2.4
Quality3.7
Difficulty34%
Would Retake262
Reviews34%
Would Retake
262
Reviews
Rating DistributionOfficial
5
35
4
28
3
39
2
62
1
98
What Students Say
“Horrible Teacher, and horrible researcher”
PSYC228 - 1.0 rating“WORST TEACHER I HAVE EVER HAD”
PSYC228 - 1.0 ratingClass Info
Online Classes
100%
Attendance Mandatory
84%
Textbook Required
36%
Grade Predictor
Your expected effort level
Predicted Grade
A-
Grade Distribution
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Improving
+0.62 avg changeRatings by Course
PSYC120
3.3
(3)PSYC101H
3.1
(9)PSYC498
3.0
(2)PSYCH405
3.0
(7)PSYC405
2.7
(29)Difficulty by Course
PSYCH420
5.0
PSYC495
5.0
PSYC450
4.5
PSYC228
4.1
PSYCH101
4.0
Reviews (262)
She seems like she would be strict but she isn't she is very helpful, and loves when students come talk to her. Take her studies and participate in her research and you will do fine!
Don't take her class.
Majority of your grade is Blackboard quizzes but they are ridiculous. Don't take her if you want to get a good grade.
Half your grade are online blackboard quizzes that are WAY hard than she first explains them to be. Attendance is mandatory, but class is a waste of time because the quizzes come out of the book, not what she says in class as do the 2 tests. Not the easiest psych teacher to take.
4 out of 250 people got an A on the first exam. enough said. DONT TAKE.
Do NOT take. doesn't post power points online, must go to class to get all the notes. No explanations on topics covered. Only grades are the final and three quizzes.
Very fast talker. Teaches straight from the book. Concepts were only difficult for me because I had not heard of most of them and most everything was new material for me.
Grades don't correlate with the amount of studying, don't take.
She was not very clear or helpful in class. She moves VERY quickly and only lectures, and the SI review sessions are not helpful. There are 3 tests and a final exam but you could study for yours and still do poorly because she asks obscure questions. I finally just bought the $250 book and read it myself and got a B
This was her first year teaching Psyc 101, so I understand why her teaching was rather poor, but I do not recommend her if you're looking for an easy A. She tells you to take notes, yet rushes through every powerpoint slide. Her teaching methods make no sense to me.
Very difficult, only reviews definitions from the book, which I can do on my own. However, test questions are apply the definitions to situations, which you never practice or go over in class. Class is meant for psych majors, but it is a gened requirement class. Poor teaching.
She's nice, but doesn't know how to get the information across in comprehendible way. Goes too fast to take notes, the tests are extremely hard, and there aren't enough grades to help you maintain an A. The SI sessions really don't help, and the extra credit offered isn't enough to make a difference in your grade. Don't take her if you want an A.
Terrible class. Rushes through the chapters and doesnt allow time to take notes. Tests are straight from reading the book. All grades are based on 3 quizzes and 1 final. DO NOT TAKE THIS CLASS.
She moves TOO fast through each chapter and just goes over definitions from the book. If you want to pass you definitely need the book because you are going to have to teach yourself!
Hardest class I've taken in my life. Lectures are useless but you must go because she has random pop quizzes. Her exams are straight from the book and expects you to memorize the entire thing. In order to do well you basically have to be a legit psychologist. Do not take.
HORRIBLE! Class was disorganized. The TAs who taught the labs barely even knew what was going on. She is unclear and the blackboard quizzes are way to hard. Do not take!!!
Terrible at communication. Dodgy lectures. Does not ever answer emails directly, if at all. Dodgy grade keeping. Does not know how to use Blackboard. Very inconsistent. Slides posted online are incomplete at best and often do not correlate to what is on the exam. Do not take.
WORST professor I have ever had in my entire collegiate career. No organization, horrible lecture skills. She is way too involved in her "research" and does not dedicate nearly enough time to teaching. Gives poor direction, if any and she just doesn't even try to connect with students. Please just avoid her if at all possible!
Hardest class i've ever taken. The only advice I have for you is to read the book yourself because you won't learn anything from her lectures and the tests are ridiculous.
This is the worst 100-level class possible. I've never had a teacher as bad as her. Doesn't teach, doesn't care about her class. Loves that she makes people fail. Terrible class and made for an awful semester.
Pretty terrible class. Literally does not teach at all. You walk into class, she reads word for word off of slides, and you leave. Tests are multiple choice, all application questions making the material harder than it really is. Avoid her class if you can. Attendance is not mandatory, and she puts the slides she is going over in class online.
I think this class would be better if we met more than once a week. Lectures are pretty rushed, and quizzes are difficult. However, she does want us to do well, so she's open to questions.
Horrible, horrible, horrible!!!!! >:( Don't ever take her class, it's gonna drag your GPA down! My friends also took PSYC 101 (but with other professors) and their classes were fun and easy, unlike this one. Seriously, don't ever take her class!!!!!
Exams are from the book. She tells you the best way to review is to do the quizzes in the book. She reads off the slides provided by the book and the extent of her actual teaching is adding a few YouTube videos. If you read the book, the exams are really easy, but there's only a few so be careful.
For a 101 class this is definitely hard! There are only 3 quizzes 50 questions each and a final! None of which are easy! The TAs do most the work and test questions are all application! Avoid this teacher
AVOID at all costs! She lectures like you re grad students and rushes through everything! And yes you do get to take both tests online with notes but don't let that fool you. She puts too much effort into tricking you and asking difficult questions you have never seen before and will never be asked again! Thank God for good TAs!
The worst teacher I have ever had. After sending a couple emails to get some info on some stuff, she was completely uninterested in helping me. She never, to this day helped me with anything. The TA was a better teacher then she was and was the only one that taught me anything.
Not a very good teacher, her questions on her labs have so many parts where a certain part of a question may be worth .25 points or .33 points. her bb exercises are stupid, and she's very confusing, unfortunately i got stuck with her because by the time i could register all the good professors were taken. avoid her if you can!
Terrible teacher. The TA's are the only people who will help you and actually care. The lectures could not be less interesting and there is zero engagement with this class. Huge bummer that this class is required for psych majors because it is miserable.
If you can, don't take this class. Pretty cool lady, but doesn't care about this class, there is no text book and makes the tests WAY harder than they should be.
AVOID. Not clear on what will be on the tests and even when everyone fails, tests are curved to a 70 mean. Made this 2 credit class way harder than it had to be
HORRIBLE TEACHER! She made this course way harder than it had to be, I was only 5 points away from having a B. Her grade is caluclated out of 250 points and she would only give me 1 point extra credit for coming to the review session. Horrible teacher!! she does not care about this class at all! DO NOT TAKE! She only gave a 2 point curve on tests.
By far the worst professor that I've ever taken. She doesn't care about students and she makes this class extremely to hard. Doesn't answer emails because she's to caught up in her research. If not for my TA I don't know what I would have done in this class. I worked my butt off to receive the grade that I did. Avoid taking her if at all possible.
worst teacher i've ever had at USC. She gave an extra credit assignment worth 2 points and she only gave me 1 point for writing a paragraph of 500 words! Even if you do all the extra credit, it won't make a difference in your grade, and grades do not reflect the amount of studying. 4 out of 90 people made an A on the 2nd exam which is really sad.
