Beren is a very nice guy and a pretty good professor. Personally, I found his test grading schemes a little confusing and he doesn't give too much partial credit on longer problems, so definitely make sure you write out your steps clearly so the grader can determine if it is a math error or a conceptual error, as conceptual errors will cost you a lot more points. The HW is fair and not too difficult, but the tests are definitely harder than the HW. TA sessions were not mandatory but personally I thought the worksheets were really useful, and a lot of the information from those worksheets ended up on the final. As mentioned in other reviews, pretty generous curve, but don't expect an A if you don't work for it.

Beren is a new teacher and is a very helpful and nice guy you can ask him any questions and he cares about his students, however because he is a new teacher and makes some mistakes on the test and homework problems which can be annoying.

First off the HW solutions he post sometimes have errors in them and the TAs seem to not understand whats going on so can't trust there answers. In addition he is not good a making test. The first midterm was too easy and the second he made one problem very hard but because only 3 problems were on the test it screwed people over who didn't get the hard one. Make sure you get regrades cause he rounds his answers and if you round deferentially or not at all points will be deducted but on regrades he gives them back.

Keys to do well on the test is to assume the test will be harder than the homework (he says it will be the other way around it is not). Do some practice problems in the textbook for extra help after finishing homework and discussion problems and for test almost all problems are computational. Make sure you study thermo a lot for second midterm and should do ok nothing to bad on final if you redo all HW and discussion problems before hand

The only annoying part of class is the test don't reflect chem knowledge so seems as if some smart people get low grades and dumb people high grades at random which will be annoying if you don't score well

Professor Beren was great! Since he is a bit new, his lectures can be a bit disorganized and repetitive and he sometimes makes mistakes. However, he definitely cares about his students. This man took the time to set up appointments with his students that were in danger of failing the class. He also provided a lot of applications of the material we learned (including a tour of the CNSI building!).

In terms of tests, the midterms were pretty fair, the second one being a bit harder. The final was pretty easy, as Beren makes it pretty clear what material is important to know. Overall, I’ve heard some rough things about 20B, but taking it with Beren made it all the more better. Would recommend!

Beren is a fantastic professor and I would definitely recommend him for any chem class. His lectures can be a bit dry, but I don't think that's his fault. He posts his "slides" (really a pdf of lecture notes) and our class was BruinCasted, so if you're disciplined enough to self-study, you can miss a few classes and be fine. He had office hours four days a week and always held review sessions before exams. He clearly wants students to succeed and is very approachable.

The homework problem sets were manageable, always less than ten problems and though some were harder than others, they were all graded on completion so it wasn't stressful if you couldn't figure something out. His exams were pretty much as expected, drawing from the homeworks and discussion section questions, but as others have said the second midterm was harder and you needed to know how to apply the equations in situations that we hadn't seen in previously given sets (unlike the first midterm, which fooled us into a false sense of security). No cheat sheets, but all equations and constants are provided.

You don't need the textbook to succeed in this class, but an AP Chemistry background is very useful because the topics are almost the same. Beren didn't really teach or test on the more complicated topics included in 20B (like solubility, Carnot cycle), which my friends with other profs had. Overall, a very reasonable class, and he definitely tries his hardest to provide us with all the resources we need.

Professor Beren is great! Although his lectures can be pretty mundane sometimes, he is very clear and straightforward about what it is that he would like you to know. You will never go into an exam wondering what could possibly be on it. The workload is fairly light, just a problem set due each week. He is super helpful in office hours and holds multiple each week so as to make sure that everyone has a chance of coming. His exams were all pretty fair- although the second midterm was pretty rough, the average was not too horrendous and he does curve the class up. Overall, he is just a super friendly professor and always looking in the best interests of his students.

Beren is a nice guy and generous with grading (curves to a B+), but his lectures are a little disorganized. Take his class if you want to learn the material and earn a decent grade, but are ok with having a new professor who has not totally figured out how he wants to teach the class.

The tests are relatively straightforward and fair. His first midterm and final both had a high median, while the second midterm was significantly harder (tricky questions and a time crunch). Since this is a curved class, this test basically decides your grade so make sure you're prepared for it.

I recommend using OWL (if you have it) or the textbook to do practice problems. If you didn't take AP Chem, you may need to work harder than other students to be on equal standing.

Very good at teaching thermodynamics and it’s applications. Very clear instructions.
Homework is mandatory but very manageable. Office hours are very useful for homework help.
The book is theoretically required, but not needed. It is helpful for some people.
Tests are fair, and manageable.