is not curved, this is a pretty stupid policy. However, he claims that he doesn't curve final grades, but he actually does. Overall, this was a fairly easy and useful class, despite the boring lectures. Bob Kemp is an experience...and I would even recommend this course to students who are not interested in the Comm School, as it provides excellent insight into the world of business.
Kemp is a nice guy, but after a while you realize attending class is pointless. He tests straight out of the book. Class is easy, you occasionally have group or individual projects which could be accomplished without attending lectures. Tests are not too difficult, I put in minimal effort and got an A-, B+, and an A- on the final. The commerce school looks for good grades from the course. Take it if you have to, but the lectures are painful, and the online coursework annoying.
Oh, did I mention Kemp wrote the book? Because he will.
Really boring class. I only went to lecture because we had clicker questions. Everything you need to know is on the text website. Don't be fooled into not doing work because everyone says it's an easy A. If you don't do the readings you will struggle a little. Buy the textbook online and it will make the quizzes 100 times easier. The exams are just quiz questions for the most part.
He is not going to use the iclicker anymore, so going to class will be pointless. He knows what he is talking about, but everything you need to know is in the textbook (he wrote it). I learned everything from reading the textbook and doing the chapter quizzes. You have a fair amount of work to do, but it is really easy. The problem sets can be annoying, but some help reinforce the material. Overall, it is a good class. You learn a lot, and it is not very difficult at all. Bob Kemp is a really nice guy, too.
Super easy course, the work is more along the lines of "pain in your ass" than difficult. Anyone with any sort of econ or business background will think the class is a joke. The only reason people attend lectures is because kemp uses iclickers since he just restates the book (which he wrote) in a less coherent and helpful way. 3 exams, all worth 25% of your grade, one of which is a non-cumalitive "final"
Professor Kemp is incredibly kind. As he always reminded us, his "one rule is to always smile at me". That said, the class material is ridiculously easy. It's a little bit of reading, then showing up to class to get iclicker points, doing the chapter discussions and quizzes (which for each chapter, one chapter per week, take about 30 minutes if you don't get distracted by boredom). Overall, this class is not bad at all but you learn a little and its a great intro to business course.
Either go to class, pay attention, and never touch the book, or read the book and sleep in class. There is no reason to do both since he teaches and tests DIRECTLY from the book. I chose the latter and napped, waking up for the occasional clicker question. As long as you put in the time to learn the vocab and keep up with the problem sets/quizzes/discussions, it's a pretty easy A.
Great class if you're looking for easy material. Two midterms and a final consisting mostly of vocabulary and the concepts repeated in the book. Only went to class for the iclicker questions and Kemp's stories. The class is mostly about memorizing information instead of focusing on concepts, but it is easy overall. Online quizzes, discussions, and problem sets take time but they are not difficult.
Kemp knows what he's talking about and is usually a good lecturer. The class can be a bit annoying at times, though. The tests are straight out of the textbook, which is not necessarily a bad thing. Overall, if you are pre-comm, the content will be fairly interesting. And if not, it will probably be pretty boring.
COMM 1800 is not a good course. It is basically a giant vocabulary list that takes a whole semester to get through. There is a ton of unnecessary busy work through the textbook publisher's website that is mandatory and makes up part of the final grade. It isn't worth enough to buffer a final grade but it is enough to force a grade down, especially since an A is cut off at 94%. This course is a prerequisite for the School of Commerce, but it is not a good course and should only be taken if absolutely necessary.
Bob Kemp is a hilarious professor, I recommend taking this class just to experience him-- the myth and the legend. The coursework is easy-- first test is a breeze, second is harder, final is inbetween. Do the discussions online and the quizzes, the questions on the test come straight from the quizzes. Kemp wrote the book and it's pretty much the same thing in the powerpoint and lecture... but go to class since he uses an i-clicker and you need the participation points.
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