What a baller. This guy is a hilarious, enjoyable guy to listen to, much thanks to his awesome British accent. He's a great teacher that's always willing to answer questions after class, but after his lectures there's not a lot left to be explained. The class itself wasn't too difficult, EVERYTHING we need to know is in the course reader (although it kinda long), so just learn every concept in it and you should be fine!

I've taken chem 14A with both Scerri and Lavelle and I think Lavelle's a more efficient(but def. much harder) professor. I'd say if you were a science major, you'd be better off NOT taking Scerri as Scerri is kind of off-the wall random in terms of some questions he asks on midterms, and he spends hours elaborating on a simple concept. Scerri's exams are relatively easy though (mostly conceptual) but they're hard if you don't know what to expect and are unfamilar with his way of testing.
His reader is what I really have a problem with. It's sloppy (he handwrote the whole thing), has a buncha random blank pages to fill up space, and it's pretty messy (the diagrams that he includes in it are great though).
One thing I loved was his thinkwell. It was very organized, straight to the point, and IDENTICAL to his lectures in class so if you miss class you can just watch the thinkwell videos which is what I did 60% of the time. Overall, he's not bad (easier than Lavelle for sure) but he's not as organized and doesn't prepare you as well as Lavelle does. Lavelle's reader is a godsend..

2 words: FUCK THINKWELL.

Professor Scerri was alright. He was interesting in class, but his midterm and final were very very hard. You don't even need the book or workbook, you only need the course reader and attached pink book. He also posts all of his lectures online, which was really really helpful. Overall, I have heard that he is better than Lavelle so I guess I would recommend him based solely on that.

He is a great lecturer and the course reader saves you a lot of time. BUY IT and KNOW IT TOP TO BOTTOM. Very arrogant, not welcoming before and after class, and lacks transparency when it comes to grades.

i used to attend this guys lecture and sit far in the back of the lecture hall and never had the chance to really talk to him. one day i lost my glasses and i couldn't see shit, so i had to sit in the front of the class to read the notes.

scerri comes off as a pretty intimidating & arrogant guy in lecture, but being in earshot range of the dude and having the ability to have a decent conversation with him took the edge off of him imo. knowing most of the material beforehand (having taken and 5'd the ap chem test) is also a plus; there were a couple of times he thought my answer/conclusion/idea was wrong, and guess what, turns out i was right. straight up argued with the guy after lecture one afternoon over his hatred of LeChatlier's Principle. i've come to the conclusion that he is fairly stubborn in his beliefs; when he makes an opinion of something, he stands firm.

as for tips on the class; don't buy the book, it's a waste of $200 and i'm still trying to get my money back from mine from last quarter (haven't even opened it). do however, get the course reader. you don't necessarily have to bring it to lecture every time (i didn't), but DO take down notes of what he is lecturing about during class (i used a spiral notebook)

i went to discussion the first couple of times, then quickly realized that the "discussion" is typical of a south campus class - almost no discussion, almost all going over problems. basically, a gigantic waste of time. don't worry about skipping it.

for the midterm/final, DO do the problems in the test booklet that the TAs recommend you to do. for the midterm/final i pretty much locked myself in the room the night before and did every single problem of the previous mts/finals included in the orange booklet that had something in it scerri covered in lecture. don't worry if you dont understand some of the problems; if it doesn't look familiar, more than likely it won't be on the exam.

overall, a pretty douchey, arrogant, but intelligent & respectable guy. kinda fun to shoot the shit with too.

Okay, honestly, I didn't think he was that bad. His course reader will take a huge bite out of your wallet, but it was helpful, and it did have most things covered on his exams in it.
Scerri himself was a good lecturer and real amusing, so you'll have a decent time unless you're the guy he's making fun of for sleeping in class. Beware though, his midterm is A LOT easier than his final, so even if you do well on the midterm, don't assume you'll be fine in the class.
Homework is okay, but Thinkwell is a pain in the behind. They give crazy tests that are sometimes include more than what Scerri's teaching, so if most people think it's too hard, go tell Scerri, and he'll get the points back for you.

Scerri is great to listen to during lectures because he often makes very witty and funny remarks, although if you're the one that they are directed towards, then you'll probably be embarrassed while the rest of the class has a good laugh. If you attend every lecture and pay attention to what he says, you'll probably do well on the midterm and final, half of which are straight math problems and the other half of which is conceptual material that you'll find in the course reader and in lectures. That being said, Scerri is out to get your money. He charges 70 something dollars for a course reader and a workbook (although the workbook is rather helpful for studying) and 30 something for an online quizzing program that is mandatory because it determines your grade. People say you shouldn't buy the textbook but I got mine online for like 10 bucks and if you can find it cheap (3rd or 4th ed), it'll be a great supplement to your conceptual understanding of the material. Overall, I recommend Scerri. You'll do fine as long as you don't slack off from reviewing what's in the reader.

let me first start off by saying that i am a student athlete here at ucla. my opinion about him is probably not held to the bar of the students that got here with their amazing smarts, but scerri is probably one of my favorite teachers i have had at ucla. although i got a c in this class, i signed up to take the 14b with him because it was easy for me to grasp the materials.. i know all you ridiculously smart people must think that if i got a c i obviously didnt get anything he was teaching me. my advice: dont wait until the last second to start studying for the final, do the thinkwell quizzes BEFORE they are do (dumb athlete mistake, i know), read the reader and understand the concepts. i felt like i could slack off and still be able to make it out with at least a B in the class, i was sadly mistaken and ended up with the first and ONLY c i have ever received in my lifetime. i cant wait to take 14b and prove myself worthy of his time. oh, GO TO OFFICE HOURS. he really isnt that intimidating if you give him coffee!

This is the BEST professor ever and might I say has a really good talent in playing the guitar and he's pretty handsome. People say he's rude but really he's not, he just wants people to listen to him when he's lecturing and talking when he's speaking is pretty rude!! I loved his awesome and fun demos and they took time away from class so it was a nice thing to do. All you have to do to get an A in his class is to really know his reader and take some notes in it while he's lecturing, so ya it would help if some people weren't goofing around and chating. If you don't understand his reader then I suggest you go through the corresponding chapters in the book and make notes. That's another way that I learned. The online quizzes are kind of hard but it boosts up your grade. Overall, he's a really good teacher, nice and generous for curving the grades!!