Melissa Paquette-Smith
Department of Psychology
AD
4.5
Overall Rating
Based on 115 Users
Easiness 4.0 / 5 How easy the class is, 1 being extremely difficult and 5 being easy peasy.
Clarity 4.7 / 5 How clear the class is, 1 being extremely unclear and 5 being very clear.
Workload 3.9 / 5 How much workload the class is, 1 being extremely heavy and 5 being extremely light.
Helpfulness 4.6 / 5 How helpful the class is, 1 being not helpful at all and 5 being extremely helpful.

TOP TAGS

  • Uses Slides
  • Has Group Projects
GRADE DISTRIBUTIONS
26.0%
21.7%
17.4%
13.0%
8.7%
4.3%
0.0%
A+
A
A-
B+
B
B-
C+
C
C-
D+
D
D-
F

Grade distributions are collected using data from the UCLA Registrar’s Office.

24.7%
20.6%
16.4%
12.3%
8.2%
4.1%
0.0%
A+
A
A-
B+
B
B-
C+
C
C-
D+
D
D-
F

Grade distributions are collected using data from the UCLA Registrar’s Office.

36.4%
30.3%
24.2%
18.2%
12.1%
6.1%
0.0%
A+
A
A-
B+
B
B-
C+
C
C-
D+
D
D-
F

Grade distributions are collected using data from the UCLA Registrar’s Office.

29.4%
24.5%
19.6%
14.7%
9.8%
4.9%
0.0%
A+
A
A-
B+
B
B-
C+
C
C-
D+
D
D-
F

Grade distributions are collected using data from the UCLA Registrar’s Office.

27.8%
23.2%
18.5%
13.9%
9.3%
4.6%
0.0%
A+
A
A-
B+
B
B-
C+
C
C-
D+
D
D-
F

Grade distributions are collected using data from the UCLA Registrar’s Office.

32.7%
27.2%
21.8%
16.3%
10.9%
5.4%
0.0%
A+
A
A-
B+
B
B-
C+
C
C-
D+
D
D-
F

Grade distributions are collected using data from the UCLA Registrar’s Office.

29.8%
24.8%
19.9%
14.9%
9.9%
5.0%
0.0%
A+
A
A-
B+
B
B-
C+
C
C-
D+
D
D-
F

Grade distributions are collected using data from the UCLA Registrar’s Office.

35.0%
29.2%
23.4%
17.5%
11.7%
5.8%
0.0%
A+
A
A-
B+
B
B-
C+
C
C-
D+
D
D-
F

Grade distributions are collected using data from the UCLA Registrar’s Office.

41.8%
34.9%
27.9%
20.9%
13.9%
7.0%
0.0%
A+
A
A-
B+
B
B-
C+
C
C-
D+
D
D-
F

Grade distributions are collected using data from the UCLA Registrar’s Office.

33.7%
28.1%
22.5%
16.8%
11.2%
5.6%
0.0%
A+
A
A-
B+
B
B-
C+
C
C-
D+
D
D-
F

Grade distributions are collected using data from the UCLA Registrar’s Office.

41.0%
34.2%
27.4%
20.5%
13.7%
6.8%
0.0%
A+
A
A-
B+
B
B-
C+
C
C-
D+
D
D-
F

Grade distributions are collected using data from the UCLA Registrar’s Office.

35.4%
29.5%
23.6%
17.7%
11.8%
5.9%
0.0%
A+
A
A-
B+
B
B-
C+
C
C-
D+
D
D-
F

Grade distributions are collected using data from the UCLA Registrar’s Office.

53.1%
44.3%
35.4%
26.6%
17.7%
8.9%
0.0%
A+
A
A-
B+
B
B-
C+
C
C-
D+
D
D-
F

Grade distributions are collected using data from the UCLA Registrar’s Office.

28.9%
24.1%
19.3%
14.4%
9.6%
4.8%
0.0%
A+
A
A-
B+
B
B-
C+
C
C-
D+
D
D-
F

Grade distributions are collected using data from the UCLA Registrar’s Office.

23.9%
19.9%
15.9%
11.9%
8.0%
4.0%
0.0%
A+
A
A-
B+
B
B-
C+
C
C-
D+
D
D-
F

Grade distributions are collected using data from the UCLA Registrar’s Office.

60.2%
50.2%
40.2%
30.1%
20.1%
10.0%
0.0%
A+
A
A-
B+
B
B-
C+
C
C-
D+
D
D-
F

Grade distributions are collected using data from the UCLA Registrar’s Office.

