Professor Scerri is someone who is extremely clear about his expectations for his tests and is engaging and clear throughout his teaching. Interacting with him especially after class in his after-class impromptu office hours shows him as someone who has concern for your learning if you are active about attempting to learn the material. Scerri includes a lot of his own interests in the beginning of the class, but it isn't really representative - as he later focuses almost solely on the curriculum and explains it well. The pace of the class is fast, but that is to be expected out of lower-division semi-weeder classes. Scerri may seem brusque and blunt at times, but he is well-meaning and an overall good professor to choose for the class.

Scerr Bear is a great teacher and from what I heard is way better than the other teacher for 20a but at the same time his class is much harder and there is much less margin for error than in the other class. Honestly if you're looking for a good grade Scerri probably isn't the way to go but he is a good teacher and you'll definitely learn a shitload about chemistry and physics.

He uses a lot of the old questions on past midterms and finals so it's really useful to go to the testbank. If you understand the material and go through the past midterms and finals you should be fine. The quantum stuff can get confusing sometimes and does feel unnecessary but thats part of the course. You never have to really use the textbook but he makes it mandatory for you to buy the textbook because it comes with an access code for OWL. OWL is tedious and completely unrelated to his midterms and finals but they're easy to finish.

Overall, I enjoyed Professor Scerri's class. His lectures were usually interesting, and he tried to make chemistry engaging. His tests were based on his lectures + powerpoint slides from class, so all you really need to do is study those to do well on the midterm and final. The textbook is only a supplement, and it can help you with the OWL (online homework) problems. Other than that, you don't really need to read the textbook unless you want clarification on a subject. Sometimes simply googling a topic that was unclear in lecture can be a big help. Doing lots of practice exams was helpful too - he tends to repeat certain problems from year to year.
In brief, take Scerri for Chem 20A!

It is evident that Scerri is intelligent and knows the material. However, he is extremely arrogant and rude, which are qualities that shouldn't be seen in a professor. His lecture slides are extremely vague, so take good notes on what he says in lecture. I probably should have gotten an A in the class, but I fell behind rather quickly and never really caught up. I really disliked Scerri's lectures and relied heavily on my TA, who was a lifesaver. All in all, the class was hard, but doable.

Scerri's lectures are helpful, and you never have to read the book. However, make sure you take note of everything he says in class because it's all fair game for his tests. The only things that matter for your grade in this class are the midterm and the final which you should not underestimate. If you study lectures for 2-3 full days, you should be fine. I think Scerri was the best teacher I had this quarter, but the final was very frustrating as it included things he said during lecture very briefly that were not in the powerpoints.

Scerri is a great lecturer. He really knows his stuff. This class is really fundamental and does not go too in depth into anything. There are five basic mathematical derivations Scerri expects you to know, but nothing is too difficult. The only reason I feel some what confident about this class is because I read the textbook for a living. The textbook does come in handy, but honestly, you DO NOT NEED to read the textbook because all of Scerri's tests are based on the lecture slides he reads off of in class. Another positive is that he has a ton of tests in the testbank, so that made studying for the test extremely easy.

Speaking of which, although Scerri makes lectures engaging, he is extremely egotistical. He does not like to answer many questions during lecture, and if you do, he will give you a snarky remark. Furthermore, he knows he's smart, and although that may be true, it causes him to come off extremely arrogant, which I don't find to be a great characteristic of anyone's.

In the end, I don't regret taking this class because I did learn a lot and did enjoy it. It was just Scerri's commentary and actions that threw me a little bit off, but other than that, if you do take to this class, Scerri will prepare you well for upcoming classes.

This class is challenging as an incoming freshman, and the derivations and quantum mechanics can be intimidating. However, it is definitely doable. I personally liked Scherris lectures and his slides are clear. He’s funny and very helpful in group office hours. If you read the book it helps with comprehension of the material. His tests are based on exactly what he has taught, and often repeat questions from old tests. Just practice your derivations and example problems. If you are going to take chem 20A I’d recommend Scerri as a professor.

Scerri does not lecture in depth. His slides are more or less detailed. I passed this class because of my amazing TA. If you really want to do well, go to the test banks. His midterms and finals are based off of previous test. Make sure to study a lot for this class and know your derivations. Homework in general was reasonable. Good luck to yall!

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