Professor Palomares is a tad bit eccentric. She does have her own research going on so she can seem scatter brained at times. All of her tests are online, open note and open book but they are hard it's all application. She does want you to talk to her for help, she may add points. The labs are very confusing, but that could be in part to the TA
Boring. Assumes you remember everything from previous classes, skips over difficult statistical concepts while repetitively going over basic definitions. Exams are tough and involve a lot of application. Only professor for PSYC 228 or I would have taken anyone else. Really dislike. Had to buy textbooks I barely used.
Horrible Teacher, and horrible researcher. Took her class spring 2014 and it was the worst! She doesn't care about students and purposely wants to make students fail. She is not open to feedback and feels that the 226 & 227 classes are being taught the wrong way, and feels that she needs to intervene to find out what they are teaching. DO NOT TAKE!
WORST TEACHER I HAVE EVER HAD. She is unclear, not there for students and overall just annoying. I learned nothing. This class is simple and if she actually taught the material everyone could get an easy A. Avoid her at all costs.
This is the worst class I have ever taken in my entire college career. She doesn't make anything clear and she is completely disorganized. I was in a section with the lab before the lecture and it was nearly impossible and we received no extra guidance. I would say do not take her but she's the only one that teaches the course... good luck.
So boring. Like really really boring, and she makes you feel stupid. Today, she explained to us what less than, greater than, and equal to signs mean. But it's a decently easy class. You pretty much just review everything you've ever done in Psychology for the umptenth time. And the labs are easy too.
Worst teacher ever. Talks to you like you're 5 all the time (i.e she explained and signs as "which way does the pacman mouth go?") Completely disorganized and doesn't communicate with the TA's so pretty much only good for making life more difficult. Exams are way harder than they need to be, and she is the least helpful human being ever. Don't.
The tests were online and we didn't have class the day of the tests; that's the only good part of this class. I learned more in one hour of reading than a week in class. She's super disorganized, so you NEVER know that something is due until the day of (she changed the syllabus three times so we were lost). Takes her FOREVER to grade things.
One problem I had with the class was that the syllabus was constantly changing. Another is that the tests are online, timed, and you can't go back once you've submitted an answer. Class wasn't too hard. There is a lot of writing for the class but if you do well on a paper you'll get some extra credit. There's also other ec opportunities too.
Melanie Palomares was the worst professor I had at USC. Doesn't care about her students, her exams look like they're written by a 2-year old, and she makes the class a million times more difficult than it has to be. DONT take this class
Her test questions don't make sense and she will often test on material not covered in class. She will require you to read however, none of the material from the book was on her test. Do not take her class
She's a great teacher. The book isn't really needed. Need an iclicker/reef polling. Do your online homework (totally easy) and you'll do fine. Tests are online and tougher than the homework, but doable. 10/10 would recommend.
Dr. Palomares was great with PSYC 101. Things were a little hectic with the hurricane, but she really made an attempt to help us learn despite being behind schedule. She gave lots of chances for free points and extra credit. Online tests were harder than I expected, but we had lots of papers to balance them out.
For honors Dr. Palomares' lectures are pretty basic powerpoints with a few videos. Tests are conducted online and are really hard, but they many questions come almost word for word from the textbook. However, grades are distributed between a lot of different things so an A is very achievable even with poor tests scores. A small amount of EC exists.
Horrible. Class is boring. Her tests are written like she is trying to trick you. Will never take her again, for anything. Group project. Personal project. Class assignments.
I really did not enjoy taking her class. She talks to the class like we're little kids saying things like "You guys know what a VCR is right". Also tries to be funny but ends up being annoying. Also kept changing the syllabus and due dates on things and the homework is ridiculous. It is very complicated and unforgiving the way it works.
Dr. Palomares is the most unorganized and messy professor I have ever had. She talks very child-like during her lectures and never gives a definitive answer when you ask about a due date or an assignment. Her online tests are very tricky and do not properly coincide with the material she teaches in class. Avoid her class if possible.
Literally the worst class and worst professor I have EVER taken. She is extremely disorganized, talks like a child, tests are horribly written, and the online homework was more obnoxious than her voice. AVOID AT ALL COSTS.
Please never take her. I went on this website before i registered and thought that I would be fine. Her tests do not match up with the lectures in class. Half of the things on the tests, we never even covered. This class killed my GPA. She is very disorganized and it shows.
Well, the reviews are true. I took PSYC 228 with her and I thought that maybe she wasn't as bad as the reviews said she was, but she is terrible. This class' material is not very difficult, but she makes it difficult by making you jump through hoop after hoop of busywork and her disorganized class. Don't take her if you can, and if you do good luck
WORST PROFESSOR AT USC. Talks like a child, changes due dates CONSTANTLY. Syllabus is a mess. Doesn't communicate with TAs. Tests are full of trick questions and aren't on lecture topics/book chapters. AVOID IF YOU CAN.
I took her for Psych 101 during the Summer. She was great! the class unfortunately was 2.5 hours long but she made the time go by super quick! she was great and made the material easy for how much we covered for a 16 day class.
Palomares is a very good woman but as a teacher, she is unclear about grades (told me I had a B when I had an A) and overloaded with doing lots of things at once. She uses iClicker polls for attendance daily but they don't count for accuracy. Lots of online, open-book, at home quizzes during the year that really help your grade if you do well.
She is a highly intelligent person, and highly motivated;but not toward being a good teacher. Best way to describe her teaching/grading methods LAZY. She could care less about actually educating students but if you nag enough she'll up your grade. 2 Students could turn in identical papers and get drastically different grades, 1 gets an a, 1 a C-
Her online quizzes were difficult. No exams though (except for the final) which was very nice! Not exceptional, not terrible
DO NOT take psych 228 with Palomares. Her class was incredibly disorganized. Our TA quit halfway through the year and we got no labs back to study from. The tests were online and difficult and made no sense. She is a terrible lecturing and going to her wasn't helpful. I hated this class and I am an A student but I got a bad grade in this class
Avoid. She seems like a fun and intelligent woman, but she's a horrible teacher. She doesn't communicate with her TAs, she is aloof to what we do in lab and does not do well with preparing us for lab or exams. Exams are full of trick questions, and you have to conduct your own study by yourself, it used to be in groups. Class is only 2 credits
Attendance is counted at the end of the course and the polling questions in class are counted for accuracy. She assigns book work not due until the end of the semester but definitely do them before the test, they are very informational. Very jubilant and kind of annoying, her notes are way more vague than the tests so use the book to help
I took the Honor's course, it wasn't terrible, but it definitely wasn't good. Getting a good grade isn't the issue because there's extra credit and the homework that isn't due til the end of the semester is weighted just as heavily as the exams. The exams are tricky and not out of the lecture, so read the book. She is disorganized so teach yourself
Worst class I have ever taken. Lectures are only 50 minutes so material is almost never covered to the full extent. She dumbs down lectures and relies on the TA to teach application of all the terms learned. Tests on all 15 chapters when only covered half in lecture. Lab and inquisitives are the only thing that will keep your grade up. DO NOT TAKE!
do NOT take any of her classes. I ended up with an 89.4 at the end of the semester because she wouldn't give me 1.4 points !!!!!!! She doesn't care about her students and probably only covers 1/3 of the material in class.
