tbh his class is hard af but u sure do learn a lot… im a chem major and this class has been making me consider other majors :) if you don’t have a choice and end up taking Barr u seriously need to have an open schedule because office hours is the only time where you can ever get answers to anything and they’re basically extensions of the lectures cuz some of the info covered there is so important. Don’t take this class with a heavy schedule because it will take up the majority of your time. He refuses to curve the final we just took was god awful. His exams are extremely difficult just like his problem sets are (except without the internet or ur notes) good luck lmfao and do the problem sets and go to office hours and prepare to sacrifice a lot

Worst teacher I’ve probably ever had, confusing overly fast-paced lectures, unnecessarily difficult tests. If you’re only option is Barr, just don’t take the class

This class is honestly one of the worst classes I have taken at UCLA. The quarter started off ok, but you soon realize that reading the textbook will not help you on the exams. He barely covers the material you need to know in lecture and the only way to try similar problems to the exams were to work his optional practice problems that he NEVER released the solutions to. Literally the only way to figure out how to do these problems were to go to the professor's office hours as sometimes even the TAs couldn't figure them out. His zoom office hours no joke had 100+ people sometimes. Overall, he acts like he sympathizes with his students, which makes it even worse when he absolutely destroys the class with exams. Avoid taking this class with Barr at all costs.

The class itself was fine, but Barr made it a lot worse than it had to be. He doesn't ever explicitly say what he expects from students. His tests were sometimes loosely connected to the material and students would have to guess compounds and names that were never shown in class. This class could use some help in terms of logistics, and the majority of the students had a hard time enjoying it.

No just No. Absolutely do not take him if you have the chance. The class isn't impossible and you'll most likely do much better than I did if you like chemistry; but if you're like me and it's just a requirement, then this class will most likely be no fun at all because his lectures do almost nothing to prepare you for his tests. There's a serious lack of resources to study for this class, most of your studying will have to be based on any old exams you can find which will definitely be different then your upcoming exam. Overall just try not to take the class with him but if you do I suggest you find a group of people who are good at chemistry and prepare to do an immense amount of practice problems..

To the person who said this is fuckin UCLA and if you can’t handle this course you’re going to die in your future classes”.... you’re a fucking asshole. Keep to yourself and sit down.

i think after the horrible tests in winter 2021, he toned them down. granted they were still hard but it was mostly doable.

I think Barr is passionate, but my experience with him was terrible. The exams were tough, and he would not listen to class feedback. To be honest winter quarter was just a nightmare all over. The whole class experience was akin to experiencing a firebombing 24/7. That said, I understand it was his first time. I just wouldn't take him again. UCLA Chem department needs to do better, as their restrictions during covid probably was also terrible and made it harder for Barr to accommodate us. I heard he got better, so take my review as you will. I just can't say he was a good professor based upon my experience.

For it being his first time teaching, Barr was decent. He's very enthusiastic, passionate, and invested in our learning which is nice having a professor that cares. Also, he provides a lot of resources for practicing the material and provides students with opportunities to get help in terms of office hours, campuswire, review sessions, and being open to questions during lectures. He's quite helpful when you ask him questions directly through audio and patiently and thoroughly explains the concept until you understand it to your satisfaction.
A lot of the negativity towards him comes from his insanely difficult midterms, which is fair as they are very difficult. However, his final, which was still challenging, was significantly easier than the midterms and has a much greater affect on your overall grade, giving you a chance to improve you grade significantly even if you did poorly on both midterms. Nevertheless, you do need to put in a lot of work for the class, as there is a lot of material to learn, understand, and master. It is quite a difficult course which can be a little disheartening at times but you definitely learn a LOT and in the end it works out better than expected.

The man is cool to talk to but thats about it. I found it difficult to understand the material with him as the professor. At the beginning of the quarter he explained, "How does one succeed in my class." Let me tell you, I did everything he asked for and still got a D on both midterms(individually at least , there is also a group portion that acts like a "curve"). I kid you not, I have no idea how I got an A- because i thought i was going to get a C+ or B- best case scenario. I think I must've done really well on the final(doing better on the final exempts one of your midterm grades). At the end of the day, this class is not worth the headache and stress. Find a different professor.