Overall okay class! Lavelle does teach basic concepts well in class but the hw and tests are often of a harder level. He does provide lots of resources though, so definitely make use of them and you should be fine. Selling past exams for practice! Contact ************* if you’d like them :)

I did not take AP Chem like most people did in this class. The last time I took a chemistry class was sophomore year of high school, 4 years ago. So yeah this class was super hard for me, and I did not get the hang of his tests until the end. Lavelle is not that great of a lecturer, and I had to teach everything to myself (watch the organic chemistry tutor on youtube, that's the only reason I passed this class). His tests are super ambiguous and sometimes you're just like wtf is he asking. Like for the final there were random fill in the blanks which could've had a 100 different answers. I know that if I took ap chem I definitely would've done better, so if you have a strong chem background, you should be fine. Be prepared to study your ass off for this class! The good thing is you only need 50% of the points to get a C-, but there's no curve.

I'm going give you guys a no BS review of Dr. Lavelle unlike the other reviews made here just to sell past exams which btw don't help, because Lavelle changes everything every quarter.

First and foremost, Lavelle's class is a hit or miss which is what I hated the most. Literally luck is 40% of the class. Our midterm was so fucked in terms of content distribution compared to the 2019 midterm. On the corollary our small 50 point tests were much easier. And finally COVID-19 saved us from his brutal paper final and inflated our averages. I believe the class median grade was a B+ to an A minus.

Now on to luck some TA's will be lenient with small mistakes some won't. And remember every point counts. If a TA took of too many points call them out or ask for a regrade. This is a total point system and Lavelle never curves. You need a 465/500 to get an A period!!!!! Midterm is 120 pt. Homework is 50. His chem community posts are 50. 180 pt final and two 50 pt tests. Tests are a joke but don't make silly mistakes. I fucked a quadratic equation in an ice table and got a 47/50. My total score was a 464/500, bt thankfully I argued a point from an old test and brought it up to a 465/500

This class isn't hard, but every point matters and write as much bs on a test as you can. From equations to anything just to pick up partial credit.

This class is an easy to get an A- you just ned a 450/500. Getting an A requires more luck and effort and pray Dr. Lavelle writes a fair test the quarter you are taking it.

Finally, do the fucking homework like you are reading the Bible. Lavelle puts a good chunk of homework problems on the midterm and final which are like 15 points each!!!

Lavelle is a good prof in general compared to the other ones for 14A and 14B. He doesn't expect you to know anything from hs and he doesn't pit students against each other by using bad grading systems.

If you give just one shit getting an A- isn't bad and if you try a little you can get an A

When I first looked at reviews for Lavelle before taking the class, I didn't have a good opinion of him because I was just parroting off what people had said about him only caring about his metrics and the 100+ hours of chem help offered, and the success of his website chem community.
But honestly, after taking both Chem14A and Chem14B with Lavelle, that is completely false. He constantly mentions his extra help UA sessions and they are so helpful. And later in the quarter I really felt that he cared for the students as he boosted our final exam scores by 10 points when it was really hard.
His class is not a free A, but it is a very doable A if you watch lectures, go to at least 1 UA session a week, do all the textbook practice problems (he includes some in his tests).
Stats: MT1 100%, MT2 100%, Final 83%

Although I got a C in this class, Dr. Lavelle is a great lecturer, and a caring professor. His class is definitely challenging, and you have to do every single homework assignment and you basically have to master the concepts Lavelle teaches you like you're the freaking avatar. What I really liked about him was that he was passionate about helping students by setting up lots of review sessions, whether it's led by a TA or a UA. He does 2 exams during discussion, one midterm, and a final. I got a 90% on the first exam and everything went downhill from there haha. What I thought was unfair was that he'll make sure that his midterm and final conceptually harder than his exams and assigned homework problems. Dr. Lavelle is known for including problems on exams that are from his lectures (which are not on bruincast) and not mentioned in the homework at all. For example, on his second exam, he included a problem that asked for the difference in the number of H bonding sites in DNA between AT and GC strands (i forgot how it was formatted but it was about DNA), and my TA said that Dr. Lavelle talked about DNA during lecture, and on the final, the last question was about titration, which is not even part of the 14A curriculum at all, and he didn't assign any problems for us to practice on. Advice that I wish I should've taken: don't procrastinate on the homework problems & don't rely on the solutions manual to give you the answer instead of working it out for yourself because actually learning will help you in the long run.