Awesome class, it would be really enjoyable with a good professor--That is not Palomares. Her lectures weren't horrible, the only problem was she only taught the first 8 out of 15 chapters. Tests were online but hard, a lot of the questions are found only in the book. To get an A you're gonna have to work your ass off.
you will have a lab section (i didn't know this when i registered) but the labs were easy As. the tests were online and the answers were not in the book or notes but the labs buffer your grade very well so you can do poorly on tests and get a B or an A. She offers a lot of extra credit for shouting out answers too. very nice professor.
tests are impossible but if you go to office hours and review sessions she will help you if you show concern for your grade.
Her tests are extremely difficult, but the class if definitely easy to get an A in if you participate in the other aspects. Material is somewhat heavy, but she has good lectures.
Dr. Palomares isn't the problem. The whole class is a waste. It's essentially a review of PSYC 226 and 227. She makes it worthwhile by teaching SPSS, something that can be used on a resume. The paper at the end is miserable. Make sure you choose a study that can actually be tested using the class. Don't rely on her comments, they are useless
Mrs. Palomares was my hardest professor. She went over slides way too fast and didn't give enough time to copy them. Theres a lot of homework and the tests were extremely hard, especially for a 101 class.
She gives questions in class with really ambiguous answers. Opinion questions have right and wrong answers. It took 2.5 months for her to grade one test. Lectures barely relate to the class and you could skip entirely and do just as well on the tests, but you'd fail because you'd miss in-class questions and pointless group work that affects grades.
DO NOT take Dr. Palomares for 228!! She does not seem to care about her students and makes the homework and final extremely difficult. Labs are hard, her requirements for the final paper is all over the place - and her slides are so disorganized. If you have a choice, DO NOT TAKE HER!!!!
Easiest class you will ever take. All of her tests and homeworks are online. Show up to class if you need the extra credit. She does take forever to grade, took an entire month to grade our online midterm.
Dr. Palomares was one of my favorite professors. She was clear with her grading, let us use the textbook/internet for our exams, and provided us with some extra credit opportunities. If you skip class a lot, you may fall behind, but it's easy to catch up. Would highly recommend for anyone trying to take a PSYC 400 level course!
Okay. If you have to take PSYC 101, take Prof Palomares. She knows what she's talking about, you'll just have to do a lot of extra work on your own time. But if you want to take psych for fun, avoid her. It's not worth the extra stress and time.
She is so passionate about psychology which is such a good thing when it comes to learning about a complex subject. Her lectures are usually very interesting and she uses iClicker quizzes a lot but usually doesn't check for accuracy. Reading the textbook is really important and is what most of the exams are based on. Lab reports due weekly.
I was in an honors section, and although it was lecture formatted she did try to include class discussion which made her lectures more interesting. Homework was usually online and due every few weeks. Lab reports were rare but graded weird, she would randomly take points off and not describe her reasoning well. Tests are online, outside of class
She is a great professor, makes lectures really interesting. she really cares about her students. The only thing I would be aware of is that the tests are extremely difficult, but she will curve it so it is possible to do well and the labs are easy As. She also takes attendance using clickers.
Really what this comes down to is trying to cram in too much material for 101 course. If you're just trying to find an elective like I was, go for something else. It'll take up too much of your time.
Do not take her!!!! She just reads off of the powerpoint slides that you could read on your own at home, but you have to go for clicker points. At first she seemed super nice and like she would be a good teacher but she NEVER responds to my emails. I have emailed her many times without any response. Also the weekly lab reports are a lot of work
Weekly homework takes a while for the recitation class, she uses iClickers for attendance, and there are 3 tests - 2 of which are online. They aren't easy, but you can literally find some answers from google. The final is rough (in class) but she curved it A LOT.
She means well. If you take PSYC 101 have Palomares because she at least tries to make the class better than it is. The only problem is course itself just sucks in general due to the amount of information it expects of students to obtain and understand. Just beware of the Graduate Student TAs who can't really teach/help you.
She starts teaching 5-10 minutes before class begins. Tests are open note yet ALL of the questions are ambiguous and have multiple right answers. Makes getting a good grade on them close to impossible. TAs have told her that her tests are too hard. Homework is easy for the first couple weeks but gets increasingly difficult.
She starts class on the dot and ends it at the last second. Her tests were online and open notes except the final. At the last minute she changed it to in-class and screwed us all over. This class was more than memorization and it was very difficult. Labs were easy which is the only reason my grade was decent. Homework is impossible and took hours.
She talks to the class like we're 12 years old. Exams are nothing like the lecture material, I still am not sure where we were supposed to learn the material that was on the quizzes and homework assignment. That being said, the TA's were amazing and she offered plenty of opportunities for extra credit.
Dr. Palomares' class was way too involved for PSYC 101. She does have a lab section, which is annoying (not every prof has one). Lab papers/discussions every week. Gives extra credit. Tests are not super straight forward. HW takes FOREVER. Talk to her if you have issues. If possible, take someone else.
Professor Palomares is a great lecturer. Our material is fascinating and engaging but we also had to write a paper a week on top of all our reading and online reading homework. If you want a good grade, youre going to have to work a lot
Tests aren't anything like the lectures. You have to go to class because she takes attendance with clickers. Weekly papers and recitation period. Only 3 exams (including the final). Has lots of grade boosters so relatively easy to get an A.
This is the only psychology class I have ever heard of where you had to go to lab every week AND write a paper every week. Her lectures don't even remotely pertain to what are on the tests. She is by far the worst professor I've ever had.
It's unfortunate that Palomares is the only prof teaching this class. The only reason I got an A was because my TA was amazing. Palomares is beyond disorganized, she doesn't communicate with TAs, talks to us like children, complicates simple concepts and her wording is difficult to understand. If you can take this in the summer or online, DO IT.
If you want to do homework until midnight on Sundays take this class. Lots of homework, tests were online but still very difficult. There's also a lab which is annoying. If you don't go to lecture and you miss clicker questions your grade will tank. If you miss 1 inquizitive theres no way for you to make an A.
Palomares is not that bad, she's a nice lady and is passionate about psychology. all of the exams are online and open note except for final. There is a recitation section with a lab report EVERY WEEK and it is so much work. Exams don't match up at all with the lectures and make succeeding on your own very difficult. Also inquizzitive take hours!!!!
Thank goodness we had a great textbook, because her lectures moved way to quickly and were so disorganized. Tests were online, but still very challenging, 10 point assignments took hours to complete, and her poor communication skills caused me to miss a deadline she moved without telling us. She is also impossible to contact.
Tons of work for a Psych 101 class. There were weekly papers with tough exams that had nothing to do with lecture material. Very nice lady who has a passion for psych but still avoid taking her. Psych 101 is supposed to be a easy class and you have to work extremely hard to get a decent grade.
Honestly, if her section is the only one you can get it, just wait and take it another semester. This is honestly the hardest class i have ever taken, even compared to past exams and AP tests. Yeah the exams are online and open book, but you cant find anything fast. So much work for recitation in general. lectures have nothing to do with tests
DO NOT TAKE - required attendance with daily clicker questions, and she is the only 101 professor to do recitations which require papers each week. she does 16 quiz assignments based off the textbook that take at least an hour each to do. exams do not relate to lecture AT ALL, and only relate to textbook. read the book, and you should get an A
If you can avoid it, do not take her class. She is so inaccessible and will go days without answering any of her emails. She doesnt thoroughly explain what is expected and decides to randomly change due dates without informing anyone of the changes. The exams arent hard if you pay attention in class but still would not recommend
The exams were very long and super hard. She was super interesting during lectures but there was a lot of homework and papers due. The homework took me about 2 hours per chapter (there were 15) and there was a lab paper due every week. She was a very sweet lady and cared a lot about what she was teaching and her students.
