Abnormal Psychology · Psychology
I learned about various mental health disorders and their treatments. There was an emphasis on cognitive behavioral treatments, dialectic behavior therapy, pharmaceutical therapy. Much of the class was focused on stress related disorders and personality disorders.
3 exams, last is non-cumulative final 4 in class quizzes (print out the slides for class so you have the answers) 1 extra credit paper (to raise your grade by 1%)
few tests and a paper for which there are actually zero useful guidelines
in intro to clin psych there are 2 exams (very fair) and u have to write small papers in ab psych there are 3 exams and u can drop one
Not bad. 3 tests and a few (short!) papers that she grades generously that factor into your final grade. The last paper you get to diagnose a fictional character!
I found the workload for this class super manageable. There are three exams (lowest score gets dropped) and one final research paper (only 5 pages), as well as four or five ‘case studies’ where you get a paragraph describing a person and their behavior and you give a diagnosis. There were a couple extra credit opportunities in class and she’s not a super harsh grader.
2 midterms with take-home parts, final, optional paper, and a LOT of reading
Assessments, diagnoses, and characteristics of mental disorders; inclusive approaches to therapy
This is Gupta's first year teaching, and it is painfully obvious. Her lectures were pretty ordinary - there was nothing that could not have been learned by just reading the textbook. She often slipped up in her teaching or did not have answers for student questions. She did not seem confident at all in her teaching, although by the end of the semester she did seem a little more comfortable in this position. This class was nothing special and I don't recommend taking it if you are actually interested in abnormal psychology. Her grading was pretty annoying, there was no curve at all, so a few missed questions on each exam would leave you with a pretty bad grade for a super easy class. It seemed that this no curve situation was a result of a first-year teaching complex, because the grading was pretty ridiculous.
Don't do it. Just say no. Easily the worst class I have taken at Barnard or Columbia. Yes, the material is interesting (even though if you've taken Intro you'll probably know most of it already). But she herself is infuriatingly unreasonable. It's like she's overcompensating for being young and relatively inexperienced--she takes everything way too seriously. This opinion was echoed by others I know who've taken the class. Disclaimer: I did receive a B- in this course so maybe you should take what I'm saying with a grain of salt. It isn't because I didn't know the material though--I got a 98 on the final. I just got an awful grade on the paper and literally have no idea why. I've written bad papers before, but that wasn't one of them.