This class was definitely tough, but it wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it would be. I didn't think the material itself was overly difficult to understand, but the workload was quite heavy. The class structure is a bit confusing and it's graded on a curve, which was really new to me. Aim to score at least 1 standard deviation above the mean to get an A. The curve applied to the class can't hurt you. So, for example, if you get a 92% in lecture (which is traditionally an A-) WITHOUT the curve, you are guaranteed AT LEAST an A- WITH the curve. I would have gotten an A- in lecture without the curve, but the curve bumped me up to a solid A. Here's my grade breakdown and some specific tips for reference:
Lecture (50% of overall grade):
- Exam 1: 36/40; avg = 33/40
- Exam 2: 38/40; avg = 32/40
- Quizzes: 13/15; avg unknown
- Extra Credit: +1 pt from SONA study participation
Lab (50% of overall grade):
- Study Proposal (15%): 96/100; avg = 79.1/100, SD = 12.81
- Project Proposal (10%): 95/100; avg = 88.05/100, SD = 4.63
- Final Write-up (40%): 97/100; avg = 90.5/100, SD = 6.55
- Discussion (20%): 58/60; avg = 52.6/60, SD = 4.52
- Participation (15%): unknown

Here are some tips that helped me get an A:

1) Professor Firstenberg's lectures were very clear and she provides plenty of examples, so make sure to watch them in their entirety. I found that it really helped me to take HANDWRITTEN notes while watching the lecture. It helped keep me focused during the lecture and helped me absorb the information a lot better.

2) Dedicate several days to the "big" assignments. Be as clear and specific as you possibly can (ESPECIALLY for the first Study Project Proposal Assignment). Do not wait until the very last minute to do the assignments. Give yourself enough time to proofread and make sure you put in as much detail as possible.

3) Don't be afraid to reach out to your TA! My TA Stephen was AMAZING and always got back to us super quick and was super clear about his expectations for the papers. The lab is also graded on a curve, so don't worry if you get a "tougher" grader. The thing that determines your final grade is how many standard deviations away from the class average you are. So again, don't stress about the "toughness" of your TA. The curve will take care of grading differences.

4) TAKE THE PRACTICE EXAMS!!! I cannot emphasize this point enough!! Professor Firstenberg provides a short and long practice exam for both the midterm and final. At the very least, complete the short practice exam in its entirety, but the long practice exam definitely helps as well. You really don't have to do much other than the practice exams to study for the tests. Just make sure to look back and understand the questions you get wrong. The tests are also very application based, so don't just depend on memorization to do well on the tests. Make sure you look at the examples given in lecture and understand why and how to do them. I found that the practice exams were also very good indicators of how well you would do on the actual tests (I consistently scored in the 90%s on the practice exams, and I got 90% or higher on both the midterm and final).

5) Each lab assignment comes with a supplementary "assignment guide" that gives you very clear and specific instructions about the assignment. I found that it helped me a lot to have the assignment guide open while writing my paper so I could look back at it while writing. Use this assignment guide to your advantage. Look back at it constantly to make sure you have all the paper's requirements. Trust me, it helps a lot.

6) There are 5 quizzes in addition to the 2 "big" tests. DO NOT STRESS IF YOU DON'T DO WELL ON ALL THE QUIZZES!!! I got a 33% on one of the quizzes, which I completely stressed about. However, because I did well on the tests and got 100% on the rest of the quizzes, that one failing grade didn't really hurt my overall grade. Don't be discouraged by one bad quiz grade. There are lots of opportunities to bring your grade up!

I know a lot of people found lab more difficult than lecture, but I personally found it to be the other way around! I guess it really depends on your personal preference. I consider myself a decent writer, so while the papers were time-consuming, I didn't find them overly difficult. I managed to score 1-2 standard deviations above the mean in lab and above the mean in lecture, which helped me secure an A in both lecture and lab.

Overall, don't let what you've heard about this class scare you! It's definitely tough, but it's also definitely manageable!

I want to start by saying that Prof. Fristenberg is a very clear lecturer. Her slides were very clear and in general, this class's content is not tricky. What makes this class difficult is the workload. Overall, not as bad as people say it is.
1. Lectures can feel long and a bit repetitive. I never was able to get through a lecture in one sitting. I watched the recordings over the span of 2-3 days. Take notes during lecture, they will be useful. Lecture quizzes and exams also were not too difficult, if you understood lecture they aren't meant to be tricky.
2. Lab, this is where it gets hard. First, I felt like TAs made a difference here. I felt like my TA was a medium-strict grader, nothing was ever quite right for her. I wish that our rubrics were more clear. But this really pushed me to work harder. Lab is really long and it can be quite draining. It's insane how much can be done in 2 hours. Stay on top of your work and start early, at least 3-4 days before project deadlines. The group project is a lot of work and I was lucky to get a good group, but it really all depends on your group members. Another great reason to start early is so that you can ask your TA questions, my TA didn't really respond to email or messages often, which is understandable but a bit frustrating. Participation matters, which can feel unfairly competitive, but just answer questions and ask questions to demonstrate interest. By the end of quarter you really do feel over worked and drained, but you'll be so happy and thrilled once it's over. I was happy to have gotten an A-, but I felt like if it weren't for my TA, I probably could have gotten an A. Honestly NOT THAT BAD as what people make it seem to be.

Exams are tough. Do the practice questions that she gives, and make sure you completely understand them. The grading is weird. I believe everyone was under the assumption that the grades (split 50-50 between lecture and lab) would be based on our lab section's performance on lab stuff and the entire 300+ person average on lecture, but it seem's as if both components are based on our section alone. I did somewhat worse in lecture compared to someone else I talked to: I ended with an A-, he got a B+ but we're in different lab sections. Something worth keeping an eye on as you take this class.

