Brutally honest class reviews for incoming 1st years (as a psych major)
There’s always first years posting about what classes are recommended for their major, so I thought I’d pitch in my opinion as I just finished first year and I know how difficult it is to transition to university lol
Note: I do have a strong background in statistics, maths, and sciences. I have credit equivalents for BIO152/153 and CHM110/120 hence why I didn’t do them but I know quite a few people who did so keep that in mind depending on what upper year classes you might potentially do in the future
Full year:
PSY100 w/Dax 3.5-4/5
Lectures are important to attend since he does seem to give a fair share of questions about topics discussed ONLY in-person and not on the slides. The material is fairly paced considering there’s tons of topics being covered. TAs are a bit harsh when it comes to marking but once you get the hang of it it’ll be easy. The textbook is important since the tests are split into book and lecture components. Dax is a bit of an odd ball but his classes are very interesting (at least they were to me)
Fall:
PSY201 w/Fukuda 5/5
Even though it’s a second year class there are no prerequisites and I do recommend you do this and get it out of the way in your first year. Lectures are recorded and the slides cover EVERYTHING. Absolutely no need to purchase the textbook. Professor is amazing and super friendly, though he does explain things in a complicated way. Definitely recommend taking this class. It does get harder in the second half of the semester but the tutorials are extremely helpful too
AST101 w/Hirsch 1000/5
So incredibly fun, but my friend in humanities didn’t enjoy it as much, so it’s definitely a matter of preference. The textbook is not mandatory, I didn’t even skim the slides before the tests and just attended lectures. The professor is so passionate about the topics that it makes you interested too. There are some solo projects but it’s all stuff that can be done the day of. Amazing class and amazing professor. Definitely recommend this for those looking for a science credit
PHL113 w/Clark 4/5
Pretty interesting course in terms of content hence the higher score, though I did find the grading to be a bit harsh. Admittedly I used to fall asleep sometimes in the lectures but that has more to do with me and less to do with the professor. The tutorials are very useful. I hear this class is easier than PHL103, so I think this is a good class for a humanities credit
Winter:
PSY202 w/Fukuda 3.5/5
i found it far harder than PSY201 in terms of content, even though it was far slower in terms of pacing. The syllabus is the same as PSY201. Similarly, there’s no need to buy the textbook since the lecture slides contain absolutely everything you might need for the midterm/final. Extremely helpful tutorials
ISP100 w/Siddiqui 3/5
In terms of the professor, he deserves a 5/5. However, I did find the 3 hour classes very soul sucking and it was pretty hard to concentrate most of the time. Do not do this class if you don’t like doing group work because you will have group discussions and tasks in every class guaranteed. On a more positive note, it did help me TONS when it came to my writing assignments both in terms of structuring essays and citation. If you don’t mind a longer class like this, I’d recommend it to improve your writing and citation skills
SOC100 w/Baker and Innocente 2.5/5
The lectures tend to get pretty boring. I would say the textbook is necessary since the lecture barely touches on any material. The content is pretty much logical if you have some basic knowledge on just… the world around you LOL. An okay class if you need a social science credit
Hopefully this helps any incoming students cause i had my fair share of struggling with picking classes! If anyone has more to add, feel free to share it here too to help anyone out :)