Honestly, I thought Chem 30C with Merlic was easier than Chem 30B with Merlic. This class feels like it picks up exactly where Chem 30B left off in the textbook; you have more reactions to memorize, more synthesis problems to solve, and basically more tools to work with in your toolbelt. The trick to doing well is to make sure you study for the quizzes, do all the worksheets that Merlic uploads to CCLE, and do as many past practice midterms you can find. The past midterms are literally the same exact format as the actual midterms, just the type of problems change. Keep in mind that the worksheets are typically harder than the midterm problems!

Rob is an excellent TA (who will soon be known as Dr. Rob); I would suggest for everyone to attend every single one of his office hours, and to try to get into his discussion. Honestly, Rob teaches wayyyyy better than Merlic and should really be the professor for Chem 30C.

Everything is pretty straightforward until the last 2 weeks, in which Merlic covers carbohydrates and lipids. It's so different from everything that we've been introduced in organic chemistry that it may take some time to wrap your head around. I would suggest really studying hard the powerpoints that cover those topics.

All in all, I enjoyed my class this quarter with Merlic. Chocolate-covered sugar bombs for life!!!!

Merlic is a good professor but he goes through the reactions too fast, he includes unnecessary information and has a huge ego. That being said his exams are very and this is a really enjoyable class. Just review your lecture notes, get your hands on previous exams (this helps so much), and most importantly do all the problem sets. It is a lot of reactions and very synthesis heavy but everything is fair and makes sense. Merlic is a good grader and he understands that hard work deserves good grades. Just make sure you keep up with everything and go to office hours if what he says doesn't make sense. My TA's Rob the God (now professor Tobolowsky because he was such a great TA) and Brett Cory made the class slide by. Take 30C with merlic if you can.

I took both 30B and 30C with Merlic. I thought 30C was a lot easier than 30B since 30B had a lot of spectroscopy and NMR while 30C is purely reactions and synthesis. I would recommend Merlic to anyone taking the 20/30 chem series because I sincerely Merlic is the easiest organic chemistry teacher you can have. By this I mean that he is very generous in grading. Synthesis is usually the hardest part of the exams, but actually his TAs were very generous and people would get points for just basically trying to do SOMETHING (don't leave an exam question blank). Merlic also doesn't care about the solvents in each reaction; he awards full credit for writing the most important reagents needed to accomplish the reaction. Merlic's grading policy is also very fair. I got a 93% on the first midterm (average was like a 78%) but I thought I ruined my chances for an A after getting an 80% on the second midterm (this was below the average for this exam lol rip). But still got an A in the end so I must've done pretty well on the final. Point is, DON'T GIVE UP! It's not over until it's over. :) Good luck!!!

I am sure that Professor Merlic wants his students to do well.
However, I think he can be more understanding of students' extenuating circumstances and hardships. Not all students do bad in tests because they were slacking off. For me, I am not a strong test taker despite that I love chemistry and I am certainly not a slacker. I felt that he certainly liked students who were excelling in class more than those who were trying to improve, and as a result, I felt very intimidated by him. Professors should not treat students differently because of their standings in the class.

Merlic, as per usual, was a great professor. If you had him for 30B you know exactly what to expect. Averages for the midterms are still in the 60s. Overall I think 30C is on the easier side. Definitely easier than 30B. The one complaint I have with the course is that the last two chapters on Lipids and Carbohydrates seem rushed and kind of forced.

Merlic gives two midterms, six quizzes in discussion, five BACON assignments, and a final. The midterms were not difficult although our average was pretty low for the first one because nobody bothered to study polymers even though Merlic told us it was fair game. Second midterm wasn't hard and the final, IMO, was a cake walk. The quizzes are the only things that bothered me because they are made by the TAs and can vary wildly depending on who you get. My TA gave difficult quizzes while other TAs gave quizzes that were ridiculously easy. Whether or not they curved the quiz grades is unknown but I don't think I could have gotten an A if they had not curved the scores.

Definitely recommend taking Merlic for any organic chemistry class. Chocolate covered sugar bombs 4 lyfe

Everything was all Honky Dory :)

I don't get the new ratings scale, but for me, Merlic was definitely a 10 in everything except difficulty. He's the best chemistry professor I've had. Clear, concise, and doesn't need a textbook to lecture on the concepts. All you need are his lecture notes and you will be fine for the midterms and the final. Don't worry about writing reagents the way the book does it; just do it the Merlic way. The book problems are good practice, but the most important part comes from Merlic's own problems. Do these several times before the midterms and final and you should be set. 30C isn't hard at all; the first midterm was challenging but the second midterm and the final were pieces of cake. He even put quite a bit of stuff from old midterms on the final. Merlic's beard, what more can you ask for? You will learn a lot but also enjoy the lectures and not have a terrible time learning the material. 30C is in my opinion easier than 30A and 30B; it's more straightforward and is purely reactions-based. I did what was said above and got an A+ in the class.

FRICKEN AWESOME TEACHER!

Honsetly, this is the best professor you could ask for! He is always quick to answer questions and keeps the lectures interesting with his jokes, great examples, and real life chemistry problems.

Though the rating of difficulty is low for Merlic, he actually is HARD if you DO NOT try. If you do try and study his notes and do his practice midterms and finals, you should be alright.

Also his "do progressively better, get a better grade" is an awesome policy!

Try to take him at all costs!

chocolate covered sugar bombs for life!!!

Very good professor. Goes a little fast during lectures, but very straight forward and very entertaining. He gives real life examples during lecture and is very friendly and approachable. Highly recommended