Weiss is super self-absorbed. He spends most of the class bragging about himself and his famous friends. He also likes to give snippets of advice that he thinks are super helpful but are usually just self-aggrandizing anecdotes that don't have practical applications to students' lives. It's not hard to do well in this class, but it is hard to sit through listening to him at lectures.

This class is not that hard grade-wise, the hardness comes from the amount of unavoidable time you have to put into doing work for the class. First, if you didn't take AP Chem, this class is already double the workload because you don't spend much time in class learning about the textbook stuff, Paul just kind of glosses over it quickly. This means you will have to spend a lot of time outside of class learning the actual calculations and methods of doing problems. Problem sets take around 2-4 hours to complete, 1 per week. Each week (mostly), you'll also have to do 1 lit review and 1 creative problem. The creative problem is just writing and solving a made-up problem related to class, but the lit reviews definitely take at least another hour or two. You have to write summaries of full-length research papers; do yourself a favor and pick shorter, easier to understand papers so you don't spend six hours on your first one. They do get easier as you get more experienced though.

The biggest time commitment though is the project, you have to basically write a mock-review paper on a research topic of your choosing (10 pages, double-spaced), as well as make a poster and presentation on the topic. Earning a good grade on these three things requires a lot of research and writing time because you're basically trying to get as fluent as possible on a very specific graduate-level topic. Pick a topic you are genuinely interested in because it makes this entire process much more enjoyable, and manage your time well at the beginning of the quarter.

Lectures are mainly about the history and practical applications of the second quarter gen chem topics. It's definitely interesting and Paul is a good and funny lecturer, but again, caring about chem definitely makes the class more enjoyable. Ultimately, all of this is worth it because you have the opportunity to join research really early as a freshman. Paul helps walk you through how to get into a lab group during office hours and most people who want to end up in a lab group by the end of the quarter. Paul is a great mentor and teacher, he really cares about helping people find the right fit for their research groups and answers any class or research-related questions. Make sure to go to office hours at least once a week. Judy was also a very good and understanding TA.

Midterms and finals are online, open-internet; they're more of a test of understanding than calculations. Paul is not out to get you. (Averages were in the 80s-90s and it is very possible to get above 100)

If you are looking to go into research and have interest in chemistry, this is an amazing class if you are willing to put in the necessary time (which is a lot). If you just want to get chem out of the way/for MCAT, spare yourself and don't take this class.

This professor is absolutely fantastic. He is very invested in his students and we as a class were all on a first name basis. I absolutely recommend this class if you are also interested in entering a lab! He will help you out A LOT!! 100kJ/mol = 1 eV !! He teaches a lot of intuition and thinking in the class as well! The TA, Kris Barr was also fantastic as well :)

This class is marked as 4.0 units according to the Registrar. Ha. Ha. Ha.

Paul will tell you in the first class that this class will be approximately 5 times the workload of the non honors class. Basically everyone scoffed at this assessment. After all, how could a class be FIVE TIMES the work of the non-honors version? Would make no sense.

In all seriousness, this class is a TON of work. You'll be assigned textbook problems that basically cover the entirety of the workload and more material than regular Chem 20B. This is worth 10% of your grade. Every week, you will also develop a "creative problem" about the material, and write a page-long report on a recent scientific article in some field of chemistry. These are engaging but very time consuming, and are worth 10% of your grade each. Midterm exams, which have both an individual and group component, are each worth 10%, with a fully individual final being worth 20%. The exams are by far the easiest part of this class, with extra credit almost always being offered.

Now, the biggest killer for this class is the final project. You write a 10-page research paper + make a poster + pre-record a presentation on a topic of your choosing. Overall, it's worth 20% of your grade. Do NOT underestimate this: deadlines sneak up fast, and reading scientific literature is not for the faint of heart. However, because you get to choose the topic yourself, it's actually very engaging, and time seems to FLY while you work on it (so don't save it for the end!).

Rounding out the grading scheme is participation (5%), and auxiliary topics (5% + extra credit). Nobody really knows how the participation grade is calculated, but it is a combination of showing up to class (which is 5 times a week rather than 4 in the regular version) and attending Paul's and the TA's office hours, as well as exam reviews.

Overall, this class was very interesting and a ton of work (lol). Basically everyone in it was a chem/biochem/chem e major, so I was kind of an odd one out (took as an elective). You will gain not only a great understanding of chemistry, but also insights on how scientific research is conducted and published.

The workload for this class is A LOT, but Paul and the TA Katie are extremely generous with the grading. Most of your grade isn't dependent on the tests so you can get the lowest score on the midterms and still scrape through with an A like I did.

The class itself is really research-based/heavy, and you become really research literate by the time the 10 weeks are up. Going to Paul's office hours are a must if you want to join a research lab, as he will give out recommendations left and right for the students who took his class.

Pretty shocked at how low his 20B reviews are. He's probably my favorite professor. Maybe if you're a tryhard, he's the kind of professor for you. He places a lot of emphasis on putting work into getting good grades - it's really hard not to do well if you try.

Of course it's a lot of work, but it's satisfying work if you do it. Really great class for prospective any prospective chemistry-related majors. Weiss also cares a lot about your learning and is really nice guy. You won't regret doing this class.