SOC 1010

Professor Olick is very knowledgeable about his subject and clearly shows his passion for sociology. He isn't laugh=out-loud funny but he has amusing anecdotes and is a nice person. He does talk a lot, and he rarely shows videos/pictures, but the content of his lectures is usually interesting and makes you think. There's no textbook but we have assigned readings every week, and they are on average 15 pages each. Those readings make up the majority of the exam, so pay attention to those and go to office hours/discussion with your TAs for that also. Show interest in sociology, talk to the professor, and you'll do really well!

So I really felt like I didn't take away much from this class. I wanted and tried to, but didn't. Professor Olick isn't a fan of the traditional lecture with informative powerpoints, he kind of just talks about topics loosely related to what we're learning for the week. There were a few "damn, I didn't realize that until now you bring it up" moments in lecture, but that's about it. He is pretentious, but means well. Something that i didn't like is that the grade is ultimately up to your TA, and for some reason I felt that my TA had something against me. Readings were long and barely related (also not very necessary). Like I get it, he wants to instill the idea of thinking about sociology into us, rather than spoon feeding it to us. But the execution wasn't very well done.

If I could have just not taken sociology and self-studied for the MCAT, in hindsight I totally would have, and urge you to do the same. Don't take this class with Olick.

I absolutely LOVED this class. Opinions on this class definitely differ whether you are interested in sociology or not. I honestly found this class amazing! The readings were great and so were the lectures. Olick's lectures don't have much to do with the readings, most of the content in the class comes from your TA and what you read. The final is pretty easy compared to the midterm, but as long as you do your work and show that on the two exams & in discussion, you'll be golden.

This is a major requirement, so all SOC majors have to take it at some point. I would NOT recommend taking it with Olick. He's the head of the department, which is great for resources, but the way students are treated is absolutely insane. Cell phones are strictly prohibited, as is breathing basically. Literally, I had a TA come up behind me during lecture because I had notes for a different class up, and she tattled on me to my TA. Additionally, computers are forbidden in discussion, which is ridiculous because it basically requires you to print the readings. Somehow this lecture of over 250 people felt like a high school class. The subject matter is actually really interesting and comprehensive because, after all, it is a 1010 class. The reading is consequently a lot. Exams aren't exactly hard, and the final was free responses to questions you selected. This was one of the most annoying classes I took at UVA - because of Olick.