Professor Scerri is a good professor. He's thoughtful, knowledgeable, and caring. The class is super interesting, but also pretty tough, so make sure to study hard every week and stay on top of the assignments. The curve is really good. You can learn a lot from this class and if you stay more on top of it than I did you will likely get an A.

I honestly don't know how I ended up with an A, the only reason that happened is because of the curve. For the midterm an 80% was an A-. Scerri is definitely confusing sometimes. His lectures are fairly confusing but my TA was amazing and definitely made up for that by clarifying things and teaching things that Scerri didn't really teach.
The sapling quizzes were mostly useless, it was a lot of information that we never learned and that we didn't need for the exams. You have infinite tries on the quizzes and each question so it is pretty easy to get 100% on all of them, but that really don't help anyone since the class is graded on a curve. There was not enough time for the midterm and almost no one finished so he gave us a little bit more time on the final. Both the midterm and the final are on Sunday which is not great, but it was nice to get the final out of the way before final's week even started.
Grade Calculation:
30% online quizzes from Sapling
30% midterm
40% final

This class was not good but not awful. The workload is super light (one midterm, one final, and about 10 online homeworks due at the end of the quarter) but it is definitely difficult to learn.

Scerri's lectures are kind of hard to follow (he uses pdfs instead of powerpoints and they are just kind of wack) but if you ask questions during lecture it is not too hard to figure things out. Attendance is not required and all lectures are recorded. Unforgtuanly, the discussion is not recorded (but attendance is still not required). I would HIGHLY recommend going to discussion though, as that was pretty much how I learned everything for the class. Most of the TAs have a PowerPoint or notes that they go through during discussion and it is so so helpful!

The exams are pretty tough and the practice tests are not super helpful. The exams are timed (not 24 hr) and open everything (just no Chegg lol). It also does not help that the class is curved (curved, not scaled-- i.e. only a certain number of students can get an A) so you are competing with your peers.

I knew most of this material coming in, so it wasn't too bad for me, but my peers definitely struggled. Scerri is a cool dude and low-key entertaining, but he definitely needs to work on the structure of the course.

OKAY...
- Chem just sucks in general and this class was miserable but I think that's just how the chem series is as UCLA with any professor
- I hated every minute of this class and my TA (Ziyang) was literally no help at all
- these reviews are a lot of work lmao and I don't feel like doing it but overall I guess I would recommend (I am sticking with him for 14B) but be prepared to have to learn a lot outside of class
-sapling was useless

This was probably the worst experience I had with a professor thus far. I felt he was very unclear in class, often condescending of those who asked reasonable questions, and the exams were very tough. I thought I understood the material until the exams. The 'homework' assignments were all in exam/test format, and they were all due at the same time, which I did not like at all. His exams were far too many problems for the allotted time. I would not recommend this professor at all.

do not do it

Personally, chemistry is hard for me and I had little background on this subject. However, Professor Scerri gives out practice tests so you have a general idea of what he will test you on, which helps with studying. The homework was only 4 thinkwell quizzes, not difficult. He focuses on conceptual questions more than problem-solving questions. This quarter was online, so the layout of the class was a little different, but with studying, attending discussions, and going over lectures, you should be fine!

So I am truly very incompetent when it comes to chemistry, and I probably only got an A- in this class because of remote learning accommodations. That said, your grade in this class is based on 3 things: 30% Thinkwell online quiz scores (averaged), 30% midterm score, and 40% final exam score. This was pretty daunting because it's easy to get points taken off of the midterm for small things. However, this quarter's midterm was fairly simple and straightforward, not many tricky questions on vague wording. The Thinkwell category is easy to get 100% in. I'm pretty sure most of the answers are on a quizlet somewhere if you need to check your answers. You get three tries on each quiz with no time limit, so it shouldn't be difficult to do well. Due to remote learning, our final was made optional, and thank goodness for that because I was struggling with the course material after the midterm so I didn't take the final and I am content with my grade.

As a professor, Scerri is rather sporadic and bounces from topic to topic. He does try and contain his excitement for chemistry, but when he gets deep into a wormhole of information, it doesn't end for a while until most of the class is stunned into silence and doesn't even know what questions to ask. You will have to read up on the topics and study a little bit before class to match the information to what is being taught in class, so that you know what questions to ask or the info is reinforced properly.

Discussions are not mandatory to attend, but my TA Gokberk had very elpful mock quizzes each week that prepared us for exams. I always referenced these practice problems when studying, so you should definitely go to discussion!

Topics in this class include: periodic table history, stoichiometry, quantum theory, orbitals, energy/frequency/wavelength, hybridization, isomerism, bonding and antibonding orbitals with sigma and pi bonds, periodic table trends like atomic radii/electronegativity/ionization energy, transition metal properties, a very brief and *basic* introduction to acids and bases, electron configurations, aufbau/hund/pauli principles, atomic theory, the physical structure of molecules like angles and shapes, and dipoles/polarity. That list isn't in order, and it certainly might not be everything, but that's just what I remember.

Basically, this class is a little tough, but if you take a lot of time to study, watch Khan Academy and other Youtube tutorials, you should be okay. Scerri isn't the perfect professor, but honestly he knows his stuff and if you know what to ask, you'll learn more! Good luck! You got this. :)

I feel the organization of this class is fairly well. The material got harder as the course goes on. The exams resemble the previous ones. I highly recommend the optional textbook and videos on the thinkwell. My discussion TA helps me a lot as well. The class can be tricky sometimes but it is not impossible and extreme. The professor helped most of my questions and he is really nice.

For someone who hasn't taken AP chemistry, Chem 14A with Scerri was honestly not as bad as I would've thought. Although I earned a B- in this class, that was due to not good enough study habits on my part. Despite this, Scerri provides practice midterm tests that prepare you well enough for the actual midterm. As for the final exam, he provides you practice final exams that prepare you well enough for the actual exam as well. Although, the final exam felt a bit tougher than the practice finals, with enough studying, I'm sure you will ace it. Make sure to pay attention to ALL details in the slides, as well as make sure you go to all lectures because some things he says without putting in the slides. Overall, as someone who did not have a great background in chemistry it is possible to earn a good grade in this course if you put in the effort. Make sure to ask your TA's any types of confusing questions you may have, utilize thinkwell videos, and overall utilize all resources to help you pass this course. I definitely enjoyed Scerri and would recommend anyone take him if they want a good chemistry professor!