Comments:3370 - Dr. Schwartz is single handedly the best professor I have ever had thus far! Each lecture is crafted intentionally, helping you truly grasp the material in a manner that is often rare in an academic setting. His class is not designed for you to leave and lose sight of everything you have learned, but to truly transition you into a better person, student, and neuroscientist if you are open to it. Will you be challenged? Undoubtedly so, but being challenged is the only way you learn and grow as cheesy as it may sound. Plus, he provides you with a multitude of resources that will guarantee your success in his class if you utilize them (do the study questions, in class exercises, and retrieval questions without your notes). He is also genuinely invested in the success of each of his students so go to his office hours and learn from his expertise!  - Grade In Class:B+

Comments:NSC 3370 - TAKE AFFECTIVE WITH SCHWARTZ. This was probably one of the MOST helpful class I've taken and has made me much more prepared for the 4000 level neuro courses. The workload was fair (we had one homework assignment per week that typically took maybe an hour or two to complete) and the exams were nearly identical to free response questions we had seen on the homework and in class. He is a fantastic professor. Lots of active recall practice. The class is entirely free response based but he prepares you well and grades fairly and tries to give as much credit as possible! One of my fave classes for sure  - Grade In Class:A

Comments:NSC 3323 - Dr. Schwartz is one of the best professors in the psych/neuro department, and I highly recommend taking a class with him, especially SnP, if you are a neuroscience major. The class was graded based off of 5 non-cumulative exams (90 points each; lowest dropped), 12 quizzes (5 points each; lowest dropped), and a TED Talk project (100 points total). From there, your final grade was out of 550 points, and he doesn't do A minuses (thank goodness). This class will likely challenge you. Dr. Schwartz expects you to actually learn the material and be able to apply it, but he gives you every resource to succeed. Every class starts with retrieval practices over content covered in the previous lecture, and he provides study questions over the content. Some people like to use the study questions to take notes on, but I personally wasn't a fan - find what works for you. If you don't do well on an exam - go to office hours! I do agree with the review before this; his office hours are ALWAYS crowded. There are some students that will literally just sit in his office and yap, so sometimes it can be difficult to get one-on-one time with him. If you are having a lot of difficulty, I would recommend emailing him some times that you are free, and then he will schedule about 30 minutes with you. Overall, I HIGHLY recommend this class to anyone who is interested in pursuing research or who is currently pursuing research. In addition to the baseline level psych/neuro content that you learn as a part of this class, you become more fluent in interpreting scientific literature/data and designing experiments, which is helpful to anyone currently in a lab or interested in joining one. Goodluck!  - Grade In Class:A

Comments:NSC3323 - Dr. Schwartz is an excellent lecturer—his teaching style is engaging, and his passion for neuroscience makes the material genuinely enjoyable. However, other aspects of the course were disappointing. His exams are graded very subjectively, with significant points often taken off for minor or questionable mistakes. Office hours are typically crowded, and even when you manage to meet with him, he usually only offers a few minutes before saying he’s busy and asking you to leave. He’s also one of the few professors who only allows students to review their exams individually, which makes it difficult to have meaningful conversations or learn from your mistakes. At times, his attitude can come off as condescending—he tends to expect complete understanding and often makes students feel ashamed for asking questions they “should already know.” Despite these drawbacks, if you have a genuine love for neuroscience, I would still recommend his class for the quality of the lectures alone.  - Grade In Class:A

Comments:3370 - BEST PROFESSOR I HAVE HAD SO FAR!! I loved Dr.Schwartz. Affective was so interesting (in part because he is so clearly passionate about the material) and he is very clear in his lectures. His exams are fully off his lectures and are entirely free-response. His exams are definitely difficult but he creates homeworks though that are essentially study guides to help you prep for the exams and is always open to going over things with you in office hours. If you are someone who can take good notes and will keep up with the homework you can do good in this class!  - Grade In Class:A

