Overall, this class taught me about thermodynamics, kinetics, and organic chemistry. The material is not that bad, it's just that Dr. Lavelle specifically throws curveballs in the exams in order to "adjust the curve", "weed out students". Honestly, if you're gonna have an 85% be a B in this class, while it is an A- in other chemistry classes, I would avoid Dr. Lavelle if you want to have a higher first-year GPA. Don't worry about not having like a 4.0 your first year though, it'll just get better and better.

Oh, and if you're not into studying like 20 hours a week to get like a B (and 40 hours a week to get an A) I HIGHLY do not recommend this class. Med-school application reviewers hate this trend, go join a club or something with that time and maybe take Li (or Scerri) instead and get that A :)

Professor Lavelle was not my favorite professor... he was VERY boring and made me want to snooze every lecture. I'd say that lectures are okay, not very helpful actually, but the UA sessions that he hosts (Ashley in particular) is what helped me get an A in this class. Just do all the homework and practice exams and you should be fine... in this class, you get what you put into it. I personally used the textbook for the homework, but I know plenty of people who got by without one. (I don't know a single person who actually READ the book) The first half of the quarter is definitely the hardest, and even though thermo chemistry can seem easy to you, HE WILL THROW A CURVEBALL ON THE MIDTERM. That's a fact. The second half of the quarter is intro to organic and is much, much easier. (LOL he even brings balls to class to demonstrate molecules) I'd say that this class was harder than I wanted it to be, but not impossible to get a good grade in. (This is coming from a student who got a C- on the final and an A- in the class) GOOD LUCK!!

I was hesitant to take chem14B with Dr. Lavelle because of all the reviews made by his past students (I had Li for chem14A). However, the lectures can get boring at times, but all his resources were really helpful. I made use of the UA's session on the hill, as well as some of the TA's office hours. I also like how he scheduled a whole week of review session for midterms and finals which can really help a lot of students. For 10 weeks, I observed how dedicated he is with his teachings, and he wants everyone to succeed. Chemistry community and the TA's were life savers for those last minute questions before a quiz/midterm. Overall, I didn't expect to enjoy this class over chem14A, but I'm glad I took it with Dr. Lavelle because the concept was interesting and everything about the class was fair game. I highly recommend to take chem14B with him! :D

Honestly if you invest time into this class and make it your priority you'll do well. The concepts are difficult and he throws curveballs on the exams sometimes but if you do all the homework problems he assigns and study hard you'll be able to pull it off. Khan Academy really helped me further understand the concepts so I'd recommend that. It's a tough class but you have to make it your priority.

This class was rough. The midterm this year was rougher than his past midterms, and I nearly failed although I studied. I did all the book problems and reviewed them, but still did poorly on his midterm.
There are three quizzes, which total up to slightly more than what the midterm is worth. Ace the quizzes. They are fair and will save your grade. I aced mine.
The final was pretty easy in comparison to his past finals. It may be because the midterm was rough and we did lower than his past averages? Not sure. Ended getting an A on the final. With a really bad midterm score, an A on the quizzes, and an A on the final, I got a B+. It's not terribly rough, but I put a great amount of time into this class and to saving my grade.
Homework isn't mandatory, but you will need to know how to do it because it will appear on exams. The course reader is practically required.
Lavelle's lectures will get boring. His voice is very soft, but he does know his stuff. Try not to fall asleep. Everything is bruincasted, and discussions aren't mandatory unless it's a quiz. Hopefully, you get a good TA because the material he covers in class is very brief and you will probably need a lot of clarification.
Overall, rough class. You need to put in a lot of time and effort, but it is doable.

Before you even enter this class, you should know the Chem series is a weeder series. Its meant to separate the harder working kids from those who aren't as dedicated. Saying so, I thought this class was definitely a challenge because the topics on Thermo and Kinetics are definitely more challenging than those of 14A which was kind of like a further in depth view of AP chem. Having not taken AP Chem, the Chem series at UCLA required a ton of additional time spent at UA/TA office hours. I took advantage of those I could make it to and found the quizzes to be easy because of this. However, the midterm was what killed my grade. A lot of small mistakes and sig figs counted up to taking off huge marks on my midterm. I nearly aced all my quizzes, failed my midterm and got a B on the final and ended up with a B- in the class. This class has definitely been the most challenging for me because I didn't find Lavelle to be a very clear or concise lecturer FOR ME. Personally, I found that his in class example problems were way too simple compared to his exams and even studying for hours on end, I found it difficult to manage a B in this class.

To start off: 14B is harder than 14A. But I think Lavelle tackles the course well. some of the thermo can be confusing, but honestly just go to office hours. One day I literally went to three separate office hours and after that everything made sense. like in 14a, DO THE PRACTICE QUESTIONS. they are the key to fully understanding the concepts. also i would recommend doing all the practice midterms and finals that lavelle provides in the back of his coursereader. the subject is not easy, so some of the test questions are going to be harder than others. but i think professor lavelle was fair about it this quarter and let everyone drop a quiz (which was amazing and saved me). like in 14a, you get in what you put out, so do the practice questions, go to office hours (if you need to), and you'll do fine! Lavelle actually made me like chem more after i didn't have the best professors in high school. I think he explains everything more clearly than teachers i've had in the past

Dr. Lavelle is awesome: he provides all the resources necessary for students to succeed. Do the work, go to discussion section, go to reviews, and practice the concepts and you can get the grade you want in this class.

Okay, my experience with this professor was quite terrible. I did not enjoy his class whatsoever, but the class itself was quite interesting, more so than 14B. In all honesty, I did not read the main text book or attend class after the first 3 weeks since it was utterly useful. Instead, I would attend two discussions and use online videos from Clutch Prep and Kahn Academy which helped me learn the concepts way faster. This left me time to do all of the problems in the textbook. Overall, the quizes were quite easy, and the test were too. The only thing that makes the exams hard, are the way in which the problems are worded, make sure you understand the concepts and not just the methods for calculating. Although he doesnt really ask for conceptual questions, the calculations are worded in a way that you need to master the concepts. Also, the organic chem part of this course is really quite easy, for this portion I did read the text book and it was helpful, along with other online sources.

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I didn't do as well as I thought I would, but I did learn a lot from the class. I think that's what matters most. I did much better in Chem 14A with Li, but I don't think I really got much out of that class. Chem 14B was easier for me in terms of understanding the material. I didn't do all of the homework problems, and I regret it a lot. I would recommend doing them because one of them always turns up on the midterm (5 questions) and final (6 questions). There are three quizzes and they aren't hard, but you have to watch out for the sig figs and units. Professor Lavelle is honestly a great professor. I think he's an ideal example of what a college professor is supposed to be like. He was really considerate by dropping one of our lowest quiz grades and replacing it with our highest one. It helped a lot! The midterm and final were pretty difficult but that's not surprising considering it's a chemistry class. Hope this was helpful. Good luck!