Catherine (Cathy) Rankin - University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC

Professor: Catherine (Cathy) Rankin

Department: Psychology

College: University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC

Rating # 1

Overview:

• Course: PSYC363
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: No
• Would Take Again: No
• Attendance: Not Mandatory

Comment:

Goes on tangents and doesn't explain things very well. You have to buy and write two papers about a virtual rat. Grading unpredictable.

Rating # 2

Overview:

• Course: PSY101
• Grade Received: C
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: No
• Attendance: Mandatory

Comment:

Although Dr. Rankin is super friendly and nice, my mark rested solely on the midterms and there was no assignments where we could improve our grade. The midterms were incredibly difficult and focused on minuscule details from lectures. The midterms were very hard to complete in the time allotted to us. I would not recommend this course :(

Rating # 3

Overview:

• Course: PSY101
• Grade Received: INC
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: No
• Attendance: Mandatory

Comment:

This prof is not good. Her lectures are boring and she moves through the slides way to quickly, especially the ones that have a lot of writing on them. She grades harshly and I would like to think that a prepared well for her midterms, as I used the MyPsychLab quizzes and her lecture slides but both midterms I was barely above average. :(

Rating # 4

Overview:

• Course: PSYC363
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: No
• Attendance: Not Mandatory

Comment:

Dr. Rankin may be a nice person, but she doesn't know how to run a university-level class. The tests are literally entirely memorization. She'll tell you how "you just need to make flashcards" and "you'll learn how to learn" ad nauseam. Really, the secret is just memorizing all the notes verbatim. If you waste time trying to understand, good luck.

Rating # 5

Overview:

• Course: PSYC101
• Grade Received: A+
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: Yes
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

Your grade comes from the midterms and final exam. The tests were based heavily off of the textbook.

Rating # 6

Overview:

• Course: PSYC363
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: No
• Would Take Again: Yes
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

You can really tell she cares a lot and works hard during lecture to make sure you understand the material. Lots of the content is difficult to grasp the main point and she does a really good job of providing real-world examples and explanations to help. Weekly quizzes really force you to determine what the core information is from the material.

Rating # 7

Overview:

• Course: PSYC363
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: No
• Would Take Again: Yes
• Attendance: Mandatory

Comment:

Not a class you can leave to cram for midterms. She gives weekly quizzes, but is very clear on what you need to write to do well. If you go to class and make your flashcards the way she says the night before the quizzes you'll do well. Her anecdotes and the course material is fairly interesting and relevant to life.

Rating # 8

Overview:

• Course: PSYC101
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: No
• Attendance: Mandatory

Comment:

She's informative and definitely the professor you'd expect to get for a psychology course. She was not my favorite prof at UBC. You can get a more interesting prof at one of the other class offerings, or wait until the next term. Heavy load of material you have to memorize. The class' overall mark is based off of your midterm and final exams.

Rating # 9

Overview:

• Course: PSYC363
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 4.5
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: No
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: Not Mandatory

Comment:

Cathy is a wonderful prof! She is extremely approachable and genuinely cares about her students. Her expectations are very clear and she's always available if you want feedback. This is a science course, so arts students might feel like it's difficult; however, Cathy does an exceptional job with the course material!

Rating # 10

Overview:

• Course: PSYC363
• Grade Received: A+
• Overall Rating: 4.5
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: No
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: Mandatory

Comment:

Cathy is a great prof, she is very clear on what she want from her students. The course is a lot of work , but there's no midterm or final. If you do exactly what she says for the weekly quiz you will get an A. I feel like most of the bad reviews are from arts students, this is in fact a SCIENCE course, if that's your background it will be easy.

Rating # 11

Overview:

• Course: PSYC363
• Grade Received: C
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: No
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: Mandatory

Comment:

Definitely not an easy course! Some of her lecture topics were genuinely quite interesting. Not gonna lie, I did surprisingly retain information from her class! However, wkly quizzes are draining and difficult. She's very stringent and particular with her grading too. Let's just say, there's a and I quote "STEEP learning curve"!

Rating # 12

Overview:

• Course: PSYC363
• Grade Received: B-
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: No
• Would Take Again: Yes
• Attendance: Mandatory

Comment:

she was a great teacher! very engaging! but class was hard, quizzes every week but no final and 2 papers. WOULD RECOMMEND! (but not if you want an easy course)

Rating # 13

Overview:

• Course: PSYC101
• Grade Received: B+
• Overall Rating: 3.5
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: Not Mandatory

Comment:

Catherine is a little bit crazy, and tends to be a love or hate prof. I personally thought she was hilarious and her inability to use technology well a bit endearing. Sometimes frustrating, but she only gives three tests (including the final) and is super chill. Doesn't scale but gives time limits. READ THE TEXTBOOK.

Rating # 14

Overview:

• Course: PSYC101
• Grade Received: B
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: Not Mandatory

Comment:

I liked Dr. Rankin as a prof. She is super passionate about psychology, I thought she made lectures interesting, and I felt like she cared about her students as well. Her tests are definitely difficult though - you MUST study hard and read the whole textbook in order to succeed, as the tests are much more textbook-based than lecture-based.

Rating # 15

Overview:

• Course: PSYC101
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: Not Mandatory

Comment:

Lectures are terribly boring and completely unnecessary if you don't care about a few iClicker participation marks. If you don't read the textbook, you won't pass the exams. She does eventually put the slides online, but they're usually late.

Rating # 16

Overview:

• Course: PSY101
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

BUY THE TEXTBOOK!! She uses so many quiz questions from both the book and her lectures. The quizes are tough (60 MC in 45 minutes) however they are do-able if you put in the time and effort. Staying on top of the reading is the biggest thing. She is very reasonable with the work and does not give out lots of assignments. She is a good prof.

Rating # 17

Overview:

• Course: PSYC101
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: Not Mandatory

Comment:

Super boring lectures. Show up - do something else on your laptop & answer the clicker questions (about half are your opinion and I don't think she cares if you get the Q right or not) and leave. You need to read the textbook for the tests!!!! (only one or 2 questions on the lecture/ test) If you put some work in before each test you'll do well

Rating # 18

Overview:

• Course: PSYC363
• Grade Received: Not sure yet
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: Mandatory

Comment:

Cathy's Hilarious &interesting, but delusional about the amount of work she expects. MUST be your priority course for the semester bc there's a quiz/Friday, test/couple weeks..& the grading is SO stingy. Test1 classAVG 8/20. Not for GPA boost or psych req, but if you REALLY enjoy concepts of ins. &c.c learning. 2 10 pg papers -66% class avg. ICK

Rating # 19

Overview:

• Course: PSYC101
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

I took this course because I thought it would be an easy A and I was wrong. Course is made up of 3 midterm quizzes with material spanning lectures, stuff Professor Rankin has only said in class, and obscure textbook info. Class avg was 65 but you will do well if you attend lectures and read very textbook carefully.

Rating # 20

Overview:

• Course: PSYC101
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.5
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

The grade for this class is, no joke, 93% tests. The tests are not hard, but you have to know your stuff. Her lectures are fun - she teaches mostly by telling stories about everything from psychologists who lived 100 years ago to her partying in college. You have to read a huge textbook and study to get a good grade, but it's all straightforward.