PSYC 2100

This course was difficult due to the exams. I would not recommend this course to anyone who is not a psych major or is willing to thoroughly do all the readings.

Super hard. Professor really knows the material and is interesting. You MUST go to class! I REPEAT - GO to class (coming from someone who always skips). His lecture slides might as well be in Swahili if he didn't explain them. He uses arrows, color coding, diagrams, acronyms and only verbally explains how they work. If you miss, there'll be a picture of rat in the slide and you'll have no idea why. Exam 1 was extremely difficult (half the class failed). Second was hard as well and third was easier. However, it is really interesting and very rewarding when you do well.
https://i.gyazo.com/b5d962c40a07207aa83a1520483f9e00.png - This is one of the easier slides to give an idea of what they look like.

I would not take this course unless you have to. I once studied for 2-3 days for one test and still could not get above a C. Nice guy, but bad class.

My semester had a gpa of around 2.5, which is the lowest of any class I’ve ever taken. For this class you need to memorize every single fact of every lecture to do well. It was very difficult. It all comes down to memorization.

This class is dreadful!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The lectures are fairly interesting, and Cedric clearly knows what he is talking about, but it does not translate to the classroom well. He goes entirely off of cryptic, complicated powerpoints, and if you don't essentially write a transcript of every lecture and memorize the entirety of every powerpoint, you are screwed for the impossible tests. I took this class as a first year because I was interested in psychology, and it frustrated me like nothing else and did some serious damage to my GPA. To add insult to injury, this is one of the few psych classes that doesn't count towards the science requirement. Unless you absolutely have to, do. not. take. this. class.

The content of the class is hard and Professor Cedric does try to make the information interesting. However, the tests are super hard and even though he curves only 15% of people get A's on each test. There are three tests and a final which are each 20% of your grade and then there are homework questions for each of the fourth units which collectively make the last 20% of your grade.
Although there are moments that the class was fun, I wouldn't recommend it to any one who isn't willing to put in a lot of work before tests.

You absolutely have to go to class and pay attention 100% of the time. His slides are confusing and you will not learn solely reading from them. Class can be very boring, especially in the Tu/Th block. I took this class because I loved psych in high school, got credit for intro, and this class seemed interesting. BUT DO NOT TAKE FOR FUN AS A "DECENT" CLASS. I'm getting an A in both Chem and Bio and getting a C in this class. Prof Williams is truly a funny guy, so I can't bash that. However, his tests are impossible. Once I studied for 12 hours and barely got a B.

no.
the class is not easy at all. the material is so in depth and broad and really hard to comprehend. it is extremely exam heavy and the exams are SO hard. you write 4 homework assignments worth 100 marks and do 3 pre exams worth 100 marks and the exams are 80% and the assignments are 20%.
despite going to office hours, completing the exam review guides and literally spending my whole life devoted to this class, I am still failing. the teaching assistants mark the exams so badly my friend found 10 points alone just looking through the paper and showing the professor he actually got the answer right.
the professor is so nice but there is nothing he can do and there isn't much help.

Taking this class would be an L. If you aren't majoring in psych just don't take this class bruh.

The basic concept of the course is interesting and you can really tell the prof loves the subject but he just wasn't the best lecturer. He honestly goes overboard trying to make sure you understand the material but ends up repeating himself 15 times on one subject and I end up zoning out and feeling like I missed something. It's hard enough sitting through the material but I think he just makes it overly complicated by explaining the same thing again and again but not really using the most understandable words to do so. He will explain one concept and then say it again in slightly different words but that ended up just confusing me even more. If you don't have to take this class, don't.

The lectures and content aren't too bad, and all of the class lectures are posted online. However--the powerpoints are really annoying (maybe I just don't like Prof Williams's style of format) but you'd have to study literally everything to prepare for his exams, which were not easy. They are multiple-choice, true/false, and free-response. I did not do well on the exams, but I put in decent effort for the 4 homework assignments. (4 assignments = 1 test grade = 25% of overall grade) Make sure to be very detailed with them, and they may just save your grade a little. Overall: I thought the subject was pretty interesting, but I still recommend that you save yourself and do not take this class.

Although some of the other reviews complain about the level of difficulty of this class, I find that a bit overstated. My biggest recommendation, probably my only one is GO TO EVERY SINGLE LECTURE. You need to write down almost every word he says in lecture because his powerpoints are downright cryptic if you don't have his narration along with them. Study your notes almost exclusively before the test and you will almost guarantee yourself an A-/A because he includes 8 point bonus questions on each exam. Half of the final was word for word questions from the previous exams, so that's almost a gimme. Overall, Williams is a really fun teacher, not necessarily memorable, but if you're looking to be challenged in a reasonable way, take this course.