Palomares seems like a lovely, smart woman but she lectures like she's teaching 3rd grade and her exams are impossibly specific and complicated. The recitation component of this class takes up SO MUCH time-- a lab report/paper is due every week on top of hw and readings. Stay away if you're not interested in psych.
Do not take this prof, she is one of the worst in the psych department. She gives out tons of work that her TA grade. The issue is that the TA isn't communicating with her properly and they have no idea whats going on either. Prof is condescending and makes you feel dumb with her feedback. You won't know what you missed on homework until the end.
The absolute worst professor Ive ever had at USC. She is not the worst because of how hard her course is (which it is), but simply because of how easy she makes it seem vs. how hard it actually is. She also gave us 50 minutes to complete a 35 READING INTENSIVE exam. Which is against university policy, but will they do anything about it? AVOID HER!
She made me dislike psych. She gives assignments not listed in the syllabus based on random, poorly designed experiments in class and then makes her TA grade them. Her exams are all online but have so little from the lectures so it's pointless to pay attention. The final is a group project and she takes iclicker attendance every class. Don't take!!
DON'T TAKE! Attendance is taken every class but lecture is pointless because exams are mostly based on the textbook and random stuff from online. There were also several reports due based on poorly designed/executed experiments conducted during class. There was also lots of confusion about due dates and rubrics due to lack of communication with TA.
awful, just flat out awful.
If you have her for 228 it really doesn't matter because all of the grading's done by the TA. I had an amazing TA and she is probably the only reason I got an A in the class. Palomares uses iclickers for attendance but gives extra credit if you participate in class. The class mainly focuses on using SPSS. Besides labs, there are 2 papers and 1 exam
I enjoyed taking her class, mainly because she always tried to keep us interested and do lots of activities. All her tests were online and gave a structured lab report grading sheet to help us write our papers on our experiments. She has a good personality and really cares about her students.
Dr. Palomares never responds to emails, spends most of the 50 min lecture trying to figure out software and gave us a heavy reading exam in a 40 minute time period that we learned went against school rules. She emails you at 2 am defending her actions and telling the class to suck it up. I wish they would hire another 228 professor.
Skips material that you are responsible for. Assignments are graded unfairly. Reads straight from slides on a PowerPoint everyday.
The only professor on campus whom I hate. She's so boring, ridiculous and grades so harsh that in the end has to curve like a banana. No one in class participates so she makes you use iClicker. Good luck if you do decide to take her.
She is a great teacher that really makes the subject interesting and relatable. I have a lot of fun in that class and she makes the subject enjoyable. There are only 2 tests, a final, a large project, and a few movie discussions plus extra credit.
Do anything you can to NOT take her please. She grades on stuff she doesn't even teach you and questions are hard as hell. Not worth the stress , she seems nice and that the class won't be that bad but I can guarantee you'll regret it, TAs don't even know what's going on, shes the problem!
the class itself isn't bad- just boring. HOWEVER the 2 tests are online and open note/book but the final is in class and fully cumulative. I'm already nervous and don't wish this stress on anyone
She's not accessible outside of the class and the tests are all super specific and hard to do well on. Not to mention the first two tests are open note and online and the final is taken in class. Her class is lecture heavy and she reads from the slides.
Runs through the powerpoints faster than you can type. Terrible teacher. She will actually read word for word from the powerpoint. If clicker questions werent given, I doubt anyone in the class would come.
Took over a month to put in the first exam grade. The TA graded the first activity and based it off a rubric the class was never given so everyone got a horrible grade on the first activity. Gives you study guides but those arent even worth looking at. reads off the slides the entire lecture and gives about 10 clicker questions during lecture
Probably the worst professor I've had at USC. Class is mandatory and attendance is take the first minute of class with an iClicker, but then she spends most of the class having technical difficulties and software issues. Whatever time is left in lecture she spends reading straight off of the slides. The key to this class is to get a good TA.
Everyone did bad on the first test and then was given a follow-up test which was awful. literally saved by the TA. she didn't teach us exam materials at all. specially never knew about study design question until 2nd exam. Too much work for a 2 credit course which sucks. everything was put so late on blackboard
First two exams are easy online, final exam is in class and extremely hard and specific. Lectures are extremely boring
I was lucky enough to make a B. I have never met a more passive aggressive individual in my life. The type of teacher who will smile in your face but talk behind your back even about individual students, and her office hours are at the starbucks outside of the cafe, which already breaks an ethics standard at the University. Cannot teach.
This class is mostly about using SPSS and research. Dr. Palamores is very nice, but I just think the class needs to be restructured. Thankfully I had a wonderful TA for the class. One thing that really bothered me was the lack of communication between her and her TAs. It really showed and the ones who suffered were the students.
All exams are online and all homework is online! a few group projects that are all very easy, would definitely recommend her!! She uses an iClicker for attendance but other than that an easy A
Dr. Palomares is very nice and knowledgeable on the subject. I bet she would be better to take for a higher level class, but I've never taken psych before and it was hard to keep up. You need to read the book and really study. First 2 exams are online and easy, final is impossible. Do the homework and read and you should be fine.
She teaches less than a fourth of the information that you will get in the homework. For the love of god get the textbook, otherwise each of the 15 homework assignments will take you more than an hour and a half, because its all online homework (that you have to pay to access) and that has four times the amount of information on it than she teaches
She was the only teacher that taught this class and I was forced to have her as a teacher. This was the last semester of college for me and she made it hell. She is the worst teacher i have ever had. She gave us a ridiculous amount of work and graded extremely unfairly. When I asked her about my grade, she got very defensive.
She put grades in last minute and decided to make up things that were never on the syllabus to begin with. She is extremely passive aggressive and I learned absolutely nothing from her even after going to every class and office hour. She has not adapted to the pandemic at all and expects ppl to do even more work online. Do not take her at all!!
AVOID TAKING PALOMARES AT ALL COSTS!!! her class is unnecessarily hard, rambles on during class (not to mention yelling during the whole lecture), and is NEVER available outside of the classroom outside of office hours that she sets.
To be honest I don't think she's as bad as some of the reviews says she is. I looked her up on this site prior to taking her and was skeptical bc of the bad rating but the class isn't extremely difficult. She's really bad at responding in a timely manner, but my TA was great so the class turned out pretty easy. There is ample extra cred opportunity
All her exams (2) are online and are very easy! She does take attendance and you have to attend class for participation credit. She also offers extra credit, the 3 papers she assigns are easy to do and the final group project is very simple as well. Anyways overall the class should be an easy A and you don't really have to try.
I loved this class and her. It is an easy A. Her lectures were funny and entertaining and she has lots of extra credit opportunities. Having a good TA makes this class even easier. I didnt find her passive aggressive like the other comments, she was very helpful. She is bad at answering emails, but this class is fun. The one exam was open note.
Her lectures were based off of powerpoints, she went through them very fast, & there was a lot of content. We only had 3 activities, the midterm, and the final. Attendance & participation are HUGE, but mine was not accurately reflected in how she graded. Her exams are online and open resource (Quizlet!) but you need to attend class and participate!
The class was pretty lecture heavy, but the exams were all online and on quizlet. I didn't even buy the textbook and was fine. I thought the activities were fairly easy as well. Her instructions were unclear and difficult to understand sometimes, but overall a good professor.
