CHEM 14A
Atomic and Molecular Structure, Equilibria, Acids, and Bases
Description: Lecture, three hours; discussion, one hour. Preparation: high school chemistry or equivalent background and three and one half years of high school mathematics. Enforced corequisite: Life Sciences 30A or Mathematics 3A or 31A or score of 35 or better on Mathematics Diagnostic Test. Not open to students with credit for course 20A. Introduction to physical and general chemistry principles; atomic structure based on quantum mechanics; atomic properties; trends in periodic table; chemical bonding (Lewis structures, VSEPR theory, hybridization, and molecular orbital theory); gaseous and aqueous equilibria; properties of inorganic and organic acids, bases, buffers; titrations. P/NP or letter grading.
Units: 4.0
Units: 4.0
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Most Helpful Review
Spring 2023 - I liked this class. I thought that he taught okay during lectures - but his office hours were great. He hosted review sessions before the exams which were extremely helpful. His final was pretty hard, but his midterms were fair. He honestly seemed like he wanted his students to do well, which I appreciated. After every midterm, he offered extra credit if the student examined and wrote a reflection on the points they missed on the test.
Spring 2023 - I liked this class. I thought that he taught okay during lectures - but his office hours were great. He hosted review sessions before the exams which were extremely helpful. His final was pretty hard, but his midterms were fair. He honestly seemed like he wanted his students to do well, which I appreciated. After every midterm, he offered extra credit if the student examined and wrote a reflection on the points they missed on the test.
Most Helpful Review
Summer 2023 - Dr. Prado is a great professor if you have absolutely no idea what you're doing. She painstakingly goes through the smallest details and repeats things until absolutely everyone gets it. If you have a chemistry background or just have an aptitude for learning things by the 2nd time, Dr. Prado might not be for you. I don't know if it's just me, but spending hours on stoichiometry, which is arguably rather easy and something you just need to practice because there's not a lot of conceptual theory to learn, is a catastrophic waste of time (especially when the final exam barely covers it). Why couldn't we have dedicated more time to figuring out the strength of acids and bases when that was literally the entire final? She really holds your hand through the most basic things but then you're on your own for the stuff that's actually relevant on the exam. The midterm was pretty easy (in my opinion, average was a B), but the final was way harder than anything we ever did in class, homework, or discussion. I also found that Dr. Prado wasted a lot of time. She spent 10 minutes complaining about a spider, which I get can be rough especially if you're scared of them, but for a summer session, 10 minutes is a lot of time. Attendance is also mandatory/graded, which sucks for summer classes. One thing I really liked was that she gives you previous exams to study from, and they were actually helpful. Overall, by no means the worst professor, and she definitely has strengths, but I was thoroughly annoyed by the end of the class.
Summer 2023 - Dr. Prado is a great professor if you have absolutely no idea what you're doing. She painstakingly goes through the smallest details and repeats things until absolutely everyone gets it. If you have a chemistry background or just have an aptitude for learning things by the 2nd time, Dr. Prado might not be for you. I don't know if it's just me, but spending hours on stoichiometry, which is arguably rather easy and something you just need to practice because there's not a lot of conceptual theory to learn, is a catastrophic waste of time (especially when the final exam barely covers it). Why couldn't we have dedicated more time to figuring out the strength of acids and bases when that was literally the entire final? She really holds your hand through the most basic things but then you're on your own for the stuff that's actually relevant on the exam. The midterm was pretty easy (in my opinion, average was a B), but the final was way harder than anything we ever did in class, homework, or discussion. I also found that Dr. Prado wasted a lot of time. She spent 10 minutes complaining about a spider, which I get can be rough especially if you're scared of them, but for a summer session, 10 minutes is a lot of time. Attendance is also mandatory/graded, which sucks for summer classes. One thing I really liked was that she gives you previous exams to study from, and they were actually helpful. Overall, by no means the worst professor, and she definitely has strengths, but I was thoroughly annoyed by the end of the class.