The course material itself was fairly straightforward, as was the textbook, but the way that Williams explains it makes it unnecessarily confusing. His slides are all over the place and the tests are very difficult, as they are partially based off of the slides. Definitely do not miss class if you can help it, and take detailed notes, but also read the textbook thoroughly and take good notes from that as well.

This class is interesting but very hard. You have to pay attention to lecture and take notes. He posts the slides and they are very helpful in studying, as long as you know how he explained them (otherwise they are difficult to comprehend). There are 4 units and exams at the end of each (only the last is cumulative). The exams are hard and require memorization of neural pathways and basically everything from his lectures and a thorough reading of the textbook chapters. There is one homework due during each unit, usually consisting of 5-6 short answer questions--be extremely thorough in your answers and write a lot. The class is hard, but covers a lot of interesting material.

The classes all moved really fast and you pretty much had to type everything he said in order to understand the slides/diagrams, which were really confusing. Williams was kinda funny and really knowledgeable about the subject, just his explanations of some of the concepts were difficult to understand at times. The workload was definitely manageable, with only 4 homework assignments that you have about 2 weeks to do and 4 tests. For the tests, as long as you do the lecture review guides that he posts after each lecture and study them then you'll be perfectly fine for the tests. That's the only way I studied and I scored in the 90's on every one of them. So, as long as you really pay attention and take good notes then you'll be fine. It's a difficult class but definitely doable if you do the work for it.

NO BUENO. NO BUENO. On one of our test 24 people got an A, but also 24 people got an F. He only curves if someone in the class doesn't get a 100. Don't be that kid.

Literally the worst class I have ever take. He does not care about you or your grade. He is unavailable except in extremely limited office hours. His tests make no sense. His slides make no sense. His diagrams make no sense. He goes so quickly in class that I have had up to 7 pages of typed notes in one class. Study guides are unhelpful, and he does not curve. Do not take this class unless you want to cry 10x more than in necessary in one semester. 0/10

Class is basically scrambling to write down everything the professor says. Although the material is fairly interesting, it's way too much work for a 2000 level class.

I love psychology, but I absolutely hated this class. The material taught was interesting, but the way Williams taught it made it so hard to understand. His powerpoints were impossible to understand and his diagrams made no sense at all. He made the class so much more complicated and confusing than necessary. There are 4 homework assignments that all count as 1 test grade, and while it is good that you can get a good test grade out of them, they're such a pain to do. You have to be super detailed in your responses and it's hard not to just write down everything that's in the book. I ended up having to go to his office hours almost every time and while he was helpful sometimes, there were a couple times when he just confused me even more.
There are 3 exams and a final, and they're really difficult to study for. There is so much information for each section and you basically have to memorize absolutely everything (even his confusing diagrams) just to be somewhat prepared for the exam.
I know there are some people who enjoyed this class, and I personally can't understand why at all, but if you really want to take this class, go for it - I definitely wouldn't recommend it, though.

I loved this class and Professor Williams. Williams is a cool guy who is enthusiastic about what he teaches. It's challenging, but if you are really interested in psych then putting a lot of effort into this class won't be too painful. Homeworks are an easy A, but you have to be thorough and clear in your answers. The key to doing well on the tests is to TAKE GOOD NOTES. You have to go to lectures because he adds a lot of verbal information to the slides. If you write all of it down and understand the experiments, you'll do fine.

I almost didn't take this class because of the reviews I read on here. But that would've been a mistake because this turned out to be my favorite class of the semester. If you're interested in psychology, don't be afraid to give this class a shot.

This has been by far the hardest psych course I have taken while at UVA. Professor Williams seems like a nice guy, but he is actually not. The homework is the only redeeming factor about the class, simply because it is a grade booster. The tests are half multiple choice and half short answer. He puts out "study guides" that just tell you to know EVERYTHING, and they aren't joking. He expects you to know far more detail than he goes over in class, and most of the time isn't in the book either. I genuinely don't know where some of the questions come from. NEVER TAKE THIS CLASS.

Ridiculously hard for a 2000-level course. The only way to prepare for exams is to memorize every single confusing diagram/graph/chart he puts in his disorganized PowerPoints. Oh and you have to know every little obscure detail from readings, lectures, and homework. You literally just have to memorize everything you can in the time you have and then hope you don't fail. So not worth it.

