While this professor has mainly positive reviews, there are some things about this class that deserve attention. Yes, Pham has very organized slides which include the material you need. Yet, this course requires a lot more than attending lecture/discussion to actually do well. For those who had a harder time understanding material, I do not think this professor was of much help AT ALL. He does provide some opportunity for extra credit, but if he was not FORCED to make the final optional during the pandemic, I probably would’ve failed this class because towards the end it was so fast paced and easy to fall behind with concepts. (For reference, I got a C on the midterm). He seemed to discourage asking questions and came off as rude upon confusion in office hours. Idk why this professor is so hyped up honestly.

Organic chemistry overall is already a pretty tough subject. I had an A in the course before the final and a C after.
I think it really depends on what type of learner you are if you want to succeed in this class. There are no study guides for tests along with no worksheets other than those made by the TAs and LAs which can be helpful (if you have Jessica as your TA). If you want any type of practice it's hard to decide what is actually worth doing for the class.
Be prepared for lowish averages! 60% for the first midterm and 71% for the second. He said he might scale the average to a B- or B depending on the class, I'm not sure how true that is and do not count on it to save you.
I had multiple difficult classes and since I was doing well in this course I let it fall through the cracks. It didn't help that with the way 30A is structured, the beginning at least to me was very simple but the final 1-2 weeks we started learning around 20 reactions and mechanisms. We were also a little behind so we were rushing through it all.
Pham is a very likable person outside of class. In class, however, he is a lot less pleasant and the same goes for office hours. I went to office hours one time because I was genuinely confused and every question I asked I was given the answer of "you should already know this" and "we already went over this." but isn't the point of office hours to go over things you don't understand just from what you got in the lecture or get help on what isn't clicking?
From reading his reviews I expected him to be the best professor ever but that was definitely not the case, I would avoid taking him if possible but you will be able to survive if he's your only option like he was for me.
The whole class is out of 440 points.
100pts for each midterm (there's 2)
200pts for the final
40pts for online BACON (online quizzes, super easy to get 100%)
He gives out 6pts total of extra credit in the form of post-midterm surveys and the professor review. There are also some extra credit points on the exams but not that many (probably 4pts on each).
Pham is a great and funny person but not the best professor, you can definitely make it through if you try. Good luck!

Amazing teacher and insanely caring, wish I had him in person!

Absolutely the worst class I could have dreamed of. Obviously, organic chemistry is one of the most difficult classes- but at least you'd hope the professor would be on your side.. nope! I thought I was being gaslit by everyone saying he was a great professor. The lectures breeze through information, he does VERY simple practice problems (which you wouldn't be able to see on the recordings), frequently says "you should all already know this, or you are very behind." (Heavily implied we were stupid). Discussions were useless, we all just sat twiddling our thumbs waiting to go over the unrelated TA generated worksheet until the last 10 minutes where we'd go over one problem.
The biweekly worksheets were kinda beastly, as they were very complicated compared to what we do in lecture. Office hours were a humiliation ritual, and I had wondered why there was no one there despite being the day before the midterm. He answers questions like he's allergic to a clear and concise walkthrough. Will avoid drawing out a problem at all costs- incredibly off-putting!
The exams are shockingly long for only having 50 minutes to do it. There's maybe 2 MCQ questions, then it's literally all drawing. No time to dissociate and contemplate your choices, time to drop into econ. Also, no cheat sheets and no equation sheet, though people got crafty with the molecule builder boxes, take that as you will...
You might think, "well this person ended up with a B, so how bad could it be" Let me tell you- by some miracle and grace of your choice of deity, I pulled it through on the final (after staying up literally the whole night reading the textbook, failed another final right after this one). But consistently 'failed' the midterms, literally failed (not like oh noooo I only got an 85 :( failed.). I do not know how or what happened to prevent me from getting a C-. I would have been ecstatic to get a C based off of how I did on the midterms (mind you the average was like an 80%??? for ochem?? yea right...)
PLEASE save yourself, and your sanity, avoid taking this class until you can get a different professor. But if you must, please take 3 classes max, and dedicate your free time to the textbook, it actually makes sense compared to lecture... Otherwise online summer courses are where it's at.

I attended office hours and discussions. The test was significantly different from what we went through in lectures and discussion worksheets, much harder than expected. Class average was less than 50%. He doesn't explain clearly when asked a question or provide a straightforward answer to discussion questions. I likes chemistry beforehand, and after every lecture I looked down on the highest floor of my dorm and contemplating sanity or peace.

Honestly an amazing professor and an amazing class. Went to most if not all office hours and was able to gain a much better understanding of the material. Don't get me wrong, the content for this class is pretty hard, but only if you fall behind. If you stay on pace with the lectures and work on the problem sets when the material is fresh and in increments, the class becomes much more manageable. Dr. Pham's exams are extremely fair, and directly based off of the problem sets and lectures/slides. I would definitely recommend taking the class with Dr. Pham as not only will you gain a great understanding of organic chemistry, but you will also become immersed and interested in organic chemistry as well. Overall, a great teacher.

Favorite professor at UCLA ! He made organic chemistry understandable and fun. And I love his shirts.

Ochem is tough, and imo Pham made it more simple. I used to do good in the 20 series, and the reason why I did rather bad in this class is because I didn't study for this class strategically. His papers are mostly related to reactions, so remembering reagents and processes helps a lot. He gives out extra credit in midterms and finals, as well as in surveys. He does accept people asking him questions during office hours and after lectures, and TA sessions help a lot. I wouldn't say that Pham made ochem easier, but at least he made the learning process easier and more entertaining.

Dr. Pham is a really good professor who cares a lot for his students. I took this class during all the confusion with the virus and Pham spent time to talk about what professors were being told about the situation and other stuff like that. He gave fun facts every Friday that were separate from the material in the class but were pretty interesting. As for the material, I thought that it was pretty straightforward and if you do all the practice problems (which I should've done more) you should be fine with the exams/homeworks. Overall, I enjoyed this class but just make sure to stay on track once you get into the reactions and synthesis part.

Pham is an amazing professor. Not only is he great at explaining difficult concepts, he is one of the most caring professors. He really wants his students to be learning and understanding the material. As well, he truly cares about us as individuals. He makes it clear that he wants us to be happy and successful. He also respects every students' opinion. I think those qualities are what makes him amazing. 10/10 recommend.