Idk why this class is getting such a bad rep I honestly LOVED it and found the class super interesting. You learn so much more than just psychiatric meds and it will help you a lot with future neuroscience classes and answered a lot of lingering questions. I will say the tests are definitely a doozy. You had to basically write a Declaration of Independence on drugs and would get points off based on inaccuracy and lack of detail, but a huuuge chunk of it was free response which was nice. The tests were also only 40% and you had a lot of other assignments to cushion your grade. Again I don’t think this class should get as much hate as it did but given the amount of assignments and written tests, I would only enroll if you are really interested in pharmacology and drugs and behavior and avoid just taking it for an elective. Also Alev is super super nice, funny, encouraging, will never undermine you, is always open to helping and even brought us cookies on the last day!!

This class has extremely interesting material but definitely requires a some work. I spent probably 8+ hours studying for each exam (which is a lot more than I usually do) and you really need to know the content. However, the material was fascinating, especially the interesting things you learn about different drugs and even poisons. The course consists of weekly "rehashes" which were open-ended questions about something from the previous week's material. I really liked this because you could pretty much write about anything you found interesting, as long as it was comprehensive. Professor Erisir also used these in exams (ie "can you tell me something you learned in-depth in this unit" or something similar), which I honestly think made studying slightly easier. The exams were hard and required a lot of studying, but I think they were graded relatively leniently (as you can see, most people got As) and also ALWAYS had a bonus question(s). You also had to present on a drug and an associated journal article to go along with it. Mine was a little boring compared to other drugs we learned about, but I don't think it was that hard if you don't procrastinate. You also have to discussion posts before other people's presentations, which were usually once a week. The last unit was a little boring because it repeated a lot of things from earlier in the course, but overall I found it to be an interesting class.

Professor Erisir is a very understanding person and willing to work with you to get your grade to an A, but even then this class is INCREDIBLY difficult for absolutely no reason. the grade consists of 4 short essay exams that are BARELY 10 questions, 12 "rehash" assignments, 8 discussions, a final drug report, and a final drug presentation. she gives you a study guide to fill out before the exams, but they are simply a long bullet pointed list of the questions at the end of each chapter. her exams are virtually impossible to study for because she just asks you to study and memorize every single thing she says. her exam questions are not specific, they ask you to write down every single thing you know about a topic broadly. overall professor erisir is clearly knowledgeable and passionate, but i do not recommend this class at all if you aren't looking to spend at least 10-12 hours per week on this class