Mitchell Sommers
3 courses · 54 reviews
Courses
All Reviews
2 or less hrs/week
a couple of quizzes and essays, but nothing was graded harshly. sommers was a cool guy, but lectures got a bit boring
7/28/2025
If you are wanting a funny guy you'd like to be friends with, take a class with Dr. Sommers. If you value your education and GPA, your test grades will thank you for taking classes elsewhere. Class is extraordinarily easy, but the exams are exceptionally difficult and cover course material never discussed.
10/17/2024
His lectures were indeed engaging and fun, the problem is they don't even cover half of the material tested. Operant conditioning was tested although it was supposed to be covered the week after the exam. He promised the class before the exam that it would be based on lectures. Well that was a positive punishment for me for believing him.
10/4/2024
Dr. Sommers seems to be a nice guy who is good at lecturing until you take his exam, which has concepts not covered in class or the textbook. The irony of this class is that psychology encompasses fundamental principles of learning, yet Sommers WONT give you slides, lecture videos, notes, practice exams, or virtually anything to help you learn.
10/4/2024
2 or less hrs/week
Dr. Sommers is the BEST professor ever. She's so fun and engaging, cares a lot about her students, and has very realistic expectations. Class discussions are always vibrant and entertaining, she makes old texts interesting and relates them to modern culture/a younger audience. Just get your papers in on time, be clear and original, and you'll do just fine.
5/28/2024
2 or less hrs/week
i didn't take ap psych, but classmates who did said this was pretty much the same stuff. took it in fall 22 and it was easy and the tests were all online, but not sure how that's changed
5/18/2024
2 or less hrs/week
I took this class when it was still a joke - was a breeze. I never went to class and just took weekly quizzes with no final.
5/18/2024
Best of the three intro psych professors. Super engaging lectures that keep you entertained and learning. 2 online quizzes during his time teaching, heavily based on the lectures so as long as you go to class you'll be fine.
12/5/2023
I loved intro Psych with Sommers. He was so funny and very clearly outlined his expectations. Sommers is very reasonable and clearly knows what he is doing.
11/14/2023
Super engaging lectures. Very awesome respectable guy. Always leaves room for questions during lectures. Easy quizzes.
10/26/2023
I loved Prof. Sommers, I wish he taught the whole semester instead of just the first third. Some people thought he was mean but he's just from Brooklyn and has a dry sense of humor. His slides are very bare bones so you do have to actually listen to take notes.
1/18/2023
Professor Sommers is one of my favorite professors last semester. He not only explain the concepts very well, but also gives interesting anecdotes (which made the class easy to get through). Quizzes are fairly easy.
1/18/2023
Sommers was my fav prof out of the three that taught. Actually enjoyed going to his lectures, he obviously knew what he was talking about and talked at a speed that allowed me to take good notes. Since they didn't release the recorded lectures until 48 before each quiz, I went to every lecture but I'm sure you don't have to. Light workload too!
1/6/2023
Sommers is truly great at lectures, making them compelling and funny. He sounds like he knows what he's talking about, and his lectures match up well with quiz questions. He also will occasionally go on tangents that are time-wasting and entertaining. Overall, he seems like a great dude professor.
12/30/2022
Professor Sommers for Intro to Psych was amazing, and I would highly recommend taking him when he is available for the Fall Semester again. His lectures were very straight to the point, and the way he wrote the questions on his quizzes were fair, as long as you took good notes and are engaged. I thought he answered a lot of question really good too
12/29/2022
Really fantastic lecturer. Presented information clearly, at a good pace, and in an engaging manner. Answered students' questions in class. Quizzes for the class were challenging enough to make sure one learns the important content from the class but not overly difficult. Also, try not to procrastinate on the research credit.
12/20/2022
Hes funny and made me want to come to class. he gots off topic easily which can be annoying but otherwise good way to start freshman year
11/17/2022
Top notch dude. Hilarious and engaging lectures. Some other people here say the quizzes were poorly worded but I thought they were fine. 10/10 would take again. Be aware that if you're taking him for Intro to Psych then you may only have him teaching for a third of the semester.
11/11/2022
Professor Sommers is very engaging and gives great lectures. As a few others have said on here, the quiz questions can be very confusing, but if you read carefully and know the content well the quizzes should not be a huge issue.
10/24/2022
He's a charming lecturer who is very engaging. Good at explaining topics and cracks jokes during lecture to lighten up the mood. Quizzes varied. Oftentimes, the questions were very poorly written and extremely confusing. Good lecturer, poor design of quiz questions.