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Most Helpful Review
Fall 2022 - When I took 14A with Reslan, it was her first time teaching at ucla. So of course, she's not gonna be perfect, and at times she was a bit disorganized and made few errors since it was her first time teaching the quarter system. Many students would hate on her and wouldn't appreciate what she did for the class which pissed me off. However, from her growth and quality as a professor, I would say she is an amazing professor and the majority of the students with a brain would agree. If she is teaching this class again, take it with her! After the first few weeks, she assimilated into the class, became way more organized, and more helpful in our learning. The exams were so fair and similar to the practice in the class. She provides so many practice problems and wanted us to get an A. She tried her best to simplify complex topics and would try to answer as many questions as possible. She was also extremely nice and accommodating (even though she had to deal with some annoying ungrateful students so I felt bad for her throughout the quarter). She might have changed her class structure from when I took it, but overall, she is goated, so take the class with her!
Fall 2022 - When I took 14A with Reslan, it was her first time teaching at ucla. So of course, she's not gonna be perfect, and at times she was a bit disorganized and made few errors since it was her first time teaching the quarter system. Many students would hate on her and wouldn't appreciate what she did for the class which pissed me off. However, from her growth and quality as a professor, I would say she is an amazing professor and the majority of the students with a brain would agree. If she is teaching this class again, take it with her! After the first few weeks, she assimilated into the class, became way more organized, and more helpful in our learning. The exams were so fair and similar to the practice in the class. She provides so many practice problems and wanted us to get an A. She tried her best to simplify complex topics and would try to answer as many questions as possible. She was also extremely nice and accommodating (even though she had to deal with some annoying ungrateful students so I felt bad for her throughout the quarter). She might have changed her class structure from when I took it, but overall, she is goated, so take the class with her!
Most Helpful Review
Spring 2020 - One only takes his class because it is a major requirement. If you come in with a prior foundation of chemistry, with work you can get an A in this class. However, the reason I write such a negative review for him is because he is a terrible professor. His lectures are extremely disorganized, and incredibly hard to follow. He is terrible at communicating. He tells you in his syllabus not to send him emails and to ask questions on the discussion forum. But, here is the thing he doesn't respond to them. Even when you ask him about essential things like the timing of the exam or a confusion with gradescope, he replies so rudely. His syllabus and lectures is unclear and full of typos. He simply doesn't care about you. He is very uppish and highly unprofessional. Serious action needs to be taken against professors like him.
Spring 2020 - One only takes his class because it is a major requirement. If you come in with a prior foundation of chemistry, with work you can get an A in this class. However, the reason I write such a negative review for him is because he is a terrible professor. His lectures are extremely disorganized, and incredibly hard to follow. He is terrible at communicating. He tells you in his syllabus not to send him emails and to ask questions on the discussion forum. But, here is the thing he doesn't respond to them. Even when you ask him about essential things like the timing of the exam or a confusion with gradescope, he replies so rudely. His syllabus and lectures is unclear and full of typos. He simply doesn't care about you. He is very uppish and highly unprofessional. Serious action needs to be taken against professors like him.
Most Helpful Review
Fall 2022 - I did not like this class. I did like Toumari. I really struggled because this was my first quarter at UCLA and I had the classic "I don't need to study" mindset and ended up with a 47% on the second midterm. The grading scheme was fairly lenient so I ended up with an A-, but the midterm was definitely humbling. Lectures were typically not too bad to follow along with and they were recorded. Weekly quizes/homework online, but we were allowed multiple tries and lost minimal points if we had to retry questions, so it wasn't too bad. There were several times that he shuffled around the grading scheme in response to student complaints and he eventually made the HW worth more and the midterms worth less. (thank god) I took this for Toumari's first quarter teaching at UCLA, so I'd imagine future quarters have been/will be smoother. With that said, this class is what made me decide to no longer be premed lol.
Fall 2022 - I did not like this class. I did like Toumari. I really struggled because this was my first quarter at UCLA and I had the classic "I don't need to study" mindset and ended up with a 47% on the second midterm. The grading scheme was fairly lenient so I ended up with an A-, but the midterm was definitely humbling. Lectures were typically not too bad to follow along with and they were recorded. Weekly quizes/homework online, but we were allowed multiple tries and lost minimal points if we had to retry questions, so it wasn't too bad. There were several times that he shuffled around the grading scheme in response to student complaints and he eventually made the HW worth more and the midterms worth less. (thank god) I took this for Toumari's first quarter teaching at UCLA, so I'd imagine future quarters have been/will be smoother. With that said, this class is what made me decide to no longer be premed lol.
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