All around, Professor Shao does a great job introducing chemistry at the college level! I highly recommend taking this course if you can. Here are some key points you should know:

Lectures - Prof. Shao speaks very quickly in class, so it's best to print/write/download the notes beforehand so you can focus more on what she's saying and less on scrambling to get all the notes down before she flips to a different slide . She goes into good enough detail, but sometimes you may need to refer to the textbook and/or chem.libretexts.org to better grasp certain topics (especially quantum theory). Overall, she's a good lecturer (and always got some dope ass yeezys on too).

Homework - For fall 2021, we had 1) a weekly homework assignment during discussion sections where we'd work in groups to solve 5 or so problems related to the course material that week. Not only are these worksheets super helpful for studying, the TAs give sound advice on how to approach any given problem. Also, we had 2) a "Cengage" assignment for each chapter of the textbook, consisting of ~30 online questions per chapter. These took me anywhere from 1 to 3 hours to complete, so be sure to finish them early so you don't have to stress about it later. Overall, the workload is not too bad.

Tests - Our tests (2 midterms, 1 final) were open note, but they were still challenging nonetheless. Each midterm had 7 questions (with parts a), b), c), etc.), so you need to work briskly if you want to finish all the questions on time. If you do get open-note tests, PLEASE come prepared with a concise study guide so you don't have to frantically flip through all your notes - it will make your life way easier. I recommend working through her sample problems (she'll give those out a week or so before each test), discussion worksheets, and in-class examples, especially if you don't have that luxury of open-note tests.

Review Resources - Prof. Shao is EXTREMELY helpful when it comes to midterm and final review. For our class, she had a "buffer" lecture before each test to go over complicated topics the class was struggling with. Also, the TAs hosted last-minute review sessions also going over challenging areas of the class. If you have more specific questions that didn't get answered in those review meetings, Alpha Chi Sigma has tutors available for drop-in sessions from Week 3-9 (visit this link for the in-depth schedule: https://tbp.seas.ucla.edu/#top). Shao is also super flexible, so she will most likely change due dates for certain assignments if you/the class asks or if other circumstances arise.

Shao is a super kind and helpful person - she wants all her students to succeed. Please don't hesitate to take this class!

This was one of the best classes I’ve ever taken. Super interesting material, very passionate professor, and very large support group of resources and help for the students. While the content of this class was not the easiest, it was easy to receive a good grade as the grading scale was very generous (85% and up for an A-) and the majority of the grade was made up by the homework. The homework was difficult but through an online program Cengage that gave many tries and worksheets given in discussion sections you could work on with classmates. There were no quizzes, but the midterms and final were directly based off of the worksheets and homework for the class, as well as the many many resources Shao provided as test review (she is an amazing teacher). If you do the work assigned in the class you will be alright, and it’s also very interesting content! I definitely recommend Shao she is passionate about the topic and her students well being and you will have a lot of support in chemistry, especially coming from someone with very little physics and chemistry background. 10/10 professor.

i would highly recommend anyone who is taking chem 20A to do it with professor shao. you can tell she cares about all of her students and really wants them to understand and succeed in her class. my biggest recommendations is to either print out the blank notes sheets she posts on canvas to take to lecture unless you have an ipad to annotate them because the notes in class go by really fast. it is probably actually better to print however because the midterms and the final are open note so you’ll already have them all printed out to take with you. in terms of the midterms, it is a lot of problems to go through in a very short amount of time so i would recommend going as fast as you can and not worry about small mistakes because the grading is very generous with partial credit. always have a very good understanding of the worksheets done in discussion when you go into the midterms because around half of the questions on the midterms were from worksheets. with the final i had plenty of time. for the final my recommendation is to copy as many practice problems as you can and copy down or print the answer keys from midterm because you will definitely see problems similar come up in the final. overall, i would say this class is not too difficult if you spend a bit of time with it and i would definitely have professor shao as a professor again!

She is a kind teacher, but has high expectations for her students. I would recommend taking this class after a good basis of Chemistry, though you can survive without it, as I did. A lot of work and studying but otherwise a good class! Even though I was below average, I passed.

