CHEM 30A
Chemical Dynamics and Reactivity: Introduction to Organic Chemistry
Description: Lecture, three hours; discussion, one hour. Enforced requisite: course 20B with grade of C- or better. First term of organic chemistry for Chemistry, Biochemistry, and engineering majors. Covalent bonding, shapes, stereochemistry, and acid/base properties of organic molecules. Properties, synthesis, and reactions of alkanes, cycloalkanes, alkenes, and alkynes. SN2, SN1, elimination, and radical reactions. P/NP or letter grading.
Units: 4.0
Units: 4.0
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Most Helpful Review
Anderson is a very enthusiastic professor but the only reason I did good in the class was thanks to my TA. He confuses me when he lectures. All I did was read, do past exams from other teachers, and got a lot of help fom the TA. His exams are straight forward but they have a big standard deviation so watch out.
Anderson is a very enthusiastic professor but the only reason I did good in the class was thanks to my TA. He confuses me when he lectures. All I did was read, do past exams from other teachers, and got a lot of help fom the TA. His exams are straight forward but they have a big standard deviation so watch out.
Most Helpful Review
Cantrill is a great professor. I would highly recommend him for 30A. After taking this class, I actually felt like I learned something. Going to lectures is a must because he does give hints to what's on the exams. AND definitely go to office hours... just be there for every office hour he has 'cause has extra office hours around finals for people who attend his office hours... and he gives out hints at his office hours. The exams were not extremely difficult but challenging. For my class, we had 3 quizzes, 2 midterms and a final. And yes, he does use the element "D" a lot but it's just to see if you have a firm grasp of the subject. I ended up getting an A- in the course and I did average on everything except I improved a lot on the final.
Cantrill is a great professor. I would highly recommend him for 30A. After taking this class, I actually felt like I learned something. Going to lectures is a must because he does give hints to what's on the exams. AND definitely go to office hours... just be there for every office hour he has 'cause has extra office hours around finals for people who attend his office hours... and he gives out hints at his office hours. The exams were not extremely difficult but challenging. For my class, we had 3 quizzes, 2 midterms and a final. And yes, he does use the element "D" a lot but it's just to see if you have a firm grasp of the subject. I ended up getting an A- in the course and I did average on everything except I improved a lot on the final.
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Most Helpful Review
Spring 2019 - Shuming is amazing! Organic Chemistry is not easy but she tries her best to make sure every student is successful and well prepared. She gives out A TON of practice problem sets (outside of the homework problem sets), she gives a bunch of practice exams that don’t mirror the exams but they do help you learn the skills that you will need for the actual exam, and she hosts WEEKLY reviews to go over materials that are taught the previous week. Her exams are extremely difficult, but she tells you so and prepares you very well for them. The average for the first exam was a B- and the second was a B, which in her class a B- is 70-75% and a B is 75-80%. I got a 109/120 on the first midterm and 111/120 on the second and i got an email from her writing to congratulate me on my scores. The final is a monster! I got a 131/215, which was above average somehow. She does give out 2% extra credit for your overall grade in the class though, so make sure to do Bacon and evaluations. In her straight scale, and A is 90-95% but I ended up with an 83.something% (extra credit already included) and she curved the class enough for me to get an A. Overall 10/10 would take again.
Spring 2019 - Shuming is amazing! Organic Chemistry is not easy but she tries her best to make sure every student is successful and well prepared. She gives out A TON of practice problem sets (outside of the homework problem sets), she gives a bunch of practice exams that don’t mirror the exams but they do help you learn the skills that you will need for the actual exam, and she hosts WEEKLY reviews to go over materials that are taught the previous week. Her exams are extremely difficult, but she tells you so and prepares you very well for them. The average for the first exam was a B- and the second was a B, which in her class a B- is 70-75% and a B is 75-80%. I got a 109/120 on the first midterm and 111/120 on the second and i got an email from her writing to congratulate me on my scores. The final is a monster! I got a 131/215, which was above average somehow. She does give out 2% extra credit for your overall grade in the class though, so make sure to do Bacon and evaluations. In her straight scale, and A is 90-95% but I ended up with an 83.something% (extra credit already included) and she curved the class enough for me to get an A. Overall 10/10 would take again.
Most Helpful Review
Professor Garrell is a very energetic teacher who loves to teach and is caring for her students. Her tests are fair, especially because you KNOW how the test will be like because she gives Learning Objectives which basically outline the skills/facts/knowledge you need. The first midterm focused on naming and using the R/S naming system and a few other things. The second midterm is ridiculously hard because you have to memorize 25 reactions - their reactants, reagents, and the products. The final was really hard because you have to memorize 30 reactions and also be familiar with which and where electrons go (arrow pushing electrons). Discussions are very useful in learning the naming and reaction stuff, especially because I got a really good TA, Cait, who baked us cookies and taught REALLY REALLY well. Overall, lectures are fun to be in, but a lot of work is put into this class because memorizing 30 reactions and which and where electrons go takes a lot of time.
