Harvey Swadlow - University of Connecticut

Professor: Harvey Swadlow

Department: TBD

College: University of Connecticut

Rating # 1

Overview:

• Course: PSY1100
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Professor Swadlow is very educated in his field and his lectures can be interesting. However, I do not recommend this course to anyone who has difficulty test taking. Your grade is heavily based on how you do on tests (75%) and the rest is based on how you do in your lab (25%). Please avoid taking an intro psych class with him.

Rating # 2

Overview:

• Course: PSYC1100
• Grade Received: A-
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Can't say I loved this class, very lecture heavy, so don't think about skipping. 75% of my grade was based on 3 tests (all multiple choice). The other 25% was for lab which is hit or miss depending on how easy your TA is. Have to participate in studies for the grad students. Gives a nice curve at the end of the semester though.

Rating # 3

Overview:

• Course: PSYC2200
• Grade Received: B
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

He emphasizes that lecture is 80% and the textbook is 20%, but if you pay attention all he really does is take sentences out of the textbook and puts them on lecture slides. The textbook explains it a lot better than he does in class. Use lecture to know what you need to study but the textbook is a lot more helpful than he makes it seem.

Rating # 4

Overview:

• Course: PSYC1100
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Prof. Swadlow is very straightforward, have to go to class to get notes and listen to lecture. Exams are hard even if you study, sometimes the questions are labeled of where they come from (slides/textbook) but even then, the answers are hard to find and figure out. I think it depends on how well you pick up the material is key to doing good.

Rating # 5

Overview:

• Course: PSYC1100
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

If you're an incoming freshman who hasn't figured out how to study yet I would not take this class with Swadlow. His exams cover A LOT of material and if skip lecture or wait last minute to study you will not do well. He curved and offered extra credit, but don't rely on this. Make sure you go to lab. It's an easy A and worth 25% of your grade.

Rating # 6

Overview:

• Course: PYSCH1100
• Grade Received: B-
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Prof. Swadlow mainly grades you on the three exams you take during the semester. Theres no homework, but when an exam comes around you have to literally memorize every single thing from his lectures. If you do bad on an exam, well good luck. His lectures are pretty tedious but also important if you want to actually understand the content.

Rating # 7

Overview:

• Course: PSYCH1100
• Grade Received: B+
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

I don't know why he has such bad reviews, I took his class last semester and LOVED it. He is such a great lecturer, and always stays on topic. It is very test heavy, but if you study and attend the lectures you'll definitely pass. I'm looking forward to taking another one of his classes in the future.

Rating # 8

Overview:

• Course: PSY1100
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

I think he's not the best professor, but I didn't mind him. If you have good knowledge of psych, you'll be fine.

Rating # 9

Overview:

• Course: PSYCH1100
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Everyone said this professor was super hard (On Rate My Professor)- almost deterred me but he was the only prof available and I needed this as a gen ed. He was actually very straight forward and didn't overload on material. Just study what he puts on his Powerpoint slides and skim textbook and you can't fail.

Rating # 10

Overview:

• Course: PSY1100
• Grade Received: C
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

This class made me cry. I will not lie. Exams are very hard and the first one will make you lose hope if you fail it. Lectures don't make much sense but you have to memorize all slides if you want a chance at passing. Claims he answers questions but ends up repeating what already on the slide. Take with another professor if you can.

Rating # 11

Overview:

• Course: PSY1100
• Grade Received: A-
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Interesting class and lectures. First, download the lecture slides, then go to class and take notes on the slides. It's not easy, but it's not that hard! Gives good examples and stories in class. There is a good curve for the final grade. At the end about 60% of class got an A or a B. Just don't think it's going to be an easy class.

Rating # 12

Overview:

• Course: PSYC1100
• Grade Received: B
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Very difficult class if you do not attend lecture. tests are based almost completely on powerpoint slides and class lecture (with an addition of 10 questions based off of bolded headings in book) If you get in the A range for the "lab" portion of the class and average a B-/C for the tests you should be all set to get a B/B+ in the class!

Rating # 13

Overview:

• Course: PSYCH1100
• Grade Received: D
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

I took this class as a freshman my 1st semester as a gen ed. This was the most difficult course ive ever taken in my life. Way to difficult to be a gen ed. His lectures are painfully boring, exams are absolutely brutal. He says he'll curve but really doesn't, so dont believe him. If you have the opportunity to take any other professor, do so.

Rating # 14

Overview:

• Course: PSY1100
• Grade Received: Not sure yet
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

I needed this class as a GenEd requirement and I would say to take any other teacher. I studied as hard as I could for the midterm, final, and other exams and did not do well on any of them. Some of his lectures were interesting while in others I struggled to stay up in the class. I took this as a freshman and it was the hardest class ever for me.

Rating # 15

Overview:

• Course: PSYCH1100
• Grade Received: B
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

A lot of people say not to take his class, but I thought he was good at explaining the material. no matter what psych class you take it will be hard and a lot of notes. His tests are exactly what we learn and no surprises and he grades them the same day.

Rating # 16

Overview:

• Course: PSY1100
• Grade Received: A-
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Literally just study his slides and your fine. All material is on slides. At least you know whats going to be on test. Not bad as people say.

Rating # 17

Overview:

• Course: PSY1100
• Grade Received: C
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

This class was an absolute nightmare. I took AP psychology in high school and passed with a 4 on the exam so I assumed Psych 1100 would feel like a review. However, I was incorrect. You can only understand his slides if you go to every lecture and take thorough notes. If you don't memorize every word on every slide in his wording, you will fail.

Rating # 18

Overview:

• Course: PSYCH1100
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

DO NOT TAKE THIS PROFESSOR! I'm a very good student usually but Swadlow, though his lectures are okay, has a terrible class structure. His class is only based on 3 exams with minimal extra credit that are horrifyingly wordy and filled with typos, focusing on miniscule details from one of hundreds of his slides (not exaggerating) Total GPA-wrecker.

Rating # 19

Overview:

• Course: PSYC1100
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

Horrible class. The only requirement to do well is to memorize 120 powerpoint slides for each exam, triple that for the final. I don't know enough about the curriculum to know if it is specifically Professor Swadlow's fault, but avoid this class by any means necessary.

Rating # 20

Overview:

• Course: PSYC1100
• Grade Received: C+
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Lectures are very boring, all slides are online. He includes extra notes in class so attending class is necessary. He is occasionally pretty funny however to keep the exams light. His exams require many many hours of studying just to receive a 70 or higher, if lucky. I wouldn't recommend Swadlow for incoming freshmen.