If you have taken AP Chem, then this class will be a complete breeze. If you haven't, then it is entirely manageable. Regardless, if you want to get a good grade, there's a lot of work that comes with this class. Lavelle assigns 100 problems (I believe) throughout the quarter through textbook and achieve questions. I didn't read the textbook once and found the midterms very easy. What helped the most were the UA worksheets and textbook practice problems; in this class, practice really does make perfect!

There is really no point in attending Lavelle's lectures. They're all recorded and uploaded within 24 hours, he doesn't take attendance, and the main reason why I didn't go is because he doesn't post the slides. He has 15 bulletpoints on a slide at once and while he's reading it he's giving additional information off the slide all while doing an example problem. Do yourself a favor and just watch the recordings so that you can go at your own pace and rewind as you need. If you have any questions, Chemistry Community (his forum) is very helpful! I've gotten answers as fast as literal minutes after submission and all questions will be answered by either a fellow student or Lavelle.

Midterms were a breeze, all multiple choice 15 questions each. I and a lot of others found the final to be significantly more difficult (also multiple choice and 30 questions) as the scale in difficulty for some questions were higher than the ones given for practice. Regardless, it was manageable, especially as a multiple choice exam.

Overall you get out of this class what you put in. Take the time to do practice problems and you'll be perfectly fine! Lavelle's resources are amazing and for that sole reason I would not take another professor for this series if possible :).

For some background I did take AP Chemistry before taking this class and I felt that did help me. Although it is definitely possible to still get an A without AP Chem you do need to put in a lot of work.
From the beginning Professor Lavelle gives Audio Visual topics of him explaining topics from previous lectures. These videos are posted a week or so before the quarter starts. I highly recommend watching them and maybe some YouTube videos to build a solid understanding of these 4-5 topics. The post quizzes on these he gives help to. None of these are for a grade.
I also read through every textbook section , took notes and then did the assigned problems. THIS IS ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT PARTS!! Please please do the textbook problems at least one of the questions on the test will be from there or look really similar. Although they are not assigned I made sure to do them and I felt like that was one of the things that really helped me.
Another thing I did was do the worksheets from all the step-up sessions posted on his website “chemistry community” all the UA’s post their worksheets there. If I couldn’t make their session I made sure to do the worksheets and at least check my understanding. WORKSHEETS HELP ALOT. Some of their questions are from his old midterms/final.
Make sure you go to every discussion and don’t forget to post on chemistry community (as well as complete the homework assignments). The class is point based and you want to make sure you get every point possible. My grade came down to ONE QUESTION on the final and the was the difference between an A and A- for me.
The midterms were pretty solid and were like textbook problem levels, the final was a bit harder than that and required so analytical thinking but if you get the material from the first place it’ll be all good.
Conclusion: you get what you put into for this class. Do the extra work, space out your time and you’ll be able to get the grade you work for. Goodluck!!

I didn't take AP Chem in high school and I really struggled in this class. Everyone says it but you really need to take advantage of all of the weekly step-up sessions. I didn't start utilizing them until the middle of the quarter and by then it was too late. Also do all of the book questions and keep up with them every week (something I also rarely did). His test style is really frustrating, they are fully multiple choice so no partial credit is given. I didn't do well on either midterm. I studied so much for the final exam (Organic Chemistry Tutor on Youtube was my best friend) and I still did not do good on the final. Make sure to do all of the Chemistry Community questions and attend discussion because these pad your grade. For Chem Community he claims to be strict on how you need to answer/ask questions but you will get points as long as you have 40 posts (the times you do it don't even matter too much either as long as you get it done). His lectures are so boring and very confusing. He doesn't post the slides either but that was fine with me because the slides were even worse. (TA Kat posts her weekly slides on Chem Community and her slides were so much better, also go to her review sessions!) Ultimately, I didn't even have a passing grade in the class on Canvas but Lavelle gave me a passing C as my final grade without me even asking so in that sense, he is kinda the goat.

Dr. Lavelle was a great professor!! His lectures were thorough (although he did go off on tangents sometimes, but it was nice), but pay attention to the little things because he likes to add them to the tests. As someone who had a horrible chemistry background, his resources were extremely useful, and I wish I had gone to UA sessions throughout the year. I would recommend taking time to attend at least one every week, they're super helpful resources. Your grade is composed of participation/attendance (for discussions), Chemistry Community posts (his website, I would also take advantage of this, it's pretty useful, easy points), Achieve homework (unlimited tries, super easy to get 100% in this category), and tests. As someone with a horrible Chemistry background, just put in the work (aka do the textbook problems) and you'll be good.

