*I would like to preface this review by saying that she goes by Celia McLean but this is a review for the same professor*

I absolutely adored Professor McClean as an instructor. She was extremely sweet and even brought lollipops for us (used for an exercise, that we got to keep afterward). Her lectures were engaging and insightful, and you could tell she really cared about the material as well as her students. I wish I could have dedicated more time to this class because communication is a valuable skill to learn. I took this class thinking it would be an 'easy A,' but did struggle when it came to delivering my speeches simply because I did not practice beforehand and spent more time on my other classes. However, if you're not like me, an 'A' is completely achievable as long as you practice and rehearse your speeches. Attendance is "required" (5 pts per class session, 100 pts out of your final grade) so make sure to go to class! The final was extremely easy as well, an exact copy of the study guide.

One of the best classes I've ever taken at UCLA. I was never stressed out with this class, I just had so much fun with my group. I learned a lot about marketing and PR, which is exactly what I would like to go into in the future. That being said, the class was obviously super applicable.

People say that the grader was very picky, but I never got anything below a 97 on the individual assignments. I don't really agree with the picky comments, but hey we all got our own experiences. I think as long as you actually go to lecture on the days she briefs us about the individual assignments, you'll be fine. Read the instructions carefully, especially the rubric. You don't really need to go to lectures other than the debriefing ones (which will be stated within the syllabus).

Exams were so easy, please don't get nervous about them - as someone who sucks at exams. Don't read the textbooks, just ctrl + f the questions on the study guide and write down the definitions, key ideas, etc.

She's really kind and helpful. She cares about her students and wants us to learn and succeed. She's like seriously knowledgable about this kind of stuff, too, since she had been working in advertising for years.

Class is not recorded. Attendance isn't mandatory.

This course was by far the most applicable Comm course I have taken at UCLA and I really do think every Comm major should take it. I found myself really interested in the realms of marketing communications and advertising topics that were discussed, and Prof. McLean (formerly Fermasico) is engaging and witty. She asks for participation in lectures a lot, but you only really have to if you feel inclined (oftentimes it is things asking about ads people have seen, sometimes textbook terms, etc.) - no one will cold call on you and the class was big enough you can def fly under the radar if you want. Assignments are straightforward - lecture is not 100% necessary EXCEPT for the days when she goes through the assignments for the first half of the class which is really helpful and clarified a lot for me/def helped me get a better grade. A large portion of your grade is a group Integrated Marketing Comms plan (ours ended up around 30 pages), but it's super manageable if you divide up the work. I recommend making connections early to start finding potential group members (though she will pair you up randomly if you want, which I did and that worked totally fine). She gives you a lot of time and guidance and a lot of it is creative things like coming up with a potential product/service and making sample ads, etc. Best thing by far about this class was the midterm and final (strange to say it lol I know...). Midterm was 50 MC questions, Final was 75 (not cumulative). Midterm tackled first few chapters of the textbook and final did the rest - she gives you a study guide that quite literally has everything you need to know for the exams and the exams are 100 PERCENT TEXTBOOK BASED. For me, I found it incredibly straightforward and you can pick and choose what to read based on the study guide. No tricks, nothing unexpected. Aced the midterm and did super well on the final too - do not need to be stressed about exams in this class. Overall - worth your time, ESPECIALLY if you have any interest in things like PR, Advertising, Marketing, etc. For what it's worth, I found myself learning a ton in this class that I actually applied in real-time to an internship I was working in this quarter, which was very fulfilling for me, a learning nerd. Good luck to you all!

I was forced to take this class because there were no other professors teaching this course. Prof. Feramisco or McLean is one of the toughest graders and she will mark a whole letter grade down for minor or subjective parts she did not like about your assignment. Her instructions were so inconvenient to follow. The things she marks as an "example" or "guideline" are actually the exact word by word format you have to use or else she will mark off a big chunk of your point. She makes fun assignments very stressful to finish.