Illes was my first professor at UCLA, and I've had her for 3 classes. She is GREAT. Very reasonable about grading. If you attend every class and take good notes, you will likely get an A. Very helpful and responds to e-mails quickly. Extremely knowledgable from her research experience and her lectures are very engaging. Also has a good sense of humor, which makes 3 hour lectures a little more enjoyable. Tests (a midterm and a final) are combination of short answers and essays, both of which are on basic principles and ideas that were taught. Weekly readings are worth 10% and are interesting and do not take much time. Also a research paper on an animal of your choice for another 10%. If you are debating taking any of her classes, DEFINITELY do.

Professor Illes is one of my favorite professors at UCLA. I have taken four of her classes, and from the first one that I took, I got into the habit of going to her office hours. She was extremely helpful in reiterating content from her lectures and making me understand the concepts if I had questions. She has a wealth of knowledge and actually passes that on to her students so they can succeed beyond the test -- something not all professors are masterful at. She is also an entertaining lecturer, and I was never bored in any of her classes, despite the fact that each lecture was three hours long. She usually kept it balanced by showing some videos relevant to the course material in between her speeches. If you want an excellent geography class, you should definitely take Professor Illes' classes. It's difficult to find even a decent professor, but Illes goes above and beyond to make her classes enjoyable and informative, and the information from her classes actually stick!

Great professor!! I've had her for Animal Geog., Conservation in Developing Countries, and Geog. 5. Smart. entertaining, passionate, and very clear in what she expects from you. Her exams are straight forward and don't aim to trick you. You do have to take good notes and know them well before you head into her exams, but it's comforting to know that as long as you put in the effort you will get a good grade (and learn something in the process). Her work loads are fair. She does have 10-page research papers in her upper-division classes, but they are more than do-able, as she gives you the entire term to work on them. You can't go wrong with Prof. Illes. I wish UCLA would get more professors like her.

Illes is a very funny, engaging professor in lecture but acts more cold & disinterested in office hours. This course definitely pushed me from being an ArcGIS novice to actually understanding a lot of the things you can do in the program. There are weekly projects which are pretty straightforward because she presents them in a step-by-step tutorial way. She's a fairly easy grader and this class is a great way to walk away with UCLA with a tangible skill that shows that you are capable of learning technology & analyzing data--even if you don't end up pursuing a career that uses GIS.

I heard that Geog 5 is a renowned easy GE, but definitely not with Professor Illes. Her materials are fair, but her wording is difficult to understand. To get an A, you have to do well on weekly assignment, lab, midterm and final. Again, NOT an easy A.

Took this class during last summer. Awesome lecturer! MC questions on both midterm/final. Homework assignments and an online project weights most part of the grade. Definitely an easy A class.

NOT an easy A. Took it thinking it was going to be, but she is the "hardest" Geo 5 professor. I only knew 1/15 of the people I knew in that class who got an A on the exams. I read all the chapters twice before the final and highlighted and got 100% on all the homework (meaning I did read all the chapters), but ended up with an 84% on the final (I got a B+ on the midterm). I was SHOCKED to say the least. She words her test oddly and expects you to know all the little details both in the book and in the lecture and at most times, how they differ. I regret taking this class. The only plus side is she's got a sense of humor and her lectures are fun. And the material is so so easy compared to the "real" science classes.

But definitely not an easy A.
You're gonna get a B

Professor Illes is a great teacher and very knowledgeable of California. I loved her class as it provided me a deeper insight to the state we live in. Her class grading is based on a midterm (in calss), long essay (you have to visit the place), and final. She is fair and fun. If you want to learn about California take her. Attendance is mandatory as the midterm and final are based on those notes you take. So you must be a good note taker to take her class.

AMAZING PROFESSOR. You learn A LOT about the subject. The class I took was very interesting because she was really passionate of the subject. Very knowledgeable of African Wildlife. Class is based on 4 things. 1) Weekly 500 word responses to videos or readings she posts. 2) Midterm. 3) Final. 4) Final 2600-3000 word conservation paper. The paper is not bad at all. Illes is VERY fair about grading.

No matter how much she says that you do not need rote-memorization, trust me you do !

I didn't go for many lectures ans still got an A-. The stuff is really really simple. So basically, you have to update your blog every week with a write up and post an image of your lab. There is this software called ArcGIS which is used to create maps. You just make different maps every week and write a paragraph on it and that's your post.

There are 2 exams one midterm and one final. You sit in front of the computer and they are multiple choice ! (35% each exam). Just memorize (throughly) her lecture slides a day or two before the exam and go give it. The question are straight out of the slides.

I would say take this GE if you want to get done with a requirement and want an easy A