I can't recommend Pham enough. I never enjoyed a single Chem 14 series class, but this was the perfect way to end the journey. Pham is clear, organized, tests very fairly (no trick questions or unnecessarily tough questions), and gives a huge amount of extra credit. His support team of TAs and LAs are phenomenal and are so incredibly helpful. I would recommend going to one or two discussions a week with a TA that you like, or at the very least, do their worksheets which really help ingrain topics.

There's no two ways around it : this class requires a LOT of memorization and practice. Don't be intimidated though because the sooner you get on it, the faster it will come to you until it's like second nature. It is definitely doable if you but the effort in. Take Pham, you won't regret it!

Chem 14D is a difficult class, and there's no way around that. But, Dr. Pham was an awesome professor, especially considering who I had for A, B, and C. He was very clear in lectures, had slides and worked examples on the board, and had a ton of resources for students. The discussions are very helpful and were definitely worth attending. They were optional, but you could go and ask homework questions, or work on a practice sheet. I did well in this class but it was because I was willing to put in the time. Understanding the concepts behind the mechanisms so you can predict the outcome will be a lot better for you in the long run than just making notecards and memorizing every arrow of every reaction, but there is still plenty of memorization involved and it takes time. You cannot cram for this class. I had back to back midterms the first go around and tried to cram for this class and I did terrible--the second midterm, I started seriously studying a week in advance and was able to pull off a grade that allowed me to make up for the first one. Pham offers a TON of extra credit so make sure you take advantage of every opportunity. Also take advantage of office hours, as the problem set homework assignments can really sneak up on you if you don't start them well in advance and have time to ask all of your questions. So, since you probably have to take 14D or you wouldn't be considering it, take Dr. Pham. He was an excellent professor.

Before getting into the main body of the review, I, for the sake of context, despise Ochem and everything this god forsaken subject stands for. The constantly flurry of arrows and transfers will inevitably impact me up to my eventual demise. The apocalypse, as described in Revelations, seems trivial in comparison to the nightmarish hellscape that is Ochem. I could watch 46 of the most adorable infants (along with 7 kittens, 5 puppies, and a couple rabbits) get tied to train tracks and pulverized by a massive steam engine (all in slow motion might I add), and I would still feel less anguish than I felt trying to study for Ochem exams. I could witness the most indescribably awful crime, one that would permanently alter the life of any who witness it, and I would still only rank it as the second worst experience of my life (first should be obvious). TLDR: I find Ochem quite tough.

However... Pham is easily the best professor you can take this class with. It is only due to his wonderful instruction and generous grading policy that I did even remotely well in this class. Dramatic intro paragraph aside, Pham makes Ochem bearable. His grading scheme goes as follows:

Problem Sets x5 - (60 points, your lowest problem set score is dropped)
He assigns 5 throughout the quarter, they are due every other week (you basically have two weeks to work on each). I did not get 100% on a single one, but partial credit was very generous.

BACON x10 - (40 points, your lowest two BACON assignments are dropped)
Assigns one each week. Got a 100% in this category, try to memorize a lot of the pictures given in the BACON assignments, since some questions ask you to recall a structure mentioned in the assignment (you also cannot go back to the reading once you get to the questions)

MT1 - (50 points, 2 pnts of extra credit possible)
I got sick during this exam, so I did not take it. Average was 71% (median 75%). I took the midterm on my own time and this was quite doable in my opinion. The extra credit is often a super random question from the slides, so it could kinda be anything (even the Fun Fridays). Importantly, if you are sick or cannot make one of the midterm, Pham averages your MT2 and Final score and makes your MT1 score that average (if you got a 70% on MT2 and 80% on the Final, your MT1 would be around a 77% since more weight is given to the final).

