Dr. Ow is one of the better Chem professors, he just has to cover so much material so he goes pretty fast, so make sure to use your resources. His grading distribution is really what stands out because tests count for way less and homework/discussions count for more. He's very understanding and attentive, I would definitely recommend taking his class!

DONT BE SCARED OF TAKING O-CHEM WITH OW!! I was honestly so scared going into this quarter because of the previous reviews that Professor Ow had, but it is entirely possible to do well in this class, and Professor Ow plays a major part in allowing for this to be the case. If you get full points on the homework, and discussion sections (which is entirely possible) as well as the quizzes (which is definitely possible as long as you keep up), you have room to do a little bit worse on one of the two exams and the final because of the amount of weight the other stuff holds and the adjusted grading scale. His lectures are honestly very important for the exams-- meaning you should pay attention because he highlights in the lectures whats really important out of the stuff that is assigned to read in the textbook. I found that reading the textbook was definitely helpful but his lectures helped even more in really narrowing down what I needed to know. I found that the beginning of the quarter he went VERY quickly but that is honestly not his fault, he just has a ton of material to get through and its completely new for most if not all students so it feels super rushed. If you genuinely go back after each lecture and read the textbook, do the assigned problems, and do the problem set for that lecture topic, you will understand it and be able to keep up with the homework, quizzes, and do well on the exams. The practice exams that he releases prior to the exams/final are AMAZING and are genuinely good indicators of what to expect on the exams. I never found timing to be an issue on the exams, but you have to study to do well!! This subject is not easy, but honestly the class is what you make of it and Professor Ow is definitely not getting in the way of your success, he is helping you reach success!

If you want to regret ever becoming a STEM student, take this class. I would rather repeat my junior year of high school (with SAT stuff, AP classes, and college apps) and relive the whole of quarantine a hundred times than take this professor again. TBH Ochem is not that hard of a subject but teachers like this make it extremely difficult for students to pass the class. How is the midterm 5 pages for 2 hours but then the final is 14 pages for 3 hours including upload time? It's not adding up. In the last two weeks of class, he merely glanced over the biomolecular stuff without any concrete examples and that made up 60% of the final. He is very nit-picky with answers and sometimes it's hard to get partial credit. If you want peace of mind and a decent grade, save yourself and take someone else.

!!! THIS REVIEW IS NOT FOR 14B BUT FOR 14BL !!! (I can’t find a 14BL review section for him)

Okay to get started I’m a person that is very slow chemistry learner. I absolutely HATED this class because it had so much workload so if you take this class make sure you don’t take a lot of science heavy classes because it would be a lot. The content was easy to understand if you paid attention in lecture and went to office hours , there was no text book so gaining info from yours TAS is the best thing to do. The instructions for post or pre labs were never exactly straightforward but that is not DR.Ows fault. Now on Dr, ow, he was always helpful in office hours so that was nice.

Apart from that HIS EXAMS were honestly the best. I think he’s the only professor I’ve had at ucla that actually stuck to the same content as the practice tests. Before the midterm he gave out 6 practice tests and honestly I recommend going over the midterm study guide to make sure you know each topic that is what seriously helped me in the final and midterm. HIS FINAL WAS PERFECT ! I found questions that were either from his practice final or from the practice midterms so seriously go back and look over those. For the final we had 3 hours but most finished it in 1 ( he makes you stay until it’s 30 minutes before the exam ends which kind of sucks.)

Overall: He was a great person and his exams were great. Workload was way too much Im not even joking.

I am now in my third quarter of Dr. Ow's chemistry classes after taking 14C and 14D with him and I have to say he is the best professor I have ever had so far. 14D is not easy but Dr. Ow makes it as manageable as possible. I have had professors who clearly do not want their students to succeed and go out of their way to make their lives harder, and Dr. Ow is the opposite. He offered so many office hours, practice problems, etc and his exams were perfectly reflected by the practice ones. I cannot write enough good reviews for this professor- I used to hate chemistry after 14A and B and was so scared to take organic chemistry but Dr. Ow made the class genuinely interesting and sometimes even fun (this is not a joke). If you have to take organic chemistry or any type of chemistry, take it with Dr. Ow!

Discussion 12.5%
Homework 12.5%
Quizzes 15%
2 Exams 35%
Final Exam 25%

This part of ochem is known for a LOT of memorization, but Ow really helped break down each of the mechanisms, gave us weekly recaps, flashcards, tons of review sessions, which were really helpful. Discussion was mandatory, you would simply complete a given worksheet with a group and turn it in for completion credit. Homework was assigned twice a week and were straightforward, you were given two attempts on Canvas. Weekend quizzes were almost weekly, I think there were 6 in total, they were a little more challenging than the homeworks, but also pretty straightforward and on Canvas, only one attempt though. The two midterm exams were actually take-home and submitted through Gradescope as there were no lecture halls to have it be in-person, but Dr. Ow provides a thorough study guide with two practice exams, which are well representative of the difficulty. The final exam was all multiple choice due to the TA strike, and each question was weighted quite heavily because of this, but Dr. Ow emphasized that he would adjust scores as needed. Overall, if you have to take 14D, try to take it with Dr. Ow, he makes it so much less harder and stressful than it could be! It's not an easy class for sure, but if you do practice problems and keep up with the content, you'll be fine.

