Please take this class with Pham. It's really, really hard, but he offers an extra credit project (which is what I have to thank for this A- haha) and he's super understanding when it comes to things. Stay on top of your shit in this class and you'll be okay. The tests are pretty hard though.

the class was BRUTAL. I'm sure Pham is a great professor and is excellent at explaining things, but ochem just did not stick in my brain. And I *was* a chem major. It was easy to fall behind in the beginning and I just couldn't pick myself up and ended up not understanding anything in the second half of the quarter. I don't really have much advice but Pham is good!

Also, my TA/LA forced us to participate in the discussion by putting us on the spot, so if you get a TA/LA that does that, I'm so so so sorry. It was the worst being called on and not being able to say anything.

Seems like I'm stuck in the 30 series so wish me luck in 30B even though I learned nothing in this class lol.

Ochem is tough, and imo Pham made it more simple. I used to do good in the 20 series, and the reason why I did rather bad in this class is because I didn't study for this class strategically. His papers are mostly related to reactions, so remembering reagents and processes helps a lot. He gives out extra credit in midterms and finals, as well as in surveys. He does accept people asking him questions during office hours and after lectures, and TA sessions help a lot. I wouldn't say that Pham made ochem easier, but at least he made the learning process easier and more entertaining.

it was hell

Favorite professor at UCLA ! He made organic chemistry understandable and fun. And I love his shirts.

I liked this class a lot. Just make sure that you put in the enough work for the class and attend the lectures as much as you can. Even though it will be recorded, attending the lectures keep you focused.
The material is super clear and Pham will exactly tell you what he needs you to know for the class, but as I mentioned, you have to put in a lot of studying hours for this class or nay ochem class in general.

The content was difficult, but the professor made it much easier to understand. The lecture slides and recordings were very helpful to go back and review. Highly recommend the suggested book problems if the problem sets seem too daunting at first. All the materials are there, it's just up to you to manage your time well and know how much practice you need for each concept.

fire orgo class. pham is a pretty bomb professor and teaches well. lectures are pretty surface-level because he only has 50 mins to teach each lecture but thats okay. discussion section is very helpful. 2 midterms and a final, both pretty fair. homework is not bad and lecture and section are not mandatory.

I want to start off by saying I really do not enjoy chemistry and I was really dreading taking ochem. I (like many others) have not necessarily had the best experiences in the chem department so that really made it worse. In fact, I actually liked chem before I came to UCLA...But anyways, as much as I was afraid of ochem, I was pleasantly surprised by Dr. Pham. I really enjoyed his teaching style, he made everything very clear and relatable to us as students. I really appreciated his funny analogies that actually helped me understand the topics well. He actually made me kinda like chem again. And I actually got a better grade in his class than my other chem classes, which I honestly didn't think was possible considering the stereotype surrounding the difficulty of ochem and how much I sucked at chem in general lol

The breakdown of this class is midterm and final heavy (2 midterms = 33%, the final = 33%), so 66% for 3 tests. This is pretty standard for a chem class. His exams are doable. Maybe it's because I've learned to study better this year but I really found his exams quite a bit easier that the chem exams I have taken in the past. If you redid the problem sets you could have a good idea of the test layout and types of questions. However, to really prepare for the exams and to get down a concept really well, I highly suggest doing as many of the practice questions from the TA worksheets as you can!!! This is what I think made me the most successful in the course. I was really able to get an ample amount of practice problems from these worksheets that help me understand how to apply what we were taught in lecture, as well as be prepared for the questions on the exams. Just watch your time on the exams! This class is where I took my first in person exam in college (bc of COVID) and I was nervous, but it was not bad as long as you watched the time and tried to ignore everyone dropping their calculators lol. He even projects the time on the screen so that was super helpful!

Though I really liked this course, I definitely would have liked it more if Dr. Pham were more approachable. In lecture, anytime someone asked a question, he seemed to answer it a little condescendingly. Maybe I am overthinking it, but I talked to a few people and they seemed to agree. Something about his tone made it seem like we should have already known the answer. If you like asking questions in class, hopefully this does not discourage you. I am not sure what he is like in office hours, so I can't speak for that.

Overall, I am glad to have had a chem class where I feel like I learned, but I wish Dr. Pham would be kinder to our questions :)

Pham was such a great prof for Chem 14D. The class was really difficult for me but Pham was so nice and helpful all throughout the quarter. Plenty of extra credit opportunities and lectures were always engaging!