2.7
Quality4.3
Difficulty27%
Would Retake209
Reviews27%
Would Retake
209
Reviews
Rating DistributionOfficial
5
54
4
25
3
28
2
28
1
74
What Students Say
“If you hate textbook readings or skip lectures, this class is not for you”
2C03 - 2.0 rating“Very condescending and unapproachable”
PNB3RM3 - 1.0 ratingClass Info
Online Classes
100%
Attendance Mandatory
54%
Textbook Required
48%
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B+
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PSYCH2I03
5.0
(1)PSYCH3CD3
5.0
(2)3CD3CHILDDEV
5.0
(1)PSYCH2C034Q03
5.0
(1)2AA32C03
4.7
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3
5.0
PSYCH203
5.0
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5.0
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5.0
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Reviews (209)
Really fair and to the point. If you attend class and understand the general idea behind the concepts she teaches you will be just fine.
Extremely helfpul. Really cares students understand the material and do well on the course. One of the best prof I hace ever met in McMaster.
Her quizzes test your ability to memorize the words out of her mouth rather than the concept underlying the question and she seems to be more of a "my way or the highway" kind of teacher, wasn't a fan at all
Extremely clear in lecture, and if not, answers questions to clarify anything (in class and very well on webct). You shouldn't miss lecture, not only because everything is explained so well but because she makes every topic very interesting. Use the textbook to back up lecture and you're set! Fair, not easy per se, but a very good prof.
This professor wants you to shoot for a C+. Enough said.
Somehow Ostovich manages to offend at least one minority during each lecture. She tends to pack a lot of information into each class. She has the teaching part of her course down but her exams are killer. Read the textbook for the multiple choice questions. Her "short" answer questions are straight from lecture. Good luck!
Just presents a bunch of reseach on the topic without much of a theme. When you approach her to clarify she is very condecending and treats you like imbecile. On the test she wants you to know all the little detalils of the experiments through which research material was accumulated.
perfect example of a prof who got lucky and landed a career in teaching while coasting through her own studies. She's mastered the art of talking about meaningless drivel and making it sound like there is any sense to what she says, and being repetitive without sounding like it is. In reality, she doesn't know what she's talking about. Sadly.
awesome prof, love love love her lectures, but her exams r kinda hard, for the SA part, u have to be right on the point, or u'll loss marks, but still I would take her class again juz because she's such a good lecturer
great explanations and very interesting!! take notes during lectures and memorize experiments given and you'll be fine (at least for the short answer part of the test). tip: answer the short answer q's in detail!
Not about content all about her.
She is a great lecturere, she cares about her students, she does want her students to get good marks. But the problem is...she is soooooo TOUGH!
Not a very good prof at all. She looks for exact points/answers when marking. Does not clearly explain material in class.
Absolutely terrible. PPt's were weak and very dry...not all of us love stats, Dr. O. Minimal reference to the text. Loved to show off her'age'. If I heard how old she was and how her cultural references were outdated one more time I would have been sick. Not all of Dr. O's students are just out of highschool.
Extremely demanding. For midterms she asks students to write a 6 pages essay in 50 mins. If we suffer from that and complain there is no enough time, she blames that we are not prepared enough, because she and her TAs have written time-presured tests in the past. Not all of us are aiming for grad school. She needs to take it easy on students.
Way high expectations for students, extrmely hard marker, and so full of herself. She is one of the worst prof I have ever had in my life.
She likes telling students she is using her sense of fairness when giving grades, which is absolutely nonsense. She thinks she is fair, but actually she is not even close.
Not a good prof at all!
Really interesting class and material, but you really do have to go to class, take notes, and study hard. You can definitely do well, and if you're interested, take the class. I learnt a lot, but I had to work for it. (and remember to write everything you can for the short answers!)
Oh my god, I wanted to shoot myself. This professor definitely deserves all the negative ratings here. Someone needs to report her! - When a student asks for help through email or by appt. she does not answer the questions properly. Honestly, she is the reason why I wanted to quit school. Sounds emo? Best believe it, she does this to many of us...
Best course ever! She is always available on the boards answering MANY questions with such detail, she puts so much time helping her students out!! AMAZING. For the tests, memorize exp details like IV, DVs (make sure to operationalize your variables), Methods, Results, Discussion. You need to be specific in order to get the marks.
OMG...she takes hours on one topic, never covers content properly and then you have to memorize her words for the exams and also the book!!! what does she expect from us??!!
She def doesn't deserve all these negative ratings. Yeh, she doesn't cover the content well and expects too much from her students but then again she tries to make things as fair as poss... I liked her eventhough I didn't end up with a 10-or-12 in the course :(
she's condescending, wastes class time with irrelevant stories, always assumes that students are wrong due to 'human error', doesn't take the initiative to create her own questions for quizzes and resorts to using questions from test banks and don't let me get started with her tests...I'm never taking another class from her!
Extremely condescending. Midterm and exam questions are marked according to a rigid master answer which leave little to no room for variation. Tends to stray off topic during lecture. Marking, done by T.A.s, is extremely subjective and mark allocation does vary between similar answers graded by the same person.
Jennifer is an excellent prof! Honestly one of my favorites at McMaster and she does not deserve the negative ratings. I honestly didn't find her condescending once and the material was vary well taught. She was very helpful, went at a good pace, and her tests WERE NOT hard. If you go to class you'll do great! Don't be afraid of her!