This class was far easier than 227. Dr. P is very kind and a great lecturer. Most of the assignments are graded by TAs. You do need to attend the lectures to understand whats going on. It may seem overwhelming at first, but the class is very informative and Dr.P makes it painless.
This class itself intimidates people, but dont let it! Take it week by week and ask questions. Palomares is not bad. The bad reviews must be from lazy people. She is willing to help. Just make sure you pay attention, go to lectures and lab and youll be fine!
Really nice lady and tries to make dense lectures interesting and accessible. Easy clicker/poll questions at the beginning for attendance (stuff like "How are you?"). Used summary slides of book she uploads instead of book and was pretty ok. Online book assignments slightly hard. Only 3 papers, but take some time. Engaging.
Please do not take Professor Palomares. Her lectures are mandatory and consist of no useful information. Her exams are impossible so be prepared to fail them, she will curve them and they do not affect your grade. INQUIZITIVES are the worst, they take hours and are so frustrating. Do yourself a favor and don't take her.
She is a good professor. You definitely use the textbook a lot and really need to read it all in order to get a good grade.
Really nice woman, very knowlegable. Sort of just reads off the slides, but homework (which you have as many attempts at as you want) are worth approximately 50% of your grade. If you do the homework and perform well on the final that makes up about 415 out of 500 possible points, not bad at all.
Palomares was a good psych 101 prof, her lectures were just so boring. If you do the homework and projects, you'll be more than fine
Prof. Palomares is really nice, but I really can't stand this class. The quizzes are not based off her lectures, and the only exam is the final. She does given extra credit and participation points with the clicker. Some group work, but nothing too overwhelming. Lectures are somewhat entertaining but taking notes is a waste, the textbook is better.
The cumulative final is worth a little more than 40% of your grade and there're things on there that she doesn't even teach you in class and all of a sudden are on the study guide. The TA had to get us multiple attempts on the quizzes because they were so difficult. Group projects and labs are easy. Lectures really have nothing to do with quizzes.
Easy A up until the final that is worth 42% of your grade and not based off of anything you were actually taught. Questions were so specific as to ask for the name of an experiment only spoken about on one page of the 200 page textbook. She curved the exam 20 points because everyone failed so bad. Really nice person, but an awful professor.
okay, so this woman gives us no specific information on what to do at all for our group projects. I still do not know what to do for it. This exam is due October 3rd and it was posted October 3rd with no information that it was happening at all and NONE of the stuff on the exam wasn't even talked about in class. Overall don't take her class.
Shes great at helping understand if you need it and really is willing to help and gives extra credit when needed. People complain because they arent putting in the work it requires. They also expect to not have to do that work in a COLLEGE course they requires deeper analytical thinking, but shes really good and if you study, youll be fine.
She is a really sweet lady, but I personally don't like her class. Whenever we were going over our horrible first exam grades she kinda just brushed it off and added this thing where if you speak in a class of 200 people you can get extra credit. If you put in the work, you'll be fine. There's just a lot for a 101 class.
You will learn things in class, but she is a horrible communicator and doesn't prepare you for what will be on exams or give adequate prep time for "group assignments". Causes way too much stress and makes it harder than any other psych 101 or 101 class in general
Complete lack of communication in this class. Major assignments being added or dropped days or hours before they were due, with no warning or notification. Major questions added to the final and an extra essay assigned two weeks before finals. Seems like a nice woman, but the teaching style ruined what should have been an interesting class.
Prof. Palomares was very kind and funny, but her class was not the easiest. To get a high grade you really have to read the textbook and do the Inquizitive homework yourself. I took notes on the textbook (notes can be used on tests) so that helped a lot. It is a lot to remember but overall not a super hard class!
She is a nice person but lacks in teaching overall. Palomares reads off her slides and when it comes to exams NOTHING she teaches are on the exam. It is also frustrating that she doesn't communicate well with her students. She assigned a group project and did not give us any information on what we should do.
Although Prof Palomares is very nice, she is not a good prof. We never discussed what we would be doing in lab so our TAs would have to teach us. Homework usually has nothing to do with what you talk about and the exams are insanely hard. Avoid this professor if you do want to stress out.
Dr. P is a textbook 101-level prof who is there to do her job and that's it. She's really nice, but clearly reads off the slides in class (which you really don't need to go to, either- the tests are on the book and open notes, so just go once/wk and take notes, you'll be fine). Attendance is taken on an app, so do what you need and you're good.
This class was lecture heavy and there is iclicker questions to track attendance which adds up to both an attendance grade and a participation grade. The material is not hard but her tests are all application questions. However, she allows hard copies of notes for exams. A huge downside is that she goes way too fast through her lecture slides.
She uses a lot of her information on tests from lectures and will use difficult questions. Even if you have a 100 in the class by the final you can still easily get a B because the grading scale is tough. The class requires a lot of studying for exams because that determines your grade.
Palamores is a nice lady and it is evident that she cares about her students, HOWEVER this was my most difficult class this semester. The class is 100% lecture based and attendance counts for a grade. The notes from class have little to nothing in common with the actual exam, nearly impossible to succeed. Do not recommend.
Palomares is nice but is very confusing. The lectures and the homework do not line up. The only reason I passed was because of my TA. The TA explained the material so much easier in lab. He also held review sessions before the exams to help us. Hope for a great TA if you have to take her. She was the only one teaching this class that semester.
In 228, there's basically a 50 min class where the she explains what we're going to do during lab, and the TA is the actual person who helps you throughout the class. The HW and labs are pretty easy if you take time to do them. She's definitely not as bad in 228 because she doesn't have as much responsibility teaching us as in her other classes.
Interesting class but she doesn't give you any time to write down notes and there are only 2 tests. Group projects are easy but take outside communication. I would take a different professor.
She is a fast lecturer which makes it difficult to take notes but she knows a lot about the subject. none of the hw is too hard, she gives extra credit if u participate, i don't and i still have an A. There's only a midterm and a final but if you study it's not too hard. not a bad prof & if she slowed down a bit I would have no complaints
She is very nice but her tests and homework are so vague. I have been really frustrated with this class. I am stressing about writing my 10 page paper because I have no idea what I am doing
Shes kind of nice as a person but that doesnt matter when you need a good professor who helps you understand the content. She flies through her slides pretty much just reading off of them, and everything is out of order because shell go back to previous ideas so taking notes is a nightmare. This is a typical A student telling you- DO NOT TAKE
She is very nice but I didn't even bother taking notes because you can only get one or two words down before she changes the slide. There are only two tests that are NOTHING that is spoke about in lectures. Note taking is miserable in this class. I don't recommend.
dr. p is a sweet lady, but a terrible professor. she zooms through her lecture slides, reading directly off of the slides and not explaining anything, expects you to read 40+ textbook pages per chapter (15 chapters), and assigns 2 group projects in a class with 170+ students. Lectures and test be all over the place. PLEASE AVOID!
worst professor of my college career. Condescending, rude, unorganized, the list goes on. The only saving grace are the TAs.
Dr. Palomares is a nice lady, but her lectures are boring and she goes too fast to take notes. Only two tests that aren't even based on lectures and have fill in the blanks with zero context. Gives many EC opportunities. Inquizitives (Homework) are annoying and time consuming and she is difficult to reach outside of class. Take another professor!
