I had heard a lot of bad things about Pang before I took this class, but I have no idea what everyone was going on about. Pang is an extremely thorough lecturer. Since this is an 8 am, not a lot of people want to come to class. To encourage students to show up, he prints out lecture guides for class for you to follow along and fill in the blanks. While it's true he doesn't curve tests, it's because it is very easy to get a good grade in every other aspect of the class. So suck it up and study.

People also told me that you can only do well in the lab portion of the class if you have someone else's notes, but that's not really true. You can do fine if you understand the goal of the labs and read the in class notes. Comparing answers with your lab partners is also a good idea. The final is pretty easy if you review everything and understand the concepts and how to do some basic calculations used in lab. It is multiple choice and on a computer. Some people didn't like it because there was a timer in the corner.

Overall, I enjoyed this class. Pang is an effective teacher.

I was scared to take him because of all these bad stuff I heard about him but I actually think he was not bad. He does talk fast but it's not to the point you won't understand him. You should know a lot of the stuff anyway because a lot of the stuff he goes over is from 14A and 14B. As for the labs, just get a hold of those old lab reports from previous students because they'll save your butt and time. But don't rely on them too much because you'll need to actually know the material to do well on the midterm and final. His midterm was easy if you did his study guide. His final was reasonable as well. I actually enjoyed labs too!

Pang is the bane of my existence. Really, really obviously doesn't care about student learning. He's been on probation TWICE for failing too many students! If you can avoid him, avoid him.

Effectiveness: Pang isn't a very good lecturer. He tends to repeat the same statement(s) over and over and over, and after awhile it gets a little irritating. He comes off as a mean, but regardless he is very fair in grading.
Difficulty: I would agree with most that his class is a little too much work for a 3-unit class, but there's not that much he can do to cut down the work load.
Concern/Availability: Pang doesn't show that much concern for his students, but in any case its better to seek help from your lab TA and get to know them, since they are the ones that grade your labs (the bulk of your grade).
Overall: Professor Pang isn't that great, but you could certainly do worse. The professor aside, I would take 14BL AS SOON AS POSSIBLE after 14B, since the majority of the class covers acids/bases and kinetics (14B topics).

Simply put, Pang flat-out sucks. The man has a penchant for confusing his students and ultimately not giving a damn about their learning of the material. I've never been to a lecture where literally NO ONE is communicating except the professor himself. The ONLY voice I have ever heard in lecture is Pang's--and his freaky super-speed rambling. This clearly goes to show that everyone is so put off by him that people don't even bother asking questions. It's quite odd, actually--considering that this is a fast-pace chemistry class where the material can often be difficult to grasp.
And when it comes to his exams, the frustration only intensifies. Sometimes, the most obscure definitions are asked, and it surely doesn't help that the graders are extremely nit-picky about everything. Pang will give you a study guide and all, but trust me, you can study that thing all you want and it won't help too much. I don't even know why he passes out those things, much less calling them "review" sheets. The only positive is that the labs are somewhat fun and interesting. Lectures, however, will probably put you to sleep faster than a sleeping pill combined with CSPAN.

Professor Pang is a very good lecturer. Many people think he speaks really fast, but it helps you to keep awake. Don't miss any lectures because they will help in both labs and exams. The CPR are stressful at first, but you just have to get a hang of it from the first one and you will do well on the second CPR. His grading scale is fair because it helps to normalize the lab report grades if you have a hard TA. If you go to his office hours, he is very nice and is always willing to explain anything. His exams are not difficult if you go to his lectures and do his review sheet thoroughly. He definitely tests how much you understand the materials and not how much you can memorize. He really isn't as bad as people think. He might be intimidating in class but if you just talk to him, he is a nice professor.

I will try to give everyone a review based on my biased experience as well as the general consensus.

You have to understand, first of all, that independent of Pang as a teacher, this course is A LOT of work. You will have a pre-lab and post-lab due every single week. Perhaps for some that doesn't sound like much but each of these labs take significant time to complete EVEN if you copy. Every professor knows, including Pang himself, that copying is done on the labs. In other words, save yourself time. Your T.A.'s don't want to grade labs and they're only there because they get their tuition payed for.