Dr. O is awesome. Her explanations are crystal clear. Going to class is a must - and she keeps classes HIGHLY enjoyable. Her tests are a bit tricky if you're not used to it but shes great! :)
Excellent Prof, lectures very well and she is very engaging. Tests are extremely fair. I would definitely recommend taking any of her classes
excellent prof. not very hard tests. awesome subject matter. loved the class :)
Worst class ever! The tests were far too long-nobody completed the first midterm. The marking was brutal-a C was a 'good' mark. If you didn't write exactly what the master answer was, you LOST marks. Very much 'my way or the highway' kind of prof-doesn't want to know what you know, wants to know how well you memorize what SHE knows.
Tough. Tricky, demanding tests. She is a good prof in that she is organized, to the point, and knows what she's talking about. She's tough, though. I didn't enjoy her classes because I found her dry and felt that she glazed over certain things and did't assess them. Not very receptive to questions.
Great teacher! Hard tests-you must know the exact words that is looking for to get marks!
To date, this has to be my weirdest class. I studied the most and didn't do well. However, I love her lectures, and actually take classes she teaches because of her.
Enjoyed the class. I feel like I learn the most out of her lectures. Great prof.
very interesting and I loved going to lectures. U HAVE TO ATTEND CLASS to get good notes otherwise youll be completely lost... her ppt's dont help at all if u dont attend class. her SA is hard and you have a v limited amount of time to write it all out. have to work very hard to get a 10! shes the only prof i can actually listen 2 w/out tuning out
An excellent and engaging lecturer who uses mostly experimental examples to teach the concepts. YOU MUST GO TO CLASS! All the valuable material is in what she says, not her powerpoints. Tests are very hard but not unfair; you can do well if you study and take an interest in the material.
She's absolutely AMAZING! LOVED HER! She made me love Social Psychology and before that I had absolutely no interest in Social Psychology so that's saying something!
in order to do well in her course you have to think like her and how she would answer the questions
I loved her, she taught very good and her classes were extremely interesting. However, tests were impossible. I read all the material and attended every class and studied for weeks, and this was the only class I failed.
Extremely hard tests! Don not take this class unless you can make every single lecture. You can study for days for her tests and still end up with a mediocre mark. Not a bird course whatsoever, only enroll in this class if you are interested & committed in/to social psych. If not, your GPA will plummet.
Take this class if you want to fail!
Also took Psych 3AC3 with her. She is a great prof but her tests are brutal! The first midterm average was high 50s and she said that WE were doing something wrong. Second midterm average was only a few percent better. It is VERY hard to get a good mark in her class. Try to avoid taking her class.
Such a great prof. so helpful/funny. However tests were so hard! i attended every lecture made study notes read the textbook and ended up with a 60 on the midterm. really really difficult. also her method of teaching was talk about the experiment and then extrapolate info rather than heres the concept and heres an experiment for evidence.
Great lecturer. She made the content very enjoyable and interesting. She's also very funny. Tests were difficult, but fair. Definitely need to attend lectures to do well
This is a course for those who are committed to a real university education: Dr. O is not going to baby you by testing exactly what she put on the power point. You must synthesize information from lecture, make good notes, read the textbook, and think critically about the material. If you are invested, you will have no trouble doing well.
Just told our class that we all failed the written part of our exam. If answers are not identical to her understanding of concepts then you will fail the class. Needs to understand that each student has their own way of identifying, understanding and communicating the material
Good lectures, but impossible tests. DO NOT TAKE THIS COURSE. It's not worth the aggravation.
Tests hard. Need to really know your stuff, memorization WILL NOT HELP YOU. That being said, Ostovich courses have been my favourite of all my psych courses.
I think she is a very good lecturer, she makes the information interesting. Her tests can be difficult, but she provides tips on how to do well in her courses which I found helpful. As long as, you review the material regulary and think outside the box, you'll do well.
Great prof; Class attendance is a must. One of my favourite profs at Mac. Classes are challenging, but she makes the material super interesting. Great lecturer. Classes are not for the weak willed or for slackers of any kind. No nonsense! Loved her.
Hated this course as well as her teaching style. Tests are impossibly hard and she's a really fake person. I've seen and heard it first hand. By far my worse prof at Mac and that's saying a lot.
Most people scared me by saying she was a tough prof but she was a really good lecturer! If you pay attention and understand the experiments and their significance from her lectures you will do well!! Her final exam had me rushing to finish, and had some very confusing question. Fair but not and easy class. and attendance is mandatory!!
Incredible lecturer, I willingly attended every single class. She makes the material so interesting it just sticks naturally. Funny, engaging with her audience. Attendance is a must to do well.**
Dr. O is a great prof :) Her lecture is every interesting and entertaining. It's a fun class but it's not so easy. YOU MUST MUST MUST GO TO CLASS. She tests mainly on lecture materials. Her tests are not easy, but fair.
Amazing and engaging lecturer, but can definitely be blunt. Encourages higher level thinking. LOVED her testing style, one of my best university marks!
Best lecturer I've ever had! I always looked forward to going to her class. Not a bird course, but a very interesting one. If you pay attention and attend every lecture, you will do well.
interesting class and a good prof. tests were not easy but no means hard. i finished with a decent grade w/o buying the text book. just attend lectures and you can get around mid 70s with ease.
