CHEM 14A
Atomic and Molecular Structure, Equilibria, Acids, and Bases
Description: Lecture, three hours; discussion, one hour. Preparation: high school chemistry or equivalent background and three and one half years of high school mathematics. Enforced corequisite: Life Sciences 30A or Mathematics 3A or 31A or score of 35 or better on Mathematics Diagnostic Test. Not open to students with credit for course 20A. Introduction to physical and general chemistry principles; atomic structure based on quantum mechanics; atomic properties; trends in periodic table; chemical bonding (Lewis structures, VSEPR theory, hybridization, and molecular orbital theory); gaseous and aqueous equilibria; properties of inorganic and organic acids, bases, buffers; titrations. P/NP or letter grading.
Units: 4.0
Units: 4.0
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Most Helpful Review
Spring 2023 - I liked this class. I thought that he taught okay during lectures - but his office hours were great. He hosted review sessions before the exams which were extremely helpful. His final was pretty hard, but his midterms were fair. He honestly seemed like he wanted his students to do well, which I appreciated. After every midterm, he offered extra credit if the student examined and wrote a reflection on the points they missed on the test.
Spring 2023 - I liked this class. I thought that he taught okay during lectures - but his office hours were great. He hosted review sessions before the exams which were extremely helpful. His final was pretty hard, but his midterms were fair. He honestly seemed like he wanted his students to do well, which I appreciated. After every midterm, he offered extra credit if the student examined and wrote a reflection on the points they missed on the test.
Most Helpful Review
Fall 2024 - NEVER EVER EVER EVER — and I mean NEVER EVER — take this class. Like many of you, I checked professor Ow's BruinWalk reviews and saw what seemed to be a beaming ray of sunlight — great overall rating, great professor rating, and EVEN outstanding comments from previous years. Well, I need all of you to look past all of that because ALL WRONG. EVERYONE IS LYING. As an academic overachiever, I have found myself thriving with a 4.0, valedictorian, and even getting through my first year of college with a 4.0 across the board. So, when I say this class has single-handedly made me reconsider everything I know about science, myself, and the educational system, believe me. I had many friends with other chemistry professors, and they seemed to walk away from 14A unscathed. But Ow, on the other hand, has managed to create the absolutely most impossible class that has left many of my friends — myself included— feeling an unrepairable sense of doom, self-doubt, and lack of trust. If you don't feel like reading everything I have to say, remember this one thing: Ow DOWNCURVED the entire class. That pretty much sums it up. After a quarter of sleepless nights, studying until my nails bleed, and ultimately trying to absorb every single detail, I still managed to find myself constantly surprised and disappointed by the truly unexplainably impossible nature of this class. In the end, I did get a B+, which honestly isn't that bad. But when you take a step back to realize the sheer amount of effort to reach this point, it suddenly becomes clear that this B+ symbolizes Ow's result for a student who has pushed themselves to their very limit. I will give him credit that in the very first lecture he gently "warned" us, but the warning honestly should have been a red blaring siren because everything immediately went downhill. Each exam had an entirely different format from each other, none of which aligned with the practice exams. He did preface that they might not necessarily align, but the reality is that he truly does not create resources for us to succeed in the slightest. The ONLY people I know who even captured an A in this class were students who were scraping to ignite their chemistry knowledge from high school. Even a friend of mine who scored high As on both midterms found themselves unable to get an A in the class. I went to office hours — which made me feel somehow emotionally penalized for showing up. He made me feel like it was my fault, as an individual, for asking for help. He invites questions to be asked but then makes you feel stupid for asking them in the first place. And the cherry on top, he offered two opportunities for 0.2% extra credit. Gee thanks. It almost felt like a slap in the face because that extra credit essentially makes no difference, and any difference it does make was ENTIRELY ELIMINATED by the class down the curve. So, if you spend the quarter attempting to calculate your grade — throw that method out the window. Your grades will ultimately be unknown to you, and unknown until he has decided how he wants curve — which was DOWN — AND ALREADY IMPUTED INTO MYUCLA. Once your fate is sealed, there is simply nothing you can do. That being said, success in Ow's class entirely relies on your capacity to either 1. remember everything from high school or 2. miraculously become Ow and read his mind. If neither of those things pertain to you, then you simply do not stand the slightest of chances. For some of you, taking Ow may be your only choice, in which case, I am very sorry. Say farewell to your 4.0 because after this class it will not be coming back. However, I can provide a slight bit of advice that can hopefully prepare you for your fate to come: - The exams will present questions that you may have never seen before, so when you study, think BEYOND the content. You need to learn the context of chemistry outside of the things covered in class in order to succeed. - mentally prepare yourself and lower your expectations. I came into this class filled with ambition, but I quickly found myself being disappointed time and time again. - grades are not everything.... one quarter of chemistry certainly will not define the trajectory of your life. So try to remind yourself that you are so much stronger than 14A with Ow. To those of you who have made it to the end of this review, I applaud your commitment to success. It is clear that you want to do well and that you are willing to take extra time to make that difference in your academics. I wish you all the best in your enrollment times and good grade fortune in the years to come.
