I worked my butt off in this class. So there are 400 points total in this class, each quiz is 40 points(120 total for three quizzes), one midterm worth 110 points(I'm not in honors), and one final worth 170 points. I ended up with 335/400, which is an 83.75%. With the curve, I have a B+...that is not a curve in my opinion. This is very upsetting, but this is a good class if you want to learn a lot... a lot of chemistry.

There was basically no curve. don't depend on a curve!

I had Chem 14A with Professor Lavelle just this Fall and I love him! A lot of people thought that Professor Lavelle's way of teaching is hard to understand, but it was perfectly fine with me, so I guess it's up to different preferences. He has a great sense of humor and I think he should tell more chem jokes at the beginning of every lecture. As for the course, I thought it was pretty okay. Some people said that without taking AP Chem, this course would be a tad bit difficult, but I think if you work a little harder it would make up for it. I didn't take AP Chem in high school and I still understood the material so I think it would be okay. In addition, the Course Reader was only helpful in the sense that you have the lecture notes right in front of you and you don't need to copy all the information from the overhead down into a notebook or something. However, you don't really need the notes because all you need to study for you can find in the textbook itself. In addition, the Course Reader includes copies of old midterms and finals, which REALLY help when reviewing for the exams. However, I thought the Course Reader was way too expensive and it wasn't really worth the cost. You can basically get copies of the exams from friends or elsewhere. Lectures could get boring sometimes, but I still encourage you to go (instead of just watching the webcasts and podcasts) because they really do help! The key to this course, however, is doing the homework problems. I know it is tempting to not do it because the homework is not collected, but it really helps you understand the material. Plus, the problems on the midterm and final are basically very similar to the homework (also there's one question from the homework on the midterm and one question from the homework on the final). So don't fall behind on the assignments: It's a pain trying to catch up! Overall, I think Professor Lavelle is a great professor. To whoever's taking Professor Lavelle for Chem 14A next Fall (I believe), have fun and good luck!

I had Chem 14A and Chem 14-H or 89 with Lavelle Fall quarter. He is a nice guy and a teacher that wants to help you. His teaching style is mostly from the course reader and is a bit dry. He does offer a LOT of tutoring sessions for the midterms and finals, although some are more helpful than other depending on the T.A.
The advice is you SHOULD go to class; although there are a LOT of ways to circumvent this with all the webcasts, podcasts, virtual office hours and tutoring sessions he offered. For me, I went to his class until 3rd week and then quit going. If you didn't have AP Chem, then you should probably go to class. Otherwise, if you took AP Chem and did fine and can do the HW he assigns with little difficulty you should do fine. For those that haven't, it sucks but you'll probably have to put some extra work in. Lavelle also focuses a lot on concepts and how and why it works, which is interesting kind of, but not as helpful for the tests. He's pretty good and with all the help he provides MANY people do well, so put in some effort because the curves are high. I thought he was OK, but it isn't unfathomable to understand when students claim he is extremely boring/horrible or amazing.

Whoever just posted below me took the words right out of my mouth

Don't get me wrong, he's a decent prof but you MUST be prepared. This is COLLEGE and for most students, this is their first quarter at UCLA. DON'T SLACK OFF.

Each point counts (and yes, being in the first lecture majorly sucks) but it's not overly difficult. You just need to be on top of things. It's isn't a very difficult class in and of itself. I never took AP Chem and took Chem H my freshman year so yeah, it had been a while since I had taken chemistry. If you haven't taken AP Chem, DON'T TAKE CHEM H! I can't stress this enough I really regret signing up for Chem H. To be honest it's too much to study for if all the material is new to you unless you're really good at time management. It's doable, not recommended.

And if you get stuck with a bad TA, SWITCH EARLY. You're grade depends on YOU and THEM.

First of all, many of the comments that are posted below mine are very inaccurate!!! HERE IS THE REAL/HONEST-TO-G0D/MOST BLUNT/ACCURATE REVIEW YOU WILL EVER FIND ON LAVELLE.

