This guy wasn't that good for me. He's whatever.

Rough class, but I think it's reflective of what weeder prerequisite college classes are like. If you took a ton of AP classes in high school, it's definitely possible to get an A. I pretty much ignored my other classes and solely studied for this one which was how I managed to get an A.

Lectures: VERY FAST. It might feel discouraging, but TAKE NOTES. Even if they're sloppy or not perfect get a pen to paper and try to follow. If you don't take notes, you're going to have a lot harder of time trying to grasp concepts later on. Also---the things Scerri verbally mentions during the lecture are often the minute details he expects you to remember during exams.

Slides: Straight up memorize these. However, take note of the slides/concepts you don't need to know (he just adds them for curiosity sake lmao). For everything else though, if it's on the slides it will probably be on the exams.

Owl Quizzes: These are just problems he assigns online. They're an awesome grade booster, but aside from that completely useless. Scerri himself told us that they're not reflective of what's on the exam and are usually harder than the exam content. Complete them periodically so you don't fall behind.

Exams: Two midterms + one final. Half problems were free response and half were multiple choice. Exams seem difficult at first, but are possible to master. Ask around for test banks/past exams from classmates. I did 4 full practice exams before each midterm and the same for the final and got good scores (in the A- and B+ range). For problems you don't understand, STOP and spend as long as you need to understand them; it's worth it. By the time I took the exam I predicted basically all of the problems so there were no surprises. TAs were also super graceful with the free response and give generous partial credit. Also---our final had absolutely no spectroscopy, if that's helpful.

TAs: I had Dimitri, and he was a God send. These TAs know exactly what's on the exam, and they're willing to tell you if something is on the exam or not (just ask).

Office Hours: Scerri's office hours were always so packed; people were sitting on the floor and in the doorway. TA office hours are better.

Scerri himself is an extremely knowledgable scientist---not quite a skillful professor. I think the reason why he has such awful ratings is because fall quarter freshmen are taking this class and aren't used to the difficulty/pace/dynamic of college courses. Don't expect your hand to be held. Once you get the hang of how college classes work you'll be fine. Sit near the front at the beginning and find a study group; they'll be a lifesaver. Good luck, you'll need it.

I would like to think that Dr. Scerri has turned a new leaf. His exams used to be upwards of six questions with multiple parts, complicated equations, unclear directions, and every other atrocity you could think of. In light of his bad reviews, this quarter he opted to make the exams more organized, succinct, and tolerable.

Our midterm was rather pleasant, actually. Our tests were curved up and I was one of a few students who got 100% (sorry but I hope that gives context as to who's talking here).
The midterm was based on practice exam questions we had gotten during discussion sections, and his previous exams were a great litmus test for what types of questions we would expect.

The final exam, however, was an entirely different story. Because of the TA strike, our exam with multiple-choice on a Scantron. The multiple-choice questions were adulterated from the same online source and Prof Scerri lacked the common sense to supply us with the necessary information to approach these online questions. Because of this fault, 5 of 45 questions on our final exam are being omitted, with a 6th question having answer options from an entirely different question (formatting issue?). Compounding this, students with the CAE were told that they were five questions to omit and not approach, but students in traditional lecture halls are only told about four. For this reason, we are currently running the risk that students with accommodations will have an artificially lower score because they were told to leave another question blank.

Take this as a testament to his communication style: he sucks at it.

As other reviews have indicated, his lecture slides are incredibly unorganized and his style of walking us through lecture slides during class with occasional elaboration does little to aid our comprehension.

While I might not be as direct as the other reviews to "Avoid Scerri at all costs," I would advise that you might want to avoid him if unorganized slides, a lack of communication skills, a snobby personality, and a stark tendency to say "obviously" when trying to explain challenging concepts are a deal breaker to you.

Thank you for listening to my TedTalk.