She goes very fast in her lectures, though she does record them so you can go back and look at what you missed. There are a couple a group projects which were not too bad. The tests aren't super hard, though she doesn't do much to prepare you for them in the way of practice questions. The homework is easy, as long as you've read the textbook.
I read the reviews thinking the class wouldn't be that bad, this was my third class with Dr. Palomares and this one was by far the worst, the inquizitive homework is unbearable to do and takes many hours to complete. 50% of your grade is based on exams which is only two for the year both being very difficult. Stay away from this class.
Material and the execution of that material was fine in lecture, but a lot of additional information that was not covered was expected to be taught by TA's. Over the course of the whole semester there was so much pressure on the TA's as a whole. Half of the time they didn't know much more than what they were told and it wasn't helpful.
Kind prof who is very excited to teach. PSYC101 is a lot though, the lectures go very quick and you will read a ton. Luckily the textbook isn't too boring and the online homework works well. 2x group projects. Exams are open note/NO BOOK; make special note of in-class examples and practice w/ inquizitives. No curve, but lots of extra credit.
Psych 101 covers a lot of material, and Dr. Palomares does move through it very fast. However, lectures were very interesting. Attendance was mandatory but could be done online through blackboard streams. Lots of homework, but very easy as long as you stay on top of it. Open note tests and final.
I've had two classes with this teacher and she recommends doing 8-12 hours a day on her class alone which is ridiculous. she then makes you do homework on respondus lockdown browser which makes taking notes even more tedious and the notes you can print out that she gives you has 10% of the information that you actually need.
She talks really fast so notes are hard to take
I loved Dr. Palomares, she was fun and energetic. I dont know why her rating is so low she made me excited to go to class! The homework was easy and was the tests were open note. You still have to study but the class is not terribly hard. She gives a lot of extra credit. I would def take one of her classes again.
I'm so surprised how low her score is, I really enjoyed her class. She's really nice and is good at giving analogies and lecturing. She gives a lot of extra credit and all exams are open note and virtual so you don't have to go to class. She's also easy to reach outside of class.
Lectures are interesting and exams are open note. Only reason why I don't like this class is because lectures are nothing like the test. She relies on you to learn from the book and itnquizitives along with the lecture notes. Overall not a lot of work, and exams are worth a few points. Final is worth 30% of your grade though.
impossible to get a hold of, had to go to the supervisor
Teaches by slides, but slides don't align with ones posted. She takes attendance by iclicker (wifi issues). HARD open note tests. I would personally print every single slide and still fail. Tests don't count for much credit, but inquizitives do. Inquizitives allow you to try as many times as possible until you get a 100, but take about 3 hours.
She gives extra credit ALL the time, shes very nice/helpful and Ive learned a lot! Her tests are online & lockdown but are all open note. Take notes on lectures, the inquisitive, & the book & youll be fine. Ive done that & been good. Shes slow in terms of pacing and her tests are more application based but dont be scared to take her! shes awesome
Goes through info way too quick. Impossible to get ahold of via email. She will send emails, but ignore yours. Info covered in class is not on the exams. The exams are extremely difficult. Majority of my class failed our midterm. She asked us for constructive criticism, but deflected and did not change her exams or teaching style. Do not take!
Attendance is taken by iclicker and can join online or go to lecture, inquizitives are a majority of the grade which is what saves everyone but they take SO LONG to do. The tests are incredibly hard and even though they are open notes, she doesn't give enough time given to look through all the questions let alone flip through notes.
Dr. Palomares is firm, outgoing, and friendly! Her lectures are engaging, but not reliable because she goes through the slides fast and they're not in order. Expectations are easy to follow: you read (a LOT) and take 4 exams throughout the semester. Tips to pass: do NOT procrastinate on Inquizitives (reading modules) and take organized notes!
Her exams don't accurately portray the materials from the lecture and texture at all. The slides on Bb do not match the ones that she uses in class. The inquizitives (homework) are frustrating and takes hours to do and one is due every week. She tries and is very caring but it honestly isn't enough idk whats her deal. But she's super sweet
Tests suck and the class is powerpoint heavy. Tests are open note, she gives out a study guide that is just topics from chapters, so who knows how much of said topic you are supposed to know. First test there were psychologists that we had to know, didn't get one question regarding them, instead got questions that I did not take enough notes on.
She uses Respondus lockdown browser which is very annoying during exams. She would ramble on about stuff that had nothing to do with the test. She fails all of her students by not preparing them for tests. She is a terrible teacher overall and just do not take her if you want a good grade in psych.
please, if you have the option, do not take her. her lectures have no correlation to the exams. she has no sympathy for students. it is the end of the semester and i am still learning new things about grades/assignments. i am a good student and she made me feel dumb.
I'm gonna be very honest, this woman did her best to teach among the ungrateful and lazy students that participated in this class. It's a shame that I had to work hard to put everything in on time just for students who very clearly do not take university seriously to complain about grades because they don't put in any effort.
I have held an A in this class all year, never missed a deadline, and tried hard on all my assignments. I missed the last inquisitive for this class because I was sick and it dropped my grade two letters. When I emailed her about it she basically told me she didn't care. You will not learn anything from her class.
I did not enjoy taking Prof. Palomares course. She rambled in lectures, did not prepare student's for exams, and graded heavy. I tried very hard in this class as it is my major but I do not recommend taking her class to anyone. However, homework was graded higher than exams so as long as you do the homework, you'll pass. Also, open note exams.
Do not care about her feelings she is the worst professor I have ever had. The assignments are useless and she doesn't teach you half of what is on the homework. It is easy to pass the class but it is entirely useless if you dont need it for a credit or something. Her voice is ridiculously annoying too and overall the class is a freaking joke
The most disorganized professor I have ever had. She refuses to post the PowerPoint & does not it to guide her lectures well. In the first 20 minutes of class, she just goes over what we learned last class in detail. She's a cool person & has great energy just an awful professor. Tests are hard just for the sake of it, don't pick her.
The syllabus/schedule are not followed or updated, so there is no outline to guide you.Refuses to complete my disability accommodation testing agreement because it "does not matter" for this course since all exams are online.Uses jumbles of unclear words in length explanations, as if she doesn't really know. She's very sweet just an awful professor
She's by far the most AWFUL professor I have ever had. The slides online aren't the same ones she uses, she rambles about one or two concepts for months and never mentions the content that's on the test. She's extremely disorganized and I can't believe she's still teaching with how ridiculous the class is. Seems like a cool class but she ruins it.
I was so excited to take cognitive but she really ruined it for me.She sets students up for failure and then blames students when they run into issues.Her 'updated syllabus' is so wrong but she keeps referencing it when we ask questions about due dates. She is unorganized, uncooperative and a bad listener. I really hope she reads these and changes.
Dr. Palomares is definitely not the best prof I've ever had, but once you get into the groove of how her class works, it is very easy to succeed. Don't take in depth notes during lecture as all of it is covered in the InQuizitives. Base your notes on the hw. Take notes about case studies in class. This class requires high effort but it is bearable.
good professor! weekly homeworks on inquizzitive, two exams that are open note, two easy group project. mandatory attendance (iclicker) but easy class if you do your work on time. repetitive lectures but engaging. she loves participation! pretty easy overall.
Dr. Palomares is an ok professor. Her lectures don't relate to the tests. Tests are based on the textbook. They're online (Respondus lockdown) and open note. As long as you read the textbook and do the inquizitives, it's easy to make an A.
