Dr. Neil Garg is an amazing professor for premeds and for anyone interested in organic chemistry. His class focuses on more than just memorization and involves critical thinking-- similar to what is needed on the MCAT. I took his class Spring of 2010 and loved it. He is extremely caring and his classes are so much fun. He has a dynamic personality that prevents even the most lazy students from falling asleep. If you have a lot of anxiety going into organic chemistry, do not worry with Dr. Neil Garg. Him and his amazing team of TAs will explain questions very thoroughly. UCLA is extremely lucky to have a professor like Dr. Neil Garg.

I had Professor Garg spring 2011. He is an AWESOME teacher and somehow managed to make o-chem fun (well relatively at least). He's a great professor, really cares about us LEARNING and not just memorizing, and that A that all us pre-meds are after is definitely do-able.
If he taught every chem class at UCLA, i'd be a chem major in a heart beat.
Basically, take Garg, go to class cuz he makes it as entertaining as possible, and you'll start to think you're getting your money's worth at UCLA. Who wouldn't love a professor who references star wars on a regular basis??

Neil is the best professor I have had in my 2 years at UCLA. To be successful in his class, it is essential to stay on top of the material. Make sure to read through his lecture notes daily. Also, condensing his lecture notes is greatly helpful. The problem sets that he provides are awesome. I would recommend reading the lecture notes and attempting to understand all of the concepts and reaction mechanisms before beginning the problem sets, and then approaching the problem sets like they are practice exams. It is crucial to memorize all reaction conditions in order to be successful in 14D.

Many students struggle with the synthesis problems. In order to solve these, you must be greatly familiar with all of the reactions.

Thinking about each reaction in the context below should help a lot w/ synthesis
(To make ______ start with ______ and use _____)

One reason why the tuition increase didn't make me mad: Dr. Neil Garg compensated for it.
Neil is hands down the best professor at UCLA. I always had a hard time with my chemistry classes until I met Professor Garg.
Like someone else said before...if Professor Garg taught every chemistry class at UCLA, I would change my major to Chemistry in a heart beat. He is a brilliant man, with a humble heart. He's not like some professors that think very highly of themselves. He brings himself down to our level. He puts himself in our shoes. He understands his students. Please, wait a quarter and take Garg in the Spring for 14D. You will not regret it. He makes you want to go to class. I NEVER dreaded going to ochem. I actually looked forward to it. I also had a great TA (Evan!) Stephen was also amazing too!
Thanks for all the help! O-Chem is my favorite subject :D

Brilliant man. Brilliant Class. No one can argue with this fact: He is the best professor at UCLA.

I cried at the end of the last lecture. I didn't want it to be over.

Definitely my favorite professor at UCLA so far!! Very approachable and caring. He keeps lectures light with demos and videos, but there's still a lot of chemistry. All notes are from what he writes on the board. Be sure to keep up with lectures and do the problem sets!! The night before the final, I had to cram, because I didn't realize we had gone over SO many reactions in just two weeks. For the final, also look over mistakes you made during midterms, because he'll probably put it on the final (if a majority of people got it wrong).

I found discussion very helpful so I definitely recommend that! The TAs can give extra tips and go over concepts that Garg may not have focused on in lecture.

Extra credit is not hard to get. Just look over the random facts, dates, molecules he mentions in class. And do the ochem video (if you have time)!

Garg made 14D one of my favorite classes ever, and I wish I could take more classes with him! Definitely recommend him!

I was wondering whether the two years of excited chatter about the new 14D professor was merely hype... but no, Dr. Garg not only meets, but exceeds all expectations you could have of a professor!

14D is naturally challenging, but Garg renders it manageable and makes you feel as if you can really understand ochem. His tests are extremely fair: if you do the problem sets (he doesn't throw a Thinkbook of problems at you--all psets can be finished with not too much time) and past exams, practically nothing on the midterms/final is a surprise. His synthesis problems will require some critical thinking, but there is ample practice for that.

I needn't mention much about how great of a guy in general he is; the other reviews can attest to that. He definitely imparts a personal touch to his teaching--whether it be in life advice he gives in his lectures, or personally emailing people who did well in the class after final grades came out, or saying hi to you should you pass him by on campus (even if you never went to OHs!)

In short, take this professor for 14D. He'll change your view of not only 14-series, not only south campus, but all professors in general. On the last day of lecture, he got a standing ovation--he definitely deserved it!

1. Wait until Spring Quarter to take 14D with Garg, you will not regret it. Just do it.
2. Hands down, one of the best professors at UCLA. My personal favorite, actually.
3. If you are struggling in the chemistry series, don't worry, Garg totally makes up for your past experiences with 14a b and c.
4. Very enjoyable class.
5. Very approachable professor. Get to know him. Attend office hours.
6. Participate in class/extra credit opportunities.
7. Attend the lectures - he's a great professor; just go to the first one, and you'll know what I mean -- you'll keep coming back to learn more chemistry.
8. Have fun and enjoy learning 14D! :D

Best professor at UCLA...he is inspirational as a professor and as a human being...take 14D with him!

To be fair, this class is way too gimicky. It's your ordinary O-chem class with lots of memorization. He just has a lot of gimicks to make the memorizations much more bearable. Take Hardinger- he's much better in terms of long-term memory. He's awesome. Garg is awesome as a person though.