Most of the test questions are from the lecture (some require remembering the exact placement of images in his powerpoint) but some are from the reading/homework. The material is kind of dry so it can be a chore to come to class.

I personally really liked Williams. I think he knows how hard the class is for us, and he tries to help his students out as much as he can by being a great lecturer and being engaging in class (I think his lectures are great). But the class is just so HARD. The tests are ass-kickers, the homework can be dense, and it doesn't help that Williams has a way of wording them extremely awkwardly. I liked Williams, and I liked his class, too... but it's just not worth it.

terrible.

Like the other top reviews say, this class is extremely and unnecessarily hard and office hours provided very little, if any, help. As a psych major, I do not recommend this class to anyone.

This class was way harder than expected. Cedric is a good speaker, but makes his tests challenging. He expects you to learn in a certain way (by memorizing graphs from his tacky PowerPoints). I would definitely recommend another 2000-level psychology course.

This class is extremely hard for no reason at all. You need to read and make sure you pay close attention in the lecture. Make sure if you don't understand go to office hours I wish I knew that at the beginning of the semester. Prof Williams is out to help you so if you just show that you are trying he is willing to help. But be aware this class is really difficult and the context of the class is not the most interesting.

Professor Williams provides clear and concise powerpoint presentations. Although his lectures were interesting, his tests were very difficult. Throughout the semester, you have four homework assignments due (each consists of 4-5 questions that must be answered in detailed paragraphs). You also have four tests - with the final being cumulative and strictly multiple choice. While I learned a great deal, to do well in the course you need to take the homework assignments seriously (20% of your grade) and study the reviews he posts for each lecture.

This class was so hard.

Professor Williams is just not a good lecturer. His tests just require you to regurgitate random slides from his disorganized powerpoint. The homework is long and really doesn't help for the tests or give a grade boost. This has to be the worst Psych class at UVA if not the worst class all together. Just stay away.

By far my least favorite class of the semester. Although the information is extremely interesting, the lectures are dull. Prof. Williams thinks he is really smart, but he is actually really dumb. Some of the information he seems to fabricate and he is a big fan of his own psych studies (not found anywhere online). The homework is pointless and takes FOREVER. It is supposed to be "grade boosting" but there is very little difference in quality of a 44/100 paper and a 100/100 paper. Confusing. Please do not take this class.

This was an awful class. Test questions are based on random diagrams from powerpoints that have nothing to do with the material and everything to do with Prof. William's own system of understanding things. No matter how well you know the actual material, you will not get a good grade unless you somehow understand Prof. William's way of thinking. I would not recommend this class to anyone-there are much better psych classes out there.

The lectures are really fun and very interesting.
Unfortunately, the Homework assignments are reading long but they help you understand the material better. He gives out study guides which are very helpful for the exams.

While Williams does have some test questions on his own diagrams/graphs from lecture, he always emphasizes which ones he'll be putting on the test and even has review guides telling you what to look over. The powerpoints might seem slightly disorganized at first, but if you go to lecture and pay attention, they'll make sense. Overall, I'd recommend this class to anyone interested in psychology…Williams is a great professor. He's very enthusiastic about the subject and is always wiling to answer questions.

Not a particularly demanding course, only four homework assignments, (20% of grade) and 4 tests (80%). Lectures are fairly average, nothing to mention really. Homework isn't all too hard. Tests, tests are another thing. Class average on the first test was a C-. And that was the easiest one... The tests are on such redundant things as labeling a diagram that appeared on his slideshow, and at the same time on specific sentences and obscure topics that were in the reading 3 weeks prior. He does provide you with a study guide before the test that USUALLY covers most of the questions. tl;dr DO GOOD ON THE TESTS OR DON'T TAKE THE CLASS

I personally do not like this class at all. His slides are really disorganized and absolutely make no sense if you do not go to class. I also find that the tests are extremely hard if you have not have any background in psychology before. I would not recommend this class to anyone. There are no dropped test grades or anything. They are 3 exams and 1 Final and then 1 homework grade. All of those are averaged for your final grade. There is barely any curve in this class. If the highest grade is a 95, then he will add 5 points to every test, but that rarely ever happens. The most added was 1 point. He is a funny guy and really nice, but I would not recommend his class at all. I put forth a lot of studying and making review guides and still think its really hard.

funny dude, slides are terrible. go to class and read and you will learn some interesting stuff and do well