14b lavelle test bank available, email me at ************* at gma!l for price

I do concur that the course itself is relatively challenging. The class does not use a curve, the majority of your grade is determined by two tests (50 points each), one midterm (120 points), and final (180 points). I did AP Chem, so for me, the pace of the course is reasonable. Exams are doable, but the wording is tricky and cost you points. Yet, I still learned a lot from this class, and personally would take him again. Lavelle is a sweet person and experienced in lecturing (and yes he is a meme). Attendance matters, since he never posts his slides or bruincast the lectures; also do all the homework problems he assigns.

I took Chem 14A and 14B with Lavelle through covid, and I have to say I'm impressed! His classes were well organized, and although a lot of them ran longer than 50 minutes, most people just put him on 2x speed. His midterms and finals were not very difficult imo, and very similar to the textbook problems so just do those to practice. I personally read all chapters of the book and this saved me on the second midterm for 14B, but I would say you don't have to necessarily read to do well, just go over textbook problems. He gave a lot of resources to succeed! I didn't utilize TAs that much, but the workshops and review sessions with the UAs saved me a bunch of times. Go to as many as possible! I think Lavelle really adjusted well to the online format and didn't punish students for covid (unlike some professors who made their tests harder). Just beware that the tests have questions that are 10 points each or 5 points, and if you get the 5 point questions wrong, you don't get partial credit while the 10 points have partial credit for a select few answer choices. You can only lose 28-35 points to get an A (depending on total points of the course) so this was VERY stressful.

His class lectures aren't as engaging as I would've liked, but they are informational. However, most of the things he cover you can learn from reading the textbooks. He does include important biological examples in lectures which are not in books. He bruincast some of his lectures but not all. He doesn't post any of his slides online, so I suggest copy all that stuff down. Most of the information are pretty straightforward. The first test was pretty easy as it was all fundamentals. For me, I did most of the hw problems, if not all, that he assigned and ended up doing well on the tests.

He organizes a lot of review sessions, and he ALWAYS mentions about them. Somehow I got a feeling that he is bragging about all his hard work. But nonetheless, I appreciate him for it. Take his class!

***THE TEXTBOOK EXISTS ONLINE AS A PDF DO NOT PAY FOR IT. SHAME ON PEOPLE FOR TRYING TO SELL PDFS THAT THEY DON'T EVEN OWN!***

Ok, actual review:

I took AP Chem in High School, it sucked and I learned nothing;That being said, this was not the first time I had heard of most of these concepts, so my review might not apply to you if this is your first hard chem class ever.

The rumors of this class's difficulty were. . . exaggerated, to say the least. I heard so many people call this a "weeder class" during orientation, it is not. The class average was a B without any curve. If you want to take the MCAT pick Lavelle because getting a B in this class is better than taking a dummy-easy professor for an A and getting SHAFTED down the line because you lack foundations (every graduated premed I've spoken to who took Lavelle has loved him).

Lavelle is easily the best professor I had in my first quarter. His lectures taught the material very well (except the last week or so things kinda fell apart but whatever) and he offered an INSANE amount of extra help to those who needed it. I feel like this is the clearest look I've ever had at chemistry and I feel like I understand it much better. Plus he's dank.

My TA Bradley was nice and very smart, though in general the discussion sections were pretty much just good for turning in your homework and a waste of time if you understood the concepts. The final and midterms were difficult, but actually really fair and 90% of the points were in problems practically ripped from the lectures, practice exams (offered by UAs), and homework.

I know a lot of people struggled, but I think most of the reason why is because they were adjusting to the accelerated pace and didn't really have good study habits (ie they crammed, skipped lectures, didn't take notes, didn't study along with the course, etc). This is not a weeder class, but it might be a wake up call. You'll be ok.

PS the song he plays over the speakers is Numb by Portishead, yw :p