26.3%
21.9%
17.5%
13.1%
8.8%
4.4%
0.0%
A+
A
A-
B+
B
B-
C+
C
C-
D+
D
D-
F

Grade distributions are collected using data from the UCLA Registrar’s Office.

24.9%
20.7%
16.6%
12.4%
8.3%
4.1%
0.0%
A+
A
A-
B+
B
B-
C+
C
C-
D+
D
D-
F

Grade distributions are collected using data from the UCLA Registrar’s Office.

21.6%
18.0%
14.4%
10.8%
7.2%
3.6%
0.0%
A+
A
A-
B+
B
B-
C+
C
C-
D+
D
D-
F

Grade distributions are collected using data from the UCLA Registrar’s Office.

ENROLLMENT DISTRIBUTIONS
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Reviews (96)

3 of 10
3 of 10
Add your review...
Quarter: Fall 2024
Grade: B+
Verified Reviewer This user is a verified UCLA student/alum.
Feb. 12, 2025

She's chill and nice. Did not try that hard on the midterm and ended up with a B+, and got a good score on the final, but it didn't bring it up enough to an A. There's requriments to do 6 hrs of participating in studies or write 3 abstracts. I wrote the 3 abstracts, much less work than committing 6 hrs to research lol!

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Quarter: Winter 2024
Grade: B
Verified Reviewer This user is a verified UCLA student/alum.
Feb. 11, 2025

Tests are not bad but it is a lot of memorization. Going to class is pretty mandatory because there is iClicker. The workload is okay not bad but not ideal. The class itself is really easy to get an A in if you actually try but you also could breeze by and get a B.

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Quarter: Fall 2024
Grade: A
Verified Reviewer This user is a verified UCLA student/alum.
Jan. 6, 2025

Loved this class sooo much. Although it's a long lecture (1 hr 50 mins!), Dr. Paquette-Smith is an amazing lecturer, is super engaging, and also gives us a 10-minute break in the middle. She answers questions well and has really really good slide decks. She also showed us videos of studies and concepts and even demonstrated some of the concepts on us as well. There are a decent amount of readings (idk if you necessarily have to do them or not), but they're not that dense, just tedious mostly. I made flashcards from the readings and slides and was fine. There are also group projects, which was fun. Although I didn't think the final accurately reflected what we covered in the class super super well (it emphasized some things wayyy more than others despite them being covered for the same amount of time), the class was very fair and very interesting. Overall loved this class and would HIGHLY recommend having her as a teacher.

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Quarter: Fall 2024
Grade: A
Verified Reviewer This user is a verified UCLA student/alum.
Dec. 20, 2024

This was an amazing class—an overall great introduction to psychology! Professor Paquette-Smith is an incredible instructor. She is very clear about her class expectations, super helpful to students, and easy to follow. Let me give you a rundown of the class:
Monday's: Every Monday Professor Pacquette-Smith lectures the entire time using slides. Because the class is two hours long, she does provide a 10-minute break in between lectures. The lectures are recorded and posted after class, along with the slide presentations. That said, attendance is not mandatory but highly encouraged as she does use i-clicker questions to count towards participation.

Wednesday's: For the first hour of class every Wednesday, the professor lectures just as before on Monday. However, during the second half of class, you do a lab. The labs aren't your typical "lab coat, conduct an experiment lab" they're more assignments related to some of the material you're covering in class. During this time, the TAs and LAs walk around the room if you have any questions.

Tests: There are quizzes that you'll take about once a week covering the material you learned in the lecture (unlimited attempts). The midterm was about 35 MC questions and 2 short answer questions. The final was a total of 60 MC questions.
This class is honestly very hard to fail. There is a required textbook, but to be honest you can get away with never looking at the textbook. There were a few questions from the textbook that were on the midterm, but not so much on the final. As long as you're attending lectures and taking useful notes, it's pretty easy to follow the material. I found the best way to study for this class was by making flashcards and taking the practice tests that Professor Paquette-Smith created on her website: https://testyourself.psych.ucla.edu. Overall, great class, and an amazing professor. Would take it again and recommend it to all (not just psych majors)!

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Quarter: Fall 2024
Grade: B+
Verified Reviewer This user is a verified UCLA student/alum.
Dec. 10, 2024

honestly a pretty solid professor. her classes are really engaging and fun to attend. i would highly recommend taking this class because it is relatively easy if you pay attention in class and take notes during the lectures. there are four quizzes that you can retake until you get the score you like and then there is a midterm and final. homework is pretty light with only one lab per week (most of the labs are completed in class so not really homework) and then there are sona requirements. summary- great professor, easy class, interesting/fun lectures, and not much work.