Comments:3370 - Dr. Schwartz is the professor that has changed my Baylor experience in a positive way. He is not one of those easy professors that just lets you barely get by. So if that's what you're looking for, he is not your guy. His exams are tough and if you get to know him he will quickly become one of your biggest encouragers. For affective, he gives you everything you need to succeed. I definitely could have made an A in this course if I had been more on top of everything- but some personal things kept me from being able to. This class is definitely the hardest class I have ever taken at Baylor and I am set to graduate soon. But I have learned more in this class than any other class. His exams are all free response which is definitely scary at first but you will learn how to study and predict what he will ask. Leaving Baylor soon, he is hands down the professor I will miss learning from the most. He has a passion for you and teaching you and if you just sit back and realize that his challenging courses are doing more for you than any easy A ever will, you will grow so much having him.  - Grade In Class:B

Comments:3370/3320 - Dr. Schwartz is a wonderful professor! He WILL push your knowledge of the content, so if you are looking for an easy A, pick someone else. No need to read the textbook, everything on his exams is on his slides and he elaborates on it during class. Going to office hours is very helpful as he will fill in info you may have missed during lecture. 3320 (Learning and Behavior) was the easiest NSC/PSY course I have taken. Pay attention during lecture and COMPLETE. THE. STUDY. QUESTIONS. 3370 (Affective) is very tricky, but SUPER interesting! this was the first class that truly felt like a neuro class. He does heavy application questions, so be sure to fully understand knowledge and be ready to apply to various scenarios (think about in-class practice questions). Overall, super helpful guy with class material but also post-grad advice. Will forever defend Dr Schwartz!!  - Grade In Class:A

Comments:3320 - Oh, boy. This one's a toughie. As a person, Dr. Schwartz is great. Funny guy, likes to ask about your day, etc. As a professor, though...oof. His exams are very difficult. Majority of my class studied as best they could for the first exam yet STILL ended up failing it (myself included--I made a 65 and the average was in the 50s). Most would think: that's okay--it's just the first exam. Not Dr. Schwartz. This man came into class quite literally fuming, and proceeding to spend close to 20 minutes explaining how the grade wasn't his fault, but ours. We should've done better. Maybe if we'd paid enough attention, we wouldn't have failed. He puts in all this hard work and for what? For us to fail. Needless to say, we were all shocked, especially when he started going through each individual question of the exam and bragging about "Ha! I got most of you guys with this question--it was a trick question." and then proceeded to explain that in order to make sure we really knew what we were doing, he intentionally made most of the multiple choice answers sound nearly the same. Once again: we were shocked. Never in my three years at Baylor has nearly an entire class failed an exam, then had the professor say it was THE CLASS'S FAULT. Like sir, I'm pretty sure this reflects your teaching ability? Why would we intentionally fail your exam when most of us need this class to graduate?? Anyways, the pattern continued. If the class didn't perform on an assignment or exam up to his expectations, he would come in silently fuming before basically telling us we weren't trying hard enough or that we "did enough to let him know we had basic cognitive function" (he literally told us that). As someone who's made all As in their psych/nsc classes, this was the first time I made a B in a major class--and that was borderline. Needless to say, this man does have an ego. He will blame the grades on you and your peers. Okay, moving on. The exams are structured with multiple formats--each one has MC, fill-in-the-blank, matching, SAQs, etc. The first portion (MC, fill-in, matching) is worth 60% of your grade, and the second portion (SAQs) are worth 40%. Which means: if you don't miraculously know how to perfectly answer those 2 or 3 SAQs, you fail. That's how I failed my first exam, even after acing the first portion. That's how majority of people fail. Next: the subject itself is surprisingly difficult. He'll go through each slide really freaking fast, so here's a golden tip: WRITE DOWN WHAT HE SAYS. He doesn't tell you this, but a good 1/3 of questions come directly from what he says. Oh, you don't remember what he briefly mentioned last Tuesday at 2:03pm? Too bad, it's on the exam now. So please, for the love of God, don't waste your time writing down the slides--he uploads them after class anyway. Instead, write. Down. What He Says. If he has something extra to add to the slides that aren't already on there--cool, right it down. If he's ranting about some results from a study--write it down. Trust me. His quizzes are largely based off what he says. Another note: the textbook is useless. You'll want to read it, then you'll come to class with questions because "Hey, Dr. S, you said one thing but the textbook says the opposite?" He WILL (and has) respond with "Well I think the textbook's wrong". Jesus Christ. This man was a piece of work. Another thing to note: GO TO HIS OFFICE HOURS AND ASK. EVERY. QUESTION.  - Grade In Class:B