10/2/2022
Is a nice guy and his lectures are decent. Quizzes are pretty challenging though and are worded strangely.
12/12/2021
(For Intro to psych) Sommers was solid. His lectures are clear and he teaches well. No homework/tests, only quizzes online every other week. My only complaint is that his quiz questions were sometimes poorly written/vague, but I'd recommend for Psych 100
11/17/2021
Sommers section of the intro to psych class was really well done. His lectures were engaging and funny and he was always willing to talk to students after. The quizzes are a bit wordy and can be confusing, but if you study and go to lecture you'll be fine.
10/21/2021
Professor Sommers was a great lecturer for the first section of Psych100B. He was funny and nice, the material was not very difficult, and we only had 2 quizzes during his segment of the class (one every other week), both of which were take home and pretty easy.
10/3/2021
His lectures were good but definitely read the textbook during his unit and be careful with bad wording on the quizzes because his terribly written quiz questions cost me a few points. Overall I enjoyed this class and it's not hard to do well if you take good notes and pay attention.
7/21/2021
Sommer was a solid lecturer. His lecture videos were very informative and I felt like I learned a lot. Honestly, I didn't think he was very difficult assessment wise, but sometimes he wasn't the best at wording questions so you just had to read it carefully
1/9/2021
Lecture wise, Sommers was actually a good teacher. He made the material from the readings clearer and was very engaging. HOWEVER, the wording on tests was absolutely terrible. I would avoid taking a class with him for this reason as your grade is purely based off of tests and research credit.
1/7/2021
Professor Sommers was really fun in the first unit of Psych 100B. His lectures were fun and engaging; I always loved going to his class. The class, in general, isn't too hard, but it does give a great overview of Psych. No need to read the textbook if you go to class and take good notes. I definitely recommend it.
12/13/2019
Good professor, he definitely likes what he teaches. Can be a bit too enthusiastic at times and speak very fast.
3/31/2018
You have to go to lecture (plus it's easier to absorb info than just reading the book). The lectures are great though; Sommers has good humor. Reading the textbook isn't completely necessary, but it can help to read the material beforehand. None of the test questions are surprising (all MC). Go to lectures and study, and you'll be fine.
4/26/2016
The most engaging lecturer I've had at WashU. I didn't do as well on the test as I wanted to, but it was my first psych test and I hadn't gotten a feel for WashU tests yet. Absolutely loved going and listening to his lectures.
12/3/2015
He's hilarious! Lectures aren't recorded, so get ready to go to class and take notes, but if you keep up with your readings and pay attention, it's a great class. He's super interesting and one of my favorite professors so far. His tests get a little tricky if you don't read, but as long as you study and put in the work, an A is definitely doable.
11/20/2015
My favorite class as a first semester freshman, I really enjoyed it even though I didn't do well on the test. He was clear, interesting and funny!
11/11/2015
He's the man. Funny, smart, attentive, super nice and has great control over the class. Basically the perfect guy for Psych 100. I really hope I get to take another class with him. Exam was an easy A if you go to class and do the readings.
11/7/2015
I really loved having him as a professor. His tests were a little challenging, though that's more due to the extent of the information he covers rather than the difficulty of the information he presents.
11/2/2015
Always allows time for questions and is really helpful. Love this guy! His lectures are really interesting.
9/4/2015
Very understandable. Easy Class. When he taught Psych, I got an easy A. The other psych teachers are horrible, especially Head. Enjoy him while you have him.
10/31/2011
Professor Sommers is the complete package - nice guy, funny, makes the course material interesting. Always took time in class for questions anyone had. Make sure to keep up with the readings, though. Psych is a class that's easy to put on the backburner because there isn't any homework per se. Tests are fair but challenging. Better than Duchek IMO.
10/7/2010
Funny guy, interesting & varied lectures. All you could want from an intro course. Not a blowoff.
12/26/2008
Makes a lot of jokes, and succeeds in being funny most of the time. Interesting. Good lecturer.
1/18/2007
More challenging than you'd expect for an intro psych class, but the information is so interesting and the powerpoint presentations he uses make it much easier than it would be in a normal lecture...also very into using visuals.
6/17/2005
sommers was awesome. seriously he is like a cult figure at wash u. he made what would have been boring material very entertaining. thought his exam was fair. his pace was a little too face tho. and don't ask him what the website is cuz he'll get mad.
1/12/2005
I enjoyed his lectures though they were a bit slow, it was worth going to class. He made the material pretty clear although his organization was a bit sloppy. I thought class was pretty good, but I was disappointed with the exam which was worded badly and the grade didn't reflect what I learned.
1/1/2005