Okay so first off...f*** the guy who got a A+ and is saying how predictable lavelles tests are....they aren't. Studying alone won't get you through this class. You need critical thinking as well. You really need to understand how to apply all the concepts. Took 14a and 14b with him..honestly the biggest mistake I've made so far. Got a A- and B+. He basically ruined all my confidence in chemistry. He made me think gawd damm this is what college chem is like...im soo f*****. But I just took 14c with hardinger and I'm pretty sure i got a A. With that said, if you're an incoming freshman reading this, want to start freshman year off right, wait a quarter and take sceri. It will save your ass. Trust me. I'm still trying to recover from lavelle. He scarred me for life...really though its just harder than intro chem needs to be.

the kid who posted about his A+.... SHUT UP.

Seriously, don't take this class. Lavelle does give practice finals and midterms, but he is NOT predictable. he throws the weirdest curveballs at you and there will ALWAYS be atleast 3 questions on the test that you're staring at, like, WTF is this? I've never seen this in my life.

And just look at the grading distribution. barely anyone gets A's. I got a C+ and this is one of the hardest classes I've taken and it killed my gpa. seriously don't take lavelle, wait a quarter to get a better professor. he sucks.

The kid who just posted about his A+ is part of the whopping 1.2% who pull off such a grade...some people are clearly far smarter than others.

Anyways...

I worked my ass off this quarter and got a B+. But honestly, when I added up all my points together, I got a 345/400. That's an 86.25%, which is practically a B+ raw score. What the eff is this? There's no freaking curve??? I'm astonished.

I've read a few of Lavelle's reviews just below me before writing this. There seems to be a common trend.

Let's get this straight. If you don't do all the work that Lavelle assigns, but doesn't grade (i.e., homework sets), then I don't know what you're expecting for a grade. Lavelle is VERY predictable. Course reader has SEVEN past midterms and finals. Problems are all straightforward if you did them + the homework sets.

I put in the necessary work. Some complain about him only going over basic stuff in class, but I don't see anything wrong with that. If you have the fundamentals he covered in class,+ did the recommended reading for each section, you'd be fine. Seriously.

Scores:
Quiz 1: 39/40
Quiz 2: 40/40
Organic Chem Worksheet: 40/40
Midterm: 109/110
Final: 163/170
Final Grade: A+

Clearly doable. Easy? It takes work, yes, but if you're willing to put that in, it's not much of a challenge at all.

It's Chemistry. If you expect with your intellect without putting a decent amount of work in, you might want to rethink taking this course until you're ready.

Best of luck to future enrollees. Take reviews saying he's bad with a grain of salt. His lectures may be a bit dull at times (I admit I've fallen asleep at times), but he does soundly cover everything, enough to make your readings through the textbook much easier.

TL;DR
Great professor, expected exam questions, do the work. Cannot stress that enough.

NO! JUST NO! DON'T TAKE THIS CLASS. YOU WILL REGRET IT. SKIP OUT A QUARTER IF YOU NEED TO, JUST DON'T TAKE 14B WITH LAVELLE! unless you want a C or a fail grade and you don't want to get into med school. then it's chill i guess...

Absolutely horrid teacher. He goes over THE MOST BASIC examples in class and then mindf**ks you when you get to the quiz/midterm/final. I would not recommend taking him for any course. I was in his class for both 14A and 14B and I somehow managed to pull off a C and B in the respective classes. Mind you, however, that this was done without going to his useless lectures. If you are unfortunate enough to take any class with this man PRAY TO GOD that you have a good TA and that he doesn't decide to f**k you too hard.

This guy is a troll.
His tests are poorly worded, so avoid him if you don't like that shit.

The overall topics in the class aren't too difficult, just gather a good study group and you should be good.

if you value your GPA, don't take lavelle's class.

His finals/midterms/quizzes have ridiculous over-the-top questions, you can't even understand what the question is ASKING.

Taking his tests, it's normal to leave whole questions blank because you have NO IDEA WHAT HE'S EVEN ASKING.

The homework problems he assigns in the book are NOTHING like what's on the test. Literally every test I've taken with him, I walked out thinking "wow... what a shit show." And I passed AP Chem and got an A too... Lavelle just likes to make tests a living hell.

Just... no. Don't take him. If you have the choice of waiting a quarter with a different professor or taking Lavelle, WAIT A QUARTER!!!

Dr. Lavelle is very mathematical. He loves to destroy his students with completely math-based questions that will mess with your mind if you are not on top of your game. If you are looking for a conceptual chemistry experience, take Scerri. Anyways, his class is pretty straightforward, but it's really difficult. The one thing that made me furious was his quizzes. The time crunch on some of his quizzes are so awful at times that the average on a quiz is a 12/40 in some classes. Dr. Lavelle's quizzes do not test you on how well you understand the material. Rather, his quizzes test you on how well you can get a higher F than the person next to you. You better focus on these quizzes and beat this time crunch or you will fail! Anyways, his midterms and finals can be hella difficult, but the good thing is that you have TIME. I wish he gave us as much time on the quizzes as he did on the midterm and final because I would have gotten an A if that was the case. Anyways, good luck to all of you!

I don't recommend this guy at all in place of Scerri. Like it has been said a thousand times, Scerri is more conceptual and Lavelle is just a ton of tedious calculation work. Although his calculations aren't very difficult, I didn't actually learn any chemistry. I just learned how to do a dozen different types of chemistry problems. There's a very high chance that this class will have you doing problems that you don't understand the meaning behind, but you'll just be on autopilot going for the grade. Unless that sounds like something you are fine with then I recommend taking this class with Scerri. Lavelle teacher the last 2 weeks of his class really well though. His introduction to organic chemistry is very nicely taught and the models he brings to class really help you to visualize the concepts. However, the remaining 8 weeks are something I wouldn't want to be around for. I just don't recommend his teaching style. If you can, take Scerri. His way of teaching just isn't the best way to learn chemistry. But if you are indeed stuck with him, I recommend just skipping lecture and reading the textbook. If you can do that, you should be able to get the concepts down and only go to lecture or read his course reader when you need problems and solutions worked out.