I didn't ever show up to this class nor did I do any of the readings but I managed to get by with a B- . A lot of the concepts are just like common sense, and if you put in the effort this class will be a breeze. The readings are a lot but he covers most things in class so I didn't really think they were necessary. He posts all his lecture slides on CCLE which is what I used to cram for the final, and for the final he gives you a detailed study guide to help you out. There was I think 3 papers, but they were honestly pretty easy. I'd definitely recommend this class with Stoll if you need a low-maintenance GE.

Professor Stoll has a way of making the material as informal as possible, so it can be difficult to know what is important and what is unimportant. When studying or when in class, prioritize what is on the slides first and what Stoll talks about second. Overall, I enjoyed the class and would be glad to take another one with Stoll as the professor. His focus as a professor is on crime and crime policy so that lecture was particularly interesting.

This class is great and Stoll is a great professor. This is the intro class for the public policy minor, so it should allow you to quickly decide whether you care about public policy or not. (I for one found it really interesting!)
Stoll keeps a very moderate viewpoint while going over all the different topics (rather than being conservative or liberal) and really made me consider opposing viewpoints to my own for many of the topics that we discussed (housing, education, crime, to name a few).
Also, you learn about how to write policy memos and how to develop solutions to real-world problems such as social security. This class really gave me a different perspective on many things I have never given much thought.
Overall, great class. The reading could be a bit long at times but it helped me understand the lectures. The tests were a bit challenging but there are some in the test bank to help you prepare, so look there!

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Decent enough class. Try to get Brian as your TA--he was very good. He has a background in stats and that extra bit of quality/insight shows in his explanation of various topics.

Truly an engaging professor, Stoll made every lecture worthwhile. Even if you did not go to his office hours, in every lecture you were made to feel highly encouraged to learn. He always provides loads of examples so it becomes easy to understand the concepts.Simply, an amazing person overall!

Stoll is the best teacher I've ever had. He sincerely cares about his students, and wants you to be passionate about what you're learning. What's more, he understands that public policy should be taught-and learned- correctly, because it provides solutions to real-world problems. On the last day of class, he told us that, "whatever path you choose to pursue in life, always try to do it for the public good." He really emphasizes using your knowledge for the betterment of society. After taking this class with him, I can't help but feel that I became not only a better student, but more importantly, a better person.

As for the class itself, you have 2 "midterms"- one is 10th week, but it is NOT cumulative- and 3 memos. No final. The memos are graded rigorously, as are the exams, but again, it's useful information, and it challenges you to find practical solutions.

I couldn't recommend Prof. Stoll more. He's an awesome person. And yes, the birthday rap was quite epic.

Took Public Policy 10A with Professor Stoll. Loved it - but it is not an easy A (I probably got a B/B+ in the class).

Stoll is a pretty captivating lecturer. He tries hard to relate the various general topics to present-day events, which is good in that it keeps us interested but bad in that other students voice their opinions rather than analyze the costs and benefits of whatever proposal (which Stoll tries to do). Also, his memo topics were pretty interesting. The first was on education reform in California, the second on a problem in the Wilshire Corridor, and the third on Social Security. Not only that, but he had us focusing on various aspects of policy: interest groups, costs-and-benefits, etc.

Furthermore, he's a great professor. After a too-hard midterm, he definitely heard us out and made the final more straight forward.

Oh, and he did a birthday rap for a girl in class.