Fall 2024 - NEVER EVER EVER EVER — and I mean NEVER EVER — take this class. Like many of you, I checked professor Ow's BruinWalk reviews and saw what seemed to be a beaming ray of sunlight — great overall rating, great professor rating, and EVEN outstanding comments from previous years. Well, I need all of you to look past all of that because ALL WRONG. EVERYONE IS LYING. As an academic overachiever, I have found myself thriving with a 4.0, valedictorian, and even getting through my first year of college with a 4.0 across the board. So, when I say this class has single-handedly made me reconsider everything I know about science, myself, and the educational system, believe me. I had many friends with other chemistry professors, and they seemed to walk away from 14A unscathed. But Ow, on the other hand, has managed to create the absolutely most impossible class that has left many of my friends — myself included— feeling an unrepairable sense of doom, self-doubt, and lack of trust. If you don't feel like reading everything I have to say, remember this one thing: Ow DOWNCURVED the entire class. That pretty much sums it up. After a quarter of sleepless nights, studying until my nails bleed, and ultimately trying to absorb every single detail, I still managed to find myself constantly surprised and disappointed by the truly unexplainably impossible nature of this class. In the end, I did get a B+, which honestly isn't that bad. But when you take a step back to realize the sheer amount of effort to reach this point, it suddenly becomes clear that this B+ symbolizes Ow's result for a student who has pushed themselves to their very limit. I will give him credit that in the very first lecture he gently "warned" us, but the warning honestly should have been a red blaring siren because everything immediately went downhill. Each exam had an entirely different format from each other, none of which aligned with the practice exams. He did preface that they might not necessarily align, but the reality is that he truly does not create resources for us to succeed in the slightest. The ONLY people I know who even captured an A in this class were students who were scraping to ignite their chemistry knowledge from high school. Even a friend of mine who scored high As on both midterms found themselves unable to get an A in the class. I went to office hours — which made me feel somehow emotionally penalized for showing up. He made me feel like it was my fault, as an individual, for asking for help. He invites questions to be asked but then makes you feel stupid for asking them in the first place. And the cherry on top, he offered two opportunities for 0.2% extra credit. Gee thanks. It almost felt like a slap in the face because that extra credit essentially makes no difference, and any difference it does make was ENTIRELY ELIMINATED by the class down the curve. So, if you spend the quarter attempting to calculate your grade — throw that method out the window. Your grades will ultimately be unknown to you, and unknown until he has decided how he wants curve — which was DOWN — AND ALREADY IMPUTED INTO MYUCLA. Once your fate is sealed, there is simply nothing you can do. That being said, success in Ow's class entirely relies on your capacity to either 1. remember everything from high school or 2. miraculously become Ow and read his mind. If neither of those things pertain to you, then you simply do not stand the slightest of chances. For some of you, taking Ow may be your only choice, in which case, I am very sorry. Say farewell to your 4.0 because after this class it will not be coming back. However, I can provide a slight bit of advice that can hopefully prepare you for your fate to come: - The exams will present questions that you may have never seen before, so when you study, think BEYOND the content. You need to learn the context of chemistry outside of the things covered in class in order to succeed. - mentally prepare yourself and lower your expectations. I came into this class filled with ambition, but I quickly found myself being disappointed time and time again. - grades are not everything.... one quarter of chemistry certainly will not define the trajectory of your life. So try to remind yourself that you are so much stronger than 14A with Ow. To those of you who have made it to the end of this review, I applaud your commitment to success. It is clear that you want to do well and that you are willing to take extra time to make that difference in your academics. I wish you all the best in your enrollment times and good grade fortune in the years to come.