Firstenberg is a great and engaging lecturer, and the content isn't that difficult to understand (I even thought it was interesting). I think the hardest parts about the class were the exams (could be tricky) and the lab assignments. I honestly really enjoyed the lecture portions and learned a lot, as Dr. Firstenberg uses a lot of real-life examples, but the lab part was harshly graded by my TA and even when I put a lot of effort in, I still didn't get the grades I wanted on the assignments. In the end, I got an A+ in lecture and an A- in lab, and since for Fall quarter 2020 grading was split 50% lecture and 50% lab, I ended up getting an A overall. I definitely don't think this class lives up to its monstrous reputation, but I agree that you definitely need to work hard to earn an A!

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PSYCH 100B is a good and useful class, but not necessarily easy. That being said, it was not the horror story that the other reviews made it out to be. You absolutely need to be engaged and work hard in this class, but it's not impossible to get good grades.
LECTURE: Professor Firstenberg's lectures were really interesting and fun to watch. The material isn't that hard, but what is hard for a lot of people are the exams. HOWEVER, if you are a good test taker (e.g. you found the MC portions of AP exams to be easy, you are good at picking up what is important info and what is not important info from medium-length texts, etc.), the tests are not hard at all. The professor gives out a lot of practice problems (something like one 40 question practice exam and one 145ish question practice exam). Since the actual exam is 40 questions, this gives you the chance to have 4 full-length practice exams. I thought that these practice questions were pretty accurate in terms of difficulty when compared to the actual exam. In fact, whatever I scored on the practice exams, I scored on the actual exam. For example, for midterm practice, I consistently got 2 questions wrong on the 4 practice exams I did. My score for the midterm was 38/40. For final practice, I consistently got 3 questions wrong on the 4 practice exams I did. My score for the final was 37/40.
LAB:
The lab section of the class is stressful, because you are ultimately competing with your classmates for a good grade. I heard that you want to be at least 1 SD above to mean to get an A. However, for my lab section, the standard deviation was usually so large that you'd have to get above 100% to be 1 SD above the mean. That being said, I didn't do too well on the lab assignments and managed to pull off an A- in the lab portion of the class. I think that I was 0.5 SD above the mean for the Study Strategy Proposal (15%) and the Final Write up (40%), 1 SD above the mean for the Discussion section assignment (20%), and over 2 SD BELOW the mean for the Project proposal (10%). I don't know what the mean was for the participation, but I think I scored above the mean.
Overall I really liked the class, even though it was stressful at times. Good luck to everyone who is going to take the class!

This class is super tough as I'm sure you've heard. But if you get a good TA and work hard you'll be completely fine. Her tests are super tricky so do the practice exams multiple times to get familiar with how she words her questions. My biggest tip is to study really hard for the exams and work your butt off on the final lab write up and between those two things you'll be fine.

The class is split so that half of your grade comes from a "lecture" portion - weekly quizzes, a midterm, and a final + a "lab" portion, consisting of several short assignments, participation, and a final write up. The lectures are pretty easy to understand, however, some topics are tricky and require you to think carefully about all the fine details (especially on the multiple choice midterm and final, which mostly consist of scenarios that you read and answer questions about). It helps a lot not to procrastinate with lectures or any of the written assignments since they tend to be dense at times, and keeping up with the schedule will also help with remembering concepts as well. There is group work involved as well with the lab discussions.

The class material isn't even hard. This class is just plain annoying and a lot of work. Good luck

I took this class online due to COVID.
This class is split into two parts, lecture and lab, and each one is worth 50% of your grade.
1. Lecture- Grades came from two exams and five weekly quizzes. I found lectures to be interesting and straightforward. Quizzes were straightforward as well, and I believe most people get 100%. Both quizzes and exams were open note. Exams were trickier, but doing the practice exams they give will help a lot, and the averages were always in the B range. Lecture grades were not curved unless they would help you.
2. Lab- The graded assignments were a few study proposals, your experiment final project, and participation. This is the portion that is curved that you probably have heard horror stories about. I found this class to be somewhat straightforward. For every assignment, just make sure you follow the rubric exactly. Your experiment will be done in groups, so pray you get a good group. I received an A- in the lab portion and scored 1 standard deviation above the mean.

Overall, make sure you stay on top of your assignments and follow the rubrics exactly. Go to office hours to boost those participation points and ask questions. Don't be afraid of this class! I was very worried to take it but it ended up being completely fine!! Even though my lab grade was an A- I still got an A due to the other half being the lecture grade, so the grading scheme isn't as hard as you might expect.

So everything you hear about this class is true, it will be the most challenging class in the psych pre reqs. Yes there are going to be people that are just going to be getting A's on everything, and if that is not you, THAT IS OKAY !!!I had to take this class twice and both times were a living hell, the TA's and lead TA's are super nice. The curve is lab is absolutely a grad killer. But the curve in lecture literally brought be up like 8%. The group project is not insane and as long as your group is proactive you should be good with all of that. The tests and quizzes can be grade killers though! Make sure you do all the practice tests and go to the lead TA's for help!!! I can not stress this enough, simply by going to speak and get advice from the TA's I went from a D on my midterm to a B on my final ! Take this class with easy classes, do not take 4 classes the quarter you take this class. Professor Firstenburg took into consideration the impacts of Covid and graded accordingly, she was neither extremely nice or mean, but she was sweet in her lectures, a little boring but very helpful! Good luck!