CHEM 20A
Chemical Structure
Description: Lecture, three hours; discussion, one hour. Preparation: high school chemistry or equivalent background and three and one half years of high school mathematics. Recommended preparation: high school physics. Enforced corequisite: Mathematics 31A. First term of general chemistry. Survey of chemical processes, quantum chemistry, atomic and molecular structure and bonding, molecular spectroscopy. P/NP or letter grading.
Units: 4.0
Units: 4.0
Most Helpful Review
He was VERY straight forward and his exams were pretty easy as long as you stay caught up with his lectures and the problem sets. The problem set homework were hard at times, but most of the TAs just look for completion, so it's all good. His midterms were based heavily on the practice midterms as well. The first midterm had an avg of 80. Second avg of 62 (he made the second one a lot harder, but still doable). The final was also like the practice exam. He's pretty boring (i fell asleep every class, basically) but he puts up his lecture notes online and barely deviates from it. He's VERY considerate of his students and sets aside a lot of office hours for them. Decently funny at times, but I wouldn't really know cuz i slept a lot :< MUCH better than scerri or lavelle.
He was VERY straight forward and his exams were pretty easy as long as you stay caught up with his lectures and the problem sets. The problem set homework were hard at times, but most of the TAs just look for completion, so it's all good. His midterms were based heavily on the practice midterms as well. The first midterm had an avg of 80. Second avg of 62 (he made the second one a lot harder, but still doable). The final was also like the practice exam. He's pretty boring (i fell asleep every class, basically) but he puts up his lecture notes online and barely deviates from it. He's VERY considerate of his students and sets aside a lot of office hours for them. Decently funny at times, but I wouldn't really know cuz i slept a lot :< MUCH better than scerri or lavelle.
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Most Helpful Review
I didn't attend many lectures because his powerpoints were pretty much directly from the book. You're probably better off reading the book if you plan on learning something. I suppose he's a decent professor but I didn't go to many lectures to know anyway. The midterms were fair and his final was ridiculously hard. I walked out wanting to cry. But I ended up with an A- in the class so I suppose the curve was pretty high. If you had to choose between Gimzewski and Baugh, take Gimzewski!
I didn't attend many lectures because his powerpoints were pretty much directly from the book. You're probably better off reading the book if you plan on learning something. I suppose he's a decent professor but I didn't go to many lectures to know anyway. The midterms were fair and his final was ridiculously hard. I walked out wanting to cry. But I ended up with an A- in the class so I suppose the curve was pretty high. If you had to choose between Gimzewski and Baugh, take Gimzewski!
Most Helpful Review
Fall 2022 - This review is going to sound exactly like every other review. Kavner is an amazing person, and I'm sure for any topic that she knew the content she would be a great professor. However, there's a reason Epsi teachers teach Epsi and not Chemistry. You don't learn much in lectures or in class at all, but it's very easy to still get an A without knowing any Chemistry. You're paying for the degree so take this class to boost your GPA, but learn the content on your own because you're most likely not learning it in class.
Fall 2022 - This review is going to sound exactly like every other review. Kavner is an amazing person, and I'm sure for any topic that she knew the content she would be a great professor. However, there's a reason Epsi teachers teach Epsi and not Chemistry. You don't learn much in lectures or in class at all, but it's very easy to still get an A without knowing any Chemistry. You're paying for the degree so take this class to boost your GPA, but learn the content on your own because you're most likely not learning it in class.
Most Helpful Review
Fall 2016 - The professor is incredibly unclear. He teaches as if we already knew the material. TAs didn't communicate with the professor which made them completely useless when it came to clarification on tests and it felt like they hardly knew the material themselves. Levine's office hours were right after class, so many people weren't able to go to them. Tests were mainly conceptual and involved problems that we had never seen before or involved a very deep understanding of the material. I would avoid taking Levine again at all costs.
Fall 2016 - The professor is incredibly unclear. He teaches as if we already knew the material. TAs didn't communicate with the professor which made them completely useless when it came to clarification on tests and it felt like they hardly knew the material themselves. Levine's office hours were right after class, so many people weren't able to go to them. Tests were mainly conceptual and involved problems that we had never seen before or involved a very deep understanding of the material. I would avoid taking Levine again at all costs.
