Professor

Justin Caram

AD
3.7
Overall Ratings
Based on 39 Users
Easiness 2.9 / 5 How easy the class is, 1 being extremely difficult and 5 being easy peasy.
Workload 3.4 / 5 How light the workload is, 1 being extremely heavy and 5 being extremely light.
Clarity 3.2 / 5 How clear the professor is, 1 being extremely unclear and 5 being very clear.
Helpfulness 3.6 / 5 How helpful the professor is, 1 being not helpful at all and 5 being extremely helpful.

Reviews (39)

2 of 4
2 of 4
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April 30, 2019
Quarter: Fall 2018
Grade: B

THIS WAS THE WORST CLASS THAT I HAVE EVER TAKEN. Caram made everyone so stressed out the entire quarter. He is a smart guy, who is a researcher NOT A PROFESSOR. He has no idea how to teach and would send us emails that his lectures were quote "100% wrong" and he would scramble to take notes on everything he said then he would randomly cross out his work infront of all of us realizing he often did stuff wrong.

His office hours were held from 10-11pm at night and many of us would always go because he gave us exams every Friday including the last lecture. Many of us were first quarter freshman and barely had any knowledge on chemistry and he REVIEWED NOTHING nor gave a background which screwed me over for other chem classes in the series. His worksheets were completely impossible and even the TA's didn't understand them completely.

If you are already a chem god then you'll be fine but otherwise this was literally the worst class I have ever taken.

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3 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
May 9, 2019
Quarter: Fall 2018
Grade: A

I took 14A fall quarter of 2018, and even though I got a decent grade in it in the end, I would not recommend this class. Caram's lecturing style was very disorganized and often confusing. I feel like if he was able to make the material more understandable, it would have been a breeze. He was fast and we went through a lot of content in this class. I've also attended his BPlate office hours but there were so many people, it was hard for him to accommodate everyone so that was not worth going to. The section worksheets were unusually hard. The midterms, however, were the worst part of it. They were very strangely worded and difficult to understand. Even though I had studied for about a week for the test, looking through homework problems and trying to understand the worksheets, those did not help prepare me for his exams. It was not just applying your prior understanding of the subject, but also it included having to learn often some new concepts introduced during the exam in order to do some of the problems. The final was much better, as he provided us a practice final which had a 3-4 almost identical problems on the actual final. Additionally, the quizzes were fair in my opinion, unlike the midterms. Overall, I got a D and a B on the two midterms and A- on the final and ended up with an A. I am glad Caram provided extra credit in the end because this class was difficult for an introductory chemistry class.

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June 3, 2019
Quarter: Fall 2018
Grade: B+

Terrible class. I did fine, but I probably would have done better in Lavelle. He had quizzes every Friday that he never gave enough time for and they caused so much unnecessary stress. His midterms were literally impossible, but he was nice on the final. At the end, it didn't matter because I had done so poorly on the second midterm even after studying. He knows his stuff but is unable to explain it correctly. Just save yourself the worrying and take Lavelle.

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June 15, 2019
Quarter: Fall 2018
Grade: A

I personally liked Caram. His quizzes were extremely fair, and his midterms were not bad. His final did include material he never taught but introduced on the exam. He was pretty generous with the curve. I got an A on the first midterm, a D on the second, and a B on the final. Overall I did like this class. Natalie, my TA, saved my grade! She was the best and explained the trickier concepts really well.

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June 25, 2019
Quarter: Fall 2018
Grade: A+

I actually really liked Caram's class. His lectures are engaging and I felt that he clearly described concepts to us (although he would frequently make mistakes then realize later). Discussions are helpful because tests would reflect the worksheet problems. Weekly quizzes keep you up to date with the concepts you should know. Tests are difficult but definitely doable. Review sessions are held by the TAs and are helpful. There are also lots of extra credit opportunities so make sure to do those. Overall, I would recommend his class.

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Sept. 1, 2019
Quarter: Fall 2018
Grade: A

Selling textbook and solutions manual, and previously given exams (Lavelle's exams)! Text me at ********** if interested!