Comments:3370 Affective - I’ve taken two classes with Dr. Schwartz in two consecutive semesters. I can say without a doubt he is the best teacher I’ve ever had and wish he taught every one of my classes. Despite the other reviews, everyone in both of my classes loved him. He’s the only teacher I’ve had that actually differentiates challenging you versus tricking you on a test. Other than his great personality, his test are more than fair as long as you attend class which isn’t a big ask. Some students take notes in his classes but I just listened to him talk and studying outside of class and did great. He makes the most complicated neuroscience stuff uncomplicated. If you have to take any neuroscience class and he is taking it I urge you to take him. His grading scale is very helpful. You get an en entire free 100 as a test grade just for showing up to class. There’s weekly quizzes that he basically gives you the answers to in lectures. I would definitely more than recommend him, you’ll understand what he’s like in the first week and you can decide then if you’d like to switch.  - Grade In Class:A

Comments:3320 - Okay, I see a review bashing him in recent times (2023 July). He isn't bad. He's hard because he doesn't just want you to memorize details and pass the class, but wants you to APPLY them. That's what makes the test so hard, because it isn't a recognition test, but a comprehension one. He is fair, he's just hard on you because he wants this learning to stick with you for life. As a pre-med about to take the MCAT, I'm SO GLAD I TOOK HIM. All of L&B is on the psych/soc section, SO LEARN IN WHEN YOU CAN! And he is the one professor who didn't give a single assignment that was irrelevant or useless. In fact, I actually wanted to do the HW because it helps you directly prepare for the exam. And as someone who previously wrote an awful review (wrote in Dec 2022, now deleted), he changed A LOT. Became a much better person, professor, and listener. I genuinely love him now, and I think I'll take affective (3370) with him. All test questions are fair, and he explains stuff so well that if you listen and participate in class, the tests simply don't need that much preparation. HIGHLY RECOMMEND HIM!  - Grade In Class:A

Comments:3320 - Dr. Schwartz is such an amazing lecturer. During Learning and Behavior, I definitely had a hard time grasping the way he structured his exams. Although, I respect him so much as he is very dedicated to his job. He cares about teaching so much, and makes the hardest topics seem easy to understand. His slides are very self-explanatory, and at least when I took the class the exams were based on slides and lectures, so go to class for sure. I would take notes on anything and everything he says. I averaged B's on all the exams and still pulled an A at the end due to the way his weighting was structured. He is such a wonderful prof. even if his exams are a bit tough. Saying that, it just depends on how you study. If you are good at memorization then you can easily study for his exams in 1-2 days, if you are not then study at least 1-1.5 weeks in advance. Take advantage of his office hours, he helps so much during them. I highly recommend him if you are someone who is not looking to take the easy way out of a class. I can still assure you that many months later I still remember the content of L and B because of him !  - Grade In Class:A

Comments:3370 / 3320 - I was enrolled in both Learning & Behavior (3320) and Affective Neuroscience (3370) with Dr. Schwartz during his first semester of teaching post graduate school. For both courses I felt challenged but I learned SO much from both classes. His exam style is rough and he’s a bit of a harsh grader but he truly invests his time into your success (both academically and personally) and he makes himself incredibly available with his office hours if you ever need help. I’d recommend him for any course he teaches, but just make sure you are on top of learning the content!  - Grade In Class:B