She was the best prof ever! i enjoyed her lectures. However, her exams were HARD. It wasnt an easy course but i bet you would like the lectures.
very clear teaching; fair but challenging tests
one of the best professors at Mac, works really hard to make sure students understand the material. Is really good a teaching material and makes questions that actually get you thinking!
great prof but tests are ridiculous. its not that theyre hard, the questions are just stupid. The questions are always extremely vague, which allows you to kinda ramble about everything you know, then she complains that people are specific in their answers. claims we have to try to figure out what 'the question is asking' like some kind of riddle
Her classes are always super interesting because she seems to be passionate about the material. Some people find her tests difficult, but in my opinion they're not so bad - as long as you know the theories presented in class (along with relevant experiments) and have read the textbook (~25% of questions are text based I believe).
Definitely one of the more interesting lecturers at Mac. She's funny and makes the material easy to understand, especially by using tons of examples of experiments. Tests are pretty difficult, but not impossible to do well if you study properly.
Loved her lectures, they were always very interesting. However, her testing style was not familiar to me. I got 50's on the two midterms, BUT- I created a new studying style in which I wrote a "fake" exam in order to prepare the exam and it worked wonders! I got a 72! Thank god. If you know how to properly study you'll do super well!
If you read the textbook and go to class you'll do well. She's the best lecturer I've ever had. Her courses are well worth taking. She even made child development interesting. Her tests are challenging but not impossible if you learn the material rather than memorize it.
IF YOU CAN, AVOID HER CLASSES. I've taken a few classes with her, & I find she's a very polarizing prof. Many other students I've talked to absolutely dislike her, her demeanor, & her material. Personally, although I got decent grades in her courses, I found her extremely condescending to students at times & not helpful. Hard marker too.
Most difficult class I have taken, not because of the material, but because of the grading. The first exam, overly difficult, more of a riddle to figure out what she wants on the exam. MC hard because each question is the length of the page to read and has to much information to make a fast choice for the time given. You will struggle regardless.
Overly difficult, her mid terms are a large guessing game, along with her short answer. If you can't get inside her head to figure out exactly what she wants and what she's thinking you won't do well at all. The feel i get from this prof is "I suffered to get my degree, so you shall too", a slight cynical view on academia and doing well.
if you don't have to DON'T.
3RM3 was the first class I had with Dr O. I enjoyed her lectures, but the midterms were awful: most people ran out of time and the questions were vague. These vague questions required very specific answers. If you put something that was valid, but not in the answer key, you were out of luck. I tried really hard to do well, but it felt impossible.
If I could turn back time and avoid this class I would. Her lack of clarity on exams is frightening and stressful. She tells her students she amends her marking schemes as to almost imply that "pretty much every student will do poorly". It really is a set up for failure, especially when your prof explicitly mentions this to you the first day.
She's very passionate about what she's teaching and her lectures are great but her tests are kinda difficult. I ended up with a decent mark but definitely had to work for it.
I adore Dr. Ostovich. Yes, her tests are hard if you are only able to regurgitate material; she wants you to really understand and think critically, which I like. She is an excellent lecturer. I have taken three classes with her now and have loved all of them.
This is my lowest mark going into exams. I took it as an elective i thought would be interesting and relatively easy. While it is interesting material, the multiple choice midterms are ridiculous. I have read 95% of assigned readings and gone to every class have a 71 going into the final - I'm usually a 83-88% student
Dr. O was possibly the best prof i've had at mac. amazing and interesting lectures, reminds me why i like psychology. very approachable. only time i've ever experienced meaningful class discussion/participation. i would take any class she offers. both her second yr courses were amazing, so interesting, and i loved listening to her
I have taken several classes with Dr. O & she's the best prof I've had at Mac. The tests aren't difficult if you understand the material - I've gotten an 11 or 12 in every class of hers I've taken without putting in any crazy amount of effort. Her classes are always interesting & I feel like I've actually learned things, rather than just memorizing
Tests are killer, but easily one of the best profs I have ever had! I have learned so much from her, and still remember what she taught long after the class was finished. I always looked forward to coming to her lectures, she's super funny and always engaging
Very lecture heavy. But really fascinating topics! Just her rude demeanour, attitude, cynical tone, and condescending manners made this course unenjoyable. Material is okay to grasp, but her midterms can be hit or miss, need some deciphering. Take this course if you have some wiggle room in your GPA. Is unrelenting and unforgiving for your concerns
Don't like her rude attitude, demeanour, and condescending treatment of students. Material itself was fairly straightforward. Tests a lot of detail from textbook readings as well. Seems cynical and hates her teaching life because she didn't make being a real physician or lawyer. Not accommodating. Very unapproachable and strict with marks. Too bad.
I've taken three courses with Dr. Ostovich and I can confidently say she is one of the best professors I've had. Her lectures are extremely well-organized, are easy to understand, and have great flow. Her teaching style makes the content interesting and engaging. Would definitely recommend any course taught by her; truly great prof.
Not a fan of this prof. Her attitude seemed rude towards students, which made the lecture unpleasant to attend. Also midterms were very harshly marked, even though I studied extremely hard and thought I knew most of what was being asked.
You need to attend lecture to do well, textbook is supplementary but M/C taken from there. Dr. O has been really great at answering emails and is very approachable in class. The content itself is not especially difficult, but Dr. O has designed the course to be challenging. Often has to repeat her definitions many times in class bc they are unclear
Dr. Ostovich teaches Research Methods in an interesting and engaging manner. However, her testing is quite difficult. She only takes specific answers, and memorization is a huge component of the course. It is difficult to approach her, and she is often very busy and does not make time to go over tests with students.
