Mostly just AP Chem acid and bases, and VSEPR. New stuff was quantum and coordination compounds.

Coming into this class, I’d already taken AP Chemistry in high school. I feel that this helped me succeed because I was already confident with the material. The coursework was very manageable and it was easy for me to do well on tests as long as I adequately prepared. Dr. Lavelle also makes jokes in class and keeps the mood light.

Some tips I have for this class are:
- Use the textbook to supplement anything you don’t understand in lecture.
- Do ALL suggested practice problems, sometimes they show up on exams.
- Engage with his organized review sessions with TAs and UAs. They usually have review sheets for exams.

Loved this class. The midterms were very clear (can’t lie—taking AP Chem beforehand helped a lot). For some reason, there’s a ton of quantum just thrown at you, but it’s actually pretty cool once you see the applications. Make sure to do your Achieve homework early, read the textbook at least somewhat, and complete the UA worksheets posted on Chemistry Community—they’re super helpful. Lavelle is very engaging and always willing to answer questions. Definitely study a bit for the final—it was a little more overwhelming than the midterms, but nothing unmanageable. Lock in just a bit, and try to go to the UA sessions once a week if you have time. You should be totally fine.

Lavelle himself is a great person, however his lectures and answers to questions were not very helpful. HOWEVER, he does set up HOURS of sessions with UAs and TAs to help teach students and do practice problems to understand the material. A lot of this class is based on how much effort YOU put in.

There were 2 midterms and a final. The midterms were very easy, which will make the final catch you off guard. The final was like a slap in the face that dropped me from an A+ to an A-. However, if you study and understand the concepts, you will do great!

I recommend reading the textbook, doing all the practice problems, and going to the UA sessions multiple times a week.

This class is super easy to understand. The material is broken down very well and most of it you will already know if you took AP Chemistry. The midterms, 2 in total, are extremely easy however be careful because his final did have a couple really hard questions. There is not a lot of homework however he does provide a lot of additional hours of support which I would recommend going to. Not all the UAs are helpful so make sure you go to a bunch of different UAs' review sessions at first.

Disclaimer: You only need a 60% or higher to get a C- but the psychological warfare involved makes the class a little less sweet.

The class started with high school review, but as soon as we move on, he continues treating every topic as review and I guess I was one of the only people to not be born with a periodic table implanted in my brain. Lavelle teaches as if every student took AP Chem so if you haven’t, good luck. Lectures are entirely unhelpful but not mandatory and recorded. Lavelle reads off slides that are so condensed and don’t explain how to solve the type of problems asked in exams. Exams are multiple choice, but each question is 4 points, so missing two on the midterm gets you a B. Specific topics he over explains during lectures aren’t even on the exams. Exams are weighted very heavily with no curve and even getting full points on every assignment won’t help you much. Lavelle personally thanked all the students who scored 100% on the final which only makes people who didn’t do well feel bad and multiple people missing zero questions on a college final is a little suspicious. He loves to send emails pointing out how many hours of help he offers as if he is the first professor in the history of the world to do that, but his UAs and TAs do all the work. Step-up sessions do help, but if you get a bad TA, like I of course did, you’re screwed. The clown started our first discussion section immediately jumping into solving problems from a random unit we hadn’t covered. The worst part is that his solutions were wrong and he had to be corrected by students. He also always replied “I don’t know” and “Lavelle doesn’t tell us” when asked any question. He was always canceling his office hours and made us wait weeks to get tests back. Going back to Lavelle, he seems like a sweet old man, but it’s all fake. God forbid you email your professor with a question, he’ll respond as if you shot a puppy. If he even does, he’ll be extremely rude and demeaning which I cannot fathom because it’s literally his job. Students are only allowed to ask questions through their TA or Chemistry Community (which is not 100% reliable because answers are by other students also learning the material answering and I’ve gotten wrong replies to my questions before). For any information, you have to go through his website, which conveniently has a million tabs, none of which have his grading scale! I did all the homework and went to every discussion section, rewatched all the lectures, and attended help sessions multiple times a week. I don’t think a class should be taught as if we should already know the information, especially as someone who struggles with chemistry, and I don’t think a professor should be able to speak to students in the way he does. Lavelle is just a bad professor that hides behind his assistants, so I don't know why he has a cult following here.

Absolute snooze fest of a class. Lavelle is not a great professor in my opinion, he always murmurs and speaks quietly. Also, his replies on the online chemistry forum are often unhelpful and really passive aggressive. One of his replies to an honest question was "Some students had a rough time in high school chemistry." I can't check exactly what he said, but it was something like that. There's really no need to be mean, everyone comes from different chemistry backgrounds and all questions should be treated equally. The only good thing about this class is that lectures are optional and discussions are online. All exams are multiple choice and there's 15 questions on each midterm, 30 on the final. Since each question is worth 4 points, you can only miss a few to get an A. Midterms were easy, final was harder. My AP Chem knowledge carried me but I had some friends who didn't have chemistry experience yet grinded really hard to get an A. Do textbook problems + Achieve HW + UA worksheets and you should be fine.

just read the textbook

Lavelle is a great teacher if you are willing to attend Step-Up sessions and go to lecture. He provides around 20–40 hours of additional help for Chem 14A through TAs and UAs who cover a wide range of topics. His lectures are posted on BruinCast; however, there are times when recordings get cut off or the slides/whiteboard aren’t fully in frame, so it’s best to attend in person.

Overall, his teaching is very engaging, and he answers student questions helpfully on the spot. The only homework is through Achieve, and assignments are due at the end of each subject/outline (every 2–3 weeks). His exams closely resemble the optional homework problems in the textbook, which allows students to prepare effectively.

I highly recommend taking his class --- he DJs at the start.

I absolutely loved this class. Out of all the classes I took this quarter, Chemistry 14A was my absolute favorite; I would always want to work on chemistry, even when I had to focus on my other classes, because Dr. Lavelle did a great job of making me excited about this class. The final was definitely harder than the midterms, so study for it, but otherwise, this class is manageable.