Her lectures are boring. The homework isn't difficult. There are lots of extra credit opportunities. Go to her review sessions before tests.
I LOVE HER! I've had her for lower level courses but she's just so much better for higher level courses with smaller classes. She's literally so cute and tries to make class fun even though it was really difficult material and concepts. As long as you did the work, you got an A. She genuinely wanted everyone to understand and do well in the class.
Tests are mainly based on her lectures and specific examples she mentions. Stay on top of the inquizitives otherwise you will regret it later. Papers weren't too difficult but take some time.
Absolutely one of the nicest professors I have ever had. She cares about her students so much and does check ins. The work is super easy and I would highly recommend for a quick credit.
love her! very engaging and she is very understanding and works with her students. the class is heavy on textbook but also on lectures. lectures are very interesting. tests are on respondus lockdown but are open note. uses iclicker for attendance. posts recordings of lectures often. i would definitely take her classes again!
LOVE Dr. Palomares! Little homework, large group reports, each exam covers 3-4 chapters (open note, on Respondus, MC/SAQ). SAQs are the most time-consuming + the bulk of points so be prepared to read and make organized notes (her slides provide overviews so details are limited). Overall energetic & caring prof, j not-so-great organization. 9/10!!!
I love Dr. Palomares!! You definitely need to put work into the class, but that is because the material itself is difficult. There are about 4-5 exams with group papers, and inquizzitives are optional, but they help a ton with the exams. There are so many opportunities to get extra credit, you just need to put in the effort.
This was by far the worst class I have ever taken here. The lectures have nothing to do with the tests and the study guide also has NOTHiNG to do with the test. She talks about what she wants to discuss during the class, but the test is on obscure information that was never mentioned in lecture. When asked for help, she gives none. Do not take her.
She is really nice! But, being nice didn't make her class structured. The content itself isn't difficult; I am taking a class learning similar content and understand it great! She jumps around powerpoints which she doesn't provide and seems to just pick thoughts at random in lecture. Only take this class if you're willing to learn from a textbook.
She is a good online professor for PSYC 120
In my personal opinion, Mrs. Palomares is a great professor and incredibly nice. As long as you take notes during the lectures, you have what will be on the exams. Her class is about application so it is a little more difficult than answering questions about straight definitions. This class takes effort, but it is possible to do well in this class.
I really enjoyed Dr. Palomares! I'm giving her a 4 instead of 5 is because she doesn't post any powerpoints or notes online, so you HAVE to attend all the lectures to get them. The material is relatively easy, look over your notes and do the homework and you'll be fine. I feel as though it would be very difficult to fail her class.
Her lectures don't have much to do with the exams, but you can use your notes. Lectures were boring (D1 yapper), but she's a nice lady and offers extra credit opportunities and office hours. Reflection prompts and inquisitive assignments every chapter.
The inquizitives killed me. you had to pay for the textbook with inquizitive option plus iclicker subscription. Attendance is mandatory and she offers a lot of extra credit. Her lectures aren't that boring either. This course was just a lot of information and her tests are all open note including the final so you had to apply your knowledge. Mid.
I took this class as one of my Honors requirements and would not recommend this professor to future students in honors. She is a nice person, however, the lectures never cover what is actually going to be on the exam. She spent way too much time going on random tangents, leaving the students to teach themselves.
Dr. Palomares is so interesting and enthusiastic in her lectures and you can tell she cares a lot. The homework was Inquizitives which helped a lot to learn the material. The textbook has a lot of information and vocab for the tests so I recommend studying that instead of relying on her lectures. There's four exams and the last one is cumulative.
Professor Palomares was knowledgeable and nice, but very scatterbrained. Her exams were difficult and did not correlate with her lectures. She also never posts her powerpoints or materials, so it is difficult to study. A nice lady, but not a great professor, especially for an Honors course.
I really liked Dr. Palomares, and I thought her lectures were interesting, but I felt like the class was way more difficult than it needed to be for an intro to psychology class. Exams were open note, & content did not align with the lectures. Read the textbook and use those notes for the tests. She offers a lot of extra credit opportunities.
Good professor and willing to provide additional support outside class. Tests are very difficult and are comprised of content from very specific points made in class and sporadically throughout the textbook. Attendance is mandatory and is tracked using an app.
Dr. Palomares is super funny and tries to make the labs engaging and relevant to the modules. The course itself is difficult because it leans into the neuroscience aspect of cognitive psychology (it's called the "baby brain" class for a reason). She jumps around the slides a lot, but lectures are recorded, so you can go back and rewatch them.
She is one of the most annoying professors I have ever had. Reads off slides in lectures then grades harshly if you read off your slides during group presentations. The tests barely correlate to what is being taught in class except for scientific experiments used as examples. The final is based on group presentations rather than her lectures.
Class is lecture heavy and tests are extremely difficult and application based. Attendance is mandatory and used through an iclicker app, however due to the size of the class my wifi was spotty and sometimes would not catch my attendance. Does provide a lot of extra credit though. I would not take again.
The class itself is pretty easy, and she is nice, but she does not give you enough time to do pretty much anything based on how she formats the labs. She forgot to give us a rubric for a major project but still graded us to it. She also only gave us a week to work on a huge final project and paper because she is so bad a t time management.
3 week summer course. so much work literally dropped it. trust me dont do it, im taking it in the fall lol.
If I had a job or a ton of other commitments I would not have done well at all. She can be a bit confusing and the content is a LOT, as it is with any may-mester. But I would not recommend taking this specific course unless you can give it practically all of your time.
Dr. Palomares' class is lecture-heavy with challenging exams. Attendance is mandatory, but the material can be tough to grasp. Utilize unstuck ai, the textbook, and office hours - it'll pay off.
I LOVED Dr. Palomares! She is so interesting to learn from. Reading and notes from textbook are mandatory to do well on all exams because she doesn't cover everything in class. Exams are open note that can be thought provoking, but not hard to get high Bs/low As on. Also you have lab reports, but they are done in groups and are easy As.
oh my gosh. do not take her. having this class online was harder than in person. everything was unorganized, tests do NOT have enough time, and i swear she grades so precisely it is so annoying. even the notes were barely enough to pass every test.
Dr. Palomares is very passionate about this class and you tell in her lectures what she teaches is on the exams, which are easy. The inquisitive homework is easy and basically just a grade booster. The journals are sometimes a pain and due on weekends but still pretty easy if you pay attention in class. Also gives a lot of extra credit in class
Does not communicate with students and difficult to get in touch with. Assignments can be confusing and she offers no help. Do NOT take her
If you put the work in for this class, you should be able to pass. Attendance is mandatory and you should definitely read the textbook so you have more context. There's so so much extra credit to get points back! Also, notes are allowed on every exam so that should help a lot.
Ms. Palomares is enthusiastic and makes lectures interesting/fun. The content is a lot but it is not hard to understand. Her tests are kind of weird (example heavy) but there are a lot of grades (many completion) so it is not hard to do well in this class. She has lots of insights/ideas if you are interested in psychology.
She's a very kind person, and helpful when you ask her questions. Her lectures are very engaging and memorable and she incorporates lots of activities and fun assignments. Though, the tests are difficult and reading is heavy. You have to attend every class to have necessary information because some test information was only spoken abt in class.
