Nancy Dess - Occidental College, Los Angeles, CA

Professor: Nancy Dess

Department: Psychology

College: Occidental College, Los Angeles, CA

Rating # 1

Overview:

• Course: PSYC350
• Grade Received: B
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Prof Dess is a brilliant interdisciplinary scholar. Not only does she draw from specific knowledge from multiple disciplines, she invites you to contribute what you know (or think you know) to inquiry. Take her classes and expect them to be challenging and stimulating.

Rating # 2

Overview:

• Course: PSYC350
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

I love professor Dess. She's a very difficult teacher but her classes are insanely interesting. Use her office hours, she makes herself very available to help but won't go out of her way unless you do. Her Psychology of Gender class was amazing, she brought in so many different perspectives and I still think about what we learned years later.

Rating # 3

Overview:

• Course: PSYC350
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Prof. Dess is easily one of the best professors at Occidental. She is the quintessential scholar . Her knowledge is vast and she teaches her classes by incorporating many different academic disciplines. She will help if you ask for it and truly wants all her students to succeed. If you like being challenged and like learning, take her classes.

Rating # 4

Overview:

• Course: PSYCH101
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.5
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Professor Dess is passionate about what she teaches. You won't find any coddling, but you'll definitely learn a lot. If you ask for help, she's there for you, but if you don't, she won't go out of her way to save you from floundering.

Rating # 5

Overview:

• Course: PSYC200
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

AWFUL TEACHER! she grades if she likes you or not, not on what you know. she is no help and will not confront any problems with you, she'll just email your advisor. DO NOT TAKE!

Rating # 6

Overview:

• Course: PSYC350
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

She's brilliant, DIE HARD picky about APA format, tough grader and expects the absolute highest standard from her students. Never been more challenged in my life by a professor, but you come to respect her and she's hysterically funny once you get to know her.

Rating # 7

Overview:

• Course: PSYCH102
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

Absolutely the worst professor I have had at Oxy. Made me consider leaving the school all together. For her intro class, she treated us all as if we were die hard psychology students and made the tests excruciatingly hard. DO NOT take a class with her!

Rating # 8

Overview:

• Course: CSP1
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.5
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

She is definitely a hard grader so you HAVE to be prepared for each exam. She expects you to not only read the material, but to be able to synthesize/analyze/compare it. She's also really rough on essays; it's rare to get an A from her. Comparing with friends, this CSP course was one of the most difficult.

Rating # 9

Overview:

• Course: PSYCH300
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

By all means, avoid this class if you can. She seriously expects you to devote at least 16 hours a week to ONLY her materials. Her tests are impossibly hard, and you'll only pass them if you've memorized the text cover-to-cover. Lectures are also incredibly dense and numbingly boring. Worst class/professor I've ever had. Avoid.

Rating # 10

Overview:

• Course: PSYCH200
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

Do not take her class if you want to be interested in the subject. She's very picky about how you write your papers, is a hard grader, and definitely grades with favoritism. She's not personable, and its very hard to not fall asleep in class. Her assignments are unclear and she'll mark you down for anything.

Rating # 11

Overview:

• Course: PSYCH200
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.5
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

Impossibly confusing tests. Her tests are impossible even if you understand the content well! The test questions will be stated so that you can't even show what you know. She's not testing your understanding past a certain point, and the difficulty level of the tests is just absurd. She's very smart and knows what she's talking about!

Rating # 12

Overview:

• Course: PSYCH101
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 1.0

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

Comment:

Prof was stern but had funny stories about lordosis among rats. Very funny.......

Rating # 13

Overview:

• Course: CSPFOUR
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Prof Dess is certainly one of not one of the best teachers i've had at oxy. If you can avoid her, do so. Her lectures are not logical, and they go back and forth. I never understand what she's talking about in class.

Rating # 14

Overview:

• Course: PSYC102
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

V hard teacher, but one you can respect. If she has a problem with your actions, she'll meet with you to resolve the problem -- surprisingly understanding. Her lectures are boring & she takes forever to explain concepts. Gets sidetracked when speaking.

Rating # 15

Overview:

• Course: PSYCH201
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.5
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

Hardest professor in the psychology department. Makes the psychology department look like the science department. Never take her statistics course.

Rating # 16

Overview:

• Course: PSYCH200
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.5
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

She knows her stuff and her lectures are clear. Plus, she is very accessible and helpful during her office hours, so use them! Her test can be a bit challenging so be sure to study and be aware of time when you take her midterms (55 minutes is barley enough).

Rating # 17

Overview:

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

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

Comment:

No Comments

Rating # 18

Overview:

• Course: PSYCH102
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

Dr Dess is a brilliant woman. she knows her stuff, even if hearing about rat labs makes you cringe. She is inspiring and very precise.

Rating # 19

Overview:

• Course: PSYCH102
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Good class- difficult but manageable tests, interesting and clear lectures. Very knowledgeable, a little crazy, really likes her rats.

Rating # 20

Overview:

• Course: PSYCH102
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

She is tough, as people have said, but she's the best prof I have had at oxy. She's EXTREMELY helpful when you go talk to her outside of class, and is very knowledgable. Some students aren't that interested in rats, so don't like her, but she's very goo