MT2 - (50 points, 2 pnts of extra credit possible)
I personally got a C on this exam. Didn't give myself enough time to memorize the reactions and mechanisms AND didn't do enough practice. Do yourself a favor and use either a quizlet or Anki deck and give yourself at least a week/week and a half to memorize all the reactions and mechanisms listed in the slides. If it's on the slide, and Pham didn't explicitly mention that it will not be tested, assume it is fair game. Also, do the TA worksheets after you memorize your reactions, that way you get a good idea of all the different ways the reaction can affect a molecule

Final - (100 points, 3 pnts of extra credit possible)
I got an A on this exam. Giving myself more time to memorize and apply really helped here (plus, I got mildly lucky, since the mechanisms on the exam were ones I was very comfortable with / made the most sense to me). The same advice from MT2 applies here. MT1 content on the final is very implicit, since the Substitution and Elimination reactions learned at the beginning of the quarter form the basis for the rest of the reactions in the class (plus, there were some questions that required identification of a strong base, nucleophile, etc).

Extra credit was super plentiful (I think there was around 13 extra credit points total, which is a ton in this class). You can get up to 8 extra credit points if you participate in CryOFF (basically making your own Fun Friday assignment), and the rest were from feedback and evaluations.

Overall, I felt the exams were fair (but difficult, because ofc, it's Ochem). Additionally, due to how the grades are calculated, you have a lot of wiggle room to mess up and still do well in the class. As long as one stays up to date on lecture (I did not, brought me immeasurable pain later on when I had to catch up) and give yourself enough time to memorize and apply all the reactions and mechanisms (I did not, brought me more aforementioned immeasurable pain), you will do just fine in this class. And while a lot of studying is required outside of class, Pham really does do a great job at introducing you to all the mechanisms and reactions he tests on.

Side note, but the TAs and LAs in this class were phenomenal. While I did not go to a single discussion (do not do this, please go to discussion), TA office hours were a great place to get help on the problem sets (Caleb's office hours were awesome). They also make pretty great if not challenging worksheets to help you practice the material. The LAs held review sessions before every exam, which while not as good of practice and the TA worksheets, were a great way to get a quick review in before each exam (especially for the final).

Overall, 9/10 class. Professor Pham was awesome, the subject was not. For me to even consider giving an Ochem class above a 5/10 demonstrates how truly spectacular Pham was.

Pham was an impressive lecturer. He often provided useful analogies and did the best he could explaining reactions in the time he had. While the class content is difficult, his exams were fair. The final for my quarter was also graded quite leniently, albeit without the opportunity to be able to see your final. Lots of opportunities for extra credit, along with a sense of reasonableness went a long way (he made the 2nd midterm optional due to bad weather). Overall a good professor for a difficult class.

Honestly, Pham is a great lecturer and the class itself is very clear (the tests are fair, there are no trick questions, and the workload (in terms of things you actually need to do and turn in) is not that bad). It's worth noting that the cutoff for an A is a 94 instead of the traditional 93, but there are plenty of opportunities to boost your grade with the BACON assignments (basically free points, just take pictures of the lessons before you take the quizzes) and the extra credit CryOFF project (Pham also includes a few extra credit questions on the midterms and the final). Lecture is solely for going over the different reaction mechanisms while discussion is for doing your TA's practice worksheet (so it's structured lecture: learn and discussion: practice). This was a bit unusual for me because I'm used to doing more practice problems in lecture, but Pham himself never really gives you problems besides the problem sets. The problem sets are the most similar to the exams, but there're definitely not enough to practice the material (for that, do as many TA worksheets as you can).

You're not required to attend discussion (or the specific discussion you're enrolled in), so I would take a look at all of the TA worksheets the first week, see whose are the most helpful, and then attend those/that TA's discussion. I only attended my discussion for the first few weeks, but near the end of the quarter when I was really grinding I started attending 3 (but this is probably not necessary since the TAs post the answer keys afterwards).

Now onto more of the bad stuff about 14D: people say that it's not about memorizing the reactions but rather understanding them - for our intents and purposes, they're wrong. You can't even look at a synthesis problem until you know all of the different reactions for that section, so stay on top of them and maybe do the Klein Second Semester Topics chapters to better understand them. (I didn't use the Vollhardt and Schore textbook or do the recommended textbook problems, just doing all of the TA worksheets kept me pretty busy.)

