It sucks... I came out with a B+
I studied really really hard for the midterm and final and still ended up with a B+...i mean da fuck?!

anyways food for thought...
just understand the concepts and make sure you know it REALLY well. Plus don't bomb the fucking thinkwell and his hw. Those are basically free points. *sigh*
but u'll find thinkwell to be EXTREMELY ANNOYING. FUCK THINKWELL.

Scerri is NOT scary. He has dry humor and even played his guitar in class for us. He's not intimidating unless u ask stupid questions or questions he's repeated the answer over and over again for.

Scerri is a pretty decent teacher. There's a ton of mixed reviews here because it is the first college chemistry or science class kids usually take and it doesn't or does go the way they want and the reviews end up very polar (no pun intended). Trying to be as objective as I can, I can simply say that he is fair and the material isn't very difficult (comparing it to later material you will have to master in the series). You have to review the material on your own because he only goes over the concepts and never actually does practice problems ever in class. If you learn well by going to lecture and listening to the concepts and explanations and you like to practice on your own, Scerri is for you. He is a pretty funny guy and decently organized. If you want a professor who goes over questions more than the concepts (similar to a math class) take Lavelle instead if he is teaching it. I had Lavelle for 14B and the teaching style is drastically different even though the material is somewhat similar. Scerri is not very hard, but you will for sure get a bad grade if you only review concepts without taking personal time to review practice problems on your own. Be warned. If you show up for the midterm and it's basically your first time doing those textbook style chemistry problems he asks on tests you are not going to do as well as you liked. Take him, show up to most lectures, and do practice problems on your own (lots of them) and honestly there should be absolutely no reason to not come out with at least a B+.

I hated the fact that the final had most of what he taught the week of. So you literally had the learn everything of that week within like 2 days and had to take the final at 8am on Sunday. It sucked. Chemistry itself is a very difficult topic. He does expect you to take this class as "review". Many times he said "and as you remember from high school chemistry". I hated that because not all of us took chemistry in high school, we took physics. But any who, if you want to pass this class prepare for no sleep, a LOT of dedication from your part, and absolutely no slacking off. It is a very difficult course. Good luck.

He teaches VERY fast, and expects students to know concepts he hasn't taught.

The midterm wasn't too bad, but pay attention to details in the questions. Plus, he only gives 40 min, so you need to learn how to work/think quickly.

His office hours were like an extra lecture. But since it's like a class setting, it was difficult to access any one-on-one time. For example, if you don't understand the basics of a topic, he can make you feel sorta incompetent in class/OH, so you have to ask your TA or research it on your own. But I guess that's what college is all about.

Thinkwell isn't fun because he doesn't write the questions, so they don't really match up with what he lectures on.

Overall, I'm not too crazy about him. If we taught at a slower pace he'd be great.

I absolutely loved Scerri. He's really funny and sarcastic, which makes the lectures interesting. He explains concepts really well, which is good because that's basically all he ever tests on. It's mandatory to get the course readers, as all the material you know is condensed into them. A textbook wasn't really necessary for this class, just know the course reader like the back of your hand. There were a few homework packets that consisted of questions from old midterms and finals, as well as three quizzes on thinkwell.com. The final wasn't too bad either, just like a longer version of the midterm. My TA was extremely helpful as well, if you can try to get Arunima definitely do so. She knows the material really well and knows what Scerri will test on. I was a little bit disappointed by the B that I received in the class, but I'll attribute it to small & stupid mistakes made on the exams and homework. I definitely recommend taking a class with Scerri if you have the chance.

If you're going into medicine, Scerri is a much better teacher than Lavelle in my opinion.

My reasoning: Scerri goes in-depth into concepts while Lavelle only focuses on calculations. Due to this, if you take Scerri, you will be more prepared for the MCATs down the road. I don't know why Lavelle students complain about Scerri, it's not like he's easier than him.

Also, for grading, the midterm was really easy, the final was also easy, if you knew the concepts, and the homework + thinkwell quizzes acted as boosters.

Overall, I enjoyed Scerri. Just don't ask stupid questions and he won't mock you.

I got an A in the class.

I never went to discussion because my TA was a complete idiot who frequently answered students' questions with a clueless look on her face, but many of my friends had helpful TAs.

People complain about him looking down on his students, but honestly, if you ask a stupid question, you're asking for it. I kid you not when I say some girl asked, "Will we be expected to multiply that out on the exam?"

You don't need to memorize each page in the course reader, but know the concepts. And don't take Thinkwell/the graded homework problems lightly. Easy grade boosters right there.

Overall, I wish he was teaching Chem 14B next quarter because he's much easier than Lavelle for the student who prefers concepts over calculations. Your grade is made up of Thinkwell, a few homework problems, the midterm, and the final.

The midterm was ridiculously easy. The final was pulled out of his ass and was quite the curveball in comparison to the midterm, but fair.

Don't be scared of Scerri.

Took 14A and 14B.

If you come to all of the lectures (or at least watch them podcasted online) and literally memorize the coursereader, you should be fine. Before each midterm/final, try to do every single problem in the back of the coursereader, many of his exams have almost identical problems. But, make sure to look over every detail, he might ask for the most random diagram on an exam and if you didn't memorize the coursereader, tough luck.

His TA's are very knowledgeable and very helpful; sometimes they present material and teach slightly different than him, but it helps for a better understanding. They're also always really open to questions and do helpful review sessions. Make sure not to get behind on lectures/podcasts--they really are the core of the class.

Thinkwell quizzes may get annoying because sometimes the material on the quizzes varies a lot from the material learning in class. But, you do have several attempts on the quizzes and only your best score is submitted into your grade.