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0 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
Nov. 5, 2019
Quarter: Fall 2018
Grade: A

I personally loved Caram's teaching style. He was extremely organized, all readings and practice problems for each topic were given to us in the syllabus from the very beginning and he taught at a fairly good pace. There were quizzes every week but they were all really fair and cushioned my grade a little bit. Midterms and the final were also completely fair. I thought he was a really engaging lecturer and he also puts chem memes on the first slide of every lecture which I loved. He's definitely not as easy as Lavelle, but we learned so much more.

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0 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
Dec. 24, 2019
Quarter: Fall 2019
Grade: A

The class as a whole was reasonably difficult with plenty of resources to help you learn, but Caram as a lecturer was not the greatest. His slides and explanation during lectures were convoluted, and he was not good at dumbing down the information for first year students, so don't be worried when you come out of lecture not understanding anything. The textbook was not necessary at all as online resources such as youtube videos were far more useful in clearing up anything confusing from lecture. The homework isn't required, but I recommend doing it because that's how I learned to do all the math. The two midterms and final were challenging but the graders are really generous with partial credit and the average for all three were mid 80s which is high. The weekly quizzes are easy if you do the homework. Most exams have extra credit, and he will round your grade so getting an A is easier than other professors.

Helpful?

0 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
Dec. 24, 2019
Quarter: Fall 2019
Grade: A+

Justin isn't the best at explaining concepts or answering questions, but he's nice and wants you to succeed so he makes the tests/quizzes really fair. Read the textbook before lecture and go over the practice tests he gives you and the class will be pretty easy. The quizzes and tests are easier or the exact same questions as the real ones.

Helpful?

0 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
Dec. 20, 2019
Quarter: Fall 2019
Grade: A+

Honestly, Caram was a pretty good professor overall. If I were to pick classes again, I would probably not hate the idea of taking another chem class with Caram. His midterms/finals were fairly straightforward and covered the material that we went over in class; there were rarely any random things that we didn't discuss/we didn't need to know. I enjoyed going to discussion section, and the TAs and LAs were overall pretty helpful. I liked the way that the discussion section was formatted with a specific LA for each small group within the discussion because it helped to have someone who could answer questions more specifically. I think my main complaint would be that it would be hard to follow Caram during the lectures at times because he would start talking about one idea, stop, and then start another idea.

Helpful?

0 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
CHEM 14A
Quarter: Fall 2018
Grade: B
April 30, 2019

THIS WAS THE WORST CLASS THAT I HAVE EVER TAKEN. Caram made everyone so stressed out the entire quarter. He is a smart guy, who is a researcher NOT A PROFESSOR. He has no idea how to teach and would send us emails that his lectures were quote "100% wrong" and he would scramble to take notes on everything he said then he would randomly cross out his work infront of all of us realizing he often did stuff wrong.

His office hours were held from 10-11pm at night and many of us would always go because he gave us exams every Friday including the last lecture. Many of us were first quarter freshman and barely had any knowledge on chemistry and he REVIEWED NOTHING nor gave a background which screwed me over for other chem classes in the series. His worksheets were completely impossible and even the TA's didn't understand them completely.

If you are already a chem god then you'll be fine but otherwise this was literally the worst class I have ever taken.

Helpful?

3 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
CHEM 14A
Quarter: Fall 2018
Grade: A
May 9, 2019

I took 14A fall quarter of 2018, and even though I got a decent grade in it in the end, I would not recommend this class. Caram's lecturing style was very disorganized and often confusing. I feel like if he was able to make the material more understandable, it would have been a breeze. He was fast and we went through a lot of content in this class. I've also attended his BPlate office hours but there were so many people, it was hard for him to accommodate everyone so that was not worth going to. The section worksheets were unusually hard. The midterms, however, were the worst part of it. They were very strangely worded and difficult to understand. Even though I had studied for about a week for the test, looking through homework problems and trying to understand the worksheets, those did not help prepare me for his exams. It was not just applying your prior understanding of the subject, but also it included having to learn often some new concepts introduced during the exam in order to do some of the problems. The final was much better, as he provided us a practice final which had a 3-4 almost identical problems on the actual final. Additionally, the quizzes were fair in my opinion, unlike the midterms. Overall, I got a D and a B on the two midterms and A- on the final and ended up with an A. I am glad Caram provided extra credit in the end because this class was difficult for an introductory chemistry class.

