Professor Mcdonough is a highly educated, kind, and knowledgeable professor. This class was graded off three things, first being a paper due in Week 3, worth 35%, then participation being 30%, and lastly a group project being 35%. In lecture Professor Mcdonough would go over lecture slides, readings from class, and lastly we were given Google Forms to fill out in the end that counted towards participation/attendance. Professor Mcdonough highly cared about her students and I really appreciated how she took in our considerations for changes to be made to the syllabus and class. For the group project, the groups were formed around week five based off of those within your discussion section. I'd say the group project is fairly easy, but can be difficult if you have a bad group.
Lastly, for anyone considering this class you are only graded on three things, so pay attention and start out strong. However, I'd also note the Professor was not too clear about things at times and communicated very close to deadlines about what was needed for assignments. But, this class is probably one of the easiest A's you can get at UCLA and I would suggest this class to anyone!

Pat is one of the kindest and most knowledgeable professors that I've ever met. I remember when she asked us for feedback on how we could improve the class, and when the mass majority said they would feel a lot less stressed if given less readings, she did exactly that and gave us less readings. The TAs were also great and kind as well. Daisy was my TA, and she wasn't a harsh grader at all and always made sure we understood what was going on with assignments and other class content. It's very easy to do well in this class, and the instructional team is very understanding. Your grade is composed of participation, an essay, and a final group project that you get to work on during your discussion section in the second half of the quarter. Even though lecture material tended to be a little dry at times, I was super impressed by how much knowledge Pat had about college admissions. I 100% recommend this class, especially if you're looking for an easy upper div with a kind professor :)

I thoroughly enjoyed ED 143 with Pat. I liked the structure of the class, where we had discussion section a day before class and class was relatively short. Pat discussed current events and the material for the week, she is very knowledgable and introduced us to interesting articles. There are three assignments in the class: attendance/participation (30%), 3-page paper (35%), group project (35%). The instructional team was helpful and provided really great feedback to us, so it was not difficult to achieve a good grade in this class. I recommend this class if you're looking for an interesting EDUC class to take! I wish I could take this class again.

The class itself is very easy; assignments are very clearly instructed and loosely graded (especially the final project). I will say that the lectures and discussions are very dry; especially if you get an inexperienced TA, the activities don't make much sense and are very rushed.

The class itself is very easy; assignments are very clearly instructed and loosely graded (especially the final project). I will say that the lectures and discussions are very dry; especially if you get an inexperienced TA, the activities don't make much sense and are very rushed.

I loved this course. Pat and my TA Ariana were both super helpful and understanding. You can tell how much the entire teaching team really cares about their students' well being and learning experience. I felt like they were focused on us actually learning something and gaining a positive experience than grades, essays, or tests. The course content was very enlightening, and I learned so much more than I expected about college accessibility and opportunity. If you didn't know, Pat is like THE goat in the field of college accessibility and she is droppin facts every lecture. The coursework was very straightforward. There was one 3 page essay on the required book, which was completed week 3. There was also a group project, in which we had to research any topic of our choosing that related to the course, and create a resource which could theoretically be used, by teacher, counselors, students, etc. The project was the least stressful group project i have ever done, as there were staggered deadlines and we were given at least an hour of in class time every week to work on it. For someone who has had a lot going on during the pandemic, with work , school, family, etc. to worry about, this class was a breath of fresh air. If you are reading this review and are unsure if you should take the course, this is a sign!!! Just take it and you will be glad you did.