Going to lecture is useless because all he does is go over the course reader. The discussions are useful because more material is covered than during lecture but the TA has to be good or else this is useless also. The practice midterms/exams are extremely useful. Do all the assigned problems, all the practice tests, and study hard and you'll do well in the class. Make good use of VOH. Lavelle is a caring professor and there are a lot of resources available to prepare for the tests. And again, DO the practice tests. Super helpful, if you do well on them, then it's almost a guarantee that you'll do well in the class. I fell asleep at each lecture i went to and did not study with others. The practice problems and practice exams are what got me the A. I know many other people say to do the practice tests but I'm repeating it again because they are just that helpful. The class will seem hard at first but if you study enough, it's actually pretty easy.

Here are the facts:
1. You will not be able to compete with the pre-meds in this class if you haven't taken AP Chemistry
2. The discussions are absolutely useless if you don't have a good TA. By the first discussion, if you realize your TA is useless, change them, because I think I might have done better in this course if I had a better TA.
3. Lectures are pretty much useless. It is directly off the course reader, except he spends about 15 mins going over 2 lines, repeating things in every possible way. Read the book, do the homework, go to SAC and get copies of practice quizzes.
4. Do the practice midterms and finals in the course reader. They pretty much guarantee you about a B on the final, because most of the questions are pretty much the same

Although many of the previous reviews adamantly argue that Lavelle is a terrible teacher, I can honestly say that this class is extremely possible to survive and succeed in. His lectures are podcasted, there are 12 TAs that you can go to if you need help, the VOH website to post questions, and his course reader for lecture notes. Lavelle gives you all the resources you need to do well in the class, all you need to do is utilize them.

If you're determined not to go to office hours or use the VOH website, it's still okay because his lectures cover everything you need to know in the class. Most people use the course reader as their lecture notes and add little bits of information during the lecture, and if this works for you, by all means, do it. But for me, I found that when I stopped writing information, I would doze off and daydream. As a solution, I stopped using the course reader in class and copied down his lecture slides in my notebook. It may seem pointless to write down information you already have in your course reader, but this method helped me absorb the new information efficiently and stay awake.

I don't recall my TA teaching me anything in the quarter, and even then it was still possible to succeed on the quizzes and midterm. I don't believe that it is the TA's fault if you fail your quizzes unless the TA tells you incorrect information. This certainly was not the case. The TA's know their stuff and if you have questions,(it may take a while for you to get the point across), they'll have answers.

All in all, this is not an easy class, but it is manageable. Read the textbook, do your homework, pay attention in class, and utilize the many resources he has for you.

Let's get a few things straight before I give my personal opinion on Lavelle.
1. chemistry is hard, no matter who the professor is.
2. chemistry at UCLA is wicked hard, no matter who the professor is.
3. CHEMISTRY SUCKS.

with that being said... Lavelle is extremely concerned about his students. Yes, his class is difficult, but that doesn't mean you're doomed. If you want to be pre-med, especially at UCLA, you're going to have to work for it, and I'm sorry if that scares you. I did not take AP Chem, and I am certainly by no means the smartest person in that lecture hall, but I studied hard and somehow managed to find really motivated people to study with, party with, and enjoy this hellish experience with. Take advantage of VOH, do all of the homework problems (and re-do the ones you don't understand), take the quizzes VERY seriously (especially the first one, its the hardest), do all of the practice midterms and finals, work your ass off, find things to relieve your stress, and most importantly, DO NOT give up just because you're not number one in the class like you were in high school.
So to sum up: work hard.

Like many people have already said, Lavelle expects you to know almost every topic he covers. It is completely ridiculous because a lot of people did not take AP chem and some just did not remember anything at all. Don't get me wrong, the majority of the lecture is filled with crazy, cut-throat pre-meds who freakin memorize the chem book, which is the reason this class becomes so difficult. Lavelle feels the need to throw crazy questions on the final (some which he NEVER covered in class)!! This class is honestly bullshit, if you get a bad t.a. you are screwed because they make the quizzes and your grade essentially depends on their method of grading. So if you (like me) get stuck with a T.A. who gives no partial credit, your grade will suffer. Lavelle is completely full of himself and he thinks he is the best professor at UCLA...yeah complete opposite. My advice: get a chem review book over summer and practice, practice, practice. If you have no backgroud in chemistry (like me) you are really on your own in this class. Your grade will depend on how hard you are willing to work. Get covel tutoring and go to office hours with T.A.s who seem like they actually care. Good luck and don't give up so easily! I know I wanted to drop, but I stuck through it.

So, here's the story:
YES, this class is hard.
YES, there is a curve cause it's a competitive class where there are premeds.
YES, you WILL fall asleep.
YES,lavelle does expect you to have prior knowledge in chemistry.
(Sometimes, he even begins with asking the question "How many of you have seen this is high school?")
BUT, there are things you can do to get an A:
1.) Have already taken chemistry in high school or if you have the $.$ take some chem course with princeton review/kaplan/private tutor or probably the best method get one of those AP Chem review books from Barnes and Nobles and self learn some chemistry over the summer or do all the odd problems in the fundamentals of the "Chemical Principles" textbook anytime BEFORE you take this class. That would actually help you because it would give you some sort of foundation to build on, because believe me- lavelle does not construct a foundation, his class builds on the fundementals. Honestly, I cannot imagine anyone just learning in all in the one week that lavelle spends on fundamentals, but I applaud you if you can.
2.) Do ALL the homework lavelle gives you and go into TA/professor office hours or use VOH to ask questions and such
3.) Study all the midterms/finals at the end of the course reader to get an idea of what sort of problems are on the quizes, midterms and finals
4.) don't depend on the curve- try you're hardest to earn all the points you can (this means, actually work hard to earn full credit on workbook)
5.) Make some good friends and get together a study group (although this may be hard if you come across some unfriendly premeds)
6.)If you find yourself struggling after 3 weeks, you are just not ready for this class. You can either wait it out in which you need at least a 50% to pass the class with a C-, and average to pass with a B-. Or, you can drop the class and take it winter quarter, which may actually be more to your benefit because the curve might be better.