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Quarter: Fall 2023
Grade: A-
Verified Reviewer This user is a verified UCLA student/alum.
Oct. 13, 2024

I loved this class, she was super passionate about what she was teaching so it made the class interesting. Attendance was mandatory which was kind of annoying sometimes, they checked through clicker questions. There were weekly labs that were take home and manageable. Easy intro class.

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Quarter: Spring 2024
Grade: A-
Verified Reviewer This user is a verified UCLA student/alum.
June 24, 2024

The professor taught in a cohesive and direct way. Honestly, I feel like you could just pay attention to the slides and memorize everything and get a good grade. The midterm was light, most of us thought the final was more rough. The final got moved online last minute which, in theory, should've made it easier, but damn I think it dragged my grade from a solid A to A-. The labs were a little tedious and basically every other week, but besides that, I actually did really f with the format. With that all being said, I lowkey FUMBLED but it was my fault...I had like a 92.5 and she wouldn't round it up and was kind of mean when I asked her - which, valid, but also, damn. I think in general, you should be chilling, after all, it is intro psych just don't treat it as something you can not study for just because it's an easy class.

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Quarter: Winter 2024
Grade: A+
Verified Reviewer This user is a verified UCLA student/alum.
April 25, 2024

I absolutely loved this class! Now, it is somewhat true that the class is an easy A if you put in the time and effort to finish your assignments on time. There are so many opportunities to make up for a bad midterm or assignment grade by focusing on the other graded assignments offered. The textbook is an optional read and honestly, if you paid attention in class to the professor and her slides you should be solid for the exams. I will say though getting an A+ requires a little extra work. I got a 95% on the midterm and a 98% on the final, both of which were relatively easy. The professor is very helpful and considerate too. Her office hours (I only went to the one which was scheduled right before the midterm for last minute doubts) were incredibly helpful. You can really tell she put in a lot of thought into the content and curation of the course. All slides and class recording are also made available for review. You can also miss up to 4 class and still get full points on the iclicker. However, class attendance makes up about 7% of the grade so it would be a good idea to attend class regularly to rack up the free points.
Moving onto the parts of the class I did not enjoy as much, the content (while being easy) is really vast. You should not underestimate the amount of content and pile it up for the very last day before the exams (not unless you took AP Psych in high school). Additionally, the lectures are about 2 hours long so make sure to grab your cup of coffee before class so you don't fall asleep half way through and miss out on the clicker questions (based on personal experience). Finally, some personal tips and points- pay attention to things said in class (that might not be on the slides), the prof is kinda funny and her outfits were very fun, pay attention to the lab reports you submit (especially the question on limitations) and try to go to a TA's office hours before report submissions just to make sure what you wrote is right.

Helpful?

0 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
Quarter: Fall 2023
Grade: A-
Verified Reviewer This user is a verified UCLA student/alum.
April 15, 2024

This course was very straightforward but does go over a decent amount of content. However, Professor Paquette-Smith makes the lectures very interesting and gives great tips on how to memorize all the facts and concepts. There was more than enough time to complete the assignments, but there were a couple assignment instructions that I felt were a bit unclear. Paying attention in lectures is super important in doing well in the midterm and finals and she does reference a lot of the examples from class within those exams. If you need help, she is there to help you and is very approachable. Overall, I do recommend taking her class if you need Psych 10.

Helpful?

0 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
Quarter: Winter 2024
Grade: A
Verified Reviewer This user is a verified UCLA student/alum.
March 29, 2024

I loved this class and it's very easy if you take the time to put in the work. I recommend creating a ton of flashcards before the midterm and final. I had a set of over 200+ and that worked for me. The midterm is 35 multiple choice questions and 2 questions of short response. There is also a group portion where you complete the midterm with them again, deciding on all the answers to the questions (kind of like 7A). The final is just 60 multiple-choice questions.

It's a lot of memorization so as long as you memorize all of the important concepts, you can then apply it to the scenario-based questions she asks. The professor is amazing. She's very clear in what she wants and is super nice. There are also in-class labs that we complete and the TAs will walk around the lecture hall so take advantage of that. They are very easy to complete, just follow the directions. There are also some quizzes online and they're timed 20 mins. to complete 10 questions. They're also super easy. Just review the lecture slides and you'll be fine. I really liked the class, the concepts are super interesting.