So you may ask, why is Pang generally disliked and how do people earn bad grades in a class that is worth 3 units that should be relatively easy since it is a lab?

Here are a few reasons:
Number one, Pang has mixed reviews about his general lecturing ability. I personally believe he has a very bad lecturer. For one, he has an accent that can sometimes be incomprehensible. I don't think he is unable to communicate the message, but I believe that at times he can be a little unclear. Number two, he speaks very fast and changes topics very abruptly. I honestly believe he does this so that it is harder to take notes and thus it is harder to get a good grade in his class since it is 8 am and no one can write notes that fast. Every lecture, he gives a handout. Often times, these handouts do not correspond to his lecturing material even though he claims at the beginning of the year that the handouts are basically his lectures. Make sure you are VERY ready to take notes.

Form a good networking committee. Honestly, the material isn't difficult, but he does make his examinations difficult. You have a time constraint and he tests you on ANYTHING. He is not historically consistent with how he tests. He claims that his tests are mostly conceptual. This may be true to an extent, but certain years, if you see his past midterms, he will have a significant portion of quantitative questions. Furthermore, his "conceptual" questions encompass random definitions; therefore, it is imperative you to look at EVERY single word and concept.

Labs can be a pain or a potential easy A. You will make that decision for yourself. What does that mean? Well, you can look at other people's lab and check your work or you can try and figure our every question and think for about 4 - 5 hours (For something that won't matter too much on the final and midterm since his finals and midterms incorporate only procedural questions while the quantitative questions can easily be practiced through other sources such as textbooks or internet websites).

Know this much: I personally believe Pang gets satisfaction from knowing that his students are getting upset about him as a teacher. Pang is probably reading this too. The thing is, some professors know they are a hard time. But this is what keeps them motivated. They like to challenge their students, even when student's believe that it is unfair. Perhaps you have to realize before you take this class, that the more prompt you are about getting your stuff done, the more you will learn from this class if anything else.

As far his personal life, I can't judge him. But I will definitely agree that he made himself unapproachable. I once approached him about a question at the beginning of the year and he continually paced around ignoring me until he gave me a two sentence answer that didn't even definitely answer my question.

First off, Pang's lectures are incredibly boring. Especially at 8 in the morning. His handouts are helpful to an extent. His studyguides aren't helpful at all. He purposefully tries to throw you off and makes the study guides as far from reality as possible. His tests are all conceptual. I had the first midterm for the quarter before mine and it was completely different from what I dealt with even though both are conceptual. Study the labs and all definitions. Here's my main complaint against Pang:

He is a horrible person. He doesn't care about his students. I had to miss a lab and I informed him a month in advance. He took forever to get back to me and would not be accommodating at all. Long story short, the TAs helped me out but Pang...Pang is just awful. I suggest to just not take him. Be safe, take someone else even if it means at a later quarter. I promise you, it's not worth it to suffer through his class.

Don't make stupid mistakes because they will screw you over. I forgot to write in my MSDS for the first lab report & didn't check my pre-lab, and I got 10/30 on the lab. That hurt me. And I didn't take the CPRs seriously. Please do. Pang was a great teacher, but you have to read and search for all of the extra material online to fully understand all of the concepts. Just make sure you pay attention to what you're doing and you're sure to get a good grade.

Pang's class basically separates the men from the boys at UCLA. There are those who got into UCLA by mass studying...these kids have no real intelligence. And then there are the legitimately intelligent people who understand the concepts behind everything they learn.

If you are an idiot, you will do terrible in this class. If you are even reasonably smart, it will be the easiest class ever. Hardly anything to study. Pang tells you exactly what he wants on labs. CPRs are free points if you just answer the questions.

There is hardly any material for this course...it only goes over Beer's Law, titrations, rates, and crystallization basically. Nothing more. I don't see whats so hard about understanding titrations...it's pathetic.

Seeing people complain about this course makes me regret not getting into a higher ranked school. It's ridiculous.