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 2024 - Lavelle is so amazing, I could say infinite things that make me think he's the goat of this school. His lectures are engaging and really applicable to life science - the whole point of taking 14a instead of 20a - and he's just such a kind and funny person. If you didn't take AP Chem, make sure to take advantage of his massive amounts of student help hours offered. If you did, then do whatever you think is necessary to make sure you grasp everything well. In terms of difficulty of tests, I'd say that they are very similar to the difficult of the Achieve and textbook problems - ie if you have no difficulty in those then you'll be fine for the midterm. This guy is the goat.
Fall 2024 - Lavelle is so amazing, I could say infinite things that make me think he's the goat of this school. His lectures are engaging and really applicable to life science - the whole point of taking 14a instead of 20a - and he's just such a kind and funny person. If you didn't take AP Chem, make sure to take advantage of his massive amounts of student help hours offered. If you did, then do whatever you think is necessary to make sure you grasp everything well. In terms of difficulty of tests, I'd say that they are very similar to the difficult of the Achieve and textbook problems - ie if you have no difficulty in those then you'll be fine for the midterm. This guy is the goat.
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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 :)
Most Helpful Review
Winter 2025 - Eric Scerri is the worst professor I have ever had. I genuinely do not know how UCLA keeps him as a professor. He is rude to students when they ask questions of email him. He is so blatantly disrespectful. He focuses on minute details and expects students to already understand most topics. Seriously, he ends sentences with "so on and so forth" instead of explaining. The class average was a D- and he does not curve. And good Lord, the TA Dimitri is no help. He has no idea what is going on. Literally I would ask a question and he would say "hmmm let me think about that." And didn't even know. Also he doesn't answer emails. But Eric Scerri is way worse. He is horrible. He doesn't explain anything and his slides are disorganized and not informational. Even doing all of the possible work and having gotten a 5 on AP Chem didn't save me since he literally makes his tests trick questions. He skims over information, is rude to students, and is just generally horrible. Everyday I prayed he would have a heart attack during Lecture. I hate Eric Scerri so much. Worst class ever.
Winter 2025 - Eric Scerri is the worst professor I have ever had. I genuinely do not know how UCLA keeps him as a professor. He is rude to students when they ask questions of email him. He is so blatantly disrespectful. He focuses on minute details and expects students to already understand most topics. Seriously, he ends sentences with "so on and so forth" instead of explaining. The class average was a D- and he does not curve. And good Lord, the TA Dimitri is no help. He has no idea what is going on. Literally I would ask a question and he would say "hmmm let me think about that." And didn't even know. Also he doesn't answer emails. But Eric Scerri is way worse. He is horrible. He doesn't explain anything and his slides are disorganized and not informational. Even doing all of the possible work and having gotten a 5 on AP Chem didn't save me since he literally makes his tests trick questions. He skims over information, is rude to students, and is just generally horrible. Everyday I prayed he would have a heart attack during Lecture. I hate Eric Scerri so much. Worst class ever.
Most Helpful Review
Spring 2022 - I took this class 3 years ago so I can't remember too much about it, but I just want to note that Wu was the best science professor I've ever had. He was super chill, took his time explaining concepts to the class, and was very understanding with midterm regrades. I honestly think he is the only reason I was able to pass this class. He is an incredible professor that makes chemistry seem much less daunting to non-stem majors like myself who hate science. I'm not sure if he still teaches this class but if he does, I HIGHLY recommend taking it with him. I've heard lots of horror stories about the other chem professors but Wu was incredible and I don't have a bad word to say about him.
Spring 2022 - I took this class 3 years ago so I can't remember too much about it, but I just want to note that Wu was the best science professor I've ever had. He was super chill, took his time explaining concepts to the class, and was very understanding with midterm regrades. I honestly think he is the only reason I was able to pass this class. He is an incredible professor that makes chemistry seem much less daunting to non-stem majors like myself who hate science. I'm not sure if he still teaches this class but if he does, I HIGHLY recommend taking it with him. I've heard lots of horror stories about the other chem professors but Wu was incredible and I don't have a bad word to say about him.
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