Helpful?

0 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
Verified Reviewer This user is a verified UCLA student/alum.
Quarter: Fall 2024
Grade: B+
Feb. 12, 2025

She's chill and nice. Did not try that hard on the midterm and ended up with a B+, and got a good score on the final, but it didn't bring it up enough to an A. There's requriments to do 6 hrs of participating in studies or write 3 abstracts. I wrote the 3 abstracts, much less work than committing 6 hrs to research lol!

Helpful?

0 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
Verified Reviewer This user is a verified UCLA student/alum.
Quarter: Winter 2024
Grade: B
Feb. 11, 2025

Tests are not bad but it is a lot of memorization. Going to class is pretty mandatory because there is iClicker. The workload is okay not bad but not ideal. The class itself is really easy to get an A in if you actually try but you also could breeze by and get a B.

Helpful?

0 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
Verified Reviewer This user is a verified UCLA student/alum.
Quarter: Fall 2024
Grade: A
Jan. 6, 2025

Loved this class sooo much. Although it's a long lecture (1 hr 50 mins!), Dr. Paquette-Smith is an amazing lecturer, is super engaging, and also gives us a 10-minute break in the middle. She answers questions well and has really really good slide decks. She also showed us videos of studies and concepts and even demonstrated some of the concepts on us as well. There are a decent amount of readings (idk if you necessarily have to do them or not), but they're not that dense, just tedious mostly. I made flashcards from the readings and slides and was fine. There are also group projects, which was fun. Although I didn't think the final accurately reflected what we covered in the class super super well (it emphasized some things wayyy more than others despite them being covered for the same amount of time), the class was very fair and very interesting. Overall loved this class and would HIGHLY recommend having her as a teacher.

Helpful?

0 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
Verified Reviewer This user is a verified UCLA student/alum.
Quarter: Fall 2024
Grade: A
Dec. 20, 2024

This was an amazing class—an overall great introduction to psychology! Professor Paquette-Smith is an incredible instructor. She is very clear about her class expectations, super helpful to students, and easy to follow. Let me give you a rundown of the class:
Monday's: Every Monday Professor Pacquette-Smith lectures the entire time using slides. Because the class is two hours long, she does provide a 10-minute break in between lectures. The lectures are recorded and posted after class, along with the slide presentations. That said, attendance is not mandatory but highly encouraged as she does use i-clicker questions to count towards participation.

Wednesday's: For the first hour of class every Wednesday, the professor lectures just as before on Monday. However, during the second half of class, you do a lab. The labs aren't your typical "lab coat, conduct an experiment lab" they're more assignments related to some of the material you're covering in class. During this time, the TAs and LAs walk around the room if you have any questions.

Tests: There are quizzes that you'll take about once a week covering the material you learned in the lecture (unlimited attempts). The midterm was about 35 MC questions and 2 short answer questions. The final was a total of 60 MC questions.
This class is honestly very hard to fail. There is a required textbook, but to be honest you can get away with never looking at the textbook. There were a few questions from the textbook that were on the midterm, but not so much on the final. As long as you're attending lectures and taking useful notes, it's pretty easy to follow the material. I found the best way to study for this class was by making flashcards and taking the practice tests that Professor Paquette-Smith created on her website: https://testyourself.psych.ucla.edu. Overall, great class, and an amazing professor. Would take it again and recommend it to all (not just psych majors)!

Helpful?

0 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
Verified Reviewer This user is a verified UCLA student/alum.
Quarter: Fall 2024
Grade: B+
Dec. 10, 2024

honestly a pretty solid professor. her classes are really engaging and fun to attend. i would highly recommend taking this class because it is relatively easy if you pay attention in class and take notes during the lectures. there are four quizzes that you can retake until you get the score you like and then there is a midterm and final. homework is pretty light with only one lab per week (most of the labs are completed in class so not really homework) and then there are sona requirements. summary- great professor, easy class, interesting/fun lectures, and not much work.

Helpful?

0 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
Verified Reviewer This user is a verified UCLA student/alum.
Quarter: Fall 2023
Grade: A-
Oct. 13, 2024

I loved this class, she was super passionate about what she was teaching so it made the class interesting. Attendance was mandatory which was kind of annoying sometimes, they checked through clicker questions. There were weekly labs that were take home and manageable. Easy intro class.

Helpful?

