i took him for both 30A and 30B, he is a nice guy, lectures are straightforward and his powerpoints are exactly like the book. Best way to study for this class is by making lots of flashcards with all the reactions. If u can memorize all the reactions and mechanisms then his tests are a piece of cake. His finals tend to be easier than the midterms probably cause the averages were really low on the midterms. I honestly don't understand how people do so bad on his tests, i found the class easy but it does takes time to memorize all the reactions. Even tho people say that u don't have to memorize, you really do need to and it will make everything easier!!!

Extremely difficult exams!!

difficult exams-- a lot harder than his practice exams.
he's a fairly new professor. go to his lectures and reviews

i think karim is one of the better ochem professors from what i heard from my friends about other ochem professors. his lectures are clear, straight foward, and (once you get used to ochem terminology) easy to understand. the only thing that i didn't like about this class is that his tests are very difficult. to do well in this class, the best strategy would be to organize all the reactions into categories, and memorize them. for example you should have a category of reactions that turn reactants into alcohols...and whatnot...it will help you answer the synthesizing questions on his exams...

Had him for Chem 30A and 30B. His exams are difficult, but fair if you read the book and attend all his lectures, which I did his for 30A and received a decent grade. But If you don't attend his lectures, like I did for 30B, you will struggle like I did... (damn 8 am class!!). His lectures are well organized. He uses power points slides that basically mimics the book. He posts them up on the web so we can print them before his lectures. His practice midterms/finals closely resembles the real midterms/finals (structure wise). He will state if the practice midterms/finals are harder/easier than the real exams. Take him.

I had him for both 30A and 30B.
He is really a nice guy. He is in his office often (although I personally have failed to go) and really wants students to come to get help.
His lecture is highly coordinated with the textbook, so I advise students to do all the homework assignments and understand them. Reading the subject before the lecture REALLY helps because he clarifies the theories/concepts. His midterms are a little difficult but VERY do-able. The final was more easy. Unfortunatly b/c he is a new professor, he doesn't have old exams. Just make sure you are keeping up with the class and do practice problems as much as you study the concepts.
Simply put, you really have to earn your grade for this class.

I took 30A with Dr. Karim and I thought he was an excellent professor. His lectures summarized the book very well and he posted them all online. He went through all the reactions to make them clear and he rarely put anything on the tests that he didnt cover thoroughly (which cant be said of some other professors). He is also extremely willing to help anyone who wants it and commonly has extended office hours to help people. His class was tough but thats just because the material itself is tough. He definatly explains things well which made the difficulty level much lower than it could have been. Its too bad he's leaving UCLA because I would definatly recommend him to anyone who is going to take organic chem.

Professor Karim was an excellent professor. He says from the beginning that the class it there to prepare us for the MCAT, so he only focuses on the big reactions and only includes the exceptions that will be on standardized tests. I won't lie, his exams are hard but if you know the material and have done lots of practice then they are do-able. He is a great guy and will help you out when you go to office hours. I am expecting an A in the class, but again, it took alot of work to get the grade. I'm taking MCAT classes now, and as I look over the MCAT organic chemistry questions I fell very well prepared. The way I see it, you can take Hardinger and get an A arguably more easily, but Hardinger focuses on useless exceptions that never show up on the MCAT, with Karim if you work hard you can get an A and at the same time be prepared very well for the MCAT. Take Him!

His tests were fun. At least the final was. Didn't do so well on the final but got an A. Too bad he's leaving :(

He was by far the best professor I had in chemistry. The material he taught were basically from the text, summarizing the important parts he wants us to know. He put everything up on powerpoint, which was very convenient. He is a very nice professor who is more than willing to help you out. However, the biggest thing that bothered me was his rather difficult grading scale. The first two midterms are out of 210 and the final was out of 280. Basically out of 700 points, those who get a straight 85% or higher gets an A/A-. This means there's little room for mistakes really if you want that A. Aside from that, he's a good professor who unfortunately isn't going to be teaching at UCLA next year.