Full transparency, the first few weeks of this class gave me academic whiplash. To preface I hadn't taken a chemistry class since sophomore year of high school and I never took AP, but this truly didn't matter up until the first midterm because none of it was chemistry, purely quantum mechanics. The concepts are very hard to comprehensively understand, especially in combination with the sheer speed of instruction. Professor Shao is incredibly fast paced, but she is organized, passionate, and genuinely cares about her students. She gave us tons of recourses for tutoring and inquiries, which can truly help. In addition the worksheets in discussions and homework are fair in my opinion. Nonetheless, the average on the midterms were sub 70%... But this shouldn't discourage you because the grading scheme isn't very bad. While it isn't curved in a traditional sense, Professor Shao shifted all of the grades down (i.e A = 85-90%). As an example I scored slightly above average on both of the midterms (which was pretty hard to swallow any the time) but did better on the final (which you—proportionally to content—have much more time on) and was able to walk away with an A. All in all, I'd say that this class will temporarily destroy your confidence in Chem and maybe even STEM in general, but if you stick with it and put the work in you should be just fine.

Huiling is incredibly organized and accommodating. Every lecture recording was posted promptly, blank lecture notes were posted long before class, and annotated lecture notes were always available after class. If she made an error on the lecture notes in class, she alerted us that corrections were available and would often take that content off the midterm because she thought it would be unfair to test us on something that wasn’t taught clearly. She provided a number of resources for extra help and was always willing to hang around outside the lecture hall after class answering questions. She let us take both midterms and the final open note because she wanted us to be able to show comprehension, not memorization. She also always had a cool outfit. Highly recommend her class!

This class sucked. I'm not sure how much Shao is to blame for the amount of suffering I endured in this class, but she sure didn't help me too much. The lectures were painfully boring. Shao did not stop much to explain the material. She zoomed through the slides reading off information that was incredibly difficult to understand. Unfortunately, this isn't really a class that you can get out of taking so good luck.

Honestly I liked this class! Tests were all open note, and all of the slides and lectures were uploaded to the canvas, so it's easy to skip if you like. Class is well paced if you are already familiar with bonding, stoic, and periodic trends like I was. Grading is more than fair, there is always a 5 point curve (85 is an A-) and your grade is only 50% tests, although the midterm average was 65 to 70%

Shao's lecture tone was somehow engaging when I wanted to listen and simultaneously the perfect cadence to fall asleep to when I needed a nap. Her pronunciations of a lot of greek letters are,, uh,, not standard so watch out for that, but she's got good handwriting so its not hard to tell what she means. Overall, def recommend!

You can tell that Professor Shao is new to teaching, so her explanations were not always the most clear, and she was unable to explain things multiple ways most of the time. HOWEVER I still thought she was an excellent professor because she makes up for her inexperience with a forgiving grading scheme, incredible organization, and an abundance of practice material. I think she's a solid professor, and if you're struggling it's very clear she wants to help you succeed.

I say my overall experience isn't bad, but you really need to put the effort into this course
This course requires self-study due to the concepts and the homework are not being integrated perfectly. The homework is worksheets in the discussion and long cengage assignments due at the end of the week. You have to first fully understand the concepts in the lecture in order to understand what the homework is talking about. Shao posts all her lecture notes and recordings on bruinlearn with great audio. I stopped going to lectures after the first midterm because I find recordings were more helpful than live lectures. My TA is very clear and straightforward in the discussion which is really helpful in understanding the material as well as the homework. The cengage assignment is a bit miserable. You sometimes need to google/look at the answer to finish the assignment. The lecture didn't cover every homework assignment.
However, these assignments are really important because her midterms and finals were based on these assignments. I only lost 5 points in the first midterm just because I give an eye on the assignment that week. Also, all the tests are open notes which you don't need to memorize any formula. You can finish them properly as long as you are sensitive enough to the concepts.
Overall, I say my experience in Chem20a is easy and not troublesome.

This class was so much fun! Dr. Shao was so nice and helpful throughout the entire quarter. The concepts were extremely hard to grasp, which is why I’d say a lot of people had trouble in this course, but it wasn’t Dr. Shao’s fault. Quantum mechanics is never easy, but Dr. Shao helped us as much as she could. Her slides were very organized, and she didn’t rush through the lectures. The homework was done in a way that we were basically guaranteed 100%, (ten attempts on each problem, but after you got it wrong it would walk you through the steps) but it would help us a ton to gain an understanding of the topics and the kinds of questions that we would have to answer. The tests were easier than the homework problems. The first midterm was essentially just plugging stuff in, you just had to know which equations to use. The second midterm required a bit more chemistry knowledge, but it was stuff that we had done in class. As long as you paid attention, you’d be fine. The final was super easy, much easier than I expected, just long. Also, all of the tests were OPEN NOTES. She wanted us to understand the concepts more than just memorize problems, which I think is admirable. Learning shouldn’t be about just learning to take a test, it should be learning to understand. All in all, Dr. Shao was an extremely helpful professor and I would recommend this class!

Professor Shao is a really nice teacher. The class is difficult since it’s quantum physics, but lots of free grades and an easy final+curve. She made all her notes by herself and were helpful. Just try hard and you’ll definitely get a nice grade.

This class was good.
You really hit the ground running with new material at the start of the quarter, which can feel daunting at first. However, going to the discussion sessions are general helpful to better understand the course, which is true throughout the whole quarter. The class is pretty accommodating to your schedule, with lectures being recorded and available through CANVAS. Moreover, though I didn't go personally, she holds office hours often if you want more help. Midterms were challenging for most, with averages around 65-69% for each exam (but the final is much easier). Difficulty peaks around midterm 2, with a dip back to basic stoichiometry in week 8, then going back to harder material. To me, it seems that Shao wants you to succeed and gives you many opportunities to do so throughout the course.
Overall, if you go to your discussion you're bound to have the same, if not better, experience as mine.

20A was a little rough starting out as a first quarter class. The lectures come at you fast, but you get used to it. All the lecture materials are posted after the fact which was really nice. Professor Shao was mediocre at lecturing, but I didn't have to use the text book at all. The discussions were helpful in solidifying the ideas from class. The midterm and final averages were 70%, 65%, and then 85%. The curve helps carry you through the class and you're homework makes up a majority of your grade. All in all, Shao does what to be done, and the concepts are difficult but there is enough padding built in to help you grade up.