Prof Bouchard is misunderstood by the student, I'd suppose. Even though the course materials are hard, Bouchard gives fairly clear lecture about these course materials. His lecture notes posted online are very thorough. The test is very hard, but if you work through lecture notes and the problem sets posted, you will be fine. Also, prof Bouchard is really helpful and really willing to help students during his office hours, and especially outside OH. He would simply tell you to just come by his office, and he will help you with your problems. Good professor overall. But if you simply don't like Chem 20B materials, you can find other easier professors.

I took this class in freshmen year, and I am now a senior. I just remembered how much I hated this guy, and in all my four years, he is still the worst professor I've ever had in my life. Awful.

This man single-handedly ruined my GPA.

Bouchard treats his Chem 20B lecture the same as Chem 20BH. Every single lecture is filled with incomprehensible derivations of the most complicated equations. And he expects you to remember how to do these page long derivations. The only way to solve his homework problems are to guess randomly for the multiple choice and spend hours doing each of the numerical responses. I have never had a class where I felt so stupid and frustrated trying to get through the homework. His tests are very challenging and thus curved heavily. I wish I could say that I learned a ton from his class but honestly I didn't do anything except meaningless derivations. Bouchard is a pretty nice guy and clearly a genius but his teaching style makes this class an absolute NO. Pick any other teacher and save yourself from this hell.

Based on previous reviews, I strongly believe that Professor Bouchard changed his teaching style/class format between 2017 and 2018. Various aspects of the class that are brought up in previous reviews were simply not present when I took this course (Winter 2019).

Teaching general chemistry/physics/etc. courses is substantially different from teaching upper-division coursework, and while I wouldn't necessarily say that professors are "justified" in being somewhat harsher in the first case, I have encountered this myself several times. Bouchard is an exception to this; his passion for chemistry is immediately evident from the first lecture, and he is eager to impart this knowledge to his students through multiple avenues.

Bouchard has a gift for explaining not only the fundamental principles of chemistry, but also their mathematical basis; the textbook for this course consisted entirely of his own lecture notes, compiled over several years and edited by certain students. This was, if anything, substantially clearer than the "official" Oxtoby textbook, inasmuch as he took the time to meticulously derive every formula/equation/law used in the topics that we covered.

I regularly attended his office hours during the course whenever I was able; although only a few students did so, it was well worth it, as it became surprisingly easy to have multi-hour chats about science/mathematics/life in general. I learned several concepts there that I was then able to apply in further courses, making these opportunities of great use to me.

Bouchard is committed to the success of his students, and will take every opportunity to clarify/explain any concept that is requested. He does so in a way which encourages questions, rather than discouraging them as certain other professors do; this is extremely conducive to generating a healthy learning environment, in my opinion.

Overall, I would very much recommend Professor Bouchard for this course; while it is certainly more in-depth than other professors, it is well worth the extra effort due to its immense payoff in future courses.

The past reviews of Bouchard are no longer valid. He’s not the greatest professor, but he’s much much better than previous reviews would have you believe. I wanted to avoid his class at all costs when looking at reviews, but was surprised when he was actually a pretty good lecturer, his grading and tests were much friendlier than reviews would lead you to believe and the work load wasn’t too crazy. I don’t know what the other professors are like, but if you end up taking Bouchard it’s not bad.

TL;DR: Nice person, good lectures, hard exams but not that hard if studied, no easy As

Bouchard isn’t that bad according to other students, at least in this quarter. His grading is mostly based on exams, a tiny part (10%-15%?) on quizzes in discussion sessions and homework. His lectures are quite important so don’t miss his class if you want a good grade. The exams are hard since he doesn’t allow cheat sheets and graphing calculators and the formulas for midterm 1 are real hard; otherwise it’s OK if you are good at time management in exams, math, and using scientific calculator. Also, read his class notes he gives (that’s a textbook-thingy he wrote and the exams are based on that) AND MEMORIZED THOSE GAWDAM FORMULAS. He is actually a nice man. I have never been to his OHs because our TA was very helpful on everything we needed to know for the exams.
I definitely don’t recommend this professor because relatively he should still be the last choice among professors who teach 20B, I assume. A friend of mine who was his TA really disliked him because he used to give TAs too many tasks and not respect students’ work. But if you are in his class in the future, don’t worry, he’s OK. Prioritize his class and you’ll be able to get a nice grade.

So many terrible reviews, Bouchard isn't all bad.

First of all, yes. This class will be time-consuming, most especially if you procrastinate. But if you have a good study structure you will do okay. (by a good study structure I mean, skimming material before lecture, reviewing after lecture, and attempting all homework without simply copying). If you do this you will most likely be fine. The midterms/final were very straightforward, easy if you noted the important concepts Bouchard went over during each lecture and made sure you understood it. The concepts might be hard to grasp at first but the underlying derivations and "extra" math can be very useful for clearer, confident understanding.

His homework is very tedious but it's made in a way to make you think. Not just think vaguely, but truly think as would a scientist/researcher. You want to be able to use the fundamentals (you should have studied) as tools that can help you work your way towards a solution. Homework wasn't really graded on accuracy, but rather how much thought you put into it and if your thinking semi-makes sense. This might mean, for one question it is easy to do, you get the right answer, get full credit. Another problem is more complicated, you bring in various facts/thms/etc and try to come up with a sound solution, get full credit. And if you need help, you can go to his office hours which can be very useful. Although, if you merely seek to get the answer handed to you, you're better off not going to office hours. He wants you to think and via guided questions, make you understand where you went wrong in your thought process or what you could study to understand it better yourself. He is a pretty cool guy too, outside the chemistry talk. You don't have to be scared of him. Sure he is a professor with a Ph.D. doing some cool research probably, but he's a person just like anyone else. Some might say he seems egotistical and condescending in his lectures, but I mean, cmon, he has phd level knowledge, these are the fundamental basics. If anything, the confident way he passes on information is something lacking in most professors here. And if you really have a problem with his homework or teaching style, let him know. He can most definitely take it. But you can't just bag on him for trying to be a professor that teaches you what it means to actually work for a grade.

Plus he gives his own notes for each chapter we go over in the textbook and his notes are VERY CLEAR. I still have them too.... one day I will study it in depth and understand it all.... they are very good, you don't have to rely on the textbook. For more emphasis, DO STUDY HIS NOTES. The couple of people who I know got an A (1)and high B(2ppl) range were constantly studying his notes, making sure they understood them, even completely copying them down- word for word- to ensure they were getting that information down somehow. The real trick- as is for any class- is exposure exposure exposure. You want to become familiar with the material and get those neurons to fire and wire together for those crucial thought processes you must rapidly bring about come time for midterms/final.

Overall, Bouchard's rigour is what I would expect from a phd professor teaching at the #1 public university. He could be more considerate of time, but it is a weeder class , so there's that to take into account.....

Work + Heat = Internal Energy. Don't lose that energy to complaining, overthinking, stressing, and procrastinating..... channel that energy and put in work! Whoever got this far, I wish you the best in all your studies ! Remember the why! The more reason you have to continue to pursue your path, the easier it will be to overcome the obstacles that face you. (i.e. "the why" is your greatest support.)

Much love. Namaste. Have a great day :)

TLDR?

You will learn one of two things : That working hard can get you anything you want, or that you need to reflect and ask, What do I really want?

He was an okay guy. Sometimes he would laugh in lecture and seem like an actual human being. The homework was hard but it gave you a better understanding of the material plus its only 5% of your grade. Midterm is just the notes. Take your time reviewing everything.

He’s the greatest Professor I’ve taken in UCLA ever. I don’t understand why someone’s saying that he requires us to read the textbook—