i really enjoyed dr chavira's class. some of the questions on her exams were a bit tricky but she also offered extra credit which made up for it. i highly recommend getting the textbook and reading the sections that she touches upon in lecture, also make sure to go to discussion and participate for easy points.

Chavira is a very knowledgeable professor who clearly loves this topic. However, her lectures are a bit slow and can be challenging to follow at times. Make sure to listen and take notes on everything she's saying -- don't just read the information on the slides because her exams contain more info than what is on the slides. In general, her exams are very very specific, as they test you on all parts of the class. This was a big challenge for me especially because the class grade is based on solely the 3 exams (treated as a total of 3 midterms). However, if you put in the work and study well in advance you should be able to succeed.

I absolutely loved this class!!! Professor Chavira is very knowledgable about the topics and I thought that the course gave a great overview yet still a lot of details on a wide range of psychological disorders. One of my favorite things about this course is that I could tell that everyone who came to lecture was very enthusiastic to learn. People would ask lots of questions during lecture which I always found these questions super interesting, and if for some reason professor didn't know the answer she would research it after class and send an announcement with her response and the sources she used to research the answer. She really cares about her students!

Tests were pretty straightforward and all multiple choice, but you do need to study. I would recommend using the slides to study and pretend like you are giving the lecture (this ensures you really understand the concept and are not just memorizing facts). If topics from lecture are unclear, I found that reading the textbook was very helpful. I think I got like 42/45 on my first midterm and then a 44/45. They definitely were not easy, but they are doable if you put the work into it!

discussion section was actually really interesting. We would read case studies of treating people for depression considering their cultural backgrounds, debates on if forced treatment is ethical for the seriously mentally ill, and learned about the different levels of stigma. Attendance is also is worth part of your overall grade so def go!

overall, would def recommend this class and take from Professor Chavira in the future!

and also

This class was pretty interesting! Exams were fair. Make sure to read the textbook! Information from the textbook is included on exams. Also, discussion sections are mandatory (even in Week 1). She provides EC opportunities through SONA.

This is a great class. If you're like me and you're someone whose been through years of therapy and already knows a lot about mental illness, this class will be a piece of cake for you. Don't bother buying the textbook even though Dr. Chavira insists. I didn't buy it and I still got an A-. I also didn't participate at all this quarter! Like not even once. If I had I probably would've gotten an A but I'm satisfied lol. Overall I liked Dr. Chavira as a professor because she explains things really well, and unlike a lot of professors at UCLA she takes it slower and doesn't blow through the lecture material. I took it as an opportunity to take really good notes and that really paid off for the exams. That's all you really need to succeed. My TA was Vivian and she was great, so take her if you can. Discussion section was such a supportive environment for everyone to talk about their mental health, and it was honestly so refreshing because you don't really get that from any other classes at this school. I felt like I learned a lot of valuable information in this class.

my experience with this class was pretty negative. the exams are intended to trick you. they're based off of her lectures (every single detail). clarity is definitely a problem in her material. often times she teaches material that contradicts itself or the text. i would not take her class again if i could.

First I'll just talk about the class's structure, and then I'll go into my opinions.
The grade is based on a point system, with 176 total possible points. To get an A, you needed 164/176 so you can only miss 12 points total all quarter. This was pretty tough considering 150 of the 176 points come from three exams (50 points each). The other 26 points come from discussion section (20 pts) attendance and participation (talking about a weekly article) and attendance in lecture via iClicker (6 pts).

The discussion and iclicker points should be easy and self explanatory, so I'll cover the exams. All three are non-cumulative and only an hour and fifteen minutes long, which helps relieve some stress during finals week when you take the third and final exam. The thing about the exams is you can basically only miss about 12 points throughout the quarter (depending on if she gives any extra credit), which means about 4 points (4 questions) per exam. They are pretty detail-oriented, but luckily basically everything tested is from lecture, so I would highly recommend watching the bruincast and taking very detailed notes on everything she said, and only supplementing with the textbook when you feel like you need more info on a certain topic. I did this for exams 2 and 3 and did pretty well, but for exam 1 I wasn't really sure how to study so that's why I finished with an A-.

Really enjoyed Dr. Chavira's lectures as she was very engaging and informational about the material. A tip honestly is just to take good notes when she's giving lectures, even the little details (cough cheese and wine is her favorite food) --> Will be beneficial knowledge in one of your tests in the future. I got a solid 48/50 for the first test but kinda messed up badly in the second one but managed to pull it back up for the remaining which is why I ended up with an A-.

I think you just need to work consistently for this class and you should be fine. If you have time, listen back to the podcasted lectures and see if you've missed anything in your notes because it might be a difference between an A and A- for you. She also offers easy extra credit just by completing the 2 surveys throughout the quarter. Dr. Chavira gives out participation points by using iClicker questions, often 2-3 questions each lecture and you only need to answer at least 1 out of the 2 or 3 to get full points.

Discussion sections were fun too and I had an amazing TA, Sarit who would clarify things or get further clarification from Dr. Chavira if we were ever unclear about something. It was a fun class and I'd definitely take another class with Dr. Chavira again in the future!

This class wasn't as easy as I thought it would be. I love abnormal psych and I understand it very well but Chavira's exams were confusing and often included random material that was 1. never mentioned in class 2. from small charts on PowerPoints that no one paid attention to. I hate that it is entirely based on exams because there is not room to make mistakes. Book is absolutely useless, study her slides to the T. I was lucky enough to get a B- in this class; never received an A on any of her exams.

I agree with the other review that said some of the people on here make the class seem easier than it actually is. Personally, I got off to a rough start with this class. I received a 41/50 on the first exam because I underestimated the amount of detail she wanted us to know for the test. When I went to my TA's office hours for the test, she told me that the questions I missed were tiny details mentioned in the lecture slides. From then on, when I studied, I got out several sheets of blank paper and started writing EVERYTHING she mentioned in lecture and EVERYTHING she listed on the slides. After, I memorized everything. That got me a 45/50 on the second midterm and a 48/ 50 on the last test. The material for this class is so interesting, though! It just takes a lot of memorization. Also, Alex is a great TA!