Selling 14B course readers for $35 (includes PDF of Atkins's Chemical Principles)
Email me at *************

If you know your general chemistry well or took AP Chem or something like I did, you will not have to worry about the class except when you get to the OChem part. For Ochem, just understand how to name the compounds and how each mechanism works. Also know the concepts of the chair/boat conformers and chair flips. In regards to exams/grades, Scerri is SUPER predictable and provides a bunch of his past exams in the back of his course readers. He basically just puts together a test with questions from his past exams. He even told us to look at the past exams in the back of the course reader and hinted to us that he would recycle questions. If you look at all the past exams, you will also see the trend of him recycling certain questions, so pay attention to those. People who don't do well in the class are honestly probably lazy people who don't bother to look at the past exams at all. All you need to do is just do all the past exams and understand how to approach each problem and why you do it a certain way. This quarter for the final, the multiple choice questions on the final were almost the exact same as last year's final so lol god bless

If you want to ace the class, just don't be lazy and do as many as the past exams as you can. Scerri is super fair and lazy so he doesn't seem to make up new questions anymore.

To do well in this class, you must know the coursereader inside and out. Be sure to do all the problems in the back involving the topics he will test and do them in BOTH books. This really helped me out for the final and making sure you know the big concepts and how to apply them is really important. In the thermodynamics and kinetics section, try to do his practice midterms and redo them until you can do them without looking at the answers. In the ochem section, make sure you know your nomenclature and mechanisms. Scerri is fair and predictable. Best of luck!

I am a first year and I can say I hated this class. I learned nothing whatsoever. I attended all the lectures and it was as if I wasn't even there. I am currently studying for the final and I am learning not reviewing. This class changed my outlook on the subject of chemistry as a whole. Goodluck to anyone who takes it. This is my last chemistry class and I am over the moon about it. It's safe to say that I hate chemistry!!

Scerri preaches out of his course reader. Memorize the course reader, and you will do well. All of his exams are relatively similar, so I would recommend scavenging around to find them all.

I had Professor Scerri for both 14A and 14B, winter and spring quarter respectively. Between him and Lavelle, I'm glad I took him for both chemistry courses. He's smart and knows what he's talking about, but his teaching style can be confusing. His teachings are heavily concept-based, as opposed to Lavelle who seems to love the mathematical side of chemistry (or so I've heard from friends).
Also specific to this course is how the topics are covered. There's 5 weeks of thermodynamics, kinetics, and electrochemistry. After the midterm, it's 5 weeks of organic chemistry. I hear Lavelle focuses less time on organic chemistry, if that's meaningful to anyone.

Grade breakdown for Spring 2016:
Homework: 30%
Midterm: 30%
Final: 40%
(There was an alternate scheme where both homework and midterm went up to 35% and the final went down to 25%, but that was due to an unfortunate incident that occurred during Week 10, so I doubt this will happen again.)
As you can see, he weighs homework very heavily, which is nice. Thankfully, this buffed my grade. His homework is made up of both physical homework derived from questions from his course reader and ThinkWell, an online quiz system. Both are fairly easy.

All of Scerri's exams are derived from past midterms and finals, which can be found in the back of his course readers. I remember doing a problem in the back the night before the midterm, and the next day that same question was on the exam. It helps to do these problems! Also, his discussion sections were entirely optional. However, they do help with clarifying some of the course materials, The best TAs this quarter were Daniel Hatfield and Alexie Pogue--highly recommend enrolling in either of their discussion sections if they're offered!

Regarding the curve, I think it's generous. I got a midterm score of 51% (the average was 69%) and on the final I got a 55% (I have no idea what the average was) and still managed to pull a C. His curve was very generous, as you can see.

Overall, I'm glad I took Scerri. He was very fair and did not surprise his class with any topics he never covered during lecture on the exams. Go to office hours, treat the course readers like your chemistry bible, and watch the BruinCasts, even if you went to lecture!

Scerri is as fair as you can get for a class like 14B. His midterm was actually kind of easy, but his final was really tough. Nonetheless, he is a fair teacher. I had Lavelle for 14A and Scerri is much better than Lavelle. I also found Scerri to be pretty funny. He can seem somewhat rude at times, but I think he is just trying to do his job efficiently. His office hours are decently helpful. To do well in this course, know the course reader very well and be able to do problems and give definitions without any help from class resources or other people. I am really glad I took 14B with him. I worked less than I did in 14A and got a better grade. I still worked a lot and this class will take effort, but it is manageable and fair.

I had Scerri for 14A and in comparison I didn't like the way he taught 14B. It still is homework/thinkwell, midterm and final. The midterm and finals are still very similar to the practice test in the back of the course reader. It might have been for my quarter but he rushed through a course reader and a half before the midterm and then after the midterm he had like two things to go over so he slowed it down so much that we literally spent like 2 weeks on functional groups. 14B first half especially thermodynamics is super heavy on equations and not all of them will be on the formula sheet. Although he did go over some problems in class, I would suggest to study the questions on the practice test and reviewing those. Nomenclature for organic chemistry is pretty easy although strains get kinda murky (he literally made us watch youtube videos in class to explain it). This class is definitely more trickier than 14A but if you work hard enough and seek outside help, you can get a good grade.

Selling the textbook and solution manual for $70.
**********

How to do well in Scerri's 14B:
-Go to lecture. It's better than the bruincast.
-Do the homework diligently.
-If you need help, ask for it. He hangs out for 10-15 minutes after lecture and has two office hours a week.
-Study past exams; there are several in the back of the course reader. He recycles a lot of past questions.

Really, one needs only to put in the work to earn a good mark in this class. Scerri is very clear about what you need to know (everything in the course reader!), and he explains the concepts well in lecture. If, like me, you want a more in-depth understanding of the course material, I highly recommend reading the textbook. It flows fairly well, as far as textbooks go. Also, it helps to know the material before lecture, so you can make connections during class.

In terms of personality, I think Scerri is a cool person. Between office hour and post-lecture Q&A, he puts in a lot of time to help students understand the material. He also has a nice accent. Plus he cracks jokes during lecture to make it more entertaining. 10/10 would recommend.