The exams can be a little tough, especially with time constraints for midterms, but nothing is thrown at you out of the blue. Everything in the class prepares you well. I had little chemistry background before taking this class, and I feel like I learned a lot. Also, midterms and the final are weighed less heavily in this class because there are many other assignments, which I personally liked.

* Note: Class taken online due to COVID

Taking this class was definitely a great decision, especially for someone who hasn't taken chemistry since my sophomore year of high school and who was never good at it. Dr. Casey is so sweet and truly wants the best for her students. She is very clear in lectures and is transparent when concepts are difficult but makes sure that she explains topics in different ways to help students understand. This class is heavily based on group work, as seen in the 2 hour discussions where you have a small group for the whole quarter and do weekly worksheets. The LAs are super nice and helpful (GO TO LA WORKSHOPS!) and, although the TAs can be intimidating, they make sure that you thoroughly understand the answers to your questions. As for the workload, there is a decent amount of weekly textbook reading accompanied by a 10-15 question homework assignment, but it is definitely manageable. There are weekly assignments that are basically like quizzes before discussion and lecture but you have three attempts so do not worry. Like mentioned, I took this class with practically no chemistry background, so some of the topics were difficult as they are highly conceptual, but if you study hard, attend office hours and the LA workshops, and generally just do the work, you can get through it!

This class was one of the first classes I have taken at UCLA and I can say I've learned more from the past 3 months than I have for the past four years in Chemistry. Every resource she provides has beneficial value to it and will definitely help you learn the course material. Although you can really only miss around 24 points for an A, putting in the work will pay off and the professor (as well as MOST of the TAs) are really there to help you succeed - really take advantage of office hours and LA workshops because they come in handy. The readings in the book really help solidify your understandings for the lectures and discussion worksheets and overall, it is a great class.

This class is perhaps one of the best lower div chemistry classes. I have only taken Chem 17 (which was terrible) and this, but I don't see how it can get much better. You will learn from this class. If you don't like group work and small discussions and participation, then you may not get as much out of it, but if you don't mind it then this class is perfect. There are no assumptions that you need any chemistry experience prior to this class in order to succeed, yet you won't feel like the pace is slow if you already have experience. This class with its 2-hour discussions and somewhat-required attendance heavily incorporates critical thinking and forming arguments and forces you to actually understand what's going on instead of plugging-and-chugging equations. Dr. Casey's lectures were extremely interesting and helpful since she used slides that she annotates during lecture and posts after class. She is always super nice and willing to address any question with an actual plethora of resources including piazza, office hours, the freaking zoom lecture chat, and the many small assignments that all increase your understanding of chemistry. The class based off of many different assignments rather than midterm-midterm-homework-final, but these were all carefully chosen through education research to maximize learning efficiency.
In short, I used to hate chemistry. Now, it's one of my favorite subjects. Thanks, Dr. Casey.