1. If you memorize his midterms/finals, you do not automatically get an A. Sure, they are very similar, but each quiz always has that one tricky thing that you would have never expected even if you memorized the midterms/finals better than you can even spell your own name.
2. His course reader is not as helpful as others make it sound to be. The things in there are summaries or outlines of the sections in the book. Basically, 5 pages of the book (front and back typed in a font much smaller than his coursereader) is barely even half a page on his coursereader. If that is all you read, you will never understand the material. Honestly, it is such a rip-off.
3. You can skip all the lectures that you want. Basically, he podcasts everything. So what I recommend is reading the textbook (skim it if you just cannot handle reading about chemsitry) and try to understand it. Do some homework problems and then listen to the podcast(even if this means that the actual lecture was three days ago, listening to the podcast when you actually know some stuff is much more effective than just going to class clueless).
4. Make sure you discussion time is a time that you will be available and awake. Basically, you take all your quizzes in discussion, so if it is right after a hard class or at hella early in the morning when you are not really fully in the quiz mode, your grade will suffer. So that means don't sign up for the 8 am friday discussions...
5. Do the homework. Even though it is not required.... I found there is a direct relationship between the people that do homework and the people that do extremely well in the class. Do not simply look in the back of the book and think "oh i get it"... really understand everything that is on there. Actually doing the problems and writing them down helps the material enter your long term memory bank, so do it! PS There will be at least one hw problem from the book in the midterm and final.
6. If you are trying to satisfy a science GE requirement and thinking of taking this class... DON'T BE STUPID. Most people in this class are pre-med, pre-pharm, pre-dent, intense studiers... this class is not for the faint-hearted. Taking this class just to get rid of a GE is just about as stupid as going to USC.
7. If you are coming into this class not having taken AP Chemistry in high school, sorry to say it, but you are automatically at a disadvantage. However, you can easily make this up by really focusing on the fundamentals chapter that precedes chapter 1. Lavelle will spend about 2-3 lectures on the fundamentals section, but basically if you do not know this chapter by heart, you will fail the rest of the course. So spend as much time as you need to really master it.
8. DO NOT GO TO ANY OF THE REVIEW SESSIONS. They are absolutely useless. They will only confuse you more about the topics. It is much better to just study on your own. They are an absolute waste of time.
9. Okay, a theory of mine: I have noticed that the average scores of students from lecture 1 is always a little bit higher than those from lecture 2 and 3. Your grade is based on your own lecture, so I suggest that you enroll in either lecture 2 or 3. I am in lecture 1 right now... yeah, sucks.
10. If you are still reading this, then congratulations. You have heard all I can possibly say about this class. If you have to take this class, then make sure you work hard right from the get-go. Don't screw up anything cuz it will be very hard to make it up. Be confident in yourself. Work hard and good luck!

Peace!

PS Don't get me wrong. I may sound very pessimistic about the class but I actually do enjoy it. And I'm doing pretty well, might I add.

Lecture is pretty boring, but his course reader is really helpful... you basically can skip class and still do well. The layout of the quizzes and midterm is nice. Quizzes are pretty easy and the midterm was alright. If you do all the homework and study what's in the course reader, you should do well. The material isn't really but he explains it pretty well

His 14A class is super easy. If you are genuinely smart, you can easily cram everything the day before quizzes and the midterm and still get an A. I've been cramming for everything thus far, and I've gotten A+'s or 100%'s on the two quizzes and midterm so far.

You can miss lecture if you really need to if you have the course reader. Beware, though, because he uses a lot of shorthand in the course reader and kinda jumps into random things, so it might be confusing. That's where the book comes in--if you read the book, then you will understand everything in the course reader.

Reading the book is what I stress the MOST. I hate all of these shitty pre-meds who do everything from rote memorization and don't know what the hell they're really doing (I'm pre med too, but still I love baggin on them). If you read the book, then you will have a much greater understanding of everything and you will be able to answer both straightforward AND conceptual questions.

Homework is kinda necessary. You don't have to ACTUALLY do the homework...you can just do it in your head and look at the answer in the back. It's necessary because there are always little tricks and shit that you would never pick up by just going to lecture and reading, so you gotta at least go through it in your head (doesn't take that long if you don't write it out).

Oh yea check your green book answers with other people and make sure theyre always right. If someone takes the quiz before you, ask what concepts/types of questions were on it. It's not cheating since quizzes on different days are different and you could also figure it out by asking the TA's or Lavelle himself. Also, go over practice midterms and finals before you take em.

All of the advice I posted is really geared toward smart kids. If you do what I say, you will have ridiculous amounts of free time and will have a great time in Lavelle's class.

Also, his Honors 14A class is very easy too. It's once a week, so you only learn like one thing each lecture, so by the midterm you only have 5 things to study. I do NOT recommend missing an honors lecture. Even though the material is less, it's WAY harder and you will be quite lost and confused for many of the things learned. I missed a few lectures and was pretty stressed, but I pulled it back together and got an A on the honors midterm.

he is a good professor. he puts so many different resources that you could use, like old midterms and different websites. i didn't do so good in the class just because i slacked off during the beginnig.
make sure you keep up with the reading and the homework problems because they really help. just don't do what i did and fall behing..make sure you keep up. other than that good class:)

Put in effort, and you'll do fine. Slack off, and you won't. The class is only as hard as you make it, and Lavelle is overall a great professor.