If he actually did problems during lecture that were on the test, the class would be easy. But, he spends his time explaining the same, easy concepts over and over that everybody understands and will never be on the midterm or final. Plus, he's really boring. The final probably made some people cry.

I would not reccommend taking it with this guy at all. The quiz's are extremely difficult, even if you study well for them. Unless you did well on AP chem in High School, do not take the course with him. For his tests, go over all the practice problems (because one of them is guaranteed to be on there) and review his lecture notes because usually the lower valued questions are extracted directly from them.

I really liked Lavelle! He's so cute! His lectures were really easy to follow, and the tests and quizzes were EXTREMELY fair! Go to Lecture and take the notes, and do some homework problems if you have time. A good TA helps, too!

Lavelle is a really nice guy, and a great professor. I didn't got to lectures, relying on the book for the first half of the class, and bombed the first midterm. When I started going to lectures, however, I hardly needed to read the book because Lavelle taught the material so well. Unfortunately, he masks this ability under an almost impenetrable layer of boredom, and his voice is so soft that from the back of the class it seems to blur completely into white noise. Drink some coffee, take a nap before class, pop some no-doz, do whatever it takes to stay awake in this class. And know things conceptually, the way Lavelle teaches them, because he tests them that way as well.

Lavelle seems like a nice professor, but it is hard not to get frustrated at him for expecting you to pull answers out of your ass (figuratively speaking) during the exams. The quizzes are fine, but make sure that you review the material for them. Know how to derive equations (IF YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT CALCULUS IS DO NOT TAKE THE CLASS). Read over his lecture notes and memorize examples because he might put them on the test and them you can't complain about not knowing how to name that organic compound for instance. His entire lecture consists of a long series of transparencies (which could get really annoying) and his accent sometimes trails off. The most amusing part of the class was the explosion experiment right before you guys start o-chem. Buy the molecule modeling kit (especially if you are spacially challenged like me), it will save your life and you can bring it with you to the final exam. Prey for you life that you get a good TA. Mine was terrible!!!! Made no sense and managed to confuse me even more. All in all, if Baur is teaching this class take Baur instead.

Here is one good advice for the 14B Spring 2002 students, HAVE FRANKLIN OW AS YOUR TA. He\355s the first and probably last best TA that I will have while I serve my time here at UCLA. He sees his students as if though they\355re his brothers and sisters. He will go all out to help you and he knows how to teach. The whole classroom (even the two aisles on the sides!!!) was filled up during his final review, which shows you how good he is, and most of the students from other discussion sessions go to his sessions so that they could learn. I know this site is for reviews of professors, but I\355m doing this because he IS THAT DAM GOOD! If they have a review website for TAs, he will be on the top of the top-ten-TAs list. As for Professor Lavelle, all I got to say is \354KNOW HOW TO DERIVE EQUATIONS,\356 because he loves to give derivational problems. People say his lectures are boring, that\355s because they don\355t get what the heck he is talking about because they don\355t read before going to class. I was like that at the beginning of the quarter but then I started reading before going to class, and his lectures are from the books but he expands on it, and his midterms are usually based on his lectures and there is always be a trick or hard question on his midterms, so be prepared But over all, he\355s really nice and can be funny sometimes. So if you go to lectures, go to Professor Lavelle\355s OH and have Frank as your TA and also go to his OH, then this class should be a walk in the park for you. Good luck to you all. And remember DO WHATEVER IT TAKES TO GET INTO FRANK\355S SESSION. Beg, cry, and whine your way in if you have to, it\355s worth it. For those of you who had Frank with me and thinks I\355m just exaggerating about him, give me one good reason not to\326I\355ll be waiting.