In addition, although Pham is a good lecturer and communicates well about the logistics of the course, he's not that helpful in office hours. At least this quarter, office hours were in a tiny room in Young and he sat at the front of the class while we sat in the back, so it honestly felt like another lecture (yikes). In addition, he was reluctant to make broad generalizations about chemistry, so unless you had the specific problem pulled up (which was difficult for him to see from the back of the class) he wouldn't give a definitive answer. This is a pet peeve of mine, but he also seemed to take every opportunity to cancel class. We didn't have class on the days of our midterms (which I actually appreciated), but we also didn't have class the last two days before our final (one was his Ask Me Anything, and the other was cancelled simply because we'd already covered all of the material). No final review? We just got a list of all of the topics we'd covered that he sped through in ten minutes.

My apologies - overall the class wasn't that bad. I never expected to get an A+ in a chemistry class, and in 14D at that, but his tests are fair, and he offers a lot of extra credit. Just stay on top of the reactions and do practice problems like your life (and your grade) depends on it. On the bright side, I stress-bonded with quite a few people in this class!

CLASS SETUP: This class is structured with five problem sets (20%), BACON tutorials (~13%), two midterms (~33%), and the final (~33%). The class has a grade scale where the cutoff for an A is higher but the cutoff for an A- is lower, and so on. It is generally graded on a straight scale, but Dr. Pham said he would curve the class if the average class grade (before extra credit) was lower than a B- (75%), this was not the case for my quarter.

CONTENT: Do not fall behind in this class. Understand that you will need to both understand and memorize the content in order to do well. I didn't have any particular qualms with the lecture style itself, but I would make sure to review the lecture recording and not just the slides themselves if you plan on missing lecture, as Dr. Pham often gave more detailed explanations of mechanisms on the white board rather than on the slides. Dr. Pham is quite generous with the extra credit he provides, and usually the midterms and finals have extra credit questions that will ask details that you may not have paid attention to (i.e. drawing the designs of a certain number of chemistry-related shirts that Dr. Pham wore to lecture) and so on. This class may be intimidating, and it certainly is not easy, but it is doable as long as you're able to keep up with the material and memorize the mechanisms provided.

class was fine, pham was a horrible lecturer.

Please take this class with Pham. It's really, really hard, but he offers an extra credit project (which is what I have to thank for this A- haha) and he's super understanding when it comes to things. Stay on top of your shit in this class and you'll be okay. The tests are pretty hard though.

I disrespect him. He did not accommodate any of his students who underwent some difficult times. He lives by his syllabus. He does not care if you are out of state or country (you will be required to take the tests during PST) or if there is a medical emergency. YOU WILL BE TAKING HIS TEST NO MATTER THE CIRCUMSTANCE. and they are painfully brutal.
He is great at teaching, don't get me wrong, but the lack of compassion someone can have during this really weird/difficult time really deters students from enjoying this course.
good luck

Aight Pham is a good instructor but I have to say he is overhyped. I don't mean this as an insult, I'm just telling you to not come into it thinking Pham is the best 14D professor in the world because you might lower your guard and take it for an easy class. If you can I'd recommend taking 14D with Nag because he does in fact take it easier on students.
Now that that's out of the way, Pham's class has its benefits: his class is super well-structured and organized (and grading was absurdly fast, it only took them 2-3 days after each problem set or exam to release grades) and the only thing you have to turn in besides the BACON quizzes (which are easy) are the problem sets. These things make the course mostly stress free because they make the content very straightforward & let you focus on studying. I've had to take very disorganized courses before, so taking this course was honestly such a breath of fresh air.
My warnings to future students: Pham's exam times (this quarter it was two midterms + one final that was shorter, but a bit trickier, than a midterm) are back to their limited "in-person" windows because of someone in the Chem 30 series that posted his exam on Chegg in Winter Quarter. This means 2 hours for midterms and 3 hours for the final with zero flexibility even for people in other time zones, so I had to take some exams very late at night. Also, don't bother with the textbook problems, they might be good to solidify some basic concepts but they're zero practice for exams; focus on the TA worksheets (all TAs' worksheets are available to all students on CCLE). Make sure to ALWAYS be caught up on material because topics builds on top of the other like nothing else and also because his in-class polls (which are questions on the previous lecture's content) give extra credit.