0 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
Verified Reviewer This user is a verified UCLA student/alum.
Quarter: Spring 2024
Grade: A-
June 24, 2024

The professor taught in a cohesive and direct way. Honestly, I feel like you could just pay attention to the slides and memorize everything and get a good grade. The midterm was light, most of us thought the final was more rough. The final got moved online last minute which, in theory, should've made it easier, but damn I think it dragged my grade from a solid A to A-. The labs were a little tedious and basically every other week, but besides that, I actually did really f with the format. With that all being said, I lowkey FUMBLED but it was my fault...I had like a 92.5 and she wouldn't round it up and was kind of mean when I asked her - which, valid, but also, damn. I think in general, you should be chilling, after all, it is intro psych just don't treat it as something you can not study for just because it's an easy class.

Helpful?

0 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
Verified Reviewer This user is a verified UCLA student/alum.
Quarter: Winter 2024
Grade: A+
April 25, 2024

I absolutely loved this class! Now, it is somewhat true that the class is an easy A if you put in the time and effort to finish your assignments on time. There are so many opportunities to make up for a bad midterm or assignment grade by focusing on the other graded assignments offered. The textbook is an optional read and honestly, if you paid attention in class to the professor and her slides you should be solid for the exams. I will say though getting an A+ requires a little extra work. I got a 95% on the midterm and a 98% on the final, both of which were relatively easy. The professor is very helpful and considerate too. Her office hours (I only went to the one which was scheduled right before the midterm for last minute doubts) were incredibly helpful. You can really tell she put in a lot of thought into the content and curation of the course. All slides and class recording are also made available for review. You can also miss up to 4 class and still get full points on the iclicker. However, class attendance makes up about 7% of the grade so it would be a good idea to attend class regularly to rack up the free points.
Moving onto the parts of the class I did not enjoy as much, the content (while being easy) is really vast. You should not underestimate the amount of content and pile it up for the very last day before the exams (not unless you took AP Psych in high school). Additionally, the lectures are about 2 hours long so make sure to grab your cup of coffee before class so you don't fall asleep half way through and miss out on the clicker questions (based on personal experience). Finally, some personal tips and points- pay attention to things said in class (that might not be on the slides), the prof is kinda funny and her outfits were very fun, pay attention to the lab reports you submit (especially the question on limitations) and try to go to a TA's office hours before report submissions just to make sure what you wrote is right.

Helpful?

0 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
Verified Reviewer This user is a verified UCLA student/alum.
Quarter: Fall 2023
Grade: A-
April 15, 2024

This course was very straightforward but does go over a decent amount of content. However, Professor Paquette-Smith makes the lectures very interesting and gives great tips on how to memorize all the facts and concepts. There was more than enough time to complete the assignments, but there were a couple assignment instructions that I felt were a bit unclear. Paying attention in lectures is super important in doing well in the midterm and finals and she does reference a lot of the examples from class within those exams. If you need help, she is there to help you and is very approachable. Overall, I do recommend taking her class if you need Psych 10.

Helpful?

0 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
Verified Reviewer This user is a verified UCLA student/alum.
Quarter: Winter 2024
Grade: A
March 29, 2024

I loved this class and it's very easy if you take the time to put in the work. I recommend creating a ton of flashcards before the midterm and final. I had a set of over 200+ and that worked for me. The midterm is 35 multiple choice questions and 2 questions of short response. There is also a group portion where you complete the midterm with them again, deciding on all the answers to the questions (kind of like 7A). The final is just 60 multiple-choice questions.

It's a lot of memorization so as long as you memorize all of the important concepts, you can then apply it to the scenario-based questions she asks. The professor is amazing. She's very clear in what she wants and is super nice. There are also in-class labs that we complete and the TAs will walk around the lecture hall so take advantage of that. They are very easy to complete, just follow the directions. There are also some quizzes online and they're timed 20 mins. to complete 10 questions. They're also super easy. Just review the lecture slides and you'll be fine. I really liked the class, the concepts are super interesting.

Helpful?

0 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
3 of 10
4.5
Overall Rating
Based on 115 Users
Easiness 4.0 / 5 How easy the class is, 1 being extremely difficult and 5 being easy peasy.
Clarity 4.7 / 5 How clear the class is, 1 being extremely unclear and 5 being very clear.
Workload 3.9 / 5 How much workload the class is, 1 being extremely heavy and 5 being extremely light.
Helpfulness 4.6 / 5 How helpful the class is, 1 being not helpful at all and 5 being extremely helpful.

TOP TAGS

  • Uses Slides
    (70)
  • Has Group Projects
    (60)
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