One thing that's good about Lavelle is that he curves to a B-(unlike other professors who curve to a C), which means that if you're average, you're probably going to get a B-. And yes, he might be a bit boring but's he's alright, at least he gives you resources to pass his class; there are professors who are far worse.

THIS IS THE MOST HONEST REVIEW YOU WILL EVER HAVE:

I DID NOT take AP CHEM and it KILLED ME AND IT WILL DESTROY YOU TOO. If you didn't take AP Chem, then DO NOT TAKE THIS CLASS. Professor Lavelle, like an asshole, AUTOMATICALLY ASSUMES YOU HAVE TAKEN AP CHEM, WHICH IS A TOTALLY UNFAIR THING TO DO. A lot of these premeds did take AP Chem in High school. Just wait to take Scerri in the winter quarter, he is a better professor and you will get a better grade. This course consists of 3 quizzes, a midterm (on a sunday: wow lavelle thank you get a life!), and a final on a sunday. YOU MUST do well on the quizzes. The first quiz is a speed test so do well on it. Do well on the other two quizzes. Also check your workbook, and make sure you get a 100 so it can replace your lowest quiz score. The midterm was sort of easy and you need to get a good grade on it. I had an 89 going into the final. THE FINAL WAS HARD AS HELL AND HE PUT STUFF HE NEVER TALKED ABOUT. The final dropped my average by 11%. WOW thank you lavelle, I worked my ass of in this class and I get a fucking C+. This guy is a douchebag, he doesn't know how to teach (he reads off a stupid useless course reader), and his explanations are about as good as a 2 year old's.

SO HOW DO YOU GET AN A?

1) Get a good TA because they make the quiz and they grade the quizzes too.
2) Go to a good TA's office hours and dont be afraid to ask questions.
3) BOMBARD Lavelle with questions on his Virtual Office Hour website (If he is going to make the class extremely hard and make you work, then you should make him work too :D
4) Take the practice exams in the course reader.
5) Do EVERY HOMEWORK PROBLEM! They will probably pull a problem from Chapter 1 to put on the midterm.
6) Do not go to lecture, just read the book.
7) ENROLLING IN LECTURE 3 or 2 DOES NOT HELP YOU ANYMORE; LECTURE 1 HAD THE EASIER CURVE THIS YEAR.

Try to avoid lavelle, if you can, please!!!! Take Scerri Winter quarter, there is NO HURRY to take it in the fall! If you do take it in the fall, PICK UP AN AP CHEM REVIEW BOOK AND READ IT OVER THE SUMMER!

THIS IS THE WORST PROFESSOR EVER. HE IS SUCH A DOUCHEBAG! DONT LISTEN TO THE GOOD REVEIWS FROM PPL BELOW; THEY ALL TOOK AP CHEM! IF YOU TOOK AP CHEM AND YOU GET BELOW AN A, YOU ARE A DUMBASS! GOOD LUCK! MAY GOD BE WITH YOU!

Sure, he's not very animated like some professors/teachers you may have had in the past. This is chemistry though; I'm sure you'd fall asleep regardless. It's really no big deal though, and the guy tries to crack jokes every now and then which actually sometimes get through. Just go through the course reader, do the homework problems, and go to TA office hours (or ask on Lavelle's Virtual Office Hours) if you see you need help. TAs really do make a difference with this class; find one that you hear is really helpful (in case she does appear again in following years, Desirae Lau was a very good TA and a lot nicer compared to other TAs). If you happen to get one that isn't so helpful, again no big deal. Although you have to attend the discussion section you enrolled in (mainly to take your quizzes), you can go to any TA's office hours. If you're afraid your TA will grade harder than the others, Lavelle collects all the TA's class averages and normalizes them. Also even though the homework problems are never collected or taken into account for your grade, it really helps to do them. Try not to fall behind either; it's less work for you to do at the end of the quarter (or middle) when you're scrambling to prepare for the final/midterm. I felt that this class wasn't impossible to get through and Lavelle wasn't that bad (I'm sure there are much worse professors out there). With any class, just stay on top of things, ask questions, and study hard.

Note: If you took AP Chem in high school, this class will go over mostly familiar material which is helpful.

Professor Lavelle's class WILL put you to sleep. He has a very soothing voice and he uses an overhead so he dims the light, the chairs in the lecture hall are comfortable...You will fall asleep. His course reader is very useful because it has past exams in it and if you do them they help a lot. However, there will be that one question in the exam that throws you off. Most of the test questions are math based. I found his quizzes to be hard but his final and midterm were easier...at least for me. Overall, if you have basic knowledge of chem and if you just do the bookwork that he assigns you (which btw is never due, it's for your own benefit) you will do fine in his class.

Fuck lavelle