Record the lectures. She says the definitions once and very quickly, and they are not in the slides or anywhere else. You will need to use the key words on the tests, and the bulk of the marks rely on you having these memorized. The key to the tests is having the definitions memorized. She lacks humility, so she is difficult to approach.
Honestly, I don't think Dr. Ostovich has the compassion that is required of a teacher. She constantly makes condesending and demeaning remarks, and is extremely unnaproachable. In addition, she doesn't make the time to address students' questions (through office hours). If you're looking for a mentor, look somewhere else.
She is very unnaproachable, unflexible, unwilling to meet with students, rude, condescending, and her evaluations solely test your ability to memorize information. I thought PNB was an amazing program until I took this course. It needs a new prof to teach it.
Not a fan of this prof. The way she teaches is extremely disorganized and there is no structure to anything. In addition, her tests are brutal and ask solely for definitions of random words. Also, she has such a rude attitude towards students/teaching. Avoid taking a class with this prof if you can.
This prof is a good teacher and explains things well, but the way that she tests sets everyone up to fail.
If you hate textbook readings or skip lectures, this class is not for you. Tests were difficult and the workload compared to other classes is very heavy.
Very condescending and unapproachable. Seems to genuinely make an effort to make testing overly difficult for students by creating vague, open-ended questions that require an unbelievably specific response. Lectures were fairly organized, but it seemed like testing was just designed to set you up for failure, which she almost seems to enjoy.
Dr. O made us work but I learned more in her class than any other undergraduate courses! To be honest, I am only realizing now that I am in my first year Masters that Dr. O had prepared me for this... If you are serious about learning and succeeding in graduate studies later, Dr. O is the real prof for that.
Exams were very tricky. Really poor wording/structure of questions on exams. Also, lectures were not structured very well either, I found them to be all over the place and my notes were hard to follow.
Dr. O is a great person and approachable after lecture. She makes lectures interesting & funny!! BUT can often be unclear/confusing. Tests are difficult to do well on bc of precision required in the short answers. You need to read textbook for m/c and lecture notes for the s/a. All grades were not released going into the exam which sucked.
Poor Dr. O! I think she's an amazing lecturer, and this is the second class I've taken with her. I think she cares about her students doing well and she's hella funny and interesting but i have to agree and say her marking scheme is too specific. So much so, that even if you understand the concept, you might not do well. Love you Dr. O but help us!
I think Dr. O is a great prof. She explains things really well and is always engaging. With that said, she is easily the hardest marker I've ever had. I would study so much and get 50's and 60's. I understood the content too, it's just that her questions are way too specific. Don't take her classes if you need a good GPA.
Really good at teaching, she is funny and teaches in a conversational tone. Easy to follow slides and examples. Really tough tester, it's almost all short answer and looking for very specific answers.
She is a good lecturer but, when she grades you... :( she is one of the hardest marking professors I have had in my 4 years at McMaster. Let's just say there is a reason why she is known as the GPA killer.
Only graded by two tests and the exam, nothign to boost your mark. Her tests were much harder than everyone expected and brought down a lot of averages
Genuinely enjoyed her lecture style, found it very easy to remember content thanks to her many examples. Big focus on experiments in Social Psych. Havent taken a course with her that required short answers so found tests very fair and not overly difficult if you understood the content and attended lectures.
Dr. Ostovich somehow manages to make the most boring-sounding course interesting. Shes organized, clear, funny, and always willing to help students. I love her testing style it actually forces you to understand the material, not just memorize it.
SUCKS. Abrupt and sometimes rude, you cannot miss 1 class. No support in the class at all, she says in the first class that if you email her she will delete it. If you have the chance to skip this class, do.
Unapproachable and not helpful
Really hard because it is not taught well. This class needs a tutorial and has only 3 ta's for over 300 students. The TA's often have to ask each other for answers. The exams are like two part riddles, very easy theories but they need to be applied and I found not well explained. There is no review. The textbook is secondary to lecture. Useless.
Shes a great prof! Loved her in both of the classes she taught, but the midterms were SO hard, and I studied more for them than I have for anything else. You absolutely need to go to class if you want to pass!!
Going into Dr. O's class I was pretty skeptical of how the semester was going to go based on what I've heard about her, and I was pleasantly surprised. Honestly, as long as you go to class and do your work, it's not a challenging course. I found her tests to be pretty fair with no surprise content, and she was engaging and interesting in lecture.
-She talks way too fast when it comes to specfic explanations and concepts we have to know for tests. -She only has like 3 TAs and the class is packed. She should at least have more! -She doesn't post everything she shows on the slides -GPA killer in my opinion
If you care about your grades dont take a Jen Ostovich class. Material was interesting, good lecture style, but youll be guessing at whats important information and whats not. The whole course was a guessing game imo.
Dr. Ostovich is excellent at engaging students. She made the pretty dry material extremely interesting. If you pay attention, take good notes, and read the textbook it's possible to do well. On tests, she looks for very detailed information, and although somewhat unapproachable, she is excellent at giving feedback and cares about her students.
I was hesitant to take a class with Dr. O because of what I heard about her tests being impossible or that she was a hard marker. However, her lectures were amazing and as long as you studied what was taught in lecture and the textbook sections that were clearly outlined, the tests were absolutely manageable. I've learned so much from the course!