Overall, happy I took this course. AP Chemistry will DEFINITELY help you succeed. Definitely don't buy the book, you will not use it at all. Make sure to know that coursereader inside and out, and you should have a fairly good grade.

I had him for Chem 14A and 14B.

Overall, he is a good professor. Although he can be condescending towards his students, he definitely does know his material. I thought he explains most of the concepts pretty clearly. However, I felt that he explains the material better in 14A than in 14B. Then again, 14A's material is more straightforward than 14B.

As everyone has been constantly repeating here, he teaches and tests off his coursereader for both classes. The textbook is not really needed, but useful when you don't understand his explanations and when you need extra practice problems. He does provide a good amount of past text questions in the back of the coursereaders, so I highly recommend to do all of them before the midterm and final. He does recycle past questions or ask similar questions. Also, most of his TA's have TA'ed for him before, so they provide good practice problems during discussion.

What many people don't know first coming into this class is that the homework and online Thinkwell quizzes he assigns are a BIG part of your grade. So basically, acing all the assignments and quizzes can be a really good grade booster. I also recommend watching the videos on the Thinkwell site because they provide different approaches to understanding the material. They were a good secondary source if I didn't understand how Scerri explained some concepts.

Scerri as a professor is all right. As I said above, he can be mean and condescending to his students, especially when he thinks you asked a "stupid" question. Some people are bothered by this, but I don't think it's unbearable. However, he does have concern for student learning since he hosts review sessions before the midterm and final. They can be pretty helpful since he goes over all the main concepts and tells you what and what not to study.

In the end, I would recommend Scerri for 14A and 14B. The workload was definitely do-able. If you memorize the coursereader and do the practice problems in the back for 30 min- 1 hour a day, you should be in good shape for the tests. There is a curve in the class, so it does help. However, the curve can be high since people do well on the tests in general.

(It's pronounced "sherry" not "scary." Even though he is "scary.")

I was a mere freshmen coming in from a crappy public high school with little experience in Chemistry. I did not take AP Chemistry; I only took Chemistry Honors (and didn't learn anything at all). The thing that scared me the most was that we basically went over all I learned in Chem Honors in about a week and immediately went into new material that I've never seen before.

MATERIALS:

Chemistry textbook: YOU DON'T NEED IT. Scerri tells you explicitly that things change and things get outdated so he doesn't like to rely on the textbook. You can read it if you'd like, but I found that reading it only confused me even more.

Course Reader: This is your chemistry bible. Memorize it. Live it. Love it. Sleep with it. Make babies with it. This is your ticket to a good grade.

The class is self explanatory:

30% of your grade is comprised of two written homework assignments (which are his past midterms... you can sometimes Google his solutions that he put up and forgot to delete) and Thinkwell quizzes. Thinkwell is a program that you are required to pay $12 to register for and there are 3-4 online quizzes related to the topics of discussion. THIS IS THE EASIEST THING TO BANK POINTS ON. DO NOT BLOW THESE OFF.

Another 30% of your grade is the midterm. There's only one; which can be a good thing or a bad thing depending on if you do well. My TA told us that usually the curve is low so an A is still achievable even if you do poorly on this, but don't take that as an excuse to slack off.

40% of your grade consists of the final. Someone once told me that these examinations do not usually deviate from his old versions of tests (that are provided in the back of the course readers) but in my year they were totally different. So be prepared for anything.

His class is... average. It's chemistry. It's bound to be difficult. But it's doable. He's ambiguous, and a bit of a douchebag sometimes. He'd ask questions to see if anyone might know the answer, and some brave soul would attempt to answer it only to be shot down by his cutty sarcasm. Don't be a fool. Just be a spectator in his path of destruction and you'll be saved... from embarrassment at least.

How did I do? I managed an A+. Not because I'm smart. Trust me. I'm a bit of a dumbass. I did well because I immersed myself in the material. I used every single resource (that I knew of at the time) provided on campus. I went to all of my discussions. I took advantage of Covel tutoring (which unfortunately might be canceled due to budget cuts). I went to the test bank and printed out his old tests and meticulously went through every question to understand them. Instead of finding the answer, UNDERSTAND the concepts behind finding the answers.

Your golden ticket: Thinkwell. Everyone hates the Thinkwell quizzes, BUT a hidden gem in this program are the LECTURES. THINKWELL LECTURES HELP OH SO MUCH. They are videos of professors elaborating on concepts that we go over in lecture, but they're much more concise, clear, understandable, and they go at a slower pace. Watch all the Thinkwell lectures. SOME OF THE THINKWELL QUIZ ANSWERS ARE EMBEDDED IN THE LECTURES THEMSELVEs. You're paying $12 to use Thinkwell, why not take advantage of the lectures as opposed to just taking the quizzes?

What I'm trying to say is, you're not going to understand Chemistry by cramming all the material 2 days before the final. You can probably do that with other classes like calculus, but certainly not Chemistry. Take a second and THINK about what you learned after every lecture. Attend discussions. Do LITTLE things that spread over the entire course of the quarter quarter and eventually that knowledge will build up to a higher magnitude of knowledge (and confidence) that will help you to do well. I progressively absorbed the material and ended up doing better than people who treat lectures as their only 3 hours in the week to think about Chemistry.

Do I suggest him as a professor? Not really... Haha. But if I had to choose between Lavelle and Scerri, I would choose Scerri.

A lot of my intense (and very smart!) pre-med friends took Chem 14A with Lavelle in the fall and did poorly because he makes it into a weedout class. I'm a quarter behind all these friends and took Chem 14A with Scerri, and apparently he's a hell of a lot easier than Lavelle. I'm not sure what that means in terms of performance on the MCATs though. So we'll see. It's your call.