Helpful?

0 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
CHEM 14A
Quarter: Fall 2018
Grade: B+
June 3, 2019

Terrible class. I did fine, but I probably would have done better in Lavelle. He had quizzes every Friday that he never gave enough time for and they caused so much unnecessary stress. His midterms were literally impossible, but he was nice on the final. At the end, it didn't matter because I had done so poorly on the second midterm even after studying. He knows his stuff but is unable to explain it correctly. Just save yourself the worrying and take Lavelle.

Helpful?

0 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
CHEM 14A
Quarter: Fall 2018
Grade: A
June 15, 2019

I personally liked Caram. His quizzes were extremely fair, and his midterms were not bad. His final did include material he never taught but introduced on the exam. He was pretty generous with the curve. I got an A on the first midterm, a D on the second, and a B on the final. Overall I did like this class. Natalie, my TA, saved my grade! She was the best and explained the trickier concepts really well.

Helpful?

0 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
CHEM 14A
Quarter: Fall 2018
Grade: A+
June 25, 2019

I actually really liked Caram's class. His lectures are engaging and I felt that he clearly described concepts to us (although he would frequently make mistakes then realize later). Discussions are helpful because tests would reflect the worksheet problems. Weekly quizzes keep you up to date with the concepts you should know. Tests are difficult but definitely doable. Review sessions are held by the TAs and are helpful. There are also lots of extra credit opportunities so make sure to do those. Overall, I would recommend his class.

Helpful?

0 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
CHEM 14A
Quarter: Fall 2018
Grade: A
Sept. 1, 2019

Selling textbook and solutions manual, and previously given exams (Lavelle's exams)! Text me at ********** if interested!

Helpful?

0 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
CHEM 14A
Quarter: Fall 2018
Grade: A
Nov. 5, 2019

I personally loved Caram's teaching style. He was extremely organized, all readings and practice problems for each topic were given to us in the syllabus from the very beginning and he taught at a fairly good pace. There were quizzes every week but they were all really fair and cushioned my grade a little bit. Midterms and the final were also completely fair. I thought he was a really engaging lecturer and he also puts chem memes on the first slide of every lecture which I loved. He's definitely not as easy as Lavelle, but we learned so much more.

Helpful?

0 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
CHEM 14A
Quarter: Fall 2019
Grade: A
Dec. 24, 2019

The class as a whole was reasonably difficult with plenty of resources to help you learn, but Caram as a lecturer was not the greatest. His slides and explanation during lectures were convoluted, and he was not good at dumbing down the information for first year students, so don't be worried when you come out of lecture not understanding anything. The textbook was not necessary at all as online resources such as youtube videos were far more useful in clearing up anything confusing from lecture. The homework isn't required, but I recommend doing it because that's how I learned to do all the math. The two midterms and final were challenging but the graders are really generous with partial credit and the average for all three were mid 80s which is high. The weekly quizzes are easy if you do the homework. Most exams have extra credit, and he will round your grade so getting an A is easier than other professors.

Helpful?

0 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
CHEM 14A
Quarter: Fall 2019
Grade: A+
Dec. 24, 2019

Justin isn't the best at explaining concepts or answering questions, but he's nice and wants you to succeed so he makes the tests/quizzes really fair. Read the textbook before lecture and go over the practice tests he gives you and the class will be pretty easy. The quizzes and tests are easier or the exact same questions as the real ones.

Helpful?

0 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
CHEM 14A
Quarter: Fall 2019
Grade: A+
Dec. 20, 2019

Honestly, Caram was a pretty good professor overall. If I were to pick classes again, I would probably not hate the idea of taking another chem class with Caram. His midterms/finals were fairly straightforward and covered the material that we went over in class; there were rarely any random things that we didn't discuss/we didn't need to know. I enjoyed going to discussion section, and the TAs and LAs were overall pretty helpful. I liked the way that the discussion section was formatted with a specific LA for each small group within the discussion because it helped to have someone who could answer questions more specifically. I think my main complaint would be that it would be hard to follow Caram during the lectures at times because he would start talking about one idea, stop, and then start another idea.

Helpful?

0 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
2 of 4
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