You need to answer exactly what she thinks you should answer, no room for you to interpret anything other than the one she explained. don't learn in the way that is helpful to you, memorize her words. in order. good lectures, tests do not match up. makes content harder than it needs to be. doesn't really want you to get a good mark but u learn
Nice. Her lectures are really very good. Her tests are awful. Seems like she's overcompensating for the easy subject matter by making them tricky rather than a test of students knowledge. The average for this simple class was very low every exam on her end. Desperate NEED to be called Doctor, prepared into her lecture slides(inferiority complex?).
good lecturer; tests are purely based on the words she says; slides arent helpful. Tests are much harder than they should be considering the material is fairly easy. VERY specific grading criteria if you dont follow youll fail. Dont expect her to care btw, i had a personal emergency and she refused to meet with me. you CAN do well though
An engaging lecturer, but her tests are worded illogically as she herself admitted. She is condescending in conversation. When I reviewed my test at allotted hours, she inexplicably raised her voice and refused to speak to me until I sat down, after I had stood waiting in a line up to ask her for clarification, and all other girls got to stand.
Lecture heavy, but does not post slides. Textbook was easy to follow, but the short answers which were given on tests were too specific and didn't take too much from the textbook. Quizzes online were also tricky as well. Only positive is that she is an okay lecturer, but personally didn't enjoy her personality.
She is a pretty good lecturer but her personality is really awful. She looks down on all the students and seems to think she owns the whole school. She'll call you out for distracting the class if you go on your phone/whispering AT ALL which was way more distracting than the actual whispering/phone use. Her tests are pointlessly hard to understand.
EXTREMELY hard marker, her grading scheme made it quite literally impossible to pass. Instead of testing students knowledge on the course content, she made sure we included very specific words in our answers on midterms in order to pass, if you didn't, you fail. Lectures are awful, she does not post all slides, makes tests unnecessarily hard.
Amazing lecturer, HOWEVER, does not compensate for her grading. Her test questions are so easy (or so they first seem) until you get your mark back and realize you failed. Doesn't matter if you included a specific point or evidence from a reading/lecture -- if it's not the one she has down you don't get a mark. + Her slides are awful.
Her lectures are fun and interesting but her grading is ridiculously tough. You can know the subject inside out but if the some key terms are missing, down go your grades.
Don't agree with what other people have been saying about her tests being unrealistically hard! I loved her as a lecturer (make sure to attend every class but it's worth it!) and thought that my grades were directly related to how much I studied for the tests. Could have done better if I read more of the textbook but that's on me, not her
Taking her classes online is a nightmare. Lectures aren't going up on time & marking is taking forever. She has changed her entire marking scheme which would be been great if there were proper instructions on how to do our weekly quizzes and assignments. I feel bad for everyone else who has her for multiple classes
literally the worst prof at Mac. She is so rude when you ask questions and is the most unhelpful professor . Her tests and grading scheme is absolutely ridiculous. I recommend that everyone avoids her classes at ALL costs.
She's honestly horrible. The assignments in her courses are so difficult to even pass. There's so much unnecessary work for her class and doesn't even upload the lectures on time.
Her "spec" grading for the Fall 2020 online term could not be any more of a failure. So many are struggling in a time where things are difficult enough as is, and she has no problem telling her entire class that their failures are their fault. Her "pass/fail" grading system that leads to a final letter grade is a complete mess. Unprofessional.
Quite possibly the worst prof I have ever had the displeasure of having. Makes the quizzes incredibly hard and blames all the students when we don't succeed. Does not respond to emails because "everything should be clear on the syllabus (that she altered 3 times already and it's been 2 months). Run as far away as you possibly can.
She's the best professor I've ever had at McMaster, 10/10
worst attitude i've ever seen in a prof. extremely uncompassionate to all students and outwardly blames all the students for doing poorly in her class and literally made us write assignments (multiple) on why our study methods arent good enough to get a 100% on her assessments.
Dr Ostovich is an interesting lecturer to accompany an already fascinating course. I'm not sure how hard this course is in person, but this semester was online and all the requirements are clearly outlined. As long as you follow them, it's extraordinarily easy to get the grade you want. Great course and prof!
Dr. O tried the new specs grading this sem which many students didn't like but if you follow the guidelines she clearly outlines for each assignment you will do well. Things were confusing at the start, but she's super helpful during office hours. Just don't annoy her by asking redundant questions that can be found in the documents she posts.
Too much pressure, anxiety panic. Taking this course will definitely double your negative emotions. Assignments can only be passed or failed. Every assignment is difficult to pass. When you fail a quiz, you will be asked to write a reflection. In this reflection, you can only write about your own deficiencies, not the unfairness of the grading.
worst prof ive ever had. literally demonic. in the last two weeks of class gave us 3 assignments, a final exam, and they are all pass or fail so you have to write makeup assignments. she hates her students and has no compassion especially during a pandemic, and nothing is ever her fault. good luck.
Really depressing how little compassion the prof has towards students in the course. Not only are we virtual learning but there are at least 2 weekly quizzes (3, if you include the only Cengage quizzes which require multiple takes to achieve a Level 1 before the deadline) but as well as assignment which are all pass or fail. Incredibly disappointed
The worst prof. I feel like a subject in an experiment as she tried a new "Teaching method" on our cohort in a pandemic. Does not respond to student emails, makes public posts saying "you shouldnt have q's, should be clear in the syllabus" (that has weekly changes). Very disorganized and late. Not compassionate at all. Unfortunate she has tenure.
avoid at all costs. literally useless. hates everyone. Sets high standards that are impossible to achieve. Requires basically an 80% to even pass the course in general. Does not want her students to succeed. Questioned why so many people were aiming for an A. Very hard to reach out to her bc she gets angry.& posts passive agressive ancmts on A2L.