Lavelle's class overall was easier than expected. He goes over high school chem in the beginning to make sure we got the basics down before moving onto Quantum...that part was rough but after Midterm 1, the concepts were more understandable. Midterm 2 was lightwork!! HW assigned is around 10-20 problems and we get 1-3 weeks to do it depending on the content. His lectures can be recorded so attendance isnt mandatory. The discussions are though, but they were helpful to go to since my TA just went over syllabus problems as review. SO many resources available. I wouldn't have done so well in this class if it weren't for the TA/UA sessions offered. You can go to problem solving sessions any day of the week and even take some at the Hill! They gave very good practice for the midterms and final and I felt prepared after going to each session. You do have to do well on the tests though since they're worth a good amount of your grade (one question was worth 4pts for us, no partial credit)

For anyone that has done high school chemistry (acids bases, bonding, moles), this class is extremely easy. The only thing that might be new is the Quantum section which is all just plug-and-chug. Dr Lavelles Class is really fun, and all are recorded if you miss the in-person lectures. Only discussions are mandatory attendance. Dr Lavelle also provides many resources, his own website with questions and videos, workshops, and Chemistry Community (24/7 portal to ask and answer questions) + many questions from the textbook and on achieve for practice.

Grading:
Chemistry community (40 points) - answer 2 and ask 2 questions every week (4pts a week x10)
Discussions (40 points) - attend class thats all! (4pts x 10)
Achieve questions (50 points) - 5pts a week mathematically, but its divided based on the topic length. You have unlimited tries to do them

These 130 points are 100% guaranteed and take no time at all

Midterm 1 - 60pts
Midterm 2 - 60pts
Final - 120pts

Both midterms were very easy, and each had 15mcqs
Final has 30mcqs
In both midterms and the final, writing your name gets you 4 points (12 total)

100% Recommend this class

Good professor but the tests absolutely suck. No room to mess up even the trick question on the test because thats already -7%.

Workload is solid tho and lots of resources.

Lavelle was ok. His lectures started out very straightforward and decently engaging but by the end of the quarter he would go on so many tangents that it was hard to follow. He would also spend a lot of lecture explaining extraneous stuff on the whiteboard and it was hard to tell what was actually going to be tested. The midterms were fair. I kind of tanked the final but he was generous with rounding which I really appreciated. There were some questions on there that felt a little unfair—he likes to ask vague conceptual questions so be ready for that. Make sure you know how to draw Lewis Sturctures really well for the final. The most annoying thing about class is that the grading is total points based so make sure you're getting the easy points from the Achieve homework, Chemistry Community, and going to discussion. Chemistry Community is outdated and janky but he will brag about it all the time. The best thing about Lavelle is that he organizes a lot of out outside resources so my #1 tip is to GO TO STEP UP / WORKSHOP SESSIONS AND DO THE TEXTBOOK PROBLEMS IN THE SYLLABUS. Good luck! :)

Took AP Chemistry in high school, but still struggled a bit in this class.
The content includes a good amount of quantum chemistry in the first half of the quarter which made the class feel more like physics for a bit -- this is where a lot of people struggled (including me).

- Exams were multiple choice and not too many questions (around 15), but honestly they're quite difficult. Some questions were based on things Professor Lavelle mentioned once briefly in class, and a lot of the other content we learned and practiced in class weren't on the exams. Exam grades heavily impact your overall grade
- Lecture attendance isn't taken and lectures are recorded. Professor Lavelle has his own website with a bunch of content and help.
- Attendance for discussions were taken -- I personally had a TA who didn't really help us much; she just gave out a worksheet for us to complete and that was about it. I attended two other discussion sections with other TAs over the quarter, and they were fine so I guess I just didn't have the best luck when enrolling.
- There were extra credit points for completing the reviews which thankfully boosted up my grade

Dr. Lavelle should get more credit. Even if he is not an amazing lecturer, and the lectures often make me fall asleep, he makes up for it by providing a plethora of different resources. If you are struggling you can review the lectures on Bruin Learn, ask a question on his "Chemistry Community" website, or attend one of the numerous UA (undergraduate assistant) sessions that happen every day. You can tell that he really cares about the students, and he'll often drop a question on exams if most students get it incorrect. One difficulty is that it's so easy to make a mistake on a midterm, and be screwed for the quarter. Each midterm usually has 15 multiple choice questions, so if you mess up on 2, you're at a 52/60 or B for the midterm. Since you can't drop midterms and there's only one grading scheme, this becomes a little bit stressful.