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Most Helpful Review
Spring 2024 - Professor Randa Reslan is the best choice for taking 14A with. Her lecture was thrice a week MWF, but attendance isn't mandatory and I'd honestly recommend just rewatching the lectures back at 2x speed. We had "weekly" problem sets on Achieve that kept getting extended that were anywhere from 8-20+ problems that were based on the textbook and lectures. The grading scheme is as follows. 10% Homework 5% discussion section worksheets (you just show up for attendance) 35% midterm exam 50% final exam There was a bonus LA survey that added 0.5% to your final grade. For the exams, I would recommend going back through the problem sets and making sure that you understand each problem and how to get the correct solution. She records decently long review sessions (two 2 hour review sessions for the midterm and four 2 hour review sessions for the final) and also uploads practice exams that are similar to the actual tests. She is a very accommodating and nice professor (during the midterm, because of the unrest going on on campus, she decided to curve the midterm). Reslan added 6 bonus points on the final (126/120). She truly cares about her students and is an amazing professor, and I would never have taken 14A with anyone else.
Spring 2024 - Professor Randa Reslan is the best choice for taking 14A with. Her lecture was thrice a week MWF, but attendance isn't mandatory and I'd honestly recommend just rewatching the lectures back at 2x speed. We had "weekly" problem sets on Achieve that kept getting extended that were anywhere from 8-20+ problems that were based on the textbook and lectures. The grading scheme is as follows. 10% Homework 5% discussion section worksheets (you just show up for attendance) 35% midterm exam 50% final exam There was a bonus LA survey that added 0.5% to your final grade. For the exams, I would recommend going back through the problem sets and making sure that you understand each problem and how to get the correct solution. She records decently long review sessions (two 2 hour review sessions for the midterm and four 2 hour review sessions for the final) and also uploads practice exams that are similar to the actual tests. She is a very accommodating and nice professor (during the midterm, because of the unrest going on on campus, she decided to curve the midterm). Reslan added 6 bonus points on the final (126/120). She truly cares about her students and is an amazing professor, and I would never have taken 14A with anyone else.
Most Helpful Review
Spring 2020 - One only takes his class because it is a major requirement. If you come in with a prior foundation of chemistry, with work you can get an A in this class. However, the reason I write such a negative review for him is because he is a terrible professor. His lectures are extremely disorganized, and incredibly hard to follow. He is terrible at communicating. He tells you in his syllabus not to send him emails and to ask questions on the discussion forum. But, here is the thing he doesn't respond to them. Even when you ask him about essential things like the timing of the exam or a confusion with gradescope, he replies so rudely. His syllabus and lectures is unclear and full of typos. He simply doesn't care about you. He is very uppish and highly unprofessional. Serious action needs to be taken against professors like him.
Spring 2020 - One only takes his class because it is a major requirement. If you come in with a prior foundation of chemistry, with work you can get an A in this class. However, the reason I write such a negative review for him is because he is a terrible professor. His lectures are extremely disorganized, and incredibly hard to follow. He is terrible at communicating. He tells you in his syllabus not to send him emails and to ask questions on the discussion forum. But, here is the thing he doesn't respond to them. Even when you ask him about essential things like the timing of the exam or a confusion with gradescope, he replies so rudely. His syllabus and lectures is unclear and full of typos. He simply doesn't care about you. He is very uppish and highly unprofessional. Serious action needs to be taken against professors like him.
Most Helpful Review
Fall 2022 - I did not like this class. I did like Toumari. I really struggled because this was my first quarter at UCLA and I had the classic "I don't need to study" mindset and ended up with a 47% on the second midterm. The grading scheme was fairly lenient so I ended up with an A-, but the midterm was definitely humbling. Lectures were typically not too bad to follow along with and they were recorded. Weekly quizes/homework online, but we were allowed multiple tries and lost minimal points if we had to retry questions, so it wasn't too bad. There were several times that he shuffled around the grading scheme in response to student complaints and he eventually made the HW worth more and the midterms worth less. (thank god) I took this for Toumari's first quarter teaching at UCLA, so I'd imagine future quarters have been/will be smoother. With that said, this class is what made me decide to no longer be premed lol.
Fall 2022 - I did not like this class. I did like Toumari. I really struggled because this was my first quarter at UCLA and I had the classic "I don't need to study" mindset and ended up with a 47% on the second midterm. The grading scheme was fairly lenient so I ended up with an A-, but the midterm was definitely humbling. Lectures were typically not too bad to follow along with and they were recorded. Weekly quizes/homework online, but we were allowed multiple tries and lost minimal points if we had to retry questions, so it wasn't too bad. There were several times that he shuffled around the grading scheme in response to student complaints and he eventually made the HW worth more and the midterms worth less. (thank god) I took this for Toumari's first quarter teaching at UCLA, so I'd imagine future quarters have been/will be smoother. With that said, this class is what made me decide to no longer be premed lol.
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