This is my 2nd time taking her and I love her even more. Dr. Palomares is very knowledgable and an incredible professor. Lectures are always engaging and she makes the material so interesting and fun to learn. There is homework every week and you definitely need to study for exams, but she gives all the resources necessary for you to succeed.
The worst. Got an A, but it was really hard to enjoy this class because of her teaching style. Lectures are useless for the tests because they are specifically from the textbook, and are boring and hard to follow because she jumps around different topics, moves slides fast and doesn't post them on BB. READ THE TEXTBOOK & take DETAILED notes on them
Dr. Palomares was an excellent teacher, she does have a decen workload (1-3 assignments a week + tests every 3-4 weeks), but provides a ton of extra credit opportunities. I recommend to participate by raising your hand, attend all of her lectures/iclicker questions, and go to the SI sessions on top of the normal work. 5/5 stars.
Overall great teacher. For psych 101 she lectures in class and you have assignments to complete for every module there is. Tests are a little difficult, but if you truly understand the material being taught, you should be fine. TONS of opportunity for extra credit.
Took this class my freshman year and still strongly dislike this lady so much I had to come back and rate her again. The WORST professor I have had at USC and it has become very clear she had no idea what she was even doing. Do not take her if you value your will to live.
She is super sweet and helpful outside of class, but not a great lecturer. Textbook is mandatory and you have to read it, information in lectures is straight from the book but not super helpful for the exams. Exams are open note but super difficult. Lots of extra credit opportunities given, but just a ton of work and tricky exams for a 101 class.
She is nice but the lectures do not prepare you for exams even with them being open note. Exams are unnecessary long and difficult and a lot of the material tested isn't talked about in class. Lectures were very boring. There are opportunities for extra credit but they are only worth about 1 point and some are a lot of work. Lots of homework.
I loved her! It was difficult for a 101 level but was engaging. Always had open discussions in class. The homework was online & easy. Tests were open note but hard since it's apply your knowledge based. iClicker for participation & attendance. Extra credit opportunities. Office hours!! (I got points back on a test for talking through it after).
Soooo much extra credit. also do the homeworks they help your grade a lot. Attendance is iClicker and if you're in class and answer she gives you extra credit. She's sweet and is passionate and it is a chill class
She's a really nice person and her lectures are super interesting. I'm shocked by her rating, I expected it to be higher! She helps students, gives lots of extra credit, and the exams are open note. The only issue is that the exams are really long and there's not much time to finish.
Super underrated. Cares about students and great lecturer. Lots of homework but easy. Tests are open note and hard but if you copy and paste the figures from the textbook you'll do well. Difficult at first, especially if you've never taken a psych course (me), but if you do all the homework and do alright on the tests you'll be fine.
She is honestly such an amazing teacher and very kind.I do admit, it is very lecture heavy and attendance matters a lot, but as long as you show up to class, listen to her lectures and complete the homework assignments, then you will do great. She gives tons of extra credit opportunities and test corrections.
Gives ton of extra credit. Very forgiving, the only thing is her lectures are absolutely useless and she just yaps for 50 minutes. You HAVE to read the textbook & do the assignments. If you take notes based off her lectures only, you'll fail. Read every chapter of the book (You have a week per chapter its easy),you'll get A+ on the tests like I do.
This class is formatted terrible, the lectures are long and don't prepare you that well for the test they are also always jammed packed with information you will never use information that never pops up on the tests and makes it very hard to study
So much busy work and tests are not like study guide
My class had 280 seats, so although it was challenging, she was interactive with the students.
Dr. Palomares is a nice lady but her lectures do not help and you will benefit more scrolling instagram reels all class and then reading the textbook yourself. Gives a ton of busy work but are easy grade boosters. Tests are worth 50 points and she gives a fair bit of extra credit. Attendance is used with iclicker if that tells you anything.
I genuinely do not understand all the bad ratings. She was really sweet and not as boring of a lecturer as people claim. She gives out a lot of extra credit, and the tests aren't that bad if you do the homework and study.
Dr. Palomares is truly a good professor! Her class is doable if you attend classes and do the homework and attend the study sessions. I expected this class to be difficult but its quite easy if you pay attention
She herself is engaging however her lectures are not at all easy to follow and she does not post the slides. The class is just a lot of busy work tbh. She has a final exam and Final group project which is given over thanksgiving break. She cant understand blackboard so our group didn't even receive a rubric for the project.
I really enjoyed Dr. Palomares. She is very lecture heavy and gives cheat sheets for tests. There is a lot of work to do that I would just count as busy work. There are 4 exams and then a cumulative final at the end. Attendance is mandatory for the class through iclicker. There are also occasional SONA participation studies that you have to do.
Super easy to get an A in this class as long as you go to class and do the homework. She gives a lot of extra credit opportunities and her tests aren't very challenging if you pay attention in lecture and read the book.
I don't know whats going on with all of these incredibly low ratings. Dr. Palomares is the sweetest professor i've ever had and is very passionate about what she is teaching. Your grade is determined by so many things, exams, homework, group project, an option to go do research at the art museum, participation in class, attendance, etc.
hardest exams in the world for no reason, attendance is mandatory for you to sit and listen to to lectures that cover about 1/3 of whats on the exam.
The class itself was interesting, but I would not recommend taking her. Information from the lectures and study guides are barely on the midterm or final, and she is very vague and unclear about assignments. She takes attendance and gives a lot of smaller assignments, but nothing from the slides will be on the tests, so be good at guessing.
The lectures are mandatory and useless. Everything is online and so much homework. Test rarely line up with the notes and slides. She will not answer your emails no matter how many times you try, so just don't. She is a nice person but truly an awful professor.
Her lectures are interesting and engaging but I think her grading system is insane. A 67% is considered meeting expectations. What is on the tests is completally different from what she talks about in class. Get ready to read 3 chapters everytime. No late work even though she says there is but its impossible to actually get the credit for it.
Inaccessible outside of class, poor communication skills, lectures are awful, gives wrong information to students, unclear criteria for grading. Generally very friendly, but one of the worst experiences I have had here lowkey
This course was incredibly difficult. Took 495 with her and it wasn't well organized, graded unfairly and we were not provided rubrics for most of the assignments. She isn't available and you have to guess her office hours. Communication was difficult. Half of the course was from two years ago because she couldn't bother updating it.
Buckle up if you have her cause I am sending a prayer. Her lectures are interesting but dont even bother paying attention to them cause none of it is on the tests. Hope you arent dyslexic because there is an hour and a half reading every week which doesnt sound that bad but its so annoying. "meeting expectations" is getting a 68%.
Evil class of doom and despair. Learned literally everything from the TA I think her name was Jaylen
Would wake up everyday going to class and walk across the streetwithout looking hoping a car would hit me so I wouldn't have to go to class. The exams are NOTHING like lectures, textbook or any notes you take. I only took this class because it was required for me but if you can take a different prof DO IT SAVE YOURSELF!!!!
Class wasn't too hard. Test weren't anywhere close to what was in lecture but a lot of exam was common sense. Tons of extra credit so as long as you do that you'll be okay. Office hours are helpful as well as going to the SI sessions.
This professor made the class much more difficult than necessary. Very hard to communicate with and would redirect blame onto her students. Very unorganized in class and with blackboard. We were never on track with the schedule in the syllabus. Don't recommend taking a class with her.
Class Info
Online Classes
100%
Attendance Mandatory
84%
Textbook Required
36%
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