Basically all you have to do is memorize the course reader.

I am not the best chem student (environmental science major who accidentally was placed in the 20 series), so i was pretty intimidated by the material and his boring/hard to understand lectures. However, after going through the material multiple times before the exams, using google, and watching the thinkwell lectures he posts, I realized it wasn't too bad. I ended up getting a C on the midterm (37/50) because i made some stupid errors, and the TA's graded with difficulty. The average was 36. Because everyone did pretty well, the curve wasn't very helpful. The homeworks were okay, the online quizzes got more difficult, and the final was definitely reasonable. I ended up with a B+, which is decent because Chem 20A is not easy, come on, this is UCLA.

He is a funny guy, and gives a minute break during the lecture which surprisingly makes a difference. His office hours are somewhat helpful, only a few kids go (only went once).

Bottom line: Memorize the course reader and only the course reader. Every page unless he says otherwise. Also, do the exams in the back of the reader because the final was basically past finals.

I hate chem and didn't like Scerri's class, and still hate chem. But it's doable.

He is usually the favored 20A professor. His lectures are useful, and are broadcasted which is a big PLUS. You dont even need to buy the textbook, just the course reader, another PLUS. his class is actually fairly easy, easy midterm, fair final.
THE DOWNSIDE: It's so easy that everyone does well, and his strict Bell curve screws most ppl over. Going into the final you think you are going to get an A, but the curve brings you down to a B or B-. That curve will destroy you because the average on the tests will be very very high because they are so easy, no room for error. He gets boring at some points, but overall a good lecturer and brutal to ppl who ask dumb questions, which always gets a good laugh. Def take scerri over baugh! ppl in baugh nearly die!

Key to success = Memorize the course reader (like everyone else has been saying).

Scerri is definitely knowledgeable about the subject. Although he isn't very approachable, there were some pretty fun lectures. He does have some sense of humor so it would brighten up the class. His midterms and finals come straight from the course reader and from concepts he mentioned in passing during lecture, so listen closely and take good notes. The homework + thinkwell quizzes are worth as much as one midterm so obtain as many points possible. For thinkwell quizzes, I suggest watching the videos from the Thinkwell site since most of the questions are taken from there. Overall, I recommend this class.

Professor Scerri is by far the best chemistry professor that I have ever had. He really knows what he is talking about and is able to convey it to the student in a method that is easy to understand. Some may complain about the exorbitant price of his course reader, but consider yourself lucky that he actually took the time to make one, for other Chemistry 20A classes worked strictly out of the difficult textbook (which is optional in his class). He has online quizzes/homework and a few homework assignments that you will have to print out and turn in.

One midterm and one final. For the most part, the material in the exam is derived strictly from the course reader. If you genuinely understand the concepts and ideas presented in the reader and can articulate that knowledge into words, then you will pass his exams. Although a few questions are straight calculations, the majority of his questions regard conceptual issues.

Scerri has a great sense of humor and although can seem a bit arrogant and rude, with the amount of clout that he has, he has a reason to be. But he genuinely cares for his students. If you value any part of chemistry, take his class.

Amazing professor, he's has a pretty good sense of humor and really knows how to teach. Easy A class. Final is nothing but regurgitation of the material from the course reader.

Scerri is a complete dick. He is arrogant and rude to students in lecture, and calls on you to answer questions you don't know the answer to, and then makes you answer it even though you tell him you don't know the answer.

This class is not that difficult, but the curve is made very harsh by people who took AP Chem in high school. Some people were not so fortunate.

He doesn't really teach that well. Our class was in a dark lecture hall, and he would use his slides, so he would use one small board to the side of the classroom which he would not erase properly. It was very hard to read from the back, where I had to sit several times because there were just too many people in the room. It was a class of 350.

It made me very upset that we had to buy his reader, which was something like 300 pages (which could easily have been condensed down to maybe 50 pages of information, had he not used a very large font to fill up the book to justify charging $70 for it).

How can he charge as much as a textbook for material which he wrote himself (and partially copied from others)? It was just a bunch of shitty papers stuck together, and he got to pocket the profit. I think UCLA should do something about stopping that.

He also made us buy an online homework thing. He posted 10 videos of himself lecturing online, which I thought were great, but the material from those was nowhere to be found on midterms. The online quizzes were difficult and incoherent, and even the correct answers made no sense sometimes.

Overall, I would avoid Scerri, though I hear he's supposedly better than the other professors who teach Chem 20A.

Pick your poison, I guess.

Good professor, if you pay attention. He has a course reader, which you must read, memorize, and understand in order to do well (also, try to copy down everything he says and writes on the board). His explanations are very clear and understandable. His exams consist of many concept questions. These are the questions that get most people. However, if you pay attention in his lectures, you should do just fine. Everything is curved.

Personally, I learned very well from him. I found him to be a very well-practiced teacher, not just some guy with a PhD who stands up at the front and just talks. I wouldn't mind taking him again for another chemistry class. He's pretty funny if you're not easily offended. Yes, he does pick on some students in lecture, which is a cruddy feeling if you're that person.

Bottom line: good teacher (you'll learn a lot from him, I feel his teaching ability gets overlooked when people comment on the way he makes jokes in class)

The class itself is not that hard, however I ended up giving up about 6th week just because Im completely stupid at chemistry and any science. The class does have a lot of extra fees tacked onto it though. Gota register for a thinkwell account, course reader, etc. The class goes by fast and there's a lot of subjects that he goes over. I had a TA that had a horrible accent so that did not help me either. Even with extra tutoring, I didnt do well in the class.

To do well in this class, go to lecture, take notes in your course reader, memorize the course reader (i mean it, memorize it), and do all the problems in the pink book multiple times. If you don't know how to do a problem, ask Scerri or the T.A.
I also took notes on the Thinkwell quizzes as well as the Oxtoby textbook and I got an A+
I took Chem 20A in Fall 2009. Professor Scerri was an incredible professor! His class was straightforward even though it required a lot of studying to perform well and understand the concepts. The downsides are mandatory expensive course readers that have huge font and are pretty useless outside of this class. You will have trouble selling it off as he supposedly "changes" the course reader every quarter. Additionally, you have to sign up for this online quiz site called Thinkwell (costs about $25 I think). There are three quizzes on Thinkwell and you have three tries for each quiz to do your best, but the questions on two of them are ridiculously hard and require additional research outside the class. Thinkwell and homework from Scerri's pink book (past midterms and finals) made up 30% of the grade. The midterm was 30% and the final was 40%.

I thought Oxtoby helped but it is not essential if you want to perform well.

Class was pretty straightforward. Scerri can be a jerk at times and his ego is pretty apparent, but it isn't too hard to deal with considering how easy the class was. His final extensively covered the material he covered right before the final which cost me around 30/150 points, which gave me a B- on the final. I ended up with a B+ but putting in the work and memorizing the course reader should get you an A. Bottom line: memorize the course reader. Don't bother buying oxtoby. Do the thinkwell quizzes and pink book assigments. Memorize the course reader. Memorize the course reader. Memorize the course reader.