Scerri is a good professor. His course reader is fantastic, you shouldn't even bother buying the textbook. His tests come straight from the course reader and yellow/pink book. He really encourages students to come to office hours. He told us to come even if we had no questions. I regret to say I never did because I could never get my lazy ass back to campus.

One thing you should know is this: if you volunteer for his experiments, he will make you come up and tell a joke. He thinks he is funny (and I think he is pretty amusing), but sometimes his jokes seemed to get a little out of hand. There was a girl in our class who liked having attention lavished on her, so she would always ask a lot of questions in class...most times, questions that were off topic. Scerri often made fun of her for that. So be warned: if you ask irrelevent questions, Scerri will not hesitate to mock you!

Memorize the course reader, and do all the problems assigned as well as thinkwell, etc. His midterm was easy and since the average was so high he decided to make the final extremely hard. Therefore a large percent of the class ended with a C even if their midterm was an A. He isn't really approachable, he comes off as anal and makes students feel dumb so if you feel intimidated talk to the TAs they know the material and are willing to help you out.

My favorite class at ucla so far. I worked very hard for this class and loved it at the same time. I had lavelle first then him and like scerri better. I got an A+ with Scerri and A - with La Velle even though the 14a material was significantly easier for me. A background in AP chem will prove successful. Focus on course reader.

I dont know why people are so extreme about scerri. either they love him or downright hate him. I dont have any personal feelings towards him--he makes fun of people (ok we all know he's lacking in the personality department), he's not as smart as he thinks he is, I think he knows that but still hopes no one notices. His nitpicking grading sux but tests are easy. basically he's a horrible teacher (at this point its a pretty objective statement) but if you dont mind expensive course readers, keeping your big mouth shut and swallowing your own ego instead of trying to compete with his, and you like to avoid very hard chemistry textbooks that require real work, then he's not so bad afterall. Just get through the quarter and get chem over with and try not to hold lingering feelings of hatred towards the guy. good luck.

I LOVED Professor Scerri! He was a little bit intimidating at first, but sitting in the front and going to his office hours really helped - he started joking around with those of us sitting in the front after the first week or so, and his jokes are corny but hilarious. I really liked the way that he explained things in lecture, as well as how he is open to taking many questions during lecture. Another note on lecture: try to make all of his Friday lectures! Oftentimes he will give a hint or extra information on a topic covered on his exams on Fridays as a "bonus" for those people who actually made the effort to show up. He has you buy a course reader pack that is somewhat expensive, but it is definitely worth it. The actual reader has copies of every lecture slide, making it easier to focus on what he is actually saying instead of just copying things down like crazy. The other part of the pack has workbooks that consist of old exam questions, some of which are used for homework problems and others that you can just practice. Definitely work through ALL of these problems before the final - some of them are very similar to his final exam, and if you are competent with the workbook problems, you will be fine on the exam. A lot of people don't like Scerri because he comes off as somewhat arrogant at first, but he really isn't. Just sit in front and don't be afraid to ask/answer questions in lecture and to go to office hours!

Scerri is alright. He is not a pleasant professor and I really do not think his main priority was class, but his class is fair. The tests were difficult but all the material was covered in some retrospect through the lectures or course reader. My biggest complaint is chem is really difficult and when you did not understand anything, Scerri was not friendly to those seeking extra help. If your naturally good at learning chemistry then you will do fine in Scerri, but be prepared for the bare minimum of concern and to study a lot for finals. I got an A- and I definitely tried my very best.

Honestly...he is a fair guy. He is arrogant but funny, but it really isnt about his personality. It is about how he runs the class. If you fail, its your fault. Do the work and you will pass. There are other stuff that helps boost your grade like ONLINE quizzes and homework also. Do well on these and you'll do ok in the class.

Honestly I learned more in high school than I did in his class. During one lecture about electrochemistry he gave us formulas with addition, then the next class they were subtraction. When confronted about it he said not to worry and that he'd figure out the correct formulas before we would be required to use them. He then assigned homework on that very set of formulas.