Scerri's class is difficult but definitely not impossible. He tends to speed through important concepts and instead indulge in tangents that are unrelated to the exam . While his lectures and exams are primarily concept-based, you can get by with memorization rather than comprehension. You can also look over past exams and visit TA office hours to check if you have a firm handle on the material.

Dr. Scerri's lectures and slides are totally unorganized and incredibly difficult to follow. He curves on a bell curve, which means you can often be curved down. His exams cover history and conceptual ideas instead of actual chemistry problems, which is pretty frustrating. He is very unhelpful in preparing for exams, doesn't hold review sessions, and doesn't tell you what you need to know in advance.
Lectures are boring and confusing, and he doesn't explain topics well at all.
Take a different professor if you can.

This class was not taught well at all. Scerri likes to make exam questions about the history of chemistry, not the actual chemistry problems at all. You will have to study everything on your own. His review sessions are literally him teaching the class over again during week 10 and he explains it even worse than during the quarter.

Chem 14A with Scerri is easy if you've done your AP Chemistry right. It's not so easy, if you haven't. He's a very low maintenance professor -- barely gives homeworks or quizzes, and doesn't have compulsory lectures or discussions, but he gives very ad hoc exams, that might catch you off-guard if you haven't checked his past years' papers out. The past years' papers, in fact, are an accurate metric of the kind of questions he gives, since he barely ever changes the format or the material.
He doesn't explain very well, so the exams become really difficult for first timers.

If you've taken a chemistry class before, this class should be fairly easy and straightforward. Complete and review all of the past midterms and finals Prof. Scerri sends out, as many questions reappear on the current midterm and final.

Taking 14A with Scerri can be difficult. He does not give that much work (two graded homeworks, 3-4 online open book/person/professor quizzes) but his lectures can be hard to understand. He projects the course reader on screen (so I highly recommend taking notes before class) and often just uses it to branch into more information. He is very focused on concepts, but it's very easy to tackle what he will test you on. Focus on understanding and being able to copy graphs he provides, definitely focus on little things (ie: philosophy/history of chemistry), and, of course, the content. The midterm can shake you (just because he asks for such random information) but once you are able to figure out his thought process behind making exams, you can easily prepare for the final. The textbook can be 'bought' from the 3rd edition up, so it's easy to find online for free.

I was expecting to come into an introduction of chemistry, aside from what I had already learned in high school. However, that was not even enough for one week. The professor went through everything very quickly. He speaks as if though we should already know what he is referring to. He said buy a textbook but he never said what to read and honestly there was so much you can't just pin point a chapter. His lectures were boring and monotone. You could miss the lectures because you wouldn't really pick up on anything. If you fall behind day 1 because you don't understand the topic, there is no chance at recovering. I went to every single lecture and still didn't understand. The tests were hard and it covered historical parts of chemistry. Only take this class if you HAVE TO. And try to get another professor.

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This man is a stain. A stain on my otherwise decent transcript. Avoid him at all costs!!!! He is a LIFE RUINER. He will ruin your life.

I'm selling PDFs of The Chemical Principles, Official Studyguide, and Student Solutions Manual. Text me at **********.