Professor Garrell is a very energetic teacher who loves to teach and is caring for her students. Her tests are fair, especially because you KNOW how the test will be like because she gives Learning Objectives which basically outline the skills/facts/knowledge you need. The first midterm focused on naming and using the R/S naming system and a few other things. The second midterm is ridiculously hard because you have to memorize 25 reactions - their reactants, reagents, and the products. The final was really hard because you have to memorize 30 reactions and also be familiar with which and where electrons go (arrow pushing electrons). Discussions are very useful in learning the naming and reaction stuff, especially because I got a really good TA, Cait, who baked us cookies and taught REALLY REALLY well. Overall, lectures are fun to be in, but a lot of work is put into this class because memorizing 30 reactions and which and where electrons go takes a lot of time.
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Most Helpful Review
Professor Hardinger is a funny man who made lectures bearable. He definately knows his chemistry and tries to challenge you in several ways. There were three midterms and a final, although the third midterm and final were on the same day!! He exams are challenging but if you do the CFQ and PP along with his the OWLS...you should be ok. This is a difficult class, so dedicate much time to it.
Professor Hardinger is a funny man who made lectures bearable. He definately knows his chemistry and tries to challenge you in several ways. There were three midterms and a final, although the third midterm and final were on the same day!! He exams are challenging but if you do the CFQ and PP along with his the OWLS...you should be ok. This is a difficult class, so dedicate much time to it.
Most Helpful Review
Fall 2022 - I loved this class so much. The professor was very knowledgable of the subject and expanded the content we learned to other interesting things. Harran made jokes here and there and you could tell he really loved the subject. His lectures were pretty good because he does a demonstration mostly on the whiteboard to explain concepts while the slides were there to lay out organized and detailed tables that are helpful to review. The class was engaging and the TAs were wonderful and they busted their butts off to help all of the students. I really liked how direct the grading and exams were. The scores came out pretty fast as well. Despite the gnarly averages, the curves helped a lot. I ended up getting a 90 and then a 70 on the midterms and ended up getting an A. As long as you score over the average by a margin of 15-25 I don't think you do not have to worry about getting below an A. There were many resources and helpful resources, the best being the professors and TAs themselves. The textbook is genuinely the best thing to study if you want to understand the content well. It takes a lot of time and effort to really understand the material. This class is a reflection of how if you really want it, you can have it, but you need to work hard for it. Some advice would be to not fall behind. Always stay on top of the class and read ahead of time. Ask your TA or professor for help. Practicing problems and doing the textbook problems were very helpful, too. It's all about repetition and understanding how things worked.
Fall 2022 - I loved this class so much. The professor was very knowledgable of the subject and expanded the content we learned to other interesting things. Harran made jokes here and there and you could tell he really loved the subject. His lectures were pretty good because he does a demonstration mostly on the whiteboard to explain concepts while the slides were there to lay out organized and detailed tables that are helpful to review. The class was engaging and the TAs were wonderful and they busted their butts off to help all of the students. I really liked how direct the grading and exams were. The scores came out pretty fast as well. Despite the gnarly averages, the curves helped a lot. I ended up getting a 90 and then a 70 on the midterms and ended up getting an A. As long as you score over the average by a margin of 15-25 I don't think you do not have to worry about getting below an A. There were many resources and helpful resources, the best being the professors and TAs themselves. The textbook is genuinely the best thing to study if you want to understand the content well. It takes a lot of time and effort to really understand the material. This class is a reflection of how if you really want it, you can have it, but you need to work hard for it. Some advice would be to not fall behind. Always stay on top of the class and read ahead of time. Ask your TA or professor for help. Practicing problems and doing the textbook problems were very helpful, too. It's all about repetition and understanding how things worked.
Most Helpful Review
Mascal is a good teacher overall, but very difficult. He goes over everything you need to know in lecture, but that's the problem: you need to know EVERYTHING. It is very difficult to predict what types of questions he will give on exams, so you basically have to have a thorough understanding of all the material. If you are willing to really work, and want to learn OChem well, take Mascal. He is very passionate about the subject, but also very condescending towards his students.
Mascal is a good teacher overall, but very difficult. He goes over everything you need to know in lecture, but that's the problem: you need to know EVERYTHING. It is very difficult to predict what types of questions he will give on exams, so you basically have to have a thorough understanding of all the material. If you are willing to really work, and want to learn OChem well, take Mascal. He is very passionate about the subject, but also very condescending towards his students.
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