"Don't email me please! (if you saw my inbox, you would either throw up or cry ... or both).", this is a quote taken directly off our A2L announcement board by Jen Ostovich. She expects no excuses and gives no leeway to students but they are unfortunately all she affords herself. Also pretty sure the good reviews on here were left by her. GL!
horrible. she's the director of my program & so anytime I need to consult someone for guidance I'm basically screwed. doesn't answer emails, is condescending. she tried a new spec grading this term&essentially if you don't give 100% perfect answers based on her very ambiguous questions or outlines, you fail. alwys blames students&refuses criticism
She has good lectures and content. BUT be warned that she makes you WORK FOR YOUR grade. Many people ended with high grades but also a lot of people were disappointed with their marks (the people who didn't read the instructions or do the work). It's hell while you're doing the work but once you've completed it wasn't that terrible.
I spent 80% of my semester on this class and it's my worst mark, there was so much to do all the time. The "spec grading" was ridiculous. I HATED how condescending and passive aggressive she was. Made lengthy announcements 4 times a day that were nothing but rude. The good reviews from this semester were DEF written by her, sounds exactly like her.
She is the RUDEST professor ever, she lacks time management and organization and doesn't care about her students. Don't take a class with her. plus she is BEYOND TERRIBLE in her emails. Truly a terrible prof and will complain if you send her emails. blames everything on the students. terrible. Don't ever do it.
Her "spec grading" was a flawed concept from the start. It had potential, but everything got lost in translation & the TAs couldn't keep up with the ridiculous turnover rate. She tried to correct it, but this just confused students more. Very passive aggressive in writing but nice on camera. But read instructions carefully & you'll succeed.
I absolutely adore Dr. Ostovich. It's true that she is a very tough grader and she has high expectations for her students. However, I feel I have learned a ton from her classes even though my marks don't necessarily reflect that. I'd love to take more classes with her.
Do not take a class with her. Its only been a few weeks since I have been in her class and it was a huge mistake. She assigns the assignment two days before its due and then proceeds to tell us that we cant email her or the TA for help. I got my first mark back and I have never ever received such a low grade. If you can, avoid her classes.
SO MUCH WORK! Readings & tut. assignments every week. In addition to the assignments she releases 2 days before they are due, tells us that we aren't allowed to email her. Hard marker. Not to mention she is incredibly rude "Stop sending emails if your making an appt. The amount of time I spend going through these is unbelievable"
Rude and not an accommodating professor. Will expect you to accommodate her needs though! Large workload, expects a lot out of you weekly. Would not recommend taking any classes with her unless you absolutely have to.
Incredibly rude professor. She gave us our assignment only 2 days before it was due. Posted very rude, passive aggressive announcements. She wants very specific things of you but the assignment guidelines are very unclear. Her lectures were also organized in a very confusing way. She just seemed too busy to be teaching this course.
I do not recommend taking a class with this professor. Very tough, subjective, and unfair marker. Assignments are given two days before they are due (over the weekend) with no rubric. I have received the worst grades I have ever received throughout university experience in this class.
This professor makes everything about her. She is very passive aggressive and rude towards students and in her avenue announcements. When grades are given there is no indication of where or how you lost the marks you did which is very frustrating. She likely just makes the grade up on the spot since there is no rubric provided.
I would never take a class with this prof again, she is extremely passive-aggressive and will give two days to submit a 15% assignment. I have never received as low marks as I did in her class. It seems almost unobtainable to do well unless you crack her marking code, she just seems miserable in general.
Awful professor, not accommodating at all. Very rude & spec grading is terrible. Would not recommend a class with this professor at all.
I have never done poorly in a psych class in my life until I took Psych 3AC3. The grading scheme is just as unforgiving as her exams. She designs them to be extremely difficult with the intent for students "not to finish". Not to mention, they are worth 45% and 55% each. The course heavily emphasizes research studies and that is pretty much it. NO
Honestly I was least looking forward to this class, but Dr. O completely changed my outlook on social psychology... She is one of, if not the, best professor I have ever had. The number one thing I have to point out if how amazing she explains concepts and the time she puts into her diagrams and graphs. AMAZING PROF
Terrible. Avoid her class like the plague. Her TAs are like her minions and are quite literally just as bad.
I get that she has a lot of students across many courses but part of your job description as a prof is to be accessible to your students & to offer SUPPORT! Yet the number of times she would post telling us to stop emailing her was appalling. I don't even have enough room to say everything that is wrong with her so just AVOID HER AT ALL COSTS!!!
Picks a sociological book, then lectures us when we can't find strictly psychological articles for our papers.. Changes guidelines for assignments halfway through the semester & NO clear instructions for the research proposal until the last week of class... she also CANNOT handle criticism, & deflects it all, apparently, nothing is her fault ever!
Great prof but difficult to do well in class. Also, there are lots of readings which makes it difficult to stay on top of work.
I like her as a prof but received an uncharacteristically poor mark in her class (my lowest psych mark to date). She is a VERY difficult tester and I found it very hard to do well on her exams despite spending lots of time studying - they were also worth 45% each so there is little room for error. She loves research and readings.
Super interesting class. Dr O was very careful in how she phrased things in class to respect students' different sexualities instead of embarass them. Weekly assignment was tricky at first but TAs gave good feedback then it was breezy. All MCQ tests, I only skim read the papers. Very happy I chose this course for my exchange at mac!
