CHEM 14A
General Chemistry for Life Scientists I
Description: Lecture, three hours; discussion, one hour. Preparation: high school chemistry or equivalent background and three and one half years of high school mathematics. Requisite: completion of Chemistry Diagnostic Test. Enforced corequisite: Life Sciences 30A or Mathematics 3A or 31A or score of 48 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); coordination compounds; properties of inorganic and organic acids, bases, buffers. P/NP or letter grading.
Units: 4.0
Units: 4.0
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Most Helpful Review
Fall 2025 - I hated chemistry in high school and did not take AP Chem. I do consider myself generally good at STEM courses. To be honest I still find gen chem boring (in 14b with Lavelle rn), but Prof. Lavelle does a great job breaking down the concepts and connecting it to relevant topics. As he often advertises and as other commenters would point out, he provides a TON of practice problems and TA/LA (UA) practice sessions if you're into that sort of thing. I personally didn't attend any in person sessions but enjoyed the ample amount of worksheets they provided. I take Lavelle because he records his lectures as well. I will say that I'm terribly clumsy and adhd and is prone to making small arthimetic errors or missing small details on tests, and so the small wiggle room for mistakes kept me on edge all quarter. However if you read the problems 5 times and make sure you don't drop decimals the tests are generally straightforward and consistent with homework problems. The final was a beast I'm ngl. No getting around that. If you enjoy flexibility in your schedule and teaching yourself concepts through practice problems, Lavelle is for you. If you want more wiggle room in exams maybe take someone else. Also he's kind of sassy sometimes but I think he's just tired of answering the same thing over and over lmao. He does care a lot about his students!
Fall 2025 - I hated chemistry in high school and did not take AP Chem. I do consider myself generally good at STEM courses. To be honest I still find gen chem boring (in 14b with Lavelle rn), but Prof. Lavelle does a great job breaking down the concepts and connecting it to relevant topics. As he often advertises and as other commenters would point out, he provides a TON of practice problems and TA/LA (UA) practice sessions if you're into that sort of thing. I personally didn't attend any in person sessions but enjoyed the ample amount of worksheets they provided. I take Lavelle because he records his lectures as well. I will say that I'm terribly clumsy and adhd and is prone to making small arthimetic errors or missing small details on tests, and so the small wiggle room for mistakes kept me on edge all quarter. However if you read the problems 5 times and make sure you don't drop decimals the tests are generally straightforward and consistent with homework problems. The final was a beast I'm ngl. No getting around that. If you enjoy flexibility in your schedule and teaching yourself concepts through practice problems, Lavelle is for you. If you want more wiggle room in exams maybe take someone else. Also he's kind of sassy sometimes but I think he's just tired of answering the same thing over and over lmao. He does care a lot about his students!
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Most Helpful Review
Spring 2024 - take this class with Reslan!!!! Could not recommend her more. She's a bit disorganized with her lecture but holds amazing review sessions and is very helpful during office hours. The class itself can be difficult because it's a lot of material crammed but she at the end she did listen to students and cut material. She values our feedback and provides great formula sheets. Her exams are very fair and she gave good practice exams. Discussion is not mandatory but highly recommended because that's when you actually do practice problems. Lectures were recorded. Best chem teacher :)
Spring 2024 - take this class with Reslan!!!! Could not recommend her more. She's a bit disorganized with her lecture but holds amazing review sessions and is very helpful during office hours. The class itself can be difficult because it's a lot of material crammed but she at the end she did listen to students and cut material. She values our feedback and provides great formula sheets. Her exams are very fair and she gave good practice exams. Discussion is not mandatory but highly recommended because that's when you actually do practice problems. Lectures were recorded. Best chem teacher :)
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Most Helpful Review
Fall 2025 - This is a review for Chem 20A b/c the class isn't listed. Awesome professor! He's super clear in lecture and provides really helpful notes to fill in with him as he lectures. He provides so so so many resources to help students succeed in the course, including extra practice problems, study guides, and practice exams, and he hosts a review session for every exam. He also hosts "coffee hours" which is a chance to get to know him outside of class. I've never had a professor put so much effort into a class before and it really shows that he cares about his students.
Fall 2025 - This is a review for Chem 20A b/c the class isn't listed. Awesome professor! He's super clear in lecture and provides really helpful notes to fill in with him as he lectures. He provides so so so many resources to help students succeed in the course, including extra practice problems, study guides, and practice exams, and he hosts a review session for every exam. He also hosts "coffee hours" which is a chance to get to know him outside of class. I've never had a professor put so much effort into a class before and it really shows that he cares about his students.
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