Pham is a very good organic chemistry professor. He tells you exactly what you're learning, how to do it, and what to do. The problem is, organic chemistry is pretty difficult.

He compensates for this by giving a TON of extra credit. When I say a ton I mean I got an 85,87 on my midterms, a 91 on the final and finished with a solid A because of how much extra credit he gives. The exams are hard but similar to past ones. I'd expect him to start to change it up a bit because reusing past exam formats will only increase average test scores over time.

But 14C seriously challenged me. This is not 14B meaning that you can't just plug and chug formulas and memorize things. YOU HAVE TO KNOW ORGANIC CHEMISTRY, and Pham is an excellent professor to get you there.

Be warned: He can come off as a little condescending if you ask a question, but the students that he knows he is very very kind to. He genuinely cares even though while you're talking to him it might not look like it.

Of the 14C professors available, Professor Pham is probably the best. He's a very clear lecturer and his slides make the concepts easily digestible. He's a little hard to approach sometimes with questions (he directly confronts your understanding of the topic in order to see if you can answer your own question), but office hours can clear up some of those questions. Be warned - this class is NOTHING like 14A/B. It is far more visual and has very little calculations in it, and this makes it harder for some people (it did for me). To do well in the class, don't even bother opening up the textbook (the problems look very unlike the ones you'll be seeing on his tests) - try to find the couple good TAs and do their worksheets and do the LA worksheets given out before the midterms/final. The tests are all pretty hard, but they are generally fair. He also gives out a lot of extra credit through Top Hat (basically clicker questions) and on his tests (often info about himself and/or something from Fun Fridays, where he goes over an interesting development in chemistry). Overall, he's a pretty funny and chill guy who will make a tough subject like organic chemistry as painless as possible.

Professor Pham is the best! He is super engaged with his students and really wants us to succeed. He gives good pep talks to lighten the spirit of everyone who feel they are going to "fail" ochem. The tests are difficult, but doable. I think i was pretty close to getting an A in the class, but better luck next time I guess

Professor Pham is a good lecturer who explains concepts well and his lectures are easy to follow. He posts the lecture slides and uploads the audio for each lecture so it's possible to review his materials before each exam. However, like one of the other reviews stated, while he is a funny professor, he can sound condescending at times and believes that you either have an innate talent for organic chemistry or you don't.

The class itself is difficult but that's no surprise. Homework is not required, but to be fair, the test materials don't mirror the homework questions. Rather, it is an opportunity to see if you the general gist behind how to solve the problems. The tests are fair, but my advice is to look up old tests if possible and do the TA worksheets. The class average my quarter was a 76%, but this is a "weeder" class, so just do your best and hope for the best. Good luck.

Chem 14C is generally a hard class. From what my friends told me, Pham is the best teacher there is and from my experience with him, he has lived up to his reputation. Nonetheless, his tests are hard and at times he can assign work from the book (although not required) that confuses more than helps people. Overall a great professor

Pham is definitely one of my favorite professors. He is extremely knowledgeable and teaches really well. Lectures are engaging and you definitely learn lots of cool things everyday. To do well in this class, make sure you're always on top of the material and doing the TA's worksheets. Unless you have lots of time, I'll say that you should avoid textbook problems (often irrelevant and not that useful) and the review sessions (are run by LA's and aren't that useful unless you really want to ask the LA's questions). If you can, try to get a molecular modeling kit especially because you're allowed to use it during exams. Overall, I really enjoyed Pham's class and I would definitely recommend him!