When thinking of organic chemistry in college, it can be quiet intimidating but this class was relatively out of my expectations. Many resources provided by the professor and TAs also supported our understanding of the material. There were weekly timed quizzes, weekly homework, two midterms, discussion worksheets, and a final. The midterms were very reflective of the practice midterms that the professor provided. The midterms and final were in-person and in paper format and provides enough time to finish the exam. Professor Ow goes relatively quick in lectures which can be intimidating and unhelpful sometimes, but with the recorded lectures, you can go back and reduce the speed. The lecture slides were always uploaded days before class and printed copies were provided during the lecture. He does not curve the class, but the percentages for grades are quiet flexible considering it is organic chemistry. I think what DEFINITELY helped me be successful in the class was PRACTICE, PRACTICE, PRACTICE all of the problem sets provided as well as discussion worksheets.

Professor Ow is a great professor. I've had him for four quarters for Chem 14C, CL, C again (due to retaking the class), and now 14D, so some things I'm describing are what I've noticed about him as a professor from all four quarters.

First off, he's very accommodating and understanding as a professor since he drops our lowest scores in each category and started adding homework assignments as an extra category so that exams would have less weight on our grade compared to a previous quarter that I had him, which we're allowed to have two attempts on. Also, due to the TA strike, he made the final multiple choice with significantly less questions, and when I took his exams during winter quarter, which was partially online due to COVID, he gave us extra time to take the exam.

Second of all, his lectures are pretty detailed and helpful, and he spends little time being off topic. He is pretty engaging as a lecturer and he explains his slides clearly, making them a lot less overwhelming to read.

Here are some tips I have for succeeding in 14D specifically:
1. In 14D, you learn about different reaction mechanisms, so basically the whole class is you learning about a certain functional group, like alkenes or alcohols, and all the reactions that each functional group can undergo. In my opinion, because of this, it is less challenging than 14C since there is less variety of topics that you learn in class, but this does NOT mean that you should slack off in the class. Getting a good grade in this class is definitely doable, but you do have to spend time keeping up with practice problems regularly because later concepts can build on previous ones. You also should focus your time on trying to review/ memorize mechanisms once in a while, which may seem like a lot of work in the moment but will definitely save you studying time/ stress once you're preparing for exams and also need to focus on doing practice problems in addition to memorizing. This class is difficult not because of the workload or the concepts, but because you do need to make an effort to be accountable and spend time throughout the weeks memorizing mechanisms and doing practice problems regularly.

2. Homework assignments are easier in my opinion compared to textbook problems and aren't time consuming. Doing worksheets in discussion sections are genuinely helpful when I hadn't started any of the practice problems yet for a certain topic because I asked my TA to help walk me through problem solving.

3. How to overcome anxiety about not understanding topics/ being overwhelmed by doing problem sets- For me, I think the hardest part of the class wasn't the content, but that I felt intimidated by chemistry, so it took me a while to motivate myself to work on problems and not procrastinate. Once I started actually understanding the concepts, which was usually a little late because of how late I started studying, I realized the problems really weren't as bad as I had imagined them to be. I get doing problems can be intimidating, so I suggest posting discussion posts on Canvas, which Professor Ow encourages. For students who don't have the time to go to office hours, I found that having questions answered directly by Professor Ow was a helpful resource, and it was useful seeing that other students had similar concerns about the same problems as I did. I also watched Organic Chemistry Tutor on Youtube occasionally for topics I needed more help with, and he seemed to go through very similar problems as the ones that we do for this class.

4. His exams are doable but YOU NEED to spend time memorizing notes beforehand and doing enough practice problems or you will have little time on the test left over since the problems tend to take up almost all of the allotted exam time.

5. Skipping lectures does not help you save time. I tried to make an effort to attend each lecture, and I found that when I made it a habit in the beginning of the quarter to keep attending, it made it easier to continue this habit. It's fine to skip one or two lectures if you are really stressed, but I would recommend to not let it happen often. I find that when I did attend lectures in person compared to watching them online, I felt a lot more engaged with the content because he hands out physical packets that you can write on during lectures. Also, when I did skip lectures, watching lectures later in the day felt like an extra chore, so MAKE SURE TO ATTEND LECTURES!

5. What to do if you fall behind- It happens, speaking from experience. If you're studying for the exam, it's sufficient in my experience to just focus on doing practice problems rather than reviewing homework or quiz problems because you will not be able to able to answer the exam questions quick enough if you don't physically go through the process of trying out practice problems. If you're really in a rush, extra problem sets are sufficient instead of both extra problem sets and textbook problem sets but ONLY if you don't have enough time. Focus on doing problems related to his learning objectives. Discussion posts are again helpful if you want a quick answer on how to solve a problem without having to go to office hours.

tldr- The class is not hard in terms of content, but you have to be accountable with taking the time regularly to do practice problems and memorize mechanisms in order to do well.

he has engaging lectures and is good at explaining but he goes super fast and does NOT give you relevant practice problems, so the quizzes and exams are super hard. the second midterm was not as bad but since each midterm is 50 mins, each problem is worth A LOT so it is very easy to miss a lot of points for dumb mistakes. he is funny but also very condescending in office hours and unapproachable. if you are great at self studying and keeping on track then go for it but i would try to take an easier professor if u can.

TO BREAK IT DOWN:

Dr. Ow lectures very well! He's straight to the point and things make sense when he explains them.

Concepts can be hard, but are explained exactly at the level which we are test on. No extra fluff in lectures. No extra deep-level test questions.

Your grade is gonna be well cushioned by HW, open-note quizzes, and section. These make up 45% of your grade, and are easy points.

The workload is light, BUT you cannot rely on this alone. PRACTICE, PRACTICE, PRACTICE!