I actually really loved this class. From the students I talked with that were also in the class, this seems to be one of the most polarizing classes I've been in. You either love it or you hate it. But that makes sense, since general chemistry is often a weeder-type class for many pre-med students.
I will say this though: it's possible for anyone, even if you're not "good" at chemistry, to get a good grade in Eric Scerri's Chem 14A and have an appreciation for the material.
40% of your final grade in this class is the final exam, and 30% is the midterm. Dr. Scerri will give you several old exams to study and STUDY THESE!! Even MORE importantly, go to the test bank and search for as many old exams as you can find. Split it up between you and your friends to get literally as many exams as possible. These past exams are very useful because Dr. Scerri has been known to copy and paste pretty much all of his exam questions to his current exams, or he may change a single word or number. Understand how to do problems on as many practice exams as you can find and you'll be golden. I got a 98% on the midterm and a 97% on the final through this method, because as I reviewed more and more practice exams, the problems that I had with the material eventually disappeared. I can guarantee you that people who don't do well in this class don't do this.
20% of your grade is online quizzes, which aren't too difficult, and 10% is homework, which can be quite tedious but is overall manageable. Scerri is very funny at times, but can also be quite dull at other times. However, I would say he's in the better half of professors I've had at UCLA. Don't even bother wasting money on the textbook.
Lastly, going to discussion definitely didn't hurt me either. Some of the more complicated concepts such as molecular orbital theory and hybridization were ironed out for me through my TA's teaching.
Overall, this class is manageable, and the resources for you to do well are definitely there.

DO NOT TAKE HIS CLASS! HE IS THE WORST! YOU WILL FAIL AND CRY AND SUFFER!

I took this class with no prior experience in chemistry. Overall, I put a good amount of work into this class (took lecture notes, read through the textbook, attended office hours, completed practice questions, etc.) because I was scared of getting screwed over by curving. The workload in this class is deceptively light, so I would make sure that you find ways to study on your own time. I do not think I would have been able to do as well if I didn't dedicate as much time to this class as I did. Scerri seems to be knowledgeable and passionate about chemistry, but his lecture slides often had mistakes, which made me rely much more on the textbook. A large portion of our grade (50% I think it was) came from completing online Thinkwell quizzes. The quizzes weren't bad at all, as we could take them up to three times, open-everything, with no time limit. I was just annoyed that the questions were pulled from a bank that included some concepts we did not (and were not going to) cover. Scerri acknowledged we wouldn't be tested on those concepts, too. The midterm and final were fair and reflected practice questions done in class and discussion sections, but I would make sure to also pay attention to conceptual ideas mentioned in the lectures/textbook so you aren't caught off-guard when they show up on exams.

Professor Scerri is horrible. I agree with the people below that like his course reader because you do not have to buy a textbook, but he is a mess. His lectures are all over the place. His office hours are useless. And his finals are ridiculous. Science majors, there is no way to avoid him...sadly! But if a new teacher comes along...take them no matter what!

I hated this class and only did well out of spite for Scerri

dude this class was bad... scerri is incomprehensible and terrifying. the course is reasonably difficult (what you'd expect for a chemistry class) but scerri is a terrible teacher and is entirely unclear about what he wants you to know.
the homework is fine- its a bunch of modules due at the end of the quarter. totally manageable but not really helpful for exams.
the ta's are helpful for the most part. sometimes they seemed to be just as lost about how scerri approaches certain topics, and will just teach you a different way. theyre as helpful as they can be with what theyre given, and i definitely suggest going to discussion. attendance isnt taken for discussion or lecture so you can pick which TA you like.
ive heard that other sections of 20a have much better professors. do everything you can to avoid scerri. his slideshows make absolutely no sense and wont walk you through the kinds of problems youll see on the exams. he's going to be incredibly vague about what will be on the exams and what info he will give you on the formula sheet. he doesnt really stop for questions and will make you feel stupid if he doesnt like your question. he's really terrible at gauging how his students are feeling or how much we're learning. the first lecture about quantum mechanics will be comically difficult and scerri will simply push through.

shits tough. cant wait to take a chemistry class with a decent professor.

My biggest piece of advice to do well in this class is to GO TO DISCUSSION SECTION WITH YOUSIF. He opens it up to everyone and you can go to any of the available times he has them. They were incredibly helpful and he cleared up concepts that were explained in convoluted ways in class. ALSO, if you go to class and discussion you should do well on the tests because every single problem on the midterm and final comes straight from the slides.

Aside from that, I really don't think Scerri is as bad as the reviews say. I took the class fall 2021 with the expectation he would be a completely unfair grader and horrible lecturer with a 2.9 rating on bruinwalk. Maybe it was because it was online, but the class was very easy to follow along and take notes on. Sometimes Scerri wouldn't answer a question adequately or explain a concept in a way that would just confuse people, but for the most part, I feel like I sufficiently learned all CHEM 14B topics .

Lastly, Achieve quizzes. For the quizzes, I had done 2 of them prior and I did the last 5 from 10pm to 9am the day they were due without any distractions, so that should give you an idea of how to space them out/how much to procrastinate.