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.

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 definitely did not learn anything in this class, which will most likely hurt me going forward. Because this class was online, the class, as a whole, did extremely well and it was almost too easy, so I would take the grade distribution for the Spring 2020 quarter with a grain of salt, because they do not match the absorption of content.

Scerri is very smart but his lectures are super boring and fairly disorganized, despite having slides. Especially on Zoom it became increasingly difficult to pay attention. I would not take another class with Scerri, not because he's a bad or unfair professor (his tests are extremely fair and easy to do well on), but because I don't feel like I learn enough in his classes (I had him for both 14A and 14B and have almost no knowledge about chemistry).

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.

I agree with what people said below. Just make sure to include EVERY detail on the test. That makes all the difference. You may know the problem like the back of your hand, but if you leave out some minor detail, they leave out some major points. Oh, and make sure you have a good TA.

Scerri is one of the worst professors I have taken at UCLA. His teaching online was not the best because the class requires a lot of math problems so he would mainly say how to solve them instead of actually be able to write out the steps, this of course was simply due to the online format. I think he is okay to take in person, where you can form study groups and ask questions. But he was very unaccommodating to the current situation and expects everyone to come in with solid knowledge of chemistry. His sarcasm during office hours and lectures made my blood boil. If you have the chance, take any other Professor.

Believe ALL the reviews posted for Scerri, no matter the course, and I know there is a lot. If you are thinking about taking chem 14A, DON'T TAKE IT WITH SCERRI. His class is a mess, disorganized, and not fun at all. During class time (took this class online because of COVID), he just reads off his lecture slides word for word. Often focuses on the history of chemistry instead of actually solving problems. When he does show us problems, he doesn't physically go through the problems with you and because this is an introductory course, it's kind of important that he does. For midterm and final "reviews" he just combines all his slides from past weeks into one big slide and spends the class time reading them word for word, just faster. You're better off not attending lecture, just discussion. (He interrupted multiple lectures by asking why no one had their cameras on instead of focusing on teaching. When we gave reasons (internet connectivity, more cameras on = lagging issues, distractions, etc) he basically dismissed them and said they were stupid and untrue.) Discussions aren't mandatory but they're IMPORTANT if you don't want to listen to Professor Scerri. In discussions, TAs help with actually solving problems and what they mean in the context of the class. I had Spencer as my TA and he was a GREAT help. Besides 1 midterm during week 5 and the final, there are 9 Sapling quizzes you have to do. He doesn't offer any schedule to do the quizzes, just one big deadline at the beginning of week 10 so you have to create your own or you can choose to save them until the end of the quarter (I don't recommend this though). This class is heavily curved but you'll survive if you learn to work well with your peers and ask for help. Join a PLF session and talk with your peers on help with sapling quizzes. Class only consists of 3 grades: Sapling, Midterm, and Final. Our midterm was very easy with almost all questions copied word for word from another exam in previous years but for the final, it was devastating so don't think that you can float on by in this class.

tldr: This class is messy from start to finish. Don't go to lecture; go to discussions. Try to get Spencer as your TA. Sapling is required and try to finish one quiz a week to be on track. Midterm is easy but final was excruciatingly hard. Class is curved. Get help from PLF sessions. Grade consists of: sapling, midterm, and final. If you're in this class, you can text ********** for pdfs of past midterms and finals with answers (as well as blank ones so you can practice with).

*Grading/Curve*
Dr. Scerri is probably one of the most polarizing professors I have heard about. I think a lot of people dislike his classes because he is not very clear about the "curve." He stated on the first day/his syllabus states something about not wanting too many people to get A's so some people do get curved down. This did happen to some of my friends unfortunately who had about an A and were given an A-. He is not transparent at all about how much he is curving people down or what the class average is etc. Additionally, your final grade may not accurately reflect how you performed on the assignments since Dr. Scerri does make mistakes when inputting final grades. This happened to me and my friends, but I emailed him and went through some back and forth, but he eventually changed my grade. Your grade is 30% midterm, 30% Achieve (homework), and 40% final. No extra credit, syllabus quiz, discussion, participation, etc. -- just those three assignments.

*Homework*
Achieve is a pain since it is graded on accuracy and some of the problems require sm time and are too extensive for what we are tested on. DO NOT LEAVE THIS TO THE LAST DAY. I think it is manageable to do in the last week, but this can be VERY stressful when studying for other finals, so I highly do not recommend doing the whole thing the last week either. The numbers will also vary from student to student so you cannot "divide and conquer."

*Exams*
Personally, I am very bad at chemistry and only took one regular chem class early in high school so everything I learned in 14A and 14B was new. However, I did some of the old midterms and finals Scerri posted and they were highly similar to the actual exams since he reuses his exams. I definitely recommend doing the old exams before studying your notes because it will help you narrow down what you need to study. The answer key for these exams are usually wrong though so you have to check with a TA for the right answers. He does not use the textbook at all and all the concepts/problem types can be found on his lecture slides. Study his slides if you have time!!

*Lecture/Content*
Lecture attendance was optional since they were recorded, but I actually really loved attending lecture. Dr. Scerri is a very amusing lecturer and I found the content very interesting. His slideshows are unorganized since everything is in different colors and fonts for no reason, but his slides have a lot of useful information and diagrams (some of which you will have to draw on exams!!) Honestly, if you put in a decent amount of effort, the slides aren't as hard to understand as other reviews state. People say that Dr. Scerri is a confusing professor, but I think that's just the content in general. He really does try to thoroughly explain the material and pauses to ask if we have questions. He even makes jokes and takes a break every now and then.

*Professor/TAs*
I had Dr. Scerri for both 14A and 14B and I had very low expectations because of the previous reviews, but after finishing both classes with him, I actually really liked him and his classes! I wouldn't say he's the nicest professor, but in both quarters, I have never heard him be rude to a student. He is very open to answering questions and usually is responsive to emails. He definitely gets a bit confused from time to time during lecture, but he will correct himself after a couple of minutes. Your understanding of the content is definitely reinforced/enhanced by the TA. I had Hootan, who I 1000000% recommend, but I've heard Spencer and Kodi are also amazing.

You can't be a bad professor and be rude. Seriously the worst professor at UCLA. Whatever you do try to take this class with Lavelle! Received an A+ in his class due to the enormous amount of support material he gives his students. Scerri on the other hand, reads off of his bullet points and insults his students when asking a question.

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