This is the class where I was able to show my abilities in problem solving, critical thinking and of course learning a lot. As UCLA students we know the cycle of professors we have to deal with. I wont mention specific names but we know who the Ochem professor (not plural) everyone has to deal with. That being said, Professor Garg class was thus far my favorite in my undergraduate undertaking. YOU LEARN A LOT IN THE CLASS.

To do well here's what you should do: Attend lectures and write everything down. Write the clicker question down as well because even though the y may seem simple Garg drills you with these examples so you can easily build upon them in the problem sets and exams. Read the book for good backup but Professor Garg himself provides great and understandable answers with rationale to questions posed. What I also found very useful is to go over the last lecture's notes before the beginning of the your next lecture. It recaps for you what you learned and gets your mind in chem mode. It really helped me focus and understand concepts at a deeper level. Do the problem sets early and do them repeatedly, understand what drives a certain rxn or even concept. For the midterm and finals, do the problem sets and attend OH as well. Garg is welcoming, knowledgeable and understand what we have undergrads have to deal with.

Personally, I really grew from this class so much so that I wanted to go after an ochem major (if only ucla had one). You cannot say enough about this class and professor. Garg makes you think, but helps you along the way.

Garg was pretty much the first person in the Chem department that seemed to care about our performance and our interest in chem.

Lectures: He outlines his notes directly around the book, so if there is something you don't understand or need more practice on, you can read up more on and get extra practice problems from there. He also makes it pretty fun. If you go up to the board, you can leave with a prize. I was a little disappointed I never won a periodic table beach towel, but still pretty cool.

Availability: Has a good number of office hours and sticks to them. I definitely showed up a fair few number of times and he helped me out. Also, if you can't make his OH, he spreads his TA's out really well so there's an OH going on. The TA’s all worked in his lab and/or know him personally, so they definitely put forth A LOT of effort too in offering help to those that need it.

Personality: He is a genuinely kind person, and he wants people to succeed and find their niche. He takes the time to know a good number of his students, especially those that participate and come to office hours. He offered an incentive for those that participate in class, that he would bring us to the Faculty Center and treat us to lunch. Probably the coolest thing any professor has ever done for me. And while we ate, he told us horror stories about grad school, and even offered us career advice.

You can tell he really cares about what he does, and he wants to see you take an interest in chemistry, whether it’s for that quarter, or even as a possible career. I went into 14D dreading chem (and everyone’s favorite Thinkbook), and after 14D + his honors 89 course, I left trying to declare a chem minor. Later on, I even took a graduate seminar course that he opened up to undergraduates, which (pre-14D) is probably the last thing in the world I would ever considered doing before. Seriously.

All that being said, this class is not a cake-walk; Ochem is going to be Ochem, and you will need to put in the work regardless. Pre-read the lectures, listen, read again, practice. Don’t confuse his kindness with easiness. But Garg makes the experience a lot better than most other professors I’ve had, and if you put in the effort, you will take a lot out of it on top of the grade.

N. Garg is by far the best professor I have had at UCLA so far. He presents the material in a concise and engaging manner. He also asks people to come up to the board and sometimes rewards students who participate. I would highly recommend him for any class he teaches, especially 14D.
He offered extra credit for people who made music videos about Ochem. You probably have seen some of them on youtube already. Be ready for one of the most fun classes you have taken at UCLA. And who said Ochem was horrible?

All-around great professor, and a really nice guy if you get to know him. He teaches his material in a clear and thoughtful way and really encourages understanding among ALL students...

Highly recommended!!

Neil Garg is one of the most brilliant and engaging lecturers at UCLA. Although he works entirely off of the chalkboard, his lectures are very organized and cohesive. In addition to covering common organic chemistry reactions, he also focuses a lot on retrosynthesis which rewards critical thinking. As a plus, he also offers extra-credit for participation in discussion section and sometimes gives out novelty trinkets for participating in lecture.