I don't even have Professor Pham, but WOW this man can teach. He served as our guest lecturer this morning; throughout the lecture, students were just messaging in our class group chat about how AMAZING he was. He was funny, explained things in ways my 12-year-old brother could understand, and was super engaging. As everyone left the lecture hall, I saw countless people with their jaws dropped and basically screaming to their friends about how they couldn't believe they just experienced such a quality lecture. I'm pretty sure people even begged Professor Pham to continue "guest lecturing" for the rest of the quarter.

I liked this professor. He was a good and engaging lecturer. His exams were very fair. The TAs were cool too. Definitely a doable class given the difficult rep that Organic Chem has. He also gives extra credit (like 8 points) if you do the polling question during each lecture. It definitely bumps your grade up a lot if you do them (but you have to get the questions right). He gives weekly problem sets which are graded kinda harshly, but you get a whole week to do them and you can collaborate on them. Exams are in the same format as the Problem Sets, and can either be harder, easier, or the same level as the Problem Sets, its kinda a gamble. But overall, they weren't too different. He gives suggested homework problems, which are good for concept but don't help a ton if you want the style of problems he gives on the exam. TA Worksheets are immensely helpful, people in my class would do them for other TAs too because the questions are more relevant to what you learn in the class. Overall, pretty good class.

Dr. Pham is an engaging lecturer, and his slides are well-formatted while the class page is organized. However, I have an unpopular opinion: I wouldn't want to take this class again. My main concern is how challenging the tests are. Although they are manageable and mostly based on the practice problem sets we complete for homework, the fast pace of the class is overwhelming. He usually finishes teaching the content just three days before the test, leaving little time to fully understand everything.

Additionally, he doesn't hold review sessions, and the only reviewing options are those led by the Learning Assistants (LAs). It would also be helpful if he posted practice exams or past exams since he shares answer keys after the tests anyway.

Personally, even though I disliked Scerri's teaching style for Chem 14B, I would prefer taking his multiple-choice tests over Pham's. I've attended nearly every lecture and completed numerous worksheets provided by the TA, but the pace makes it difficult to grasp the concepts thoroughly. On a positive note, attendance is not mandatory, and the classes are recorded.

I also found the BACON assignments, which constitute only 10% of the grade, to be unhelpful. Although you can search for the answers, they are difficult to understand without some prior knowledge. I would prefer if the BACON assignments were eliminated because, despite being easy points, they tend to be more of a nuisance than a benefit.

Overall, I admire Pham as a lecturer and appreciate his efforts to make Organic Chemistry enjoyable. However, the tests are a significant drawback. I still recommend taking Pham, but be prepared for his exams. Make sure to practice a lot and fully understand the concepts. If you find yourself struggling, seek help as soon as possible and utilize online resources.

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 :)

I took the 3 week version of this class so it was very fast-paced. As the other reviews, Pham is a super engaging lecturer that explains concepts really well, they were all bruincasted (This class was fully online) so I found it extremely helpful to rewatch lectures at about 1.5x-2x speed. Youtube resources like Professor Dave and Leah4sci really helped as well. Overall, the tests are difficult and long but they are also fair. If you keep up with lecture and do the discussion/LA worksheets you should be good!

Professor Pham is an EXCELLENT teacher and explains concepts very well. He has also been excellent in making accommodations during the pandemic. I was so scared of taking organic chemistry based on what I’ve heard, but if you’re taking the class with him and review at least a little bit every night to make sure you stay up to date with concepts (the class builds on itself) you should be fine! I’d highly recommend studying for this class using his slides, but also Leah4Sci, the Organic Chemistry Tutor, and Professor Dave Explains on youtube. I also really liked the book “organic chemistry as a second language”, it helped a lot! Overall I wouldn’t worry about this class if you take it with him and make sure to attend lecture as it is worth extra credit.

A gem of a professor. Pham is so clear in lectures and made class very engaging. I thought the material was definitely different and much more conceptual than past chemistry classes, and taking the class in 6 weeks was a challenge. Take Pham though, you won't regret! For practice/past exams or study guide/notes, feel free to contact *************

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He's one of the best chemistry teachers at UCLA. I've had Scerri (who is one of the worse human beings) and Lavelle (who was really nice and cared for his students). I think Pham is the best one because he keeps it real. His test are hard but very straight forward and not wordy.