I don't like ochem. However, this professor made the subject bearable. He was very straight to the point and his lectures are helpful. There is no mandated homework, but DEFINITELY do the discussion and suggested problems. The only way to study for ochem is to do the questions enough to understand the patterns. He is a great professor. Attendance is not mandatory but I really felt like his lectures helped me understand and get a good grade in ochem which I personally never thought was possible. I would take him again if I had another chem class, but I do not plan to anytime soon.

It's organic chemistry; there's are very few positive things to say about the material itself, but Professor Ow makes the subject so much more digestible than my professor for Chem 30A. As long as you pay attention in class, Professor Ow provides you with all of the necessary information to do well on the exams. There is no hunting for a hidden meaning; his lectures are very straight-forward. His exams are completely fair.

I really enjoyed class with Professor Ow, to me he was hilarious, the way he would also walk around with his hands together like a Disney Villain, addressing us as "So Class," I really appreciated how organized he was with the content and with the class, it made it easier to navigate where we were relative to the entire course as a whole. He was decent lecturer having a good pace and organizing each idea relative to the class as a whole. However, it seemed like half way through the quarter he did not want to be there, or that he was not in a good mood. For his exams, I really didn't like how the midterms were only 50 min. The first midterm is all Spectroscopy stuff, which was a lot tougher than I thought it would be, I heard that someone in the other lecture hall during the exam got a panic attack midway through. It was also frustrating that there were only 5 questions, all the content you learn in the span of 3-4 weeks is reduced to 1 50 min exam. It was really frustrating because I got one concept slightly off in my head and it costed me 11 points out of 50 on my first exam. The second midterm is what you should be more familiar with from 30A, reactions. Then after midterm 2, so many reactions are taught in such a short time period, its not that the material is hard, its just alot of content. I did not have enough time to study for the final as I was taking 22 units. So all I can say is this class just has alot of content, its kind of tricky, but not impossible and mostly fair. His tests overall are fair and doable, just manage your time since you have to put alot of time into the content. Overall, would recommend taking the class with him.

I do not understand how this dude has such a high bruin walk rating. He definitely is not a bad lecturer and he teaches somewhat well, but his attitude is one of, if not the worst I've seen at UCLA in a professor.

Someone asked in office hours if there were outside textbooks/workbooks students could use that would be helpful in the class to study for the final. When the professor said no and another student started providing his own outside resources, the professor folded his arms and stared at the student answering and said you should not be looking at outside sources for help, what I give you is enough. That's a good example of how his personality is when asking him questions. He would also audibly sigh a lot and stare at students if they asked questions that he saw as dumb, even if the rest of us had the same question.

TLDR: This class honestly isn't too difficult for an ochem class and pretty reasonable, but you can tell he doesn't want to be there when looking at his attitude.

Notes: Lecture is recorded; No curving in our quarter

Grading Scheme:
2 Midterms: 20% each (Averages were low 70s)
Final Exam: 25% (Average was around an 80%)
Top 5 of 7 Quizzes: 20%
Discussion Attendance: 15%
(Cutoffs are more generous towards the lower end of the grading. Example: You need a 94% for an A, but an 88% for an A-)

Dr. Ow is an incredible professor. I wasn't terrible at organic chemistry coming into the class, but I hadn't had the best experience in 30A and was very cautious of 30B in the beginning. Dr. Ow completely changed my view of organic chemistry and now I think it's one of my favorite courses. He is incredibly organized and thorough with his lectures. Most professors I've had usually go over time or have to push back material to fit the time frame, but Dr. Ow rarely did this. He went through all the course topics and really emphasized each topic's connection to another. His emphasis on patterns and practice is the reason I passed the course. His exams are completely fair and don't contain anything unexpected. He also left a ton of time to review in class and offered really good review materials on the course website.