Her lecture content was very interesting however she is abelist and said I shouldnt need accomodations because I am not in the hospital, eventhough I am registered with SAS.
Dr O makes it extremely clear that she doesn't want anyone emailing her and makes it seem like she has no interest in helping us students. She says things like "only email me if it's an emergency", "if you're here because you failed before, that sucks", overall just stuff that make you contemplate if she is joking or is straight up rude.
I can only describe this professor as a narcissist stuck on their high horse. Several instances where you e-mail her and she will respond with snarky, egotistical, and generally condescending attitudes. Make sure you always exclusively address her with the "Doctor" honorific or she won't help you with your issue (yes, seriously).
if you want to go and see someone so blatantly not give a single f*** then sign up for her class. she is the definition of not wanting to be there. she clearly tells you that she will delete your emails and has a face of disappointment at any question asked. If you want to really see someone walk the line of trying to get fired take her class!!
She is amazing. So kind and willing to accommodate and help her students.
this prof actually does not care about you. your mark depends on two very heavily weighted exams and a useless textbook "mastery training". she gives little to no guidance on how these exams will be marked. she rambles during lectures. I swear some of these lectures could have been 15 minutes long if she just focused on the ACTUAL COURSE CONTENT.
Lecture were very interesting, they were easy to take notes for.
No assignments other than the textbook which was 20% midterm 35% and final 45%. She didn't care when the recordings weren't working and people couldn't get to class.
Horrible course structure, 80% of the grade is based on two tests which the professor barely explains the grading structure for. It is very hard to do well in this course. Would not recommend. I had taken this course as an elective without reading reviews of the professor and the class online, biggest mistake, this course very hard.
Worst prof I had at McMaster by far. She tends to spam Avenue with messages about how we should stop emailing her. Her tests are heavily weighted with no room to dispute since she is too prideful. Her assignments stop you from continuing after a certain period of time. The mandatory textbook is 95 dollars with barebones material. Dont take!
I liked the way she lectured. Content was interesting. Lots of content for 13 weeks. Textbook was one of the worst encountered and unhelpful to clarify lecture content. Tests are very hard and long. Text activities were redundant, money grab. Very uncaring prof. I would like to listen to her lecture again, however I wont take a class with her again
My favorite professor of all time, for a few reasons. 1. Exceptional Teacher. Incredibly engaging both in content and in lecture style. 2. Unbiased. Unlike most social science profs, very undogmatic and includes all sides of every topic. 3. Could say so much more. Tough tests, but I don't even care because the content is worth studying.
I love how she teaches but I just hate how the tests are so hard
The professor has an interesting teaching style, but the course is quite challenging. The tests are very difficult and heavily weighted. While the lectures can be engaging, the required textbook is lackluster. Unstuck ai proved helpful for preparing for the exams.
Don't take her class if you want to live for more years
Don't! Anything old about her on this platform is written by herself.
Anything good about her is written by herself! Run!
Literally hates being an educator? Not really sure why she is a lecturing prof? Overheard her telling the TA to "send us all back to primary school" and that she "gets irritable" when students ask her questions during the midterm hence she just doesn't show up to her own midterm? Course content isn't synched at all with quizzes/assignments. BAD.
Ok so everything written on here is 100% true! do NOT take this course. grading/ test difficulty is insanely brutal and very unfair. however, she is a great lecturer and the content is really interesting. Based on that, I would actually really recommend this course to people if it wasn't such a GPA killer. if you need the grades, don't take this.
I do think she is engaging and good at lecturing however...her tests are so oddly worded which sets you up for failure. She consistently has low midterm averages yet doesn't change her question style- giving prideful/stubborn and doesn't mind her students doing poorly. She can be condescending, also TA for tutorial treats us like literal children.
Dr. O is an amazing lecturer! This class laid the foundation for my knowledge of social psych research and experiments. I get the negative reviews, as I would have done much better in the course had it not been so exam-heavy. However, I don't think the exams are unfair, and I enjoyed the content of this course! It is just important to review a lot
She takes the time to write tough tests, and most of the grade in her classes is based off of tests and the exam. But, she is fair in that she makes sure that she makes time for questions, office hours, and preps tutorials so that students can understand the material fully. Tough but very fair.
Unfortunately I had to take a class with this professor again. Her tests are awful; her tests seem to aim to test application however they are severely ambiguous, massively, long-winded, especially when it comes to the fill in the blanks in a paragraph with options that are very long sentences. It is almost impossible to keep your chain of thought.
Prof. Ostovich is a decent lecturer. Her tests, however, are a poor reflection of knowledge learned. She was overly political and so rude. Class averages for exams are very low, and the final exam was worth 50%. I tried really hard to come into this class with an open mind, having read the terrible reviews on ratemyprof but was very disappointed.
This professor is the worst tester/grader known to man. As someone with fairly high grades in every other course, the fact that I barely passed in SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY?!?! The questions are in fact ambiguous, contrary to what she rated herself on the one singular good rating. Honestly, I have no clue why the school would hire someone like this. 0/10
Dr. Ostovich is a good lecturer and charming. However, her grading system seems outdated. The course provides little support, the textbook's mastery training is evidently useless and so are the quizzes you do for the course. The exam questions are ambiguous, and tutorials do not prepare you. You can spend months and not be prepared, a sad reality.