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Most Helpful Review
Summer 2019 - Prof. Li is absolutely fantastic. She’s probably one of the best professors I’ve had for all the time I’ve studied at UCLA. She has an infectious passion for teaching chemistry and makes classes fun and engaging. She’s unbelievably helpful and clear, and will go to great lengths to help any single student understand the subject. Also, she makes chemistry jokes. That’s always a (delta) positive. Screw Pauli. Two spin states up for this professor.
Summer 2019 - Prof. Li is absolutely fantastic. She’s probably one of the best professors I’ve had for all the time I’ve studied at UCLA. She has an infectious passion for teaching chemistry and makes classes fun and engaging. She’s unbelievably helpful and clear, and will go to great lengths to help any single student understand the subject. Also, she makes chemistry jokes. That’s always a (delta) positive. Screw Pauli. Two spin states up for this professor.
Most Helpful Review
Summer 2017 - Took this class in 2017 Summer Session A. Amazing professor and amazing person. He deeply cares about his students and performs well above and beyond his duties as a professor. His explanations are clear, but they tend to be mildly obscured by his accent. He has a high expectation of his students, which he tells to all his students before the class begins, so effort is required to do well in his class. He has a 1-2 question daily preview due every day and a 3-5 question self evaluation due every Friday. Before every major test, if so requested, he will make a practice self evaluation that is 10 questions long. Though only 2 questions are due, I highly recommend completing all of the questions, since they are all relevant to the test. Overall, he's a great professor and I'm lucky to have him as one of my firsts. Edit (6/7/2018): Professor Lin was one of my first professors. Now that I've had other professors as a comparison, I believe that the praise I gave to him is severely lacking to what he deserves. Quite honestly, Professor Lin performs well above and beyond other professors that I've rated 5/5 on Bruinwalk, so he should really be getting something like a 6 or a 7 on the same scale. I cannot stress how fantastic of a professor Lin is. I would highly encourage you to take a course with him if possible.
Summer 2017 - Took this class in 2017 Summer Session A. Amazing professor and amazing person. He deeply cares about his students and performs well above and beyond his duties as a professor. His explanations are clear, but they tend to be mildly obscured by his accent. He has a high expectation of his students, which he tells to all his students before the class begins, so effort is required to do well in his class. He has a 1-2 question daily preview due every day and a 3-5 question self evaluation due every Friday. Before every major test, if so requested, he will make a practice self evaluation that is 10 questions long. Though only 2 questions are due, I highly recommend completing all of the questions, since they are all relevant to the test. Overall, he's a great professor and I'm lucky to have him as one of my firsts. Edit (6/7/2018): Professor Lin was one of my first professors. Now that I've had other professors as a comparison, I believe that the praise I gave to him is severely lacking to what he deserves. Quite honestly, Professor Lin performs well above and beyond other professors that I've rated 5/5 on Bruinwalk, so he should really be getting something like a 6 or a 7 on the same scale. I cannot stress how fantastic of a professor Lin is. I would highly encourage you to take a course with him if possible.
Most Helpful Review
Fall 2018 - Professor Neuhauser is a very nice person. He encourages his students to go to office hours and takes a good amount of questions during lecture. He tries his best, but unfortunately, his best isn't that good. He knows a lot of chemistry, but he can't pass down his knowledge efficiently. He doesn't do enough practice problems, as he talks about theory quite a bit, and when he is asked a question, his answer is not clear enough at all (he is still trying). The TA office hours were so much better, and honestly, it's the TA that run the show. His midterms are quite reasonable, but his final was pretty difficult. Word of advice, if something doesn't show up on the midterm, it's probably gonna show up on the final, so watch out. In the end, his class was doable with the TAs and online videos and everything. Not the easiest class; take someone better if available. Oh and one more thing, "do more practice problems!" P.S. Thanks Wenfei!
Fall 2018 - Professor Neuhauser is a very nice person. He encourages his students to go to office hours and takes a good amount of questions during lecture. He tries his best, but unfortunately, his best isn't that good. He knows a lot of chemistry, but he can't pass down his knowledge efficiently. He doesn't do enough practice problems, as he talks about theory quite a bit, and when he is asked a question, his answer is not clear enough at all (he is still trying). The TA office hours were so much better, and honestly, it's the TA that run the show. His midterms are quite reasonable, but his final was pretty difficult. Word of advice, if something doesn't show up on the midterm, it's probably gonna show up on the final, so watch out. In the end, his class was doable with the TAs and online videos and everything. Not the easiest class; take someone better if available. Oh and one more thing, "do more practice problems!" P.S. Thanks Wenfei!