THIS WAS THE WORST CLASS EVER!!! DO NOTTTT TAKE IT

If you have the option to take English Composition 3 with any other professor, do it. If, like me, you get stuck with her due to scheduling/other classes being full, then you're in for a rough time. Her workload is insane compared to other EngComp3 professors, and while you may learn some useful things about formatting, the only things that you will learn about writing are the things that she considers useful. This isn't a class about learning to write so much as it is about learning to write in the way that Shelby Popham expects you to write. However, if you follow her instructions exactly, and don't slack off on the homework and journal entries, it's possible to take this class without your GPA taking too much of a hit. She gives you around 5-10 handouts per class (not an exaggeration), so being well organized is important. On the whole, I didn't learn much from this class except maybe how to format a bibliography and how to pander to my professor's tastes.

Dr. Popham did give a lot of work but she gives plenty of time to do it and is very helpful if you need help. I ended up getting an A in the class. Great treacher!

Goodness gracious keep away from this classroom and professor if all you are trying to do is satisfy your Writing 1 requirement. The workload blew my mind. We had literally endless work to do since she wanted us to revise our essays throughout the entire quarter. You literally cannot get above a B+ in one of the grading categories if you do not have her revise your essays more than a number of times.

Furthermore, do not even TRY to miss a class if you are sick or for any other reason. She emphasizes to not miss a single day much less even be LATE. She takes participation extremely serious, and you will see this with the several dozens, and dozens, and dozens of handouts you will receive (no, I am not kidding. You receive about ten handouts every class). Good luck appeasing this woman, her grading is tremendously harsh.

You would learn something really useful, despite the overwhelming process. But you need to handle it, overcoming yourself. Dr. Popham gave impressive lectures with myriad methods to improve your writing skills and yourself "as a writer" would do.

I took this course in my first quarter at UCLA. Now I am graduating and I feel like I have to write another comment here to express my gratitude to this course and to Dr. Popham.

Though the workload is super super heavy, what I have learned in this class helped me with every writing task I have to complete in college. Whenever I need to write a research paper, I refer to what she said about introduction, supporting paragraphs and conclusion and use those techniques to draft and revise my papers.

As a science major and a nonnative speaker, I don’t have much talent or interest in writing but thanks to her, I always get good scores(A+ or A) in the papers I have to write. I actually think that none of my friends who took the relatively easier EC3 courses benefitted as much as I did from this EC3.

I don’t really know if she is still teaching but I wholeheartedly recommend this class to anyone who wants to establish a good foundation for college writing.

She had such high expectations and is just probably the worst professors out there. She grades very harsh and she expects her students to write the way she writes, how is that called "writing"?? The coursework is dreadful, she says that she know that students have other courses to focus on yet she throws heavy coursework in a span of only two days while there are other assignments for other courses. The days that I had her class were very depressing due to the amount of expectations she had for her students. She absolutely does not tolerate tardiness, it's bad since there were several occasions where she literally put the late students on the spot. It felt horrible experiencing that. Man, how is she still there?

I agree with everyone else's comments completely. DO NOT TAKE THIS COURSE WITH POPHAM.

The class was overall semi easy buttttt there was a lot of busy work and it got very frustrating when it came to her outrageously specific requirements for the essays. She grades so harshly and in a way that does not make sense at all (grades all papers at the end of the quarter so you don't really know how you're doing throughout the quarter/don't have a chance to pull your grades up).

I know my review may not sound super harsh but once again: DO NOT. TAKE THIS COURSE.

If you plan on taking this class, be sure to work hard. Honestly, the level of homework is manageable, as long as you stay on top of it. I procrastinated frequently and somehow made it through, but I don’t recommend doing that. Put in your best work, and she’ll recognize it. Her class is well organized (sometimes even a little too organized), and everything you need is laid out. Plus, after drafts are submitted, she gives thorough constructive feedback that pushes you to write better. As long as you show up on time, do the work diligently, and talk to her/participate, you’ll do fine!

Does not tolerate tardiness. Extremely harsh on grading and is very strict on FOLLOWING THE DIRECTIONS. Good luck.