Dr. O is genuinely an amazing lecturer, the way she teaches is captivating but her grading system is... outdated as others have said. It's a 40% midterm and a 50% exam, and the questions are nothing like what's taught in class or in tutorials. Loved her class and it was one of my favourites, but I won't be retaking another course with her.
If you value fairness and clarity in a course, avoid Psych 2C03 with Dr. O. The tests feel like traps, the lectures don't help, and the blame-shifting attitude is demoralizing. If you're looking to protect your GPA or just want a straightforward elective, this is not the course for you.. Her feedback is repetitive and dismissive, often blaming stud
curving grades is the bare minimum in such cases. Her unwillingness to do so reflects a lack of empathy and a rigid, outdated attitude that prioritizes preserving her ego over ensuring students are assessed fairly.
bro like this prof actually took years off my life. it's not even the course itself that is difficult, it's literally her and her teaching + grading method. impossible to 12 it when her questions are insanely hard. she also makes the class awkward when she randomly tells students to shut up when literally nobody else can hear it except her.
As apposed to the 2C03 reviews this class was definitely easier - had more grade boosting quizzes/assignments but still 35% midterm and 45% exam. Very condescending in her avenue announcements, constantly blaming students, etc. Hard tests (MC with choices A-G). Possible to do well but she definitely ensures her class average wont be higher than 73.
Dr. O is an amazing lecturer. She explains content in a clear and easy-to-understand manner. Her class requires a lot of studying, but it pays off! Her tests are fair, in my opinion. I believe they challenged me, but not too much. Overall, a very interesting course and a passionate professor. Highly recommend!
There was a consistent lack of clarity in the phrasing of multiple choice questions on midterms and exam both worth 40-50% of grade. The professor also consistently posts on avenue about how clear the questions on tests are. No accountability for administrative knowledge (including the req textbook, tests, and quizzes) on behalf of prof.
Do not take this class. You could understand the course content and still fail to comprehend her MC test questions. They often lacked the information necessary to provide answers - failing to specify hypothesis for example. And if you're reading this Dr.O it's not the answers that are the issue it's the phrasing of the actual question itself.
she is my favourite prof i've ever had at mac. her lectures were so informative and she genuinely made me so much more interested in the content. you can tell she cares about students + she is very approachable. i've taken two of her classes and would 100% take more.
Terrible professor, content of course is very easy to understand, yet her tests are impossible since she uses them to trick you, by asking leading questions, and questions that often don't have one answer but several. A lot of questions are also very ambiguous and difficult to understand. Terrible professor, wouldn't recommend taking her course.
The only thing I disliked about this course was how we were basically only graded on one midterm and one exam. If you read the textbook you will do well in this course. Her tests were very fair (some of the questions were straight out of the textbook) and I found her HILARIOUS. I don't understand why she has such a bad review, I loved her.
Dr. O is a knowledgeable, engaging, & hilarious lecturer. Her tests are heavily application-based, and I found myself changing my study habits (for the better) to understand the materials more meaningfully. Dr. O is no-nonsense, opinionated kind of prof, which may be off-putting to some, but I personally find this refreshing. I highly recommend her
Absoutely adore Dr.O. I struggle to come to classes and she made me want to come to every single one. There wasn't a single lecture where I wasn't laughing. She makes the content so interesting and honestly everything you learn in this course is so cool. The tests aren't easy and very application based, but its worth it, and challenge yourself !
I also just want to say that I started off my classes with her deciding I wasn't going to like her bc of ratings of read on here, and that was the worst thing I ever could've done for myself. Form an opinion for yourself, actually try to have an open mind and stop hating profs just cuz your not getting a good grade.
horrible prof. if u care about ur gpa even a little DO NOT TAKE ANY of her classes...
I took her course over the summer, Dr. Ostovich was a great lecturer and keeping the class engaged but was very condescending when you would reach out for help regarding your grade in the course
Honestly, she's an amazing lecturer. She's very engaging, energetic, and fun. Her tests are definitely a challenge. There are very textbook specific questions on the tests, even if she leads to believe there won't be. I found the questions were always pretty subjective and purposefully worded to trick you.
Very easy class, good luck trying to write absolutely anything to her though since she has an insane ego and superiority complex. Very unhelpful and overall just awful to work with. Would not recommend.
DO NOT TAKE THIS CLASS IF YOU WANT A GOOD GRADE!!!! RUN AWAY
do not take this course if you can avoid it. save yourselves and your gpa
Very interesting and knowledgeable
TERRIBLE FORMAT. RUN AWAYYYYY
horrible horrible professor. do not take this this class unless u want to be admitted to the psych ward. midterm worth 40%, EXAM WORTH 50%. Maybe 10 percent of everything taught in her 1 million lectures was on the final exam nothing more. do not waste your time, or your sanity. steer clear of this course.
J Ostivich is two things: a bit socially off, but a very competent professor. She is very fair, a good lecturer, a pretty hard tester but gives you all the tools needed to do WELL (echo 360, practice tests, textbook). If you can push past her slightly abrasive demeanour, she's genuinely a really caring and kind professor! Attend her office hours!
I really enjoyed Dr O as a lecturer!! I felt like her tests were quite fair as well. The exam and midterm is weighted really heavily but as long as I memorized the key terms I was fine.
The worst class I've ever taken, among very tight competition. The final was worth like 50% of the grade, and the slides were useless to study with. Her averages were apparently horrific on the midterm and finals as well. Absolute hell on earth. Do NOT take this class.
No clear guidance, very subjective, if you are looking for someone can decide your grade based on their own preference, Ostovich is the perfect one for you.
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