I thought this class was decently challenging, but as time progresses you will definitely feel more confident. The first few lectures were quite intimidating since they felt overwhelmingly fast-paced. There was barely enough time to copy the notes down on a blank sheet of paper, so make sure you either: (1) write very quickly or (2) print out the blank version of the lecture notes. The midterms were also fast-paced but reviewing the lecture notes, worksheet problems, and in-class examples will help you perform well on them. The class averages for them were definitely on the low side, but it was warranted given that this was Shao's and the students' first chemistry class at UCLA. I would say the biggest positive of these midterms are that they are open-note and open-book. Redoing the problems right before the midterms helped me recognize a question when I saw it on the midterms, as most questions are strongly related to them. The midterms felt demoralizing due to the 50-minute constraint, but if you work at a good pace and make sure you clearly read what the questions are asking for, you'll be more than prepared for them. Canvas was extremely useful, as all the resources you need to utilize can be easily found.

The grade distributions were A+ (95-100), A (90-94.9), A- (85-89.9), B+ (80-84.9), B (75-79.9), B- (70-74.9), C+ (65-69.9), C (60-64.9), C- (55-59.9), F (<55). The discussion worksheets and homework were 30% and 20% of the total grade, respectively. I felt like these portions were the "free" portions of your grade, so your overall grade is really only determined by the two midterms, the final, and extra credit surveys. The midterms are each 15% and the final is 20%. Professor Shao was really generous throughout this course with the extra credit opportunities and was a great lecturer that helped chemistry be engaging. Although sometimes you will feel lost when she throws a ton of new topics at you, you will find that if you put in the time to review the practice problems she gives, you will have no trouble succeeding in 20A.

The bulk of this class is spending time outside of lectures and really engaging with the material in order to best understand it. The best way to do this is to review and redo the example questions in lectures and to really take the time to understand the discussion worksheets. It's these problems that will show up on the midterms and final. With this class it's really important to be consistent and really push yourself to actually practice and do the problems, rather than just glance at the answer and process. All exams are open-note so you could literally walk into an exam with all the possible problems in a notebook. Which is what I did. Also, Professor Shao releases sample questions before each example which literally give you every problem that could be asked.

Professor Shao is a crazy fast lecturer, which isn't her fault because there's so much material to cover. I recommend using an IPad and having the notes pulled up on a pdf editor. If not, printing the notes beforehand works just as well.

Definitely plan on going to her office hours as well as review sessions. She is super accessible through emails and has literally emailed me back like two minutes later. This class is super rigorous and the key to success is consistency.

Professor Shao is a truly fantastic teacher that you would be lucky to have. Chem 20A has a lot of physics and is definitely different than most chem classes, but Professor Shao is always willing to talk after class to answer questions and clarify concepts. Her office hours are also super helpful and her lectures are well organized with clear notes that are always uploaded to Canvas (both blank and annotated versions). Her lectures do an incredible job of making really complicated and abstract concepts in quantum chemistry/physics manageable and understandable for mostly first-year students, which is no small feat.

The midterms are definitely fair and mirror the material covered in the worksheets in discussion section. The only homework is the Cengage assignments, which don't really reflect what the exam will look like but are nice (albeit sometimes tedious) extra practice to get familiar with the concepts.

Overall, if you're going to be taking Chem 20A, I would fully recommend Professor Shao because she really does want her students to succeed, takes student feedback frequently and seriously, and makes herself readily available for student questions. Plus, exams are all open-book/open-note :)

Avoid taking with this professor, I regret taking this class with her

Professor Shao was an amazing chem professor. Her slides/lectures were clear and engaging and the homework was lengthy but easy to keep track of. You have a worksheet to do in each discussion, which helps your grade and also is your main tool of studying and understanding the material. She is easy to contact and very understanding. Her tests are difficult but they are reasonable if you actually understand, connect, and internalize the concepts.

definitely take this class with her. her grading scale is super generous in that most of your grade is allotted to your worksheets during your discussions and your homework. both are really useful and i recommend doing them. the cengage assignments aren't that time consuming if you do four or five questions a day out of the week. she is really willing to help and had her lectures broadcasted or recorded so you can either watch them in your dorm during your lecture time or later. your final isnt worth almost half of your grade so don't worry about it, although her final is a lot easier than her midterms if you review the midterms and her sample questions. she's really caring and i would definitely take this class with her again.