Psychology advising holds back seats in the initial registration period, so there’s a good chance that the “full” class you see on DuckWeb isn’t actually full. Depending on the class size, there could be 5, or 25, or more unfilled seats that will eventually be added. Psych advising waits for classes to fill and then gives out the rest of these seats based on need. Their waitlist will rank graduating seniors first and anyone that needs a particular course in order to progress through the major. Professors don’t interfere with this process (even if we could) because it would be unfair to other students who need to be in the class or won’t have another opportunity to take it. You can e-mail psychology advising to get on the waitlist for any psychology courses (psyugadvisors@uoregon.edu) or drop into their advising hours on the second floor of Straub.
I’m a teaching professor, so I don’t have a research lab. Professors (with titles assistant professor, associate professor, and professor) typically teach 2 - 3 undergraduate (+ graduate) classes per year and run a research lab with graduate students, whereas teaching professors typically teach 9 undergraduate classes per year and focus on developing curriculum instead of research. If you’re interested in social and personality psychology, you might be interested in joining:
Most of the lab websites have an apply section with an application, and they hire on an as need basis (usually to start at the beginning of a new term for course credit). Psychology advising also may know which labs are actively searching for research assistants. If you have interests in other psychology subfields like clinical, cognitive, or developmental psychology, you can search the faculty directory for professors with interests that align with yours. Clicking on their name will usually bring up more information including their lab website if they have one.
This process is very competitive, but I strongly recommend joining a lab if you can because it’ll really bring to life what you’re learning in your classes. It’s also a great way to explore whether research is something you want to pursue as a career. Research experience is typically a non-negotiable if you plan to pursue a PhD in psychology.
Probably. See my LOR tab on this website for information about how I go about that process.
Sit in the first three rows in class. Come to class consistently and raise your hand when I ask questions. If you don’t feel comfortable talking in front of the whole class, you can always come up after class to ask questions or make insightful comments about the lecture that demonstrate to me that you were actively engaged and thinking deeply about it. Take more than one class with me, preferably over several terms. Definitely take my moral psychology course, because there’s only 50 seats in that one. Remind me your name and how we’ve met before, if it seems like I forgot (my embarrassment will ensure that I don’t forget again). Come to office hours to talk to me about your goals. To talk to me about your assignments. To talk to me about what you’re taking from the course. I’d love to get to know you as a person, and not just as your grades, and this will make for a far better letter.
I recommend going to graduate school if you have a clear idea of what job you’d like to have after school, have researched and talked with (or listened to) multiple people talking about their experiences with that job, and that job aligns with your most closely held values. And, graduate school is necessary for the job you want. Graduate school is a huge decision, and you don’t have to make it right now. Gap years are very normal. I took one year between undergrad and grad school, and many take longer… like 5 - 10 years, or some even come back after having a first career. I don’t typically recommend going to graduate school because you want to learn more psychology (or figure out more about what you’re interested in). There are a lot of ways to learn more psychology without paying to get an unnecessary degree.
PhD programs are extremely competitive and more akin to a getting a job (any program worth going to will pay you a stipend to get the degree through being a TA or researcher) than applying to college or other graduate programs (where you are paying the college to attend). It’s a huge investment for the university and department to train a graduate researcher, and they want to make sure that you have the content knowledge, ability, and motivation to stick with it. You’ll need excellent grades, relevant research experience (see: joining a lab), excellent research fit with the faculty member you’re asking to mentor you, and strong letters of rec (see: letters of recommendation). They also want to see character traits like independence, grit, and integrity. Many faculty mentors expect you to have publications or a master’s degree. You should expect to move states and potentially not get in on your first year of applying. I completed my PhD in social psychology in 2024 at UO, and am always happy to talk at length about my experiences in graduate school (the highs and the lows).
This is very common path for a psychology major. I didn’t personally go to graduate school for mental health (I studied social psychology), but here are some resources that I hear are helpful.
I usually check my e-mail every 3 hours or so during work hours (unless I am actively teaching), and assess if it seems like it’s time sensitive and easy to respond to (like you seem particularly anxious about something and need reassurance) or if it needs to wait until I’m back at my computer. I usually get about 50 - 100 e-mails from students per week, and sometimes more during class registration, graduate school application, or exam time. Please give me at least 6 - 12 hours to get to your e-mail, especially if I need to figure out what you’re talking about and what class of mine you’re even in (or were in). I am hopefully not responding this quickly if it’s a holiday, or the weekend. Sometimes I do but sometimes (hopefully) I’m spending time with my family or friends. Sometimes it can take me longer to respond to letter of recommendation requests because I have to look up information about you to see if I would be a good fit to write your letter.
College gives us the chance to try new things, fail, accept those failures, take responsibility, and learn from them in a low-stakes environment. Failure often reveals more about what’s most important to us in life than success does. It can be an important wake up call that our goals are actually in misalignment with our values or strengths. It can mean that you have a lot going on right now, or that you made a very normal very human mistake like forgetting to study a certain section or misread the instructions. Your grades are not always going to fully reflect what you’re capable of achieving, and that’s okay. Learning to respond to and accept failure in a graceful way is one of the best lessons you could possibly learn in college, and people who never fail unfortunately never learn that lesson. That being said, in my classes, if you really do feel like you were unfairly assessed on something, please let me know and we can talk about it, and especially if you disagree with a grade from a graduate student TA.
I want to grade students on the extent to which they meet the learning objectives, and coming to class to engage with other students is one way to demonstrate that you’ve met my objective to communicate about the content. When someone asks a question or makes an insightful comment in class, the entire class benefits, and we all learn a little more deeply for it. I wish I could award course credit for that, but it’s not really practical. I also think it’s too subjective. In the past, I’ve relied on iClicker to take attendance (a poor but easy and objective indicator of engagement), but it’s becoming increasingly unreliable and expensive. It’s also very time consuming to grade and respond to e-mails about. I’d rather spend my time making sure class is worth going to than policing whether students are there. I do really appreciate students who thoughtfully answer questions in class, and they are rewarded with (generally) better grades for less effort, and glowing letters of recommendation from me. So I think it’s a fair trade-off.
It makes me and other students uncomfortable to be monitored like that. It makes me feel stuck to the podium. The tech glitches a lot. It makes class a worse experience. It makes students less likely to come to class or be engaged during class, if they know a recording is being made. The AEC works with students to assess and determine accommodations for those who need them, and they do a really great job. When students need them (temporarily due to injury or permanently), they can get accommodations to record audio of my lectures or a peer note taker.
Projects can be really fun, but they can also be extremely frustrating and daunting, depending on your group and your capacity to meet outside of class hours. Many students work part or full time, are in clubs or sports teams with demanding time requirements, or have caretaker responsibilities outside of class. I also think grading on groupwork is unfair. Grades should be based on the extent to which an individual student met the learning objectives of the course, not based on who they happen to get in their group. I do always hope and encourage students to meet others in my classes, learn from each other in in-class discussions, and work on assignments together, but I don’t think students should be forced to do so.
No. I’m super lame. I mostly just go to the dog park, cook, and answer e-mails.
Zucchini is a 6-year-old “lab-mix”. Maybe some Chihuahua or Dachshund (she’s VERY long). Absolutely no idea beyond that. I have not given her a DNA test.
Yes.
It’s called Crimson Text. It’s a google font that you can download here.
I want you to know I’m not mad at you. No it’s fine you didn’t turn in your work!
I get most (not all) of my fun teaching shirts from Wildfang. Obviously I have other shirts but these are the ones students always comment on.
It’s a reMarkable. They are really pricey, but I generally recommend using devices that do not connect to the internet whenever possible.