Comments:3320 - Dr. Schwartz was hands down the best professor I've had at Baylor. I had his very first class as a Baylor Professor, sort of early in the morning but he always came with a smile on his face ready to engage in learning. His teaching style incorporates study tips and trick, he asks multiple questions each and every class period. He offers plenty of opportunities to earn easy/completion types of points. If I could have had him teach me all of my neuro classes, I would have. Tests were a mix of MC, fill in the blank, and short answer questions therefore studying is important. He provides Study Guides from which he pulls exam questions. The textbook is easy to read and follows readily with lecture content. Please take my advice, take him, and participate, and study and you'll learn a lot while enjoying the material!  - Grade In Class:B+

Comments:3320 - Dr. Schwartz seemed to have remove all the bad ratings before these ratings were posted. But anyways, Dr. Schwartz is an excellent professor but not an easy one. I walked out learning and behavior knowing SO MUCH. His quizzes are open note and take home, unlimited time limit but very tricky. His exams are God-awful hard but I ended up making it through. His final was terrible though, 50 mc, 20 fill in the blank with no word bank and 4 essay questions. Not an easy class but he is a great professor and person.  - Grade In Class:C

Comments:3320 - This professor is very kind and passionate about what he teaches. He is very organized and has a gift for teaching. I will be honest, the way he assesses is evidence that he is still a new professor. He has got to learn to teach towards his exams and prepare his students as much as possible. ALSO his FINAL: 50 MULTIPLE CHOICE, 20 FILL IN THE BLANK WITH NO WORD BANK, AND 5 ESSAY QUESTIONS. He held an exam review session but refused to even help point us in the right direction and then later released an email stating something that was on the exam but since it finals a lot of students who went the exam review session didn't look at it because we thought it was just a general announcement since he refused to share anything about the exam. His exams, with their difficulty and detailedness, should be take home exams. It's proven by neuroscience that there is a substantial amount of learning that occurs during exam time. I think at least letting it be take home would be better or allowing a revision session.  - Grade In Class:C

Comments:2306 - Dr. Schwartz was one of the worst professors I have taken at Baylor. He is very unhelpful and is condescending towards students. His grading scale is unnecessarily harsh. It is not worth the effort it will take to get an A in this class. He is very petty and does not listen even when the entire class is against one of his awful decisions as usual. AVOID!!!!!  - Grade In Class:B

Comments:3320 - please for the love of god do yourself a favor and do NOT take Benjamin's class. it is unreasonably difficult. he makes it almost impossible to get an A. Dr. Riley's class is much more on par with what you would expect from a PSY/NSC upper level class. Dr. Schwartz's lecture class is the most ridiculous class i have ever taken in my 4 years at Baylor. the tests are primarily short answer and fill in the blank to the point that you have to essentially memorize everything from lectures for the exam. he does not curve. he does not go off the textbook so if you miss a class good luck! he looks for very specific answers on exams and if you do not put exactly the right words you do not get credit on the tests and quizzes and even homework. he should be out of a job. his classroom environment is also not conducive to learning as he is snotty and sarcastic when the entire class is clearly confused. the material is very dense to be sure but he makes no effort to explain it. he expects you to not have any semblance of a life outside of this class. having a PhD in neuroscience is a prerequisite!  - Grade In Class:A

Comments:3370 - I had Dr. Schwartz for both Learning and Behavior (3320) and Affective Neuroscience (3370) and I'd highly recommend him for both. I would not say he is the easiest choice but I can say walking away from both courses that I have a thorough understanding of the course material. He was always willing to meet with students after class and you can really tell he wants all of us to succeed. He's a solid choice!  - Grade In Class:B+

Comments:3320 - This was his first semester teaching at Baylor and I really like him!! He gives out study questions for each week and his exams closely follow the questions on the study questions. He also will help you with the study questions if you go to his office hours. The course grade consists of in class activities, mind maps (both of which are easy 100s if you follow his instructions), quizzes, three exams, and a final. He does a good job making the class interesting and getting students to engage with the material